Update sensors over the air

Sensors update over the Thread mesh: no cable, no visit. The hub sends the new firmware in small blocks, the sensor stores it beside the running one, checks its signature, and only then restarts into it. If the new image does not start, the bootloader keeps the old one.

1. Get the new version into the catalog

When a new sensor release is published on its releases page, the hub picks it up at the next sync (every few minutes), or straight away if you press Sync in Factory › Sources.

2. Make it the target

Promote the new version: this says “this is the version sensors of this type should run”. It does not update anything by itself. The target version has a ✓ in Factory › Catalog.

Open Factory › Catalog, find nn-app-mdns-ot-esp32c6, and press Promote next to the new version.

The hub refuses to promote a version older than one your sensors already run, so a mistake cannot roll the fleet back; it asks you to confirm a deliberate downgrade.

3. See who is behind

Open Factory › Fleet. Each device shows its status:

Status

Meaning

up to date

runs the target version

behind

runs an older version: an update is available

ahead

runs a newer version than the target (for example a test build)

differs

runs a build whose version cannot be compared with the target (for example a development build)

no target

no version of its firmware is promoted

unknown

the device has not reported its version yet

Photo needed: The Fleet table with a device behind

Screenshot of Factory › Fleet with at least one sensor behind and one up to date.

4. Update one sensor

  1. Open the sensor, then Device Status › Firmware.

  2. Choose the version and press Download. The panel shows downloading N%. Over Thread this takes a few minutes.

  3. When it says downloaded: … (armed, ready to apply), apply it. The sensor restarts in about half a second and comes back on the new version.

To update later, for example at night, press Schedule…, pick the time under Apply at and press Schedule. The panel shows scheduled OTA until then, with cancel. At that time the hub downloads the image if needed, applies it, and clears the schedule once the device runs the new version.

Warning

Do not promote a different version while sensors are still downloading. A sensor rejects an image that is no longer the target, and has to start again.

5. Update the whole fleet

Sensors download a promoted version in the background and then wait, armed, until you apply it. Factory › Fleet shows, per firmware, how many sensors are armed (for example 2/3). Press Apply to all (or Apply to 2 while some are still downloading) and confirm: every armed sensor restarts into the new version. The others keep running the old one until they are armed too.

You can still update a single sensor from its own Firmware panel (step 4), or schedule it for the night.

Photo needed: Factory › Fleet with sensors armed

Screenshot of Factory › Fleet showing a firmware row with its armed count and the Apply button.

Next: back to Getting started, or read Glossary.