README

Ultibo Auto Uploader

This app is used to prod a Raspberry Pi running an Ultibo application into updating itself. It contains a web server and uses a telnet session to communicate with the Ultibo application running on the Pi. The application must be compiled with;

uses
  ShellFilesystem, 
  ShellUpdate,
  RemoteShell;

as it uses this method to trigger the download.

Note this application is not intended to replace a proper telnet session. It is only intended to provide for kernel updating or rebooting the device.

The Pi must be configured with a SHELL_UPDATE_HTTP_SERVER= setting in cmdline.txt which points at the host that is running this software. The web server within this application is bound to port 8000, which is the standard for Ultibo updating over HTTP. (for full details of how to configure a Pi for HTTP updates, see https://ultibo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=61&p=138#p1399

The application can be run in one of two modes;

• standalone mode, where the application is used interactively
• automatic mode, where the application installs the kernel on the device automatically.

Usage:

ultiboautouploader [ <kernel file location> [<Pi device IP address>] ]

If no parameters are specified this puts the application into pure standalone mode, without any web server support. You can use the application interactively in this mode, but you cannot upload files to the device without separately starting a web server.

If the first parameter is specified, kernel file location, then a web server is started pointing at the given location. This makes it possible to use the 'update kernel' button without starting a separate web server.

If the second parameter is included, then the first must also be present, and this puts the application into automatic mode. In automatic mode, as soon as the application is loaded, it will start a web server, connect to the Pi, issue a kernel update command, serve the binary via its internal web server, and then terminate. After updating, the Pi will reboot and your new kernel will be started.

Use of Automatic Mode

The purpose of automatic mode is to allow the application to be integrated into the Ultibo build system. In the Project Options there is a setting at the bottom of the list called 'Compiler Commands'. This setting opens a page which enables applications to be executed before and after Compile, Build, and Run. Ultibo does not support Run, so you must integrate the application into either Compile Or Build.

Typically I use Build as this recompiles the whole application and can be invoked with Shift-F9. Hence for a compile without upload I use Ctrl-F9, and for a compile with upload I use Shift-F9.

To set up automatic mode enable the 'Build' option in the "Execute After" section, and enter the absolute path to the auto uploader executable, followed by a space, then the absolute path to where your kernel binaries are located (this is usually the irectory where your project file is located), then another space, then the IP address of your Pi device.

Close the dialog, press shift-F9, and after compilation the kernel image will be sent directly to your Pi and the Pi will reboot.

Note that the Execute After settings should be per project and per build configuration because the kernel image for each project will be in a different location, and the image name will be different depending on the target device (kernel.img, kernel7.img, kernel7l.img)

Supported OS'

The application has only been tested on Linux. It should work on Windows too as there are no hard coded file paths so feel free to give it a try.

Building

In order to build the software you will need to have installed the Ararat Synapse library for the Telnet support. The web server is packaged as standard with Lazarus so there should be nothing else needed.