scootergrisen / fwupd

A simple daemon to allow session software to update firmware

fwupd

This project aims to make updating firmware on Linux automatic, safe and reliable.

Additional information is available at the website: https://fwupd.org

Compiling

The most up to date compilation instructions are available in the Wiki

LVFS

This project is configured by default to download firmware from the Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS).

This service is available to all OEMs and firmware creators who would like to make their firmware available to Linux users.

You can find more information about the technical details of creating a firmware capsule in the hardware vendors section of the fwupd website.

Basic usage flow (command line)

If you have a device with firmware supported by fwupd, this is how you will check for updates and apply them using fwupd's command line tools.

# fwupdmgr get-devices

This will display all devices detected by fwupd.

# fwupdmgr refresh

This will download the latest metadata from LVFS.

# fwupdmgr get-updates

If updates are available for any devices on the system, they'll be displayed.

# fwupdmgr update

This will download and apply all updates for your system.

• Updates that can be applied live will be done immediately.
• Updates that run at bootup will be staged for the next reboot.

You can find more information about the update workflow in the end users section of the fwupd website.

Reporting status

fwupd will encourage users to report both successful and failed updates back to LVFS. This is an optional feature, but encouraged as it provides valuable feedback to LVFS administrators and OEM developers regarding firmware update process efficacy.

The privacy policy regarding this data can be viewed on the fwupd website.

To report the status of an update run:

# fwupdmgr report-history

To clear the local history of updates:

# fwupdmgr clear-history

Only updates that were distributed from the LVFS will be reported to the LVFS.

Other frontends

1. GNOME Software is the graphical frontend available. When compiled with firmware support, it will check for updates periodically and automatically download firmware in the background. After the firmware has been downloaded a popup will be displayed in Gnome Software to perform the update.

2. KDE Discover is the software centre, generally bundled with KDE Plasma. With the release of KDE Plasma 5.14, a new fwupd backend has been implemented in KDE Discover for firmware updates. These firmware updates are shown with other system updates.

3. Wyse Management Suite A software suite available on Dell IoT gateways and Wyse thin clients with built-in fwupd support. The remote administration interface can be used to download and deploy firmware updates.