Artifact name with script update module

General Discussions
1

Is it possible to prevent the artifact_name from changing when running a script from an artifact created using the script update module?

I’d like to be able to deploy a script artifact and have it run without changing the current artifact_name (and the “Current software” field under Devices in the Mender server dashboard). Thanks.

2

At the moment no. I know there are some discussions regarding how to handle artifact naming and history but I don’t think anything is actively in progress. @kacf can you comment?

3

Indeed, it’s not possible to prevent this at the moment. But this is a problem we’re very aware of, and as recently as last week we were discussing potential remedies for this problem. Since no decision has been made yet, I don’t want to promise neither a time nor what form it will take, but rest assured that it’s something we are working to improve.

4

Sounds good, thanks. In the meantime I am using a custom device inventory attribute to track the firmware version across various updates instead of using the artifact name.

5

Hello, do you have any update on this topic?

Thanks

6

Yes, we do! The implementation plan for this was just finished last week. Reading the requirements list might be a little bit technical, but it breaks down to this:

  • Artifact name will always be updated, as before.
  • However, in addition, each Update Module will have it’s own namespace, with its own name. For example you will have
    • rootfs-image.name: My-rootfs-image-name
    • single-file.name: My-single-file-update
  • In addition you can have custom names, like:
    • MyCustomApp.name: MyApp-version-2.1

The important thing is that each namespace does not affect the other namespaces, so you can install a new single-file update, and the rootfs-image.name will not change. There are more customizations and details, but that’s the heart of it.

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7

Any update? In the meantime, how do you suggest to track the OS version (and the application version if we use a different artifact type for it)?

8

No update, unfortunately. Still on the roadmap, but development hasn’t started yet.

As a workaround, I suggest you put an identifier for your OS and application in a file which gets deployed to the device together with the artifact, and then use an inventory script to report that back to the server.

1 Like
9

Makes sense. Thanks a lot.