TemplateFREEā±ļø 60-90 minutes
Firmware Update Plan Template for Agile Teams
An OTA firmware update strategy and rollout plan for connected devices. Covers update infrastructure, staged rollouts, rollback procedures, and failure...
Updated 2026-03-04
Firmware Update Plan
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I handle devices that are offline during the rollout window?+
Queue the update for offline devices. When a device reconnects and checks for updates, it receives the pending update. Set a maximum staleness window (e.g., 90 days). If a device has been offline longer than that, it may need a full firmware image instead of a delta update because intermediate versions may have changed the partition layout or data format.
Should I use delta updates or full firmware images?+
Delta updates are smaller (typically 10-30% of a full image) and faster to download, which matters for battery-powered devices or metered connections. Full images are simpler to implement and more reliable since they do not depend on the device running a specific base version. Start with full images. Switch to delta updates when download size becomes a bottleneck for user experience or connectivity cost.
How do I prevent bricking during a power failure mid-update?+
Use an A/B partition scheme. The device writes the new firmware to the inactive partition while continuing to run from the active partition. Only after the write is verified does the bootloader switch the active partition flag. If power is lost during the write, the bootloader boots from the old (still intact) partition. This is the standard approach for production IoT devices.
What percentage of the fleet should I include in each rollout phase?+
Start with internal dogfooding (0.1%), then canary (1%), then 10%, then 50%, then 100%. The exact percentages matter less than the gate criteria between phases. Each phase should run long enough to surface issues that depend on time, usage patterns, or environmental conditions. For a fleet of 50,000 devices, canary at 1% gives you 500 devices across diverse conditions. For planning staged rollouts across software and firmware, the [guides on building a product roadmap](/guides/how-to-build-a-product-roadmap) cover phased delivery planning.
How do I decide when to force-update versus letting users opt in?+
Force-update for security patches and critical bug fixes. Let users opt into feature updates. The distinction matters because forced updates that change behavior (new UI, different thermostat scheduling logic) generate support tickets from users who did not expect the change. Security patches that fix vulnerabilities without changing behavior should be applied as quickly as possible, ideally within 72 hours of the patch being available. ---
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