Barbara Core updates

This article refers to Platform v2.9.0. The current Platform version is v3.2.0.

Overview

The Firmware updates popup in Barbara Panel is the single place to check, update, and reinstall the two software components that run on every Barbara edge node:

• The Node manager — the agent that orchestrates the OS and the workloads on the node.
• The operating system — Barbara OS (or Yocto on Jetson hardware).

From the popup you can read the currently installed versions, run a full or incremental update against the latest available release, or reinstall the current version for troubleshooting purposes.

Check the installed versions

1. Open the Node Details page of the target node.
2. Click the Firmware updates button in the header.

Node Details page

Firmware updates button

The Firmware updates lateral popup opens with two sections — one for the OS and one for the Node manager — each showing the installed version and the latest version available for this hardware family.

Installed and available versions

Update an outdated version

When the installed version is behind the latest one, the popup highlights it and offers up to two update modes:

• Full update — replaces the entire firmware with the latest release. Available for both the OS and the Node manager.
• Incremental update — downloads only the data that changed between the installed and the target version. Only available for the OS.

Full vs incremental

On constrained networks, prefer incremental updates to minimize the amount of data transferred over the wire.

OS firmware update controls

To start an update:

1. Type update in the confirmation input field (case-insensitive).
2. Click Update.

The platform downloads and installs the chosen firmware. The node reboots automatically when the new firmware is applied.

Reinstall the current version

You can also reinstall the currently installed firmware — useful when troubleshooting a misbehaving node, or to restore a clean software state without changing versions.

Node manager reinstall controls

To start a reinstall:

1. Pick the component to reinstall (OS or Node manager).
2. Type reinstall in the confirmation input.
3. Click Reinstall.

note

Reinstalling restores the firmware files for the chosen component while preserving the workloads and data already stored on the node.

Summary

The Firmware updates popup centralises lifecycle management of the two components on every node: it shows installed and available versions, runs full or incremental updates (incremental only for the OS), and lets you reinstall the current version when you need a clean software state without bumping versions.