Preparation

tutorial

Quickly and easily deploy your first over-the-air (OTA) software update with Mender using a secure server we host for you. We will walk you through installing Mender on a device and deploying:

  • a simple Application update
  • an Operating System update.
  • a Docker container update

To get started testing Mender, create a hosted Mender account by signing up here.

We provide a 12 month free evaluation period of the Mender Enterprise plan for up to 10 devices. No credit card is required to signup.

Next step

With a hosted Mender account in place, it is time to prepare a device to connect to hosted Mender.

You can connect almost any device and Linux OS with Mender, but to make things simple during evaluation we recommend you use a Raspberry Pi as a test device. You can learn how to integrate other devices and OSes later.

  • To prepare a Raspberry Pi device (recommended)

    Due to the popularity of Raspberry Pi devices our reference environment is optimized for evaluation on this specific device using Raspberry Pi OS (previously called Raspbian) as operating system. This environment should already be familiar to most people.

  • To prepare a virtual device

    If you do not have a Raspberry Pi available, you can use a virtual device to evaluate key Mender use cases.

    This tutorial provides the steps for preparing your workstation to be able to run a virtual (QEMU process emulator) device with Mender integrated.

Connecting other devices

For other device types and OSes, we provide documentation to integrate with Mender.

We recommend running through the Get Started guide with a Raspberry Pi or virtual device to learn the basics before diving into other board integrations.

Have any questions?

If you need help or have any questions:

  • Visit our community forum at Mender Hub, dedicated to OTA updates where you can discuss any issues you may be having. Share and learn from other Mender users.

  • Learn more about Mender by reading the rest of the documentation, for example the Overview, Troubleshoot or Mender FAQ sections.

We welcome contributions to improve this documentation. To submit a change, use the Edit link at the top of the page or email us at .