Introduction

What is Eris Linux?

Eris Linux is an industrial distribution for embedded Linux.We have made a significant effort to make Eris Linux as easy to configure and use as possible.

We started from the observation that building an image for embedded Linux using the usual tools (Yocto Project or Buildroot) requires too much investment in time and resources when you need to focus on developing your specific business application.

This necessary investment will become even more significant with the arrival of requirements such as the European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and the obligation to monitor published vulnerabilities on a daily basis.

For you, Eris Linux comes in the form of a ready-to-install image, offering robustness, power, and the possibility of regular and secure updates. On top of this image, you will install your application code in isolated containers.

The only software you will need to worry about is your application program, which you can develop, deploy, and update independently of the underlying Eris Linux system.

Now you will better understand the image conveyed by our logo: Eris Linux is a kind of a container carrier, a robust and perfectly maintained platform ready to host your software containers offering your application code to your customers.

Key features

• The Eris Linux system is built by our team using the Yocto Project, and we maintain it on a daily basis to check for known vulnerabilities and update packages.
• You never need to compile anything other than your own code. You don’t need to known anything about Yocto Project either.
• Your custom code is hosted in Docker containers which are isolated from the base system. The Eris API gives you access to all the device features.
• With the Eris Device Manager, you can deploy containers on remote devices and retrieve their execution status.

Typical Use Cases

Eris Linux is a highly versatile operating system that can be used for a wide range of applications, from industrial embedded systems with varying security requirements to IoT developments for home automation or domestic use.

It is crucial, particularly in order to comply with the requirements of the Cyber Resilience Act, to have a means of updating applications and system software, even for equipment installed at end users’ premises.

While an internet connection is preferable for this purpose, it is also possible to update non-connected systems using removable storage devices, such as USB keys or SD flash drives.

We provide comprehensive system software maintenance through daily vulnerability and patch monitoring for embedded open-source applications. We provide update image files as needed. These can be installed automatically or on demand on Internet-connected equipment.

Getting Started

Accessing the Device Manager

To get started, create an account if you haven’t already done so at www.eris-linux.net.

On the login screen, select the “Create your account…” button:

Enter your login email address and choose a secure password:

The email address you provide will only be used for urgent technical communications regarding your account and will never be shared or used for commercial purposes.

Now you will be able to log into the device manager:

Once you have registered and logged in, you will have access to the features of the Eris Linux Device Manager.

User Account Setup

Before you can install and control onboard equipment, you must configure a minimum amount of information about your user profile.

Go to the “my profile” tab in the Device Manager and ask for a link to confirm your email address:

After a few seconds, you will be able to confirm your email address by clicking on a link that will be sent to your mail box:

One last administrative step: link your account to the organization you belong to (company, department, association, etc.).

If the organization already exists, the manager will need to validate your registration. Otherwise, feel free to register your organization in the Device Manager.

To test Eris Linux, you do not need to enter all the information about your organization. You will be asked to do so later when you decide to continue using Eris Linux.

Downloading Eris Linux Image

Once the mandatory administrative formalities have been completed, go to the “my devices” tab. At this point, the list of equipment and devices group is likely to be empty (unless you are affiliated with an organization that has already registered some devices).

Click on the “New device” button. A window will open, allowing you to select the type of hardware card that represents your equipment.

If your board is not in the list provided, please do not hesitate to contact us. If it is a board that is easily available on the market, we will likely be able to include support for it within a few days. If your card is a specific proprietary model, we will contact you to obtain the technical information necessary to make you an offer for support by Eris Linux.

Several types of images may be available for your board. For example, we generally offer a “graphical” image including support for the Qt library, and a “headless” image without a display output.

Select the image that suits you, and you will then be asked to specify the network configuration that will allow your board to connect to the server once the image is installed.

We will then prepare your image, and you will receive an email within a few minutes to download the image.

Installing Eris Linux Image on your Device

The image you download is a raw representation of your device’s flash memory (.iso format compressed with bzip2). Installation on your embedded system will depend on the type of device (see detailed installation documentation in the appendix).

For most systems, this will involve copying it directly to a microSD card.

To do this, we recommend using the free Etcher utility from Balena (https://etcher.balena.io/), which works identically on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

The image you downloaded can be used to create as many microSD cards as you want. However, please note that once a device has booted from an SD card, this card must not be copied or used on another device (an ID is generated during the first boot).

Once the microSD card is ready, insert it into your device.

If you specified during card preparation that the connection to the Eris Linux server is made using an Ethernet connection, connect your device to the network. If the connection is made via Wi-Fi, check that the network is accessible.

Then start up your device…

First boot

The first boot of the system is special and may take significantly longer than a normal startup. During this stage, partitions will be configured and formatted, and a specific identifier for the device will be calculated.

After a few minutes, the device will contact the Eris Linux server and a new entry will appear in the left part of “My devices” tab.

As devices are detected, they are named “no name 1”, “no name 2”, etc. You will be able to rename a device in a minute.

You can repeat these steps as many times as necessary to control all your devices. You can use the same downloaded image file for all your systems, but remember to create different microSD cards from the image file each time.

Using the Device Manager

The “My devices” tab is divided into two halves: on the left is the list of devices divided into groups, and on the right is information about the selected group and device.

Information about the selected group

In the upper right half of the screen, you have access to information about the selected group, and in the lower right half, information about the selected device.

The information specific to the device group is as follows:

• Hardware support.
• Image type (mainly “graphical” or “headless”).
• Application containers installed in the system slots, and their version.
• Period in seconds between device contacts to the Eris Linux server.
• Automatic or on-demand restart after installing a new system image during an update.

In the upper right quarter, there are also five buttons for configuring the behavior of the devices in the group. For the pseudo-group “Devices without group”, there are only two buttons, ‘Containers’ and “Update,” which in this case only affect the selected device.

The buttons are:

• “Containers”, which allows you to select the containers to install on the devices in the group. This will be discussed in more detail later.
• “Setup” to configure the settings for the equipment in the group.

• “Update” (not currently functional) forces the update of all containers installed on devices in this group.
• “Reboot” forces the restart of all devices in the group.
• “Remove” deletes the selected group provided that there are no more devices registered.

Device information and settings

The following information is available for each device:

• The “version” of the Eris Linux system, which may change as the system is updated (patches, new features, etc.).
• The “status” of the system indicates the level of updates.

The possible statuses are as follows:

• The “Uptime” field indicates how long the equipment has been running. This is an indicator of system stability.
• The “System load” fields indicate the percentage of usage of several system parameters: the usage of the partition storing user data, the usage of the temporary data storage area, the processor load, and the amount of RAM used.
• The “Last contact” field is very important because it indicates the time (in UTC time zone) when the equipment last connected to the Eris Linux server and updated all the information in this area.
• The “IP addr” field contains the IP address of the device on its local network. This information is very useful during the initial setup or configuration phase of the system. This address can obviously only be used on the same subnet.

Finally, a table displays the “Status” of the various containers (“Running”, “Error” or an empty field for an unused container).

The buttons available in this lower right area allow you to:

• “Setup”: configure the device (specify its name and group). If the device is not registered in a group, it is also possible in this window to configure the contact period and automatic restart after updating.

• “Reboot” the device. This reboot will occur at the next time the device contacts the server.
• “Remove” the device.