JFrog Connect Centralizes and Automates Remote Fleet Management

Company

This company makes industrial programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and has 2,500+ customers across the world who use their products in prototyping and production environments.

Challenges

Updating software in Linux-based industrial controllers in the field requires multiple steps and addressing complex scenarios. The company was looking for a solution to provide software automation and apply DevOps practices for IoT and Edge devices. This included the ability to build and automate multi-step command sequences that could be deployed out to a fleet of devices in the field. For example, traditionally an engineer would download a software artifact from the server, run scripts, issue commands, download files, and reset the device. But, automation through a centralized dashboard would scale this multi-step process out to hundreds, or even thousands of devices.

“We needed a more centralized way of automating updates to our devices in the field,” said the senior engineering manager. “Our workflows demanded doing this remotely using API so our software would automatically be kept up-to-date while reducing downtime to a minimum with the help of a reliable rollback mechanism.”

Solution

The customer improved software updates with JFrog Connect to automate, update, and monitor software deployments for industrial controllers in the field securely and reliably. These software updates required multiple steps, and the company could address complex scenarios using JFrog Connect’s Update Flow feature, a completely customizable approach to over the air (OTA) updates allowing DevOps teams to devise the way edge devices are getting updated.

Result

Connect’s Update Flow drag-and-drop user interface can build multi-step command sequences that include downloading a software artifact, running scripts, issuing commands, downloading files, and automatically resetting the device. This capability is extremely useful for large-scale deployments where changes to device configurations must be controlled and audited. “JFrog Connect’s Update Flow really helped us streamline and monitor our software deployments. Now we can stay online even during critical updates. Our software infrastructure feels more secure and we’re able to focus on what matters most: our customers in the field.” The company can now make sure that if an error occurs during an Update Flow, their devices are always reverted to the known state, minimizing the chances of service interruption.

“With the recent increase in cyberattacks, reliability of software updates and minimizing the risk of interruption was a primary concern for us. JFrog Connect’s fleet management capabilities helped us address this concern by giving us peace of mind and the ability to monitor our systems in real time.”

— Senior Engineering Manager

Download the PDF version of this Case Study here.

INDUSTRY:

Automation Machinery Manufacturing

PROBLEM:

Unreliable software updates across customer devices
Overabundance of service interruptions during critical software updates
No centralized dashboard for managing multi-step command sequences

RESULTS:

Drag-and-drop user interface now allows for multi-step command sequences
Better tracking and performance with fleet management capabilities
Complete automation of software to thousands of devices running in the field

SOLUTION:

JFrog Connect