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19
20# Boot Loader
21
22## Summary
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080023
Fabio Utzigac834962017-07-20 13:20:48 -030024mcuboot comprises two packages:
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080025
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -060026* The bootutil library (boot/bootutil)
27* The boot application (each port has its own at boot/<port>)
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080028
29The bootutil library performs most of the functions of a boot loader. In
30particular, the piece that is missing is the final step of actually jumping to
31the main image. This last step is instead implemented by the boot application.
32Boot loader functionality is separated in this manner to enable unit testing of
33the boot loader. A library can be unit tested, but an application can't.
34Therefore, functionality is delegated to the bootutil library when possible.
35
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -060036## Limitations
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080037
38The boot loader currently only supports images with the following
39characteristics:
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -060040* Built to run from flash.
41* Built to run from a fixed location (i.e., not position-independent).
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080042
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -060043## Image Format
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080044
45The following definitions describe the image format.
46
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -060047``` c
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -030048#define IMAGE_MAGIC 0x96f3b83d
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080049
50#define IMAGE_HEADER_SIZE 32
51
52struct image_version {
53 uint8_t iv_major;
54 uint8_t iv_minor;
55 uint16_t iv_revision;
56 uint32_t iv_build_num;
57};
58
59/** Image header. All fields are in little endian byte order. */
60struct image_header {
61 uint32_t ih_magic;
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -030062 uint32_t ih_load_addr;
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080063 uint16_t ih_hdr_size; /* Size of image header (bytes). */
64 uint16_t _pad2;
65 uint32_t ih_img_size; /* Does not include header. */
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -030066 uint32_t ih_flags; /* IMAGE_F_[...]. */
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080067 struct image_version ih_ver;
68 uint32_t _pad3;
69};
70
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -030071/** Image TLV header. All fields in little endian. */
72struct image_tlv_info {
73 uint16_t it_magic;
74 uint16_t it_tlv_tot; /* size of TLV area (including tlv_info header) */
75};
76
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080077/** Image trailer TLV format. All fields in little endian. */
78struct image_tlv {
79 uint8_t it_type; /* IMAGE_TLV_[...]. */
80 uint8_t _pad;
Marti Bolivar49b29172017-08-04 14:50:51 -040081 uint16_t it_len; /* Data length (not including TLV header). */
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080082};
83
84/*
85 * Image header flags.
86 */
Marti Bolivar7c057e92017-08-04 14:46:39 -040087#define IMAGE_F_PIC 0x00000001 /* Not supported. */
Marti Bolivar7c057e92017-08-04 14:46:39 -040088#define IMAGE_F_NON_BOOTABLE 0x00000010 /* Split image app. */
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -030089#define IMAGE_F_RAM_LOAD 0x00000020
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -080090
91/*
92 * Image trailer TLV types.
93 */
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -030094#define IMAGE_TLV_KEYHASH 0x01 /* hash of the public key */
David Brown27648b82017-08-31 10:40:29 -060095#define IMAGE_TLV_SHA256 0x10 /* SHA256 of image hdr and body */
Marko Kiiskila8dd56f32017-08-22 21:40:49 -070096#define IMAGE_TLV_RSA2048_PSS 0x20 /* RSA2048 of hash output */
David Brown27648b82017-08-31 10:40:29 -060097#define IMAGE_TLV_ECDSA224 0x21 /* ECDSA of hash output */
98#define IMAGE_TLV_ECDSA256 0x22 /* ECDSA of hash output */
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -060099```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800100
101Optional type-length-value records (TLVs) containing image metadata are placed
102after the end of the image.
103
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600104The `ih_hdr_size` field indicates the length of the header, and therefore the
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800105offset of the image itself. This field provides for backwards compatibility in
106case of changes to the format of the image header.
107
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600108## Flash Map
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800109
Fabio Utzigac834962017-07-20 13:20:48 -0300110A device's flash is partitioned according to its _flash map_. At a high
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800111level, the flash map maps numeric IDs to _flash areas_. A flash area is a
112region of disk with the following properties:
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -06001131. An area can be fully erased without affecting any other areas.
1142. A write to one area does not restrict writes to other areas.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800115
Marti Bolivar4e64d562017-08-04 14:53:33 -0400116The boot loader uses the following flash area IDs:
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800117
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600118``` c
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100119#define FLASH_AREA_BOOTLOADER 0
120#define FLASH_AREA_IMAGE_PRIMARY 1
121#define FLASH_AREA_IMAGE_SECONDARY 2
122#define FLASH_AREA_IMAGE_SCRATCH 3
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600123```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800124
Marti Bolivar4e64d562017-08-04 14:53:33 -0400125The bootloader area contains the bootloader image itself. The other areas are
126described in subsequent sections.
127
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600128## Image Slots
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800129
130A portion of the flash memory is partitioned into two image slots: a primary
131slot (0) and a secondary slot (1). The boot loader will only run an image from
132the primary slot, so images must be built such that they can run from that
133fixed location in flash. If the boot loader needs to run the image resident in
Marti Bolivara91674f2017-08-04 14:56:08 -0400134the secondary slot, it must copy its contents into the primary slot before doing
135so, either by swapping the two images or by overwriting the contents of the
136primary slot. The bootloader supports either swap- or overwrite-based image
137upgrades, but must be configured at build time to choose one of these two
138strategies.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800139
140In addition to the two image slots, the boot loader requires a scratch area to
Fabio Utziga722f5a2017-12-12 14:04:53 -0200141allow for reliable image swapping. The scratch area must have a size that is
142enough to store at least the largest sector that is going to be swapped. Many
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100143devices have small equally sized flash sectors, eg 4K, while others have
144variable sized sectors where the largest sectors might be 128K or 256K, so the
145scratch must be big enough to store that. The scratch is only ever used when
146swapping firmware, which means only when doing an upgrade. Given that, the main
147reason for using a larger size for the scratch is that flash wear will be more
148evenly distributed, because a single sector would be written twice the number of
149times than using two sectors, for example. To evaluate the ideal size of the
150scratch for your use case the following parameters are relevant:
Fabio Utziga722f5a2017-12-12 14:04:53 -0200151
152* the ratio of image size / scratch size
153* the number of erase cycles supported by the flash hardware
154
155The image size is used (instead of slot size) because only the slot's sectors
156that are actually used for storing the image are copied. The image/scratch ratio
157is the number of times the scratch will be erased on every upgrade. The number
158of erase cycles divided by the image/scratch ratio will give you the number of
159times an upgrade can be performed before the device goes out of spec.
160
161```
162num_upgrades = number_of_erase_cycles / (image_size / scratch_size)
163```
164
165Let's assume, for example, a device with 10000 erase cycles, an image size of
166150K and a scratch of 4K (usual minimum size of 4K sector devices). This would
167result in a total of:
168
169`10000 / (150 / 4) ~ 267`
170
171Increasing the scratch to 16K would give us:
172
173`10000 / (150 / 16) ~ 1067`
174
175There is no *best* ratio, as the right size is use-case dependent. Factors to
176consider include the number of times a device will be upgraded both in the field
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100177and during development, as well as any desired safety margin on the
178manufacturer's specified number of erase cycles. In general, using a ratio that
179allows hundreds to thousands of field upgrades in production is recommended.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800180
Marti Bolivara91674f2017-08-04 14:56:08 -0400181The overwrite upgrade strategy is substantially simpler to implement than the
182image swapping strategy, especially since the bootloader must work properly
183even when it is reset during the middle of an image swap. For this reason, the
184rest of the document describes its behavior when configured to swap images
185during an upgrade.
186
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600187## Boot Swap Types
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800188
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400189When the device first boots under normal circumstances, there is an up-to-date
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100190firmware image in the primary slot, which mcuboot can validate and then
191chain-load. In this case, no image swaps are necessary. During device upgrades,
192however, new candidate images are present in the secondary slot, which mcuboot
193must swap into the primary slot before booting as discussed above.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800194
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400195Upgrading an old image with a new one by swapping can be a two-step process. In
196this process, mcuboot performs a "test" swap of image data in flash and boots
197the new image. The new image can then update the contents of flash at runtime
198to mark itself "OK", and mcuboot will then still choose to run it during the
199next boot. When this happens, the swap is made "permanent". If this doesn't
200happen, mcuboot will perform a "revert" swap during the next boot by swapping
201the images back into their original locations, and attempting to boot the old
202image.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800203
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400204Depending on the use case, the first swap can also be made permanent directly.
205In this case, mcuboot will never attempt to revert the images on the next reset.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800206
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400207Test swaps are supported to provide a rollback mechanism to prevent devices
208from becoming "bricked" by bad firmware. If the device crashes immediately
209upon booting a new (bad) image, mcuboot will revert to the old (working) image
210at the next device reset, rather than booting the bad image again. This allows
211device firmware to make test swaps permanent only after performing a self-test
212routine.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800213
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400214On startup, mcuboot inspects the contents of flash to decide which of these
215"swap types" to perform; this decision determines how it proceeds.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800216
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400217The possible swap types, and their meanings, are:
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800218
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600219- `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_NONE`: The "usual" or "no upgrade" case; attempt to boot the
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100220 contents of the primary slot.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800221
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100222- `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_TEST`: Boot the contents of the secondary slot by swapping
223 images. Unless the swap is made permanent, revert back on the next boot.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800224
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600225- `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_PERM`: Permanently swap images, and boot the upgraded image
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400226 firmware.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800227
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100228- `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_REVERT`: A previous test swap was not made permanent;
229 swap back to the old image whose data are now in the secondary slot. If the
230 old image marks itself "OK" when it boots, the next boot will have swap type
231 `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_NONE`.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800232
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600233- `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_FAIL`: Swap failed because image to be run is not valid.
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400234
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600235- `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_PANIC`: Swapping encountered an unrecoverable error.
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400236
237The "swap type" is a high-level representation of the outcome of the
238boot. Subsequent sections describe how mcuboot determines the swap type from
239the bit-level contents of flash.
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800240
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600241## Image Trailer
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800242
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300243For the bootloader to be able to determine the current state and what actions
Marti Bolivar42818032017-08-04 15:45:01 -0400244should be taken during the current boot operation, it uses metadata stored in
245the image flash areas. While swapping, some of this metadata is temporarily
246copied into and out of the scratch area.
247
248This metadata is located at the end of the image flash areas, and is called an
249image trailer. An image trailer has the following structure:
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800250
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600251```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800252 0 1 2 3
253 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
254 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800255 ~ ~
Fabio Utzig2c05f1b2018-04-04 10:35:17 -0300256 ~ Swap status (BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS * min-write-size * 3) ~
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800257 ~ ~
258 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -0300259 | Swap size |
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800260 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -0300261 | 0xff padding (4 octets) |
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300262 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -0300263 | Copy done | 0xff padding (7 octets) ~
264 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
265 | Image OK | 0xff padding (7 octets) ~
266 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
267 ~ MAGIC (16 octets) ~
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800268 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600269```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800270
Marti Bolivar42818032017-08-04 15:45:01 -0400271The offset immediately following such a record represents the start of the next
272flash area.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800273
274Note: "min-write-size" is a property of the flash hardware. If the hardware
275allows individual bytes to be written at arbitrary addresses, then
276min-write-size is 1. If the hardware only allows writes at even addresses,
277then min-write-size is 2, and so on.
278
Marti Bolivar1dcb6852017-08-04 15:59:32 -0400279An image trailer contains the following fields:
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800280
Marti Bolivar1dcb6852017-08-04 15:59:32 -04002811. Swap status: A series of records which records the progress of an image
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100282 swap. To swap entire images, data are swapped between the two image areas
283 one or more sectors at a time, like this:
Marti Bolivar1dcb6852017-08-04 15:59:32 -0400284
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100285 - sector data in the primary slot is copied into scratch, then erased
286 - sector data in the secondary slot is copied into the primary slot,
287 then erased
288 - sector data in scratch is copied into the secondary slot
Marti Bolivar1dcb6852017-08-04 15:59:32 -0400289
290As it swaps images, the bootloader updates the swap status field in a way that
291allows it to compute how far this swap operation has progressed for each
292sector. The swap status field can thus used to resume a swap operation if the
293bootloader is halted while a swap operation is ongoing and later reset. The
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100294`BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS` value is the configurable maximum number of sectors
295mcuboot supports for each image; its value defaults to 128, but allows for
296either decreasing this size, to limit RAM usage, or to increase it in devices
297that have massive amounts of Flash or very small sized sectors and thus require
298a bigger configuration to allow for the handling of all slot's sectors.
299The factor of min-write-sz is due to the behavior of flash hardware. The factor
300of 3 is explained below.
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300301
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -03003022. Swap size: When beginning a new swap operation, the total size that needs
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100303 to be swapped (based on the slot with largest image + tlvs) is written to
304 this location for easier recovery in case of a reset while performing the
305 swap.
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -0300306
3073. Copy done: A single byte indicating whether the image in this slot is
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600308 complete (0x01=done; 0xff=not done).
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300309
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -03003104. Image OK: A single byte indicating whether the image in this slot has been
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600311 confirmed as good by the user (0x01=confirmed; 0xff=not confirmed).
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300312
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -03003135. MAGIC: The following 16 bytes, written in host-byte-order:
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800314
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600315``` c
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800316 const uint32_t boot_img_magic[4] = {
317 0xf395c277,
318 0x7fefd260,
319 0x0f505235,
320 0x8079b62c,
321 };
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600322```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800323
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600324## IMAGE TRAILERS
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300325
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400326At startup, the boot loader determines the boot swap type by inspecting the
327image trailers. When using the term "image trailers" what is meant is the
328aggregate information provided by both image slot's trailers.
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300329
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100330The image trailers records are structured around the limitations imposed by
331flash hardware. As a consequence, they do not have a very intuitive design, and
332it is difficult to get a sense of the state of the device just by looking at the
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400333image trailers. It is better to map all the possible trailer states to the swap
334types described above via a set of tables. These tables are reproduced below.
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300335
336Note: An important caveat about the tables described below is that they must
337be evaluated in the order presented here. Lower state numbers must have a
338higher priority when testing the image trailers.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800339
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600340```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800341 State I
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100342 | primary slot | secondary slot |
343 -----------------+--------------+----------------|
344 magic | Any | Good |
345 image-ok | Any | Unset |
346 copy-done | Any | Any |
347 -----------------+--------------+----------------'
348 result: BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_TEST |
349 -------------------------------------------------'
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300350
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800351
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300352 State II
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100353 | primary slot | secondary slot |
354 -----------------+--------------+----------------|
355 magic | Any | Good |
356 image-ok | Any | 0x01 |
357 copy-done | Any | Any |
358 -----------------+--------------+----------------'
359 result: BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_PERM |
360 -------------------------------------------------'
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300361
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800362
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300363 State III
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100364 | primary slot | secondary slot |
365 -----------------+--------------+----------------|
366 magic | Good | Unset |
367 image-ok | 0xff | Any |
368 copy-done | 0x01 | Any |
369 -----------------+--------------+----------------'
370 result: BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_REVERT |
371 -------------------------------------------------'
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600372```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800373
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400374Any of the above three states results in mcuboot attempting to swap images.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800375
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400376Otherwise, mcuboot does not attempt to swap images, resulting in one of the
377other three swap types, as illustrated by State IV.
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300378
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600379```
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300380 State IV
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100381 | primary slot | secondary slot |
382 -----------------+--------------+----------------|
383 magic | Any | Any |
384 image-ok | Any | Any |
385 copy-done | Any | Any |
386 -----------------+--------------+----------------'
387 result: BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_NONE, |
388 BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_FAIL, or |
389 BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_PANIC |
390 -------------------------------------------------'
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600391```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800392
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400393In State IV, when no errors occur, mcuboot will attempt to boot the contents of
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100394the primary slot directly, and the result is `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_NONE`. If the image
395in the primary slot is not valid, the result is `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_FAIL`. If a
396fatal error occurs during boot, the result is `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_PANIC`. If the
397result is either `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_FAIL` or `BOOT_SWAP_TYPE_PANIC`, mcuboot hangs
398rather than booting an invalid or compromised image.
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300399
Marti Bolivar048d8d82017-08-04 17:14:24 -0400400Note: An important caveat to the above is the result when a swap is requested
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100401 and the image in the secondary slot fails to validate, due to a hashing or
402 signing error. This state behaves as State IV with the extra action of
403 marking the image in the primary slot as "OK", to prevent further attempts
404 to swap.
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300405
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600406## High-Level Operation
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800407
408With the terms defined, we can now explore the boot loader's operation. First,
409a high-level overview of the boot process is presented. Then, the following
410sections describe each step of the process in more detail.
411
412Procedure:
413
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -06004141. Inspect swap status region; is an interrupted swap being resumed?
415 Yes: Complete the partial swap operation; skip to step 3.
416 No: Proceed to step 2.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800417
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -06004182. Inspect image trailers; is a swap requested?
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800419 Yes.
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100420 ​ 1. Is the requested image valid (integrity and security check)?
421 ​ Yes.
422 ​ a. Perform swap operation.
423 ​ b. Persist completion of swap procedure to image trailers.
424 ​ c. Proceed to step 3.
425 ​ No.
426 ​ a. Erase invalid image.
427 ​ b. Persist failure of swap procedure to image trailers.
428 ​ c. Proceed to step 3.
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600429 No: Proceed to step 3.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800430
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +01004313. Boot into image in primary slot.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800432
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600433## Image Swapping
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800434
435The boot loader swaps the contents of the two image slots for two reasons:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100436 * User has issued a "set pending" operation; the image in the secondary slot
437 should be run once (state II) or repeatedly (state III), depending on
438 whether a permanent swap was specified.
439​ * Test image rebooted without being confirmed; the boot loader should
440 revert to the original image currently in the secondary slot (state IV).
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800441
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300442If the image trailers indicates that the image in the secondary slot should be
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800443run, the boot loader needs to copy it to the primary slot. The image currently
444in the primary slot also needs to be retained in flash so that it can be used
445later. Furthermore, both images need to be recoverable if the boot loader
446resets in the middle of the swap operation. The two images are swapped
447according to the following procedure:
448
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600449<!-- Markdown doesn't do nested numbered lists. It will do nested
450bulletted lists, so maybe that is better. -->
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100451​ 1. Determine how many flash sectors each image slot consists of. This
452​ number must be the same for both slots.
453​ 2. Iterate the list of sector indices in descending order (i.e., starting
454​ with the greatest index); current element = "index".
455​ b. Erase scratch area.
456​ c. Copy secondary_slot[index] to scratch area.
457​ - If these are the last sectors (i.e., first swap being perfomed),
458​ copy the full sector *except* the image trailer.
459​ - Else, copy entire sector contents.
460​ d. Write updated swap status (i).
461​ e. Erase secondary_slot[index]
462​ f. Copy primary_slot[index] to secondary_slot[index]
463​ - If these are the last sectors (i.e., first swap being perfomed),
464​ copy the full sector *except* the image trailer.
465​ - Else, copy entire sector contents.
466​ g. Write updated swap status (ii).
467​ h. Erase primary_slot[index].
468​ i. Copy scratch area to primary_slot[index].
469​ - If these are the last sectors (i.e., first swap being perfomed),
470​ copy the full sector *except* the image trailer.
471​ - Else, copy entire sector contents.
472​ j. Write updated swap status (iii).
473​ 3. Persist completion of swap procedure to the primary slot image trailer.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800474
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100475The additional caveats in step 2f are necessary so that the secondary slot image
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800476trailer can be written by the user at a later time. With the image trailer
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100477unwritten, the user can test the image in the secondary slot
478(i.e., transition to state II).
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800479
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300480Note1: If the sector being copied is the last sector, then swap status is
481temporarily maintained on scratch for the duration of this operation, always
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100482using the primary slot's area otherwise.
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300483
484Note2: The bootloader tries to copy only used sectors (based on largest image
485installed on any of the slots), minimizing the amount of sectors copied and
486reducing the amount of time required for a swap operation.
487
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800488The particulars of step 3 vary depending on whether an image is being tested,
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100489permanently used, reverted or a validation failure of the secondary slot
490happened when a swap was requested:
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300491
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800492 * test:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100493 o Write primary_slot.copy_done = 1
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800494 (swap caused the following values to be written:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100495 primary_slot.magic = BOOT_MAGIC
496 primary_slot.image_ok = Unset)
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800497
498 * permanent:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100499 o Write primary_slot.copy_done = 1
Christopher Collinsfd7eb5c2016-12-21 13:46:08 -0800500 (swap caused the following values to be written:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100501 primary_slot.magic = BOOT_MAGIC
502 primary_slot.image_ok = 0x01)
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800503
504 * revert:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100505 o Write primary_slot.copy_done = 1
506 o Write primary_slot.image_ok = 1
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300507 (swap caused the following values to be written:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100508 primary_slot.magic = BOOT_MAGIC)
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300509
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100510 * failure to validate the secondary slot:
511 o Write primary_slot.image_ok = 1
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300512
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100513After completing the operations as described above the image in the primary slot
514should be booted.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800515
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600516## Swap Status
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800517
518The swap status region allows the boot loader to recover in case it restarts in
519the middle of an image swap operation. The swap status region consists of a
520series of single-byte records. These records are written independently, and
521therefore must be padded according to the minimum write size imposed by the
522flash hardware. In the below figure, a min-write-size of 1 is assumed for
523simplicity. The structure of the swap status region is illustrated below. In
524this figure, a min-write-size of 1 is assumed for simplicity.
525
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600526```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800527 0 1 2 3
528 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
529 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
530 |sec127,state 0 |sec127,state 1 |sec127,state 2 |sec126,state 0 |
531 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
532 |sec126,state 1 |sec126,state 2 |sec125,state 0 |sec125,state 1 |
533 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
534 |sec125,state 2 | |
535 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +
536 ~ ~
537 ~ [Records for indices 124 through 1 ~
538 ~ ~
539 ~ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
540 ~ |sec000,state 0 |sec000,state 1 |sec000,state 2 |
541 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600542```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800543
544The above is probably not helpful at all; here is a description in English.
545
546Each image slot is partitioned into a sequence of flash sectors. If we were to
547enumerate the sectors in a single slot, starting at 0, we would have a list of
548sector indices. Since there are two image slots, each sector index would
549correspond to a pair of sectors. For example, sector index 0 corresponds to
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100550the first sector in the primary slot and the first sector in the secondary slot.
551Finally, reverse the list of indices such that the list starts with index
552`BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS - 1` and ends with 0. The swap status region is a
553representation of this reversed list.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800554
555During a swap operation, each sector index transitions through four separate
556states:
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600557```
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +01005580. primary slot: image 0, secondary slot: image 1, scratch: N/A
5591. primary slot: image 0, secondary slot: N/A, scratch: image 1 (1->s, erase 1)
5602. primary slot: N/A, secondary slot: image 0, scratch: image 1 (0->1, erase 0)
5613. primary slot: image 1, secondary slot: image 0, scratch: N/A (s->0)
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600562```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800563
564Each time a sector index transitions to a new state, the boot loader writes a
565record to the swap status region. Logically, the boot loader only needs one
566record per sector index to keep track of the current swap state. However, due
567to limitations imposed by flash hardware, a record cannot be overwritten when
568an index's state changes. To solve this problem, the boot loader uses three
569records per sector index rather than just one.
570
571Each sector-state pair is represented as a set of three records. The record
572values map to the above four states as follows
573
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600574```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800575 | rec0 | rec1 | rec2
576 --------+------+------+------
577 state 0 | 0xff | 0xff | 0xff
578 state 1 | 0x01 | 0xff | 0xff
579 state 2 | 0x01 | 0x02 | 0xff
580 state 3 | 0x01 | 0x02 | 0x03
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600581```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800582
Fabio Utzig2c05f1b2018-04-04 10:35:17 -0300583The swap status region can accommodate `BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS` sector indices.
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100584Hence, the size of the region, in bytes, is
585`BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS * min-write-size * 3`. The only requirement for the index
586count is that it is great enough to account for a maximum-sized image
587(i.e., at least as great as the total sector count in an image slot). If a
588device's image slots have been configured with `BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS: 128` and
589use less than 128 sectors, the first record that gets written will be somewhere
590in the middle of the region. For example, if a slot uses 64 sectors, the first
591sector index that gets swapped is 63, which corresponds to the exact halfway
592point within the region.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800593
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300594Note: since the scratch area only ever needs to record swapping of the last
595sector, it uses at most min-write-size * 3 bytes for its own status area.
596
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600597## Reset Recovery
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800598
599If the boot loader resets in the middle of a swap operation, the two images may
600be discontiguous in flash. Bootutil recovers from this condition by using the
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300601image trailers to determine how the image parts are distributed in flash.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800602
603The first step is determine where the relevant swap status region is located.
604Because this region is embedded within the image slots, its location in flash
Fabio Utzig86fe4b22017-07-28 18:56:29 -0300605changes during a swap operation. The below set of tables map image trailers
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800606contents to swap status location. In these tables, the "source" field
607indicates where the swap status region is located.
608
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600609```
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100610 | primary slot | scratch |
611 ----------+--------------+--------------|
612 magic | Good | Any |
613 copy-done | 0x01 | N/A |
614 ----------+--------------+--------------'
615 source: none |
616 ----------------------------------------'
Marti Bolivar49b29172017-08-04 14:50:51 -0400617
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100618 | primary slot | scratch |
619 ----------+--------------+--------------|
620 magic | Good | Any |
621 copy-done | 0xff | N/A |
622 ----------+--------------+--------------'
623 source: primary slot |
624 ----------------------------------------'
Marti Bolivar49b29172017-08-04 14:50:51 -0400625
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100626 | primary slot | scratch |
627 ----------+--------------+--------------|
628 magic | Any | Good |
629 copy-done | Any | N/A |
630 ----------+--------------+--------------'
631 source: scratch |
632 ----------------------------------------'
Marti Bolivar49b29172017-08-04 14:50:51 -0400633
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100634 | primary slot | scratch |
635 ----------+--------------+--------------|
636 magic | Unset | Any |
637 copy-done | 0xff | N/A |
638 ----------+--------------+--------------|
639 source: primary slot |
640 ----------------------------------------+------------------------------+
641 This represents one of two cases: |
642 o No swaps ever (no status to read, so no harm in checking). |
643 o Mid-revert; status in the primary slot. |
644 For this reason we assume the primary slot as source, to trigger a |
645 check of the status area and find out if there was swapping under way. |
646 -----------------------------------------------------------------------'
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600647```
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800648
649If the swap status region indicates that the images are not contiguous,
650bootutil completes the swap operation that was in progress when the system was
651reset. In other words, it applies the procedure defined in the previous
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100652section, moving image 1 into the primary slot and image 0 into the secondary
653slot. If the boot status file indicates that an image part is present in the
654scratch area, this part is copied into the correct location by starting at step
655e or step h in the area-swap procedure, depending on whether the part belongs to
656image 0 or image 1.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800657
658After the swap operation has been completed, the boot loader proceeds as though
659it had just been started.
660
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600661## Integrity Check
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800662
663An image is checked for integrity immediately before it gets copied into the
Fabio Utzig5bd4e582017-07-20 08:55:38 -0300664primary slot. If the boot loader doesn't perform an image swap, then it can
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100665perform an optional integrity check of the image in the primary slot if
666`MCUBOOT_VALIDATE_PRIMARY_SLOT` is set, otherwise it doesn't perform an
667integrity check.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800668
669During the integrity check, the boot loader verifies the following aspects of
670an image:
David Vincze2d736ad2019-02-18 11:50:22 +0100671​ * 32-bit magic number must be correct (0x96f3b83d).
672​ * Image must contain an `image_tlv_info` struct, identified by its magic
673​ (0x6907) exactly following the firmware (hdr_size + img_size).
674​ * Image must contain a SHA256 TLV.
675​ * Calculated SHA256 must match SHA256 TLV contents.
676​ * Image *may* contain a signature TLV. If it does, it must also have a
677​ KEYHASH TLV with the hash of the key that was used to sign. The list of
678​ keys will then be iterated over looking for the matching key, which then
679​ will then be used to verify the image contents.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800680
David Brown17e20d12017-09-12 11:53:20 -0600681## Security
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800682
683As indicated above, the final step of the integrity check is signature
684verification. The boot loader can have one or more public keys embedded in it
685at build time. During signature verification, the boot loader verifies that an
Fabio Utzigea422c22017-09-11 11:02:47 -0300686image was signed with a private key that corresponds to the embedded keyhash
687TLV.
Christopher Collins92ea77f2016-12-12 15:59:26 -0800688
689For information on embedding public keys in the boot loader, as well as
Fabio Utzig4dce6aa2018-02-12 15:31:32 -0200690producing signed images, see: [signed_images](signed_images.md).
Fabio Utzigcdfa11a2018-10-01 09:45:54 -0300691
692If you want to enable and use encrypted images, see:
693[encrypted_images](encrypted_images.md).