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Android Upgrades to Android 13 automated via SOTI MobiControl

FH
Felix Hahmann

Hi all,

we, as a partner, are facing the challenge of remotely upgrading Android 10 and 11 devices to Android 13. Affected are different customers with different devices. Mainly Zebra devices but also other OEMs.

It is not possible to perform the upgrade via LifeGuard OTA, configured in the MobiControl console. Neither it’s possible to transfer the OS ZIP file to the device and start the upgrade via script. Crucial for this is the change from full disk encryption to file based encryption from Android 11 to Android 13.

All our customers want to upgrade their devices OTA, without any interaction directly done on the devices. They have hundreds and thousands of devices, distributed all over the world.

A workaround from Zebra is provided to prevent data loss: https://supportcommunity.zebra.com/s/article/000027787?language=en_US

But for this workaround, its complex to set it up in the first place and according to reports it comes with problems and bugs during and after the upgrade process. To get a clean upgrade and SOTI enrollment, it is recommended to factory reset the devices, upgrade them, and reenroll them in SOTI.

Because of the manual processes, it is not suitable for our customers. Even by configuring the processes in tools like StageNow, there are sill too many manual steps involved for the end users.

What are your experiences with that topic?

Do you have any solutions or workarounds?

I would love to hear how other partners or customers are solving that.

Thank you in advance.

OS Upgrades OS OTA OS updates Android Upgrades zebra LG OTA updates fota Upgrades Android Updates
a year ago
Android
ANSWERS
R
Remy
a year ago

Hi,

I couldn’t find any relevant information in the Honeywell ecosystem on this topic, but I’m also interested in learning more about it.

LC
Leon Callsen
a year ago

Hi Felix, 

from my side it is possible to perform upgrades from 10/11 to 13. 
I think it belongs to the device platform if it SD660 oder another. 
Most of our customers wants to stay at android 10 or 11 due to the increased restrictions. 
I usually try to discuss with the customer that a manual update process is necessary. 

You could perform the upgrades with Zebra OEM Config and provide the necessary file over an additional server. 

FH
Felix Hahmann
a year ago

Hi Leon,

you are corrent, I forgot to mention only SD660 devices are affected.

SB
Simon Breuer
a year ago
Hi Felix,
 
I can only speak for ZEBRA devices.
 
This year we migrated more than 20,000 TC21 devices from Android 10 to Android 13 without any required interaction by our customers.
 
The migration steps provided by ZEBRA are working fine. Sure, we had one or another device pending stuck in the mirgration process, but overall it worked well.
 
I would suggest to adjust the way ZEBRA described the process, because it requires a bit manual work by the MobiControl admins.
 
1) Create a virtual device group where the filter is "OS Version = 10 and (add more restrictions here)"
2) Create the backup_restore_config.xml. In our scenario, we only included the MobiControl agent. Our XML looked as follows:
 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Config>
<CoarseAssessmentCheck>No</CoarseAssessmentCheck>
<PreconditionsCheck>No</PreconditionsCheck>
<PackageNames>
<Name>net.soti.mobicontrol.androidwork</Name>
<Priority>0</Priority>
<ActualSize>100.00MB</ActualSize>
<CompressedSize>100.0MB</CompressedSize>
</PackageNames>
<BasePathSize>
<Size>2000.00MB</Size>
</BasePathSize>
</Config>
 
3) Create the Move-GoldenConfig-SOTI.xml as described by ZEBRA documentation
 
4) Create a Custom Data configuration (i.e. type=XML, file=sdcard/a13MigrationStart.xml) for your devices
 
5) Create an XML file a13MigrationStart.xml
 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<a13MigrationStart>1</a13MigrationStart>
 
6) Get the A11 and A13 firmware files (rename A13 file to FBE_FOTA.zip!) and place them together with all 3 XML files on your download source (server).
 
7) Create a file sync policy as described by ZEBRA (download firmware files and XML and execute the post-download scripts). Point the file sync policy to your virtual device group.
 
At this point your devices will download all the needed files and move them to the correct place on the internal storage. You are now ready to build a profile to start the upgrade (With a profile you can adjust the time frame where the upgrade is allowed to run, i.e. during the night from 1am to 5am).
 
8) Build a package with pre- or postinstall script which starts the A11 upgrade process:
install_system_update /sdcard/HE_FULL_UPDATE_11-99-99.00-RG-U510-STD-HEL-04.zip
 
9) Put this package into a profile. Filter the profile to "OS Version = 10 and a13MigrationStart=1 and (add more restrictions here, if you wish)"
You may schedule the profile, so it is only allowed to run at specific times. Assign the profile to your device group.
 
The migration process should now start.
If you are deploying applications, you may have to test a bit, if you have to re-install them after the device comes online with A13 or if you can put them into the restore-XML.
FH
Felix Hahmann
a year ago

Hi Simon,

thank you very much for the detailed steps. I will keep that in mind and talk with my customers about that. It is still a bit more challenging as just sending the OS ZIP to a device and install it with a one line script. But I will test that.

MB
Marcus Breitenthaler
a year ago

Hi Felix,

i am actually Testing to Upgrade Honeywell Devices from A11 to A13.

-> that seems working without any different as an Incremental Update in A11

With ZEBRA Devices yes when you do it over the OTA Functions then you get the Converting package installed first, collect all Data and then it gets installed the A13 OS.

I have tried that a while agoi and it cause that the Device is several Hours down.

Or yes you can do it with the Golden Config - but that has also no benefit for me.

My Goal is now for the Zebra Devices to Upgrade them to A13 will be:

  • That i will install the Upgrade from A11 to A13.
  • Proceed then a Fectory Reset
  • Reenroll the Device back to MobiControl

Yes we are using the devices only internal not over external internet Connection.

That reduce the Downtime of the Device and the Enrollment is normally happen very fast after the reset.

For Honeywell & Zebra Devices i have an SFTP Server from where i download the related ZIP Packages to the Device and install them. 

I have created a Script in StageNOw from Zebra or the Enterprice Provisioner from Honeywell.

Created a package in MobiControl and assigned it to the Related Devices via the Filter option.

To select if a full Package or the incremental Package will be sent to the Device and reduce the network Traffic

R
Remy
a year ago

Regarding the Honeywell devices, that was my observation as well, but it’s good that you confirmed it.

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
a year ago

I have had a lot of success with the following high level process for Zebra Helios / SD660 devices that go through an Enterprise Reset as part of the A13 upgrade.

  • Make your WiFi network settings Enterprise Reset persistent either via SOTI applied Network Profile or MX XML WiFi settings configured to be persistent.
  • Direct upgrade to A13, any version lower than A13-32. I use File Sync rules with Post Sync Scripts.

I am not using the complex back up and restore process that Zebra used at all. The SOTI Agent is already Enterprise Reset persistent on these devices so you really only need to make your network settings persistent as well. After the devices reconnect to the MC server after upgrade they will be missing all of their other configurations and apps that were previously installed but the SOTI server will automatically reinstall all of the Profiles that it detects as missing. 

The process is therefore still relatively invasive as all of your apps and configurations need to be reinstalled as a result of the Enterprise Reset. This process however can be performed largely unattended and I have used it to upgrade thousands of Zebra Helios /SD660 devices to A13 without any manual intervention required. 

Note the caveat would be if any of your apps have been manually configured or have some sort of app data that needs to be preserved through the upgrade. In that situation you may have to use the Zebra backup and restore process and mark those applications to be backed up. I at least have had the luxury of only dealing with business apps that don't need any manual configurations or app data preserved post upgrade. 

FH
Felix Hahmann
a year ago

Hi Matt,

thank you for the answer! That helps a lot and we will test that.

MB
Marcus Breitenthaler
a year ago

hi Matt,

it seems actually is it not possible to set with the Profile -> WIFI as a permanet Wifi on Zebra Devices when you Upgrade then to Android 13.

With the Help from Zebra Engineer we figured out that with Android 13 the "WPA" Standard is not longer supported.

In MobiControl you can select only "WPA/WPA2" then it is not connecting.

With Stage now i made the same mistake and selected there during creating a Permanent Wifi to select "WPA/WPA2" . After Review from Zebra i switched it to "WPA2" and after installing the Android 13 Upgrade the Device was automated Connecting to the Wifi .

The Enrollment Back to MobiControl was then running automated as you mentioned in your comment.

That in Profiles -> Wifi is only "WPA/WPA2" available i have seen in 2024.1.2 & 2025.0.0. 1032.

For that i have created a case to double check and add "WPA2" & "WPA3".

Second question during testing when it installing the OS upgrade i have selected "Bypass GSM Welcome Screen" = True then it was on my test devices running without any issues the upgrade - do you configured the same ?

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
a year ago

That is great intel about the WPA support falling off and therefore WPA/WPA2 Network Profiles in SOTI therefore not being persistent across the upgrade to A13. I actually have not seen this in practice however, perhaps because the devices have already sorted this out and are actually saving the network credentials as WPA2 instead of a WPA/WPA2 mixed mode? I'm not sure. I have however resorted to using StageNow generated MX XML of the WiFi network settings set to persistent applied to A11 devices ahead of the upgrade to A13. Even if the devices already have a network connection I am redundantly applying these settings in order to force them to be persistent post upgrade. It is a good callout to make sure to use WPA2 or WPA3 explicitly in this StageNow configuration rather than selecting the mixed mode option of WPA. 

I have not actually been setting the Skip Setup Wizard as a persistent configuration and just allow the devices to do their thing post upgrade to A13. You will see some version of the SUW launch but it will typically jump straight into a splash screen saying that the device is being configured. In the background the SOTI agent has already re-launched and the device has connected to WiFi and the MC server as I usually can see them connect back to the server even while they're still processing through this initial splash page. 

M
Michael
9 months ago

Hi Matt,

Could you please explain why you should upgrade to a lower OEM than A13-32?

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
9 months ago

Yes, because Zebra broke persistence of the SOTI agent starting in A13-32. If you upgrade from A11 to A13-29 first the SOTI agent will persist the upgrade. As long as you make the WiFi settings persistent prior to the upgrade as well you can perform a completely remote upgrade to A13 without any manual interaction provided that you go to A13-29 first. If you jump to a higher version like A13-32 or A13-35 from A11 the persistence is broken and you will be forced to manually re-enroll each device you upgrade.

M
Michael
9 months ago

Thanks Matt.

M
Mauro
13 days ago

Hi Matt,

just out of curiosity, where did you get the information about the SOTI agent persistence being broken starting in A13-32? Is this statement still valid?

We are approaching the upgrade of a significant number of devices from Android 10 to Android 14, and it would be nice if we could skip an intermediate step by upgrading to A13-29 first.

N
NGCA
7 months ago

Hi Matt,

I'm trying to upgrade thousands of TC21 devices across hundreds of different networks from Android 11 to Android 13.

Data loss is not a concern for me, I’m able to upgrade successfully, but I’m encountering the following issues:

  • Losing Wi-Fi connection after the upgrade

  • Needing to manually approve messages after the upgrade

  • Display size changing from small to large

You mentioned that we can make Wi-Fi persistent in the MC profile, but I couldn’t find how to do it.

Could you please point me in the right direction?

Thank you,
Nilzo

A
ATMOD@SOTI
a year ago

Hi Felix,

 

Thanks for posting on SOTI Pulse.  Thanks Simon, Marcus and Matt for responding to the post, your expertise and willingness to help are greatly appreciated!

Has your query been resolved? If this post did not assist you in resolving the issue completely and you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out or you can contact SOTI Support (support@soti.net) to open a new case and one of our support engineer will be there to assist you.

 

Kind Regards,

Technical Support | SOTI Inc. |1.905.624.9828 | support@soti.net | www.soti.net |

ÓS
Ómar Sigurðsson
10 months ago

Hi Felix, and everyone else,

Related to this topic and upgrading devices to Android 13 via SOTI.

We have successfully been able to upgrade devices from Android 10 and Android 11 to Android 13.

I would like to ask here in this discussion if any of you would have a solution for devices that are on custom APN (4G/5G) networks.

We have a client that has a bulk amount of devices and we have been trying to update them through SOTI and the upgrade is working, but after the device is updated it loses connections and does not communicate to our SOTI server cause the APN profile is set to default.

Any ideas would be great on that matter. 

MB
Marcus Breitenthaler
8 months ago

Hello,

Zebra Has released for Android 14 the First Package where i can confirm that the Upgrade is working.

14-26-08.00-UG -> with Feb released version it is working.

Tested with packages and it is working

14-26-08.00-UG-U00-STD-HEL-04

14-26-08.00-UG-U02-STD-HEL-04

Sideaffect was that the Google Play Store stays emtpy with the message "there are not apps to install".

only after manually updating the "Google Play System Update" a few times at my 6 test devices all started at the same time with automated installing the Playstore apps.

Original "Google Play System Update" after the Upgrade to Android 14 was 01. May 2024 .

Second way what i found is to get the assigned apps installed over the Playstore after the upgrade:

- unenroll in MobiControl and reenroll it back to mobicotnrol (work account stay the same as with Android 11)

- Reset Account option in MobiControl (new work account get assigned)

With Adnroid 13 they have promised that with the FEB 2025 release it should be also fixed.

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