Downloading updates to Snowball Edge devices - AWS Snowball Edge Developer Guide

Effective November 7, 2025, AWS Snowball Edge will only be available to existing customers. If you would like to use AWS Snowball Edge, sign up prior to that date. New customers should explore AWS DataSync for online transfers, AWS Data Transfer Terminal for secure physical transfers, or AWS Partner solutions. For edge computing, explore AWS Outposts.

Downloading updates to Snowball Edge devices

There are two ways that you can download an update for Snowball Edge:

  • You can trigger manual updates at any time using specific Snowball Edge Client commands.

  • You can programmatically determine a time to automatically update the device.

The following procedure outlines the process of manually downloading updates. For information about automatically updating your Snowball Edge device, see configure-auto-update-strategy in Updating a Snowball Edge.

Note

If your device has no access to the internet, you can download an update file using the GetSoftwareUpdates API. Then point to a local file location when you call download-updates using the uri parameter, as in the following example.

snowballEdge download-updates --uri file:///tmp/local-update

For Windows operating systems, format the value of the uri parameter as follows:

snowballEdge download-updates --uri file:/C:/path/to/local-update
To check for and download Snowball Edge software updates for standalone devices

  1. Open a terminal window, and ensure that the Snowball Edge device is unlocked using the describe-device command. If the device is locked, use the unlock-device command to unlock it. For more information, see Unlocking the Snowball Edge.

  2. When the device is unlocked, run the snowballEdge check-for-updates command. This command returns the latest available version of the Snowball Edge software, and also the current version installed on the device.

  3. If your device software is out of date, run the snowballEdge download-updates command.

    Note

    If your device is not connected to the internet, first download an update file using the GetSoftwareUpdates API. Then run the snowballEdge download-updates command using the uri parameter with a local path to the file that you downloaded, as in the following example.

    snowballEdge download-updates --uri file:///tmp/local-update

    For Windows operating systems, format the value of the uri parameter as follows:

    snowballEdge download-updates --uri file:/C:/path/to/local-update

  4. You can check the status of this download with the snowballEdge describe-device-software command. While an update is downloading, you display the status using this command.

    Example output of describe-device-software command
    
Install State: Downloading
To check for and download Snowball Edge software updates for clusters of devices

  1. Open a terminal window, and ensure that all of the Snowball Edge devices in the cluster are unlocked using the snowballEdge describe-device command. If the devices are locked, use the snowballEdge unlock-cluster command to unlock it. For more information, see Unlocking the Snowball Edge.

  2. When all of the devices in the cluster are unlocked, for each device in the cluster, run the check-for-updates command. This command returns the latest available version of the Snowball Edge software, and also the current version installed on the device.

    
snowballEdge check-for-updates --unlock-code 29-character-unlock-code --manifest-file path/to/manifest/file.bin --endpoint https://ip-address-of-snow-device
    Note

    The unlock code and manifest file are the same for all devices in the cluster.

    Example of check-for-updates command
    
{
"InstalledVersion" : "118",
"LatestVersion" : "119"
}

    If the value of the LatestVersion name is greater than the value of the InstalledVersion name, an update is available.

  3. For each device in the cluster, use the download-updates command to download the update.

    
snowballEdge download-updates --uri file:///tmp/local-update
    Note

    For Windows operating systems, format the value of the uri parameter as follows:

    snowballEdge download-updates --uri file:/C:/path/to/local-update

  4. To check the status of this download for each device in the cluster, use the describe-device-software command.

    
snowballEdge describe-device-software --unlock-code 29-character-unlock-code --manifest-file path/to/manifest/file.bin --endpoint https://ip-address-of-snow-device
    Example of output of the describe-device-software command
    
{
"InstalledVersion" : "118",
"InstallingVersion" : "119",
"InstallState" : "DOWNLOADED",
"CertificateExpiry" : "Sat Mar 30 16:47:51 UTC 2024"
}

    If the value of the InstallState name is DOWNLOADED, the update is done downloading and available to install.