how to select install slot on A/B boot when booting from usb (rauc.external)

[mifran23]

On initial setup of an A/B System we boot over usb (rauc.external set in cmdline) setup the partitions and then try to install both slot via

rauc install bundle.raucb

This installs the bundle in one of the slots. But I didn't find a way to select the other slot.
I tried to get the other slot selected by marking good the slot that got installed.
I even switched the partitions in /etc/rauc/system.conf.
But still the same partitions get flashed.
It seems like the changes in system.conf had no efect. Even after deleting the file install to the first slot works fine.

I know I can mount the boundle and install the partitions one by one.
But then I have to do the changes normaly done by hook by hand.
And if the hooks get changed I have to change the install script also.

So is it possible to change the slot for rauc install bundle.raucb ?

[ejoerns]

@mifran23 At the moment, there is no real option to select the slot group if multiple groups are available.

The 'logic' that selects the slot group to update just uses the first element if multiple are found.

One solution to this could be to have a look at the installation times and pick the slot group with the oldest installation date as the installation candidate.

Another would be to allow explicit installation of all slot groups at once.

To better understand your needs, may I ask what the motivation is to use RAUC during bootstrapping?

[mifran23]

@ejoerns Thank you for looking into this.

The RAUC bundle is qualified by our QA team.
So the idea was to boot a live image on our hw. Run some tests and if they pass a script is partitioning the nvme and installs the RAUC bundle in both slots.
My current solution is to mount the bundle and use rauc write-slot to install the slots and after that run the commands from my post install hook.