
How a modern Yocto setup could look like
- Anna-Lena Marx
- Embedded , Conferences
- November 20, 2022
In 2015, we built a sophisticated meeting room information system based on Android Things as a student project. As Android Things was deprecated in 2021, we started to use our Yocto Project experience to develop a maintainable, future proof embedded system.
When setting up a new project from scratch, we focused on proper solutions for
- a maintainable, well supported and patchable build environment for the embedded systems
- version control, reproducible builds and continuous integration
- license management
- a secure and stable update mechanism on image base and
- managing releases The talk aims to show how we build a system that matches our requirements using the Yocto Project, KAS, Gitlab CI, and Mender.io. Besides, we will have a short outlook to the application built in Flutter.
Presented at
- Yocto Project Summit 2022.11, virtual, 2022
- buildingIoT, Munich, 2023
Download original slides (Yocto Project Summit) Download updated slides (buildingIoT)
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Beyond the Release: Managing Long-Term Risk and Compliance in Embedded Linux with Yocto
- Anna-Lena Marx
- April 14, 2026
- Embedded , Conferences
The embedded systems of the future will be judged by their long-term resilience and security. For many manufacturers, however, the shift from a product release to continuous lifecycle management is a significant operational hurdle.
Regulations like the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) are formalizing this challenge, demanding ongoing vulnerability management and creating a backdraft of responsibility that impacts the entire supply chain.
This presentation highlights that a robust and reproducible build system is the cornerstone of any sustainable product strategy in this new environment. It will explore how the Yocto Project provides the essential framework for building future-proof and maintainable systems.
The discussion will cover how its architecture enables the critical features needed to manage long-term risk: full-stack patchability for targeted CVE fixes, reproducible builds for maintaining legacy devices, and automated Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) generation for regulatory transparency.
Attendees will gain actionable strategies for implementing lifecycle-aware embedded development and transforming existing product portfolios to meet evolving regulatory requirements.

International Women's Day - Why I wear Yocto Shirts on the Embedded World Exhibition
- Anna-Lena Marx
- March 8, 2024
- Personal , Embedded
Today, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, I’d like to give you an insight on working in Embedded as a woman: Why I’m searching for my best Yocto shirt and the nerdiest hoodie when I’m visiting the Embedded World exhibition.
Let’s go back some years to one of my first Embedded World visits. I was still a student doing my master’s degree in Embedded Systems. EW traditionally invites embedded students from all over Germany and adjacent countries on the third day, the student’s day. Together with some of my fellow students, I joined the trip and was looking forward to seeing new trends, talking to people, but also getting an idea where to apply for a job after finishing. At the exhibition, I started exploring together with some peers. Of course, all male. When going through the exhibition and talking to the people at the booths, I quickly recognized a pattern. The staff talked rather to the boys than to me. Mostly not quite obvious and probably not even on purpose. I think it’s about internalized stereotypes. They probably do not think that much about it, but obviously I was not a technically competent conversational partner to them at first sight, even if I asked the questions. I was an addition, an accompanying person from university or marketing. Mostly it was rather subtle, and I did not recognize it that much as the problem it was in the actual moment. But at some point we reached the Intel booth. I asked a question on something I was really curious about, and the male staff member started explaining to me and the accompanying students. During his talk, he started turning more to the boys until he showed me his back. I got a bit angry and told him directly that I would really like to hear the answer to the question I asked. Ok, bad, but human. So why am I telling this, and why do I mention Intel? Because I believe particularly such large companies should sensitize their employees working on a booth.
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Yocto on the Edge - Unusual challenges when building not so embedded systems
- Anna-Lena Marx
- October 8, 2024
- Embedded , Conferences
Building embedded systems with Yocto on ARM platforms is a common practice, but when the products move further to the edge and become less “embedded,” new challenges arise. In this session, we will explore the requirements and challenges faced when developing Yocto-based systems for edge computing based on Intel.
We will dive into topics such as provisioning x86-based platforms, securely managing Linux user logins on a read-only root file system with enforced password changes, and implementing A/B updates together with secure boot. Real-world project requirements will be used as a guide to discuss practical solutions and best practices for addressing these challenges.
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