Quickstart Nordic nRF9160

info

The following assumes you already have a Memfault Account. If you don't yet have an account, reach out to us!

tip

You can follow an interactive version of this guide in the Memfault dashboard.

This quickstart guide shows how to integrate and verify the Memfault SDK with the Nordic nRF9160 series SOCs, using the Nordic nRF-Connect SDK (NCS).

Set up the SDK

Enabling Memfault requires adding some Kconfig settings to the application.

Add the following code snippet to the project's prj.conf file (find your Memfault project key here).

prj.conf
# Enable Memfault! 🎉
CONFIG_MEMFAULT=y
CONFIG_MEMFAULT_NCS_PROJECT_KEY="YOUR_PROJECT_KEY"

# Enable the modem info library to allow Memfault to collect LTE metrics
CONFIG_MODEM_INFO=y

# Enable these for testing the integration
CONFIG_SHELL=y
CONFIG_SHELL_BACKEND_SERIAL=y
# Disable the Host AT control of the serial port with CONFIG_AT_HOST_LIBRARY=n,
# so we can access the Zephyr shell for testing.
# Some nRF-Connect SDK examples will override this setting in board-specific
# config files. The easiest way to force it off (other than editing those files)
# is to pass it when running "west build", i.e.:
#  "west build ... -- -DCONFIG_AT_HOST_LIBRARY=n"
CONFIG_AT_HOST_LIBRARY=n

Note: Uploading Memfault data directly from device uses HTTP, which requires enabling TCP, if not already enabled:
CONFIG_NET_TCP=y
For production, data can be routed through an intermediate server if direct device-to-Memfault communication is undesirable, see the guides here.

Perform a full rebuild of the project. This example is building the https_client example in the nRF-Connect SDK:

west build --pristine=always --board nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns@1.0.0 nrf/samples/net/https_client

Flash the board:

west flash --erase

Connect a serial console and confirm the Memfault shell command group is available by running mflt help:

uart:~$ mflt help
mflt - Memfault Test Commands
Subcommands:
  clear_core          : clear coredump collected
  export              : dump chunks collected by Memfault SDK using
                       https://mflt.io/chunk-data-export
  get_core            : check if coredump is stored and present
  get_device_info     : display device information
  get_latest_release  : checks to see if new ota payload is available
  coredump_size       : print coredump computed size and storage capacity
  heartbeat_dump      : dump current Memfault metrics heartbeat state
  post_chunks         : Post Memfault data to cloud
  test                : commands to verify memfault data collection
                       (https://mflt.io/mcu-test-commands)

If you encounter configuration or other build errors, please contact us!

Hello, Memfault!

To start sending data to Memfault:

Upload the build/zephyr/zephyr.elf file to Memfault by navigating to Software → Symbol Files, and clicking the "Upload Symbol File" button.

Screenshot of the Upload Symbol File button

tip
If there are code changes, make sure to always upload the Symbol file before sending data to Memfault.
Verify your connectivity – make sure the application is connecting to LTE after startup, and stays connected. In nRF-Connect SDK v2.6.0 and later, this is normally done using the conn_mgr_all_if_up() and conn_mgr_all_if_connect() high level functions.

The connection manager requires the following Kconfig flags (these are likely already set in your application):
```
CONFIG_NET_CONNECTION_MANAGER=y

# At least one of the following (a dependency of the connection manager)
CONFIG_NET_IPV4=y
CONFIG_NET_IPV6=y
```
Once the board is connected, use the mflt post_chunks command to verify data can be successfully sent to Memfault. Any errors will show in the console log. No errors means that data was posted successfully!
```
uart:~$ mflt post_chunks
[00:05:24.401,428] <inf> mflt: Posting Memfault Data
```
Check the Reboot Event. In the sidebar, navigate to Integration Hub → Processing Log. Look for the reboot event just uploaded from mflt post_chunks – it should look something like this:

Screenshot of the Processing Log

Investigate a Crash

Trigger a crash using the Memfault Zephyr Shell commands:

uart:~$ mflt test assert
[00:00:25.440,000] <err> os: ***** USAGE FAULT *****
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os:   Attempt to execute undefined instruction
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os: r0/a1:  0x00008001  r1/a2:  0x20002218  r2/a3:  0x20007348
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os: r3/a4:  0x0000f321 r12/ip:  0x00013edb r14/lr:  0x00007a3d
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os:  xpsr:  0x21000000
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os: r4/v1:  0x00000000  r5/v2:  0x00000001  r6/v3:  0x00013edb
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os: r7/v4:  0x20002228  r8/v5:  0x200022a8  r9/v6:  0x00010de0
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os: r10/v7: 0x00000002  r11/v8: 0x00000000    psp:  0x200021f8
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os: EXC_RETURN: 0xfffffffd
[00:00:25.450,000] <err> os: Faulting instruction address (r15/pc): 0x00007a3c

Once the device reboots and connects to LTE, upload the data with the mflt post_chunks command.
Navigate back to the Processing Log, and confirm that a coredump was received. It can take up to 5 minutes for the coredump to appear:

Screenshot of the Processing Log showing a received coredump
In the Sidebar, navigate to the Issues page and see the coredump once it processes:

Screenshot of the Issue List
Click on its title to go through to the Trace view, and see details of the coredump:

Screenshot of the Issue Detail view

Monitor the Fleet

Heartbeat Metrics are automatically collected by the Memfault SDK on an hourly interval. To verify metrics are working, trigger a Heartbeat and upload the data:

Run mflt test heartbeat and mflt post_chunks to trigger and upload the heartbeat:

uart:~$ mflt test heartbeat
Triggering heartbeat
uart:~$ mflt post_chunks
[00:08:33.717,437] <inf> mflt: Posting Memfault Data

Navigate to the Processing Log, and confirm the heartbeat appears. This can take up to 5 minutes.

Screenshot of the Processing Log showing a received heartbeat report
Click on Dashboards → Metrics, and inspect the aggregate metric charts (you may need to refresh the charts using the icon in the bottom left corner of each chart):

Screenshot of a dashboard card LTE time to connect graph

tip
Make sure the matching Symbol File was uploaded before uploading the Heartbeat data! The Processing Log will show an error if the symbol was missing. To fix it, upload the symbol file, and re-run the steps above.

Examine a Device

Make sure that all the data you've uploaded so far is appearing on your Device's details page.

Note: this step should be run after a Heartbeat is uploaded in "Monitor the Fleet".

Navigate to the Fleet → Devices page, and select the device reporting in to view its Device Timeline.
Click on the sample in the Timeline to inspect the uploaded Heartbeat record. It should look something like this:

Screenshot of the device timeline
Click on the Traces tab to see the Trace you uploaded earlier:

Screenshot of traces tab
Click on the Reboots tab to see the Reboot you uploaded earlier:

Screenshot of reboots tab

Testing OTA

Memfault recommends testing OTA as part of quick-start only if your device has already enabled MCUBoot and Nordic FOTA. Follow these instructions to test OTA with Memfault.

To get started, first make sure the necessary Kconfig settings are enabled:

# The subsystems we need so OTA payloads can be written to
# flash and updated by MCUBoot
CONFIG_DFU_TARGET=y
CONFIG_DFU_TARGET_MCUBOOT=y
CONFIG_IMG_MANAGER=y
CONFIG_FLASH=y
CONFIG_IMG_ERASE_PROGRESSIVELY=y

# For Memfault FOTA, we will use the FOTA_DOWNLOAD API's
# from the nRF Connect SDK which depends on the DOWNLOAD_CLIENT
CONFIG_FOTA_DOWNLOAD=y
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT=y

# Memfault requires the HTTP fragment size to be set to 1024 bytes
# or less when using the nRF91 modem.
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_HTTP_FRAG_SIZE_1024=y

# Enable printing of file download progress to console
CONFIG_FOTA_DOWNLOAD_PROGRESS_EVT=y
CONFIG_MEMFAULT_FOTA=y
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_MAX_FILENAME_SIZE=400
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_STACK_SIZE=1600

Perform a full rebuild to pick up the new settings:

west build --pristine=always --board nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns@1.0.0 nrf/samples/net/https_client

Flash the board, and using the mflt_nrf get_latest_url command, confirm that an OTA check can be performed:

uart:~$ mflt_nrf get_latest_url
[00:00:25.525,970] ‹err> mflt: Unable to fetch OTA url, rv=0

Navigate to the Processing Log and confirm the OTA check event was recorded:

Screenshot of a Processing Log showing a OTA check for update event received

note

The Processing Log is a great place to start when testing any device operation that interacts with Memfault.

Now rebuild the firmware with a newer Software Version, using these Kconfig settings:

CONFIG_MEMFAULT_NCS_FW_VERSION_STATIC=y
# The default version will look like "0.0.1+c85ef3". This version is
# set to "newer" (higher precedence) to trigger an OTA.
CONFIG_MEMFAULT_NCS_FW_VERSION="0.0.2"

Navigate to the Software → OTA Releases page, create a new Release named 0.0.2, and click "Add OTA Payload to Release" to upload the build/zephyr/app_update.bin OTA payload:

Deploy the Release by going to the Fleet → Cohorts page, clicking the ✏️ icon in the Release column, and activating the 0.0.2 Release we just created

Use the mflt_nrf get_latest_url command on the device to check that the OTA is activated:

# If not OTA is available, rv=0
uart:~$ mflt_nrf get_latest_url
uart:~$ [00:02:35.962,371] <err> mflt: Unable to fetch OTA url, rv=0
# After activating the OTA, a payload URL is returned
uart:~$ mflt_nrf get_latest_url
Download URL: 'https://ota-cdn.memfault.com/693/130/14605210130?token=1K0Di8MzovgDIJxyO7Z09olIjD_d5_Uj3278KO1gCaA&expires=1714172400'

Use the mflt_nrf fota command to execute the OTA:

# The FOTA client will try a sequence of TLS certs during the download,
# so there may be "Unable to connect, errno 114" responses, these are
# normal.

uart:~$ mflt_nrf fota
[00:03:00.426,910] <inf> mflt: Checking for FOTA
uart:~$ [00:03:02.689,514] <inf> mflt: FOTA Update Available. Starting Download!
[00:03:02.690,338] <inf> download_client: Downloading: https://ota-cdn.memfault.com/693/130/14605211234?token=1K0Di8MzovgDIJxyO7Z09olIjD_d5_Uj3278KO1gCaA&expires=1714172400 [0]
[00:03:02.690,399] <inf> mflt: FOTA In Progress
[00:03:02.900,024] <inf> download_client: Setting up TLS credentials, sec tag count 3
[00:03:02.900,146] <inf> download_client: Connecting to 2400:52e0:1a00::718:1
[00:03:02.900,360] <err> download_client: Unable to connect, errno 114
[00:03:03.006,317] <inf> download_client: Setting up TLS credentials, sec tag count 3
[00:03:03.006,439] <inf> download_client: Connecting to 169.150.236.100
[00:03:04.660,308] <inf> download_client: Downloaded 1024/250791 bytes (0%)
[00:03:05.184,417] <inf> download_client: Downloaded 2048/250791 bytes (0%)
[00:03:05.411,560] <inf> download_client: Downloaded 3072/250791 bytes (1%)
...
[00:04:17.788,665] <inf> download_client: Downloaded 248832/250791 bytes (99%)
*** Booting nRF Connect SDK d96769faceca ***
I: Starting bootloader

After the update downloads and installs, the board will reboot. Use the mflt get_device_info command to check the new version was installed:

uart:~$ mflt get_device_info
[00:00:09.159,088] <inf> mflt: S/N: 352656106683967
[00:00:09.159,149] <inf> mflt: SW type: nrf91ns-fw
[00:00:09.159,210] <inf> mflt: SW version: 0.0.2
[00:00:09.159,271] <inf> mflt: HW version: nrf9160dk

Set up the SDK​

Hello, Memfault!​

Investigate a Crash​

Monitor the Fleet​

Examine a Device​

Testing OTA​