John Crispin
48c1e36bf2
The rootfs is installed from scratch on every build: apk add, then the post-install and init scripts of every package, one after the other. This takes about 1.5 s, even if no package changed. Build a key from the package index, which holds a hash of every package, the install list, .config, SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH, the files overlay, apk, tar, gzip and the Makefiles that create the rootfs. Save a copy of the rootfs with the key, and restore it from the copy if the key did not change. Later build steps modify the rootfs, so it is always restored from the copy and never reused in place. prepare_rootfs runs tar and gzip over the apk script archive, so the key holds those two host tools as well. With mklibs it also runs rstrip.sh, which the key then holds too. The install list now holds the base-files, libc and kernel versions too, so that the key can use it. Only the APK path uses the cache. The copy costs disk: the build directory carries the root filesystem twice, once as root and root.orig and once in the cache. Signed-off-by: John Crispin <john@phrozen.org>
OpenWrt Project is a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. Instead of trying to create a single, static firmware, OpenWrt provides a fully writable filesystem with package management. This frees you from the application selection and configuration provided by the vendor and allows you to customize the device through the use of packages to suit any application. For developers, OpenWrt is the framework to build an application without having to build a complete firmware around it; for users this means the ability for full customization, to use the device in ways never envisioned.
Sunshine!
Download
Built firmware images are available for many architectures and come with a package selection to be used as WiFi home router. To quickly find a factory image usable to migrate from a vendor stock firmware to OpenWrt, try the Firmware Selector.
If your device is supported, please follow the Info link to see install instructions or consult the support resources listed below.
An advanced user may require additional or specific package. (Toolchain, SDK, ...) For everything else than simple firmware download, try the wiki download page:
Development
To build your own firmware you need a GNU/Linux, BSD or macOS system (case sensitive filesystem required). Cygwin is unsupported because of the lack of a case sensitive file system.
Requirements
You need the following tools to compile OpenWrt, the package names vary between distributions. A complete list with distribution specific packages is found in the Build System Setup documentation.
binutils bzip2 diff find flex gawk gcc-6+ getopt grep install libc-dev libz-dev
make4.1+ perl python3.8+ rsync subversion unzip which
Quickstart
-
Run
./scripts/feeds update -ato obtain all the latest package definitions defined in feeds.conf / feeds.conf.default -
Run
./scripts/feeds install -ato install symlinks for all obtained packages into package/feeds/ -
Run
make menuconfigto select your preferred configuration for the toolchain, target system & firmware packages. -
Run
maketo build your firmware. This will download all sources, build the cross-compile toolchain and then cross-compile the GNU/Linux kernel & all chosen applications for your target system.
Related Repositories
The main repository uses multiple sub-repositories to manage packages of
different categories. All packages are installed via the OpenWrt package
manager called opkg. If you're looking to develop the web interface or port
packages to OpenWrt, please find the fitting repository below.
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LuCI Web Interface: Modern and modular interface to control the device via a web browser.
-
OpenWrt Packages: Community repository of ported packages.
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OpenWrt Routing: Packages specifically focused on (mesh) routing.
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OpenWrt Video: Packages specifically focused on display servers and clients (Xorg and Wayland).
Support Information
For a list of supported devices see the OpenWrt Hardware Database
Documentation
Support Community
- Forum: For usage, projects, discussions and hardware advise.
- Support Chat: Channel
#openwrton oftc.net.
Developer Community
- Bug Reports: Report bugs in OpenWrt
- Dev Mailing List: Send patches
- Dev Chat: Channel
#openwrt-develon oftc.net.
License
OpenWrt is licensed under GPL-2.0