This script was written to help aid the confusing upgrade path for people running OpenWrt on an x86 machine.
The script is very much a WIP, and at best an alpha release at this point!
There are practically no checks, minimal backups created, and no guarantee of success!
- An x86 machine running OpenWrt
- Main drive > 256 Mb
- Main drive split into at least 3 partitions
The 256 Mb drive requirement is a bit ridiculous, I know, but it's to make my next point. You'll need a /boot partition (16 Mb by default), and two others > 100 Mb each. For example, I have a 128 Gb drive, split like this:
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 119.2G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 16M 0 part
├─sda2 8:2 0 10G 0 part
├─sda3 8:3 0 10G 0 part /
└─sda4 8:4 0 99.2G 0 part /optHere, sda1 is the boot drive (containing the kernels), sda2 and sda3 are my OpenWrt root filesystem partitions, and sda4 (optional) is simply the 'rest' of the drive which I mount to /opt to keep certain files between upgrades.
The script is (currently) only designed to work with your boot partition on sda1, and two OpenWrt partitions on sda2 and sda3. Partitions sda4+ are not used by the script. If you have anything else on sda2 or sda3, this script will not work for you in its current state!
You have been warned.
- Download the script to your x86 based OpenWrt router
- Ensure the script has "execute" permissions (
chmod +x openwrt-x86-upgrade-script.sh) - Run the script.
At one point it will ask you if you want to continue with the upgrade process. From that point on, the changes are not currently reversible.
If possible, make a full backup of the disk of your OpenWrt x86 router box. Then, use the backup to create a virtual machine, and test the script on the VM first. If everything goes well, use it on your main router. At least you'll have some idea how it functions!
While I could write about the script here, I decided to turn it into a blog post here.