OpenWrt Build Helper Scripts

Overview

This repository contains shell scripts that streamline preparing, configuring, and building OpenWrt from source on Debian/Ubuntu systems (x86_64 and ARM64). It also includes convenience utilities to manage package selections, fetch a device's official configuration, and add external LuCI packages.

What’s included

• prepare-openwrt-env.sh

  • Installs the build dependencies listed by the official OpenWrt build system guide.
  • Supports apt (Debian/Ubuntu/Mint), dnf/yum (Fedora/RHEL/Rocky/Alma), pacman (Arch/Manjaro), zypper (openSUSE) and apk (Alpine).
  • Probes each package against the running release and skips the ones that no longer exist, so a renamed or dropped package cannot abort the whole install.
  • Handles x86_64 and ARM64 differences (native vs. cross multilib).
  • Options: -y/--yes (no prompt), -n/--dry-run (only print), --with-go (also install the Go toolchain).

• prepare-openwrt.sh

  • Clones or updates the OpenWrt source repo in the top-level openwrt/ root.
  • Lets you select a stable tag, a release branch, or the snapshot (main) interactively, or non-interactively via flags.
  • Uses the script location as the source of truth, so running it from another current working directory is supported.
  • On first run from a helper checkout, relocates that checkout to openwrt/helper/ and leaves a symlink behind at the old path.
  • Prints a plan and asks for confirmation; nothing on disk is touched before you confirm.
  • Uses a partial clone (--filter=blob:none) by default, so the first fetch is far smaller than full history.
  • Resumes automatically if a previous run was interrupted.
  • Updates feeds and runs make defconfig.
  • Options: --stable [<ver>], --branch <name>, --snapshot, -y/--yes, -n/--dry-run, -f/--force, --full-clone, --allow-rc, --root <dir>, --skip-feeds, --skip-defconfig, --repo-url <url>, --no-compat-link, -h/--help.

• add-external-repos.sh

  • Clones or updates additional package repositories into package/.
  • Currently includes luci-app-netspeedtest and luci-app-easytier (adjust REPOS as needed).

• download-config.sh

  • Downloads config.buildinfo for a device and installs it as .config.
  • Looks the device up in the official index, so any supported device can be picked by name; nothing is hardcoded. Use --device <id> for non-interactive runs.
  • By default builds only the selected device instead of every model in the target, and turns off the buildbot flags (ALL_KMODS, ALL_NONSHARED, SDK, IB, MAKE_TOOLCHAIN, COLLECT_KERNEL_DEBUG, AUTOREMOVE). Neither changes the firmware contents — see "Buildbot flags" below.
  • Downloads to a temp file and validates it before touching .config, and keeps a .config.download.bak.
  • Prints the official sysupgrade/factory URLs (taken from profiles.json, so they are always correct) and a Firmware Selector link.

• gen-package-list.sh

  • Builds a device's complete package list: the built-in part from the official profiles.json (default_packages + device_packages + the packages the Firmware Selector adds), combined with your own packages from packages/<device-id>.txt.
  • The built-in part never has to be copied by hand for a new release, and your packages are version independent — a new release needs no file changes at all.
  • Writes the combined list to .generated/ (not kept in git); --apply applies it straight to .config, --full-stdout just prints it.

• add-openwrt-packages.sh

  • Applies a package list to .config: ##built-in → =y, ##module → =m, ##remove or a -pkg prefix → =n.
  • Rewrites existing CONFIG_PACKAGE_ lines in place, so repeated runs do not grow .config.
  • Verifies each package against tmp/.config-package.in and tmp/.packageinfo and reports missing ones.
  • After make defconfig it reports any package whose final state differs from what you asked for (a dependency pulling a removed package back in, for example).

• update-go-path.sh

  • Detects the latest Go installation under /usr/lib/go-* and sets CONFIG_GOLANG_EXTERNAL_BOOTSTRAP_ROOT in .config.

• OS: Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora/RHEL, Arch, openSUSE or Alpine (the other scripts are developed and tested on Debian/Ubuntu)

• Architectures: x86_64/amd64 and aarch64/arm64

• Tools: git, wget, curl, bash, python3 (used to read the official JSON indexes; jq is not required)

• Internet access for feeds and package downloads

• Optional: Go (required by some OpenWrt packages; install it with ./prepare-openwrt-env.sh --with-go; configurable via update-go-path.sh)

• Note: with the default partial clone, switching to another tag or branch later fetches missing blobs on demand and therefore needs network access

Quick start

1. Prepare the host machine

• Run: ./prepare-openwrt-env.sh
• This installs compilers, headers, Python tooling, and other build prerequisites.
• Preview without touching the system: ./prepare-openwrt-env.sh -n

2. Get OpenWrt sources

• Run: ./prepare-openwrt.sh
• Choose a stable tag, a release branch, or the snapshot.
• Non-interactive: ./prepare-openwrt.sh --stable 25.12.5 -y
• Preview only, changes nothing: ./prepare-openwrt.sh --stable -n
• The script:
  • Reuses or creates the top-level OpenWrt root at ./openwrt.
  • Moves this helper checkout to ./openwrt/helper on first run.
  • Updates/install feeds and runs make defconfig.

3. Add optional external packages

• From the OpenWrt root:
  • ./helper/add-external-repos.sh
• This pulls extra LuCI packages into package/.

4. Import a device config (optional but convenient)

• From the OpenWrt root:
  • ./helper/download-config.sh
• Search for your device by name, or run it non-interactively:
  • ./helper/download-config.sh --device linksys_mx8500 -y
• Add --with-packages to also generate the device's package list in the same run.
• Preview without changing anything: ./helper/download-config.sh --device linksys_mx8500 -n

5. Enable additional packages (optional)

• Your own packages live in helper/packages/<device-id>.txt, one file per device, independent of the OpenWrt version.
• Apply the built-in list plus your packages in one step:
  • ./helper/gen-package-list.sh --device linksys_mx8500 --apply
• Or write the combined list out first and review it before applying:
  • ./helper/gen-package-list.sh --device linksys_mx8500
  • ./helper/add-openwrt-packages.sh helper/.generated/packages_linksys_mx8500_.txt

Adding a device

1. ./helper/gen-package-list.sh --device <id> --init-extras — creates packages/<id>.txt
2. Edit packages/<id>.txt and list the packages you want on top of the defaults
3. ./helper/gen-package-list.sh --device <id> --apply

Use ./helper/download-config.sh without --device to search for the id by name.

Upgrading to a new OpenWrt release

Nothing to edit. Check out the new version, then:

./helper/download-config.sh --device <id> -y
./helper/gen-package-list.sh --device <id> --apply -y

The built-in list is re-fetched for the new release and your packages/<id>.txt is reused as is.

Files

• packages/<device-id>.txt — your packages, one file per device, kept in git and edited by hand.
• .generated/ — combined package lists and saved buildinfo. Build artefacts, not kept in git.

Package list format

Used by both packages/<device-id>.txt and the generated lists:

curl yq luci-app-ttyd      packages, any number per line, set to =y
-luci-app-wol              a leading '-' removes a package (=n)
##module                   packages after this are set to =m
##remove                   packages after this are set to =n
##built-in                 back to =y (the default)
pkg  # note                text after a single '#' is a comment

Buildbot flags

The official config.buildinfo is the buildbot's own configuration: it enables every model in the target and sets ALL_KMODS / ALL_NONSHARED / SDK / IB / MAKE_TOOLCHAIN / COLLECT_KERNEL_DEBUG / AUTOREMOVE. For a Linksys MX8500 that means 1248 extra module packages plus the SDK, ImageBuilder and a toolchain tarball on every build. download-config.sh turns these off by default. This was verified not to change the firmware: the set of packages built into the image (=y) is identical either way — 193 packages before and after. The trade-off is that bin/ no longer contains prebuilt packages for modules you did not select, so you cannot later install an arbitrary kmod from your own build output. Use --keep-buildbot-flags to restore upstream behaviour, and --all-profiles to build every model in the target.

6. Configure Go bootstrap path (if needed)

• From the OpenWrt root:

  • ./helper/update-go-path.sh

• This sets CONFIG_GOLANG_EXTERNAL_BOOTSTRAP_ROOT to the latest /usr/lib/go-X.XX/ found.

• You can override it manually in .config if necessary.

• Ensure telephony feed is installed:

  • ./scripts/feeds update telephony
  • ./scripts/feeds install -a

• Then run:

• Build the package:

• Common commands:

  • make menuconfig
  • make -j$(nproc) download world

• Artifacts will be in bin/ after the build completes.

Script usage notes and tips

• Run locations:
  • prepare-openwrt.sh: resolves paths from the script location, not your current shell directory.
  • prepare-openwrt-env.sh: can be run before the first normalization from the fresh helper checkout.
  • All other helper scripts: run them from inside the OpenWrt source root as ./helper/... unless otherwise indicated.
• Feeds:
  • If a package can’t be found, ensure feeds are updated/installed:
    • ./scripts/feeds update -a && ./scripts/feeds install -a
• Go toolchain:
  • On x86_64, Go is optional unless your selection pulls packages needing Go (e.g., firewall4 in some versions). If needed:
    • sudo apt install golang -y
    • Then use update-go-path.sh to set .config automatically.
• ARM64 multilib:
  • The script installs cross multilib packages for better compatibility, but not all targets need them. If apt errors on specific multilib packages, remove or adjust as appropriate for your environment.

Troubleshooting

• Version detection in download-config.sh:
  • It uses, in order: an explicit --version/--snapshot; the exact tag at HEAD; the branch (main/master → SNAPSHOT, openwrt-XX.YY → the newest matching tag merged into HEAD); otherwise it asks. If HEAD is ahead of the tag it warns that the downloaded config describes the release rather than your tree.
  • If the device symbol does not survive make defconfig, the script stops and tells you the tree does not match that release, and points at the .config.download.bak it kept.
• Missing packages in add-openwrt-packages.sh:
  • It verifies names against tmp/.config-package.in and tmp/.packageinfo. If a package is reported missing, ensure the corresponding feed is enabled in feeds.conf.default and run feeds update/install.
• A removed package (-pkg) comes back after make defconfig:
  • Something else depends on it. The script reports this explicitly as "wanted =n, got =y".
• Permission errors:
  • Scripts use umask 022 and do not require root except when installing apt packages.
• Clean up and rebuild a package:
  • make package//{clean,compile} V=s
• Full rebuild:
  • make clean; make -j$(nproc) download world

Directory behavior

• If you start from a freshly cloned helper checkout at <parent>/<origin_folder>, prepare-openwrt.sh will:
  • Reuse or create <parent>/openwrt/ as the OpenWrt source root.
  • Move the entire helper checkout, including its .git, to <parent>/openwrt/helper/.
  • Initialize or update the OpenWrt source tree directly in <parent>/openwrt/.
  • Leave a symlink at the original checkout path pointing to <parent>/openwrt/helper/, so shells, editors and agent sessions whose working directory is still the old path keep working. Disable with --no-compat-link.
• If you later rerun prepare-openwrt.sh — from openwrt/helper/ or through the symlink at the old path — it reuses the parent openwrt/ directory and does not move anything again.
• The already-relocated layout is detected by content (the OpenWrt tree or its origin remote), not by directory name, so renaming openwrt/ to something else does not trigger a second relocation.
• If a run is interrupted after the repository was created but before the source tree was checked out, the next run detects that state, reports resuming it, and completes. No manual cleanup is needed.
• If the script is already located in a real OpenWrt source root, it treats that directory as the source root and does not relocate it just because the directory name is openwrt.
• Use --root <dir> to point at a different OpenWrt root in any ambiguous situation.

Known hazard: git clean -xdff

helper/ lives inside the OpenWrt Git worktree but is not tracked by it. The script adds /helper/ to openwrt/.git/info/exclude, which keeps git status clean and stops git add -A from staging it — but that does not protect it from git clean -xdff: -x deliberately includes ignored files and -ff removes Git's refusal to recurse into a nested repository. Running git clean -xdff in the OpenWrt root will delete the helper checkout including its .git. Use this instead:

git clean -xdf -e /helper

Security and safety

• Scripts use set -euo pipefail to stop on errors.
• prepare-openwrt.sh backs up .config to .config.<previous-ref>.bak before switching versions, and refuses to switch a tree with modified tracked files unless you pass --force.
• They modify .config and write under package/ and feeds/ inside your OpenWrt tree.
• Backup your .config if you need a known baseline.

License and authorship

• Scripts authored by Zhe Yuan with help from ChatGPT.
• License: MIT (unless you choose a different license; update this line accordingly).