Contents
1. Official packages
The official packages are supported by OpenWrt and are known to work on the latest stable White Russian release (those repositories here are not for kamikaze). Please use the official packages whenever possible. The /etc/ipkg.conf file should have these lines:
src whiterussian http://downloads.openwrt.org/whiterussian/packages src non-free http://downloads.openwrt.org/whiterussian/packages/non-free
TIP: If you copy & paste this into your /etc/ipkg.conf file, make sure that you don't get a trailing space. If you do, ipkg update will look like it's updating but files will not be created in /usr/lib/ipkg/lists.
2. Backports
Some useful packages have been backported from the development branch (trunk) to White Russian. See the RC6 00-README file for more details.
To use the packages from the backports repository edit /etc/ipkg.conf and add:
src backports http://downloads.openwrt.org/backports/0.9
Now run ipkg update and you will see new packages.
3. Third party packages
Third party packages are untested and unsupported by OpenWrt, and no warranties are made about their safety or usefulness. That said, you will find most third-party packages quite fine. Please get support for third-party packages from the maintainers of those packages, not the OpenWrt developers.
3.1. webif^2: Enhanced HTTP management console
webif2 is a new HTTP based management console for White Russian, and soon Kamikaze. It is part of the X-Wrt project to enhance the end user experience of OpenWrt.
It offers a large number of new features and is constantly being improved. Some of the many things it offers are:
- Firewall configuration
- QoS configuration
- DHCP/Dnsmasq configuration
- File editor/browser
- CPU and traffic graphs (SVG)
- Installable themes.
- Etherwake/Wake-On-LAN support
- Hotspot management
- Wireless site surveys
- Too much to possibly list...
3.2. Optware
Large collection of packages (600+) for routers with external storage (USB, IDE) provided by nslu2 project. All packages are installed into /opt directory. Optware features system independent uClibc library and own /opt/bin/ipkg packaging system.
Optware consists of many perl and python packages. There is also complete native toolchain (optware-devel meta-package) for compiling software on router itself.
Optware runs on X-Wrt and OpenWRT RC6 firmwares with Broadcom processors (mipsel). This mainly covers Asus wireless routers with USB2 port for external hard disk attachment; Linksys WRTSL54GS is also supported.
See ddwrt package feed for complete listing.
Information and installation instructions
3.3. uPnP
uPnP is Universal Plug and Play.
Since many users require UPNP, it has been made available in the X-Wrt repository through the miniupnpd package. This package has also been added to Kamikaze.
Documentation and the background of uPnP can be found at OpenWrtDocs/upnp, though it primarily describes the linux-igd UPNPd.
3.4. CUPS - Printing system with spooling
You can't print a testpage on the local cups, because this would need to have ghostscript installed on your embedded system.
If you have a special Postscript Printer Description (ppd) file for your printer, copy it to /usr/share/cups/model/ and restart cupsd. Cups will install it in /etc/cups/ppd and you can choose it via the web interface. (192.168.1.1:631)
If you have problems with permissions, try to change /etc/cups/cupsd.conf to fit your local TCP/IP network:
<Location /> Order Deny,Allow Deny From All Allow from 127.0.0.1 Allow from 192.168.1.0/24 #your ip area. </Location>
MacOS X tip: Configure your extended printer settings. If you use the standard printer settings and add an IPP printer, MacOS X will add after the server adress /ipp . But this class etc. does not exist on your cupsd.
3.5. ether-wake/wol - Wake on LAN
If you have trouble using wol to wake up your PC ...
make sure you enabled WOL for your NIC with ethtool before shutting down your PC.
- play around with wol options. It seems like wol (v 0.7.1) sends the magic packet out your default gateway (WAN) if you just use wol x:x:x:x:x:x. You need to specify the subnet and port to make it work, e.g.: wol -p 65535 -h 192.168.1.255 x:x:x:x:x:x
- give ether-wake a try. Since ether-wake uses an ethernet frame instead of an UDP packet it might be what you're looking for.
Also check out the wiki document Wake-On-LAN.
3.6. srelay - socks proxy
There is a socks proxy available for OpenWrt, it is called srelay (Find via the package tracker). However, there is no documentation for this package. So, here is a quick guide:
Srelay comes with a configuration file: /etc/srelay.conf. It has some examples, but basically you will want to do this:
192.168.1.0/24 any -
This should give every computer in the 192.168.1.0 subnet access to srelay while keeping everything else out.
Another interpretation about the config file is that it configures proxy chaining. You can specify what the next proxy hop should be for a specific destination. If you want srelay to directly connect to any destination you can use a config file like this:
# destination port range next-hop/port 0.0.0.0 any
Then start srelay: srelay -c /etc/srelay.conf -r -s. Find out more about the available options with srelay -h.
Keep in mind that this information was found using trial-and-error-methods, so it might still be faulty or have unwanted side effects.
3.7. SEMS
The SIP Express Media Server is a free, high performance, extensible media server for SIP based VoIP services.
You can register your router to a SIP registrar (e.g. some service), have it send voicemail, host conferences, play announcements, do auto-attendant etc.
A short Readme is available, and packages can be found here http://ftp.iptel.org/pub/sems/openwrt/.
4. Other
Some third-party can be searched for via http://www.ipkg.be/.
ShorewallHowTo has instructions on how to use the Shorewall firewall configuration package with OpenWrt.
5. Building your own packages
To build your own packages for OpenWrt use the SDK, see BuildingPackagesHowTo.