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Meshtastic on OpenWRT Routers

Warning

Please submit any issues at meshtastic/openwrt, rather than the primary firmware project.

This page outlines the setup of Meshtastic on OpenWRT routers, utilizing the openwrt-repo.

Prerequisites and Hardware Compatibility​

Before proceeding with the setup, ensure the device meets the following requirements:

Tested Devices​

Hardware Compatibility​

  • >2MB free flash storage.
  • An unused USB port, or SPI interface.

Meshtastic OpenWRT packages are built for every CPU architecture supported by OpenWRT.

Supported OpenWRT versions​

  • SNAPSHOT (master)
  • 24.10 (stable)

Installation​

Installing Meshtasticd on OpenWRT​

OpenWRT 24.10 (stable)​

Connect to the router via SSH (ex: ssh root@192.168.1.1)

  1. Add the Meshtastic OpenWRT repository

  2. Install meshtasticd

opkg install meshtasticd
# Optional: install meshtasticd web interface
opkg install meshtasticd-web

meshtasticd can also be installed from the LuCI web interface, after the repo has been added.

OpenWRT SNAPSHOT​

Ensure your router is running the latest SNAPSHOT version of OpenWRT, or install it from https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/

Connect to the router via SSH (ex: ssh root@192.168.1.1)

  1. Add the Meshtastic OpenWRT repository

  2. Install meshtasticd

apk add meshtasticd
# Optional: install meshtasticd web interface
apk add meshtasticd-web

meshtasticd can also be installed from the LuCI web interface, after the repo has been added.

Configuration​

Meshtasticd Configuration​

See Linux Native meshtasticd configuration

Persistence​

  • The persistent .proto db files of the portduino version of meshtasticd are stored under: /srv/meshtasticd/.portduino/default/prefs/.

Using meshtasticd​

Start/Stop​

Upon installing meshtasticd on your router, an init script is automatically created, and set to auto-start upon reboot.

The following commands can be used to control the meshtastic service:

/etc/init.d/meshtasticd status
/etc/init.d/meshtasticd start
/etc/init.d/meshtasticd stop
/etc/init.d/meshtasticd restart

View Logs​

meshtasticd logs are sent to OpenWRT syslog.

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