I tried searching on the forum for something along the same lines and I want to do, but the results I was able to pull up all seem to be about compiling custom firmware.
I have 10 WS-AP3825i, instead of installing firmware and upgrading each then customizing, can I copy the firmware from a completed one and use that as part of the install process?
Thank you!
Copying the firmware data verbatim from one device to the next is a recipe for creating bricks and/or other issues, even if the devices are nominally the same.
Instead, what you can do is include the customizations (such as addresses and interface configurations, firewall adjustments, DHCP tweaks, and the like) as values that will be used at the firstboot (first time booting after a fresh install or reset-to-defaults). So for example, if you want to change the lan address on a fleet of devices that are maybe CPEs, you'd just include the UCI command to change the address.
See the custom files section of this doc:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/additional-software/imagebuilder#custom_files
Depending on the details, you can also often do similar things with the online firmware selector customized images.
Check out OpenWISP? In principle you can edit config backup tarball with at least /etc/config/network, but for 10 devices you will make 1-2 mistakes and make easy project into long repairs.