Device without most recent OpenWrt release

As I am relatively new to OpenWRT, one question is still in my head.

On my first OpenWRT installations I was able to sysupgrade from 22.03.2 to 22.03.3. That worked well.

Which limitations do I have to expect when I choose a device where 22.03.3 is not yet availabe? I suppose sysupgrade will not be possible at present.

  • Will it be possible to sysupgrade to a snapshot version?
  • If so, will it be be possible to sysupgrade to 22.03.3 at a later point in time, once available?
  • Will it be possible to downgrade if snapshot version turns out unstable for my device?

Some essential questions for me for devices that I plan to use productivly in my homeoffice...

Usually new devices are added in new major versions. So if a device is not included in 22.03.X but there is a snapshot, it may be included in 23.YY.X. You can sysupgrade to that version later from your snapshot.

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What about older devices? Let's take an example.

Ubiquiti EdgeRouter EX-R SFP - 22.03.3
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter 4 - 22.03.2

How can I judge whether the EdgeRouter 4 is just lower on priority list because more expensive and less frequent in the field or considered older and a candidate for phased-out support?

To me it look like 22.03.3 is quite normally available for edgerouter 4

There is no build priority list, or so. The whole release is compiled from the same source tag.

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Okay, cool! I was confused by the device page that presents outdated info.

Not sure, why that is so.
Might be related to the fact that all often devices were disabled for a while.

Cc @tmomas

IIRC, the device info pages require manual or semi-manual updates. Given the sheer number of devices supported by OpenWrt, it is not uncommon for some of the devices to be 'left behind' with respect to out of date info pages, even when they are indeed included in the latest OpenWrt builds.

My go-to solution for this is: https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org -- this is automatic and up-to-date.

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Usually tmomas mass updates them after a release.

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right... and I think this is a somewhat manual process, although I could be wrong... I'm sure @tmomas will clarify. If it is manual or semi-manual, it wouldn't be surprising that some get left out of the info page update process for whatever reasons (likely by mistake/oversight).

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Anyway, I am quite impressed. I already built a custom image using a linux x86 machine in Google Cloud (as I don't have one with this architecture at home).

But I didn't know that on this page I can also add packages to a release build and create a custom image. Chapeau!

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If a devicepage shows a wrong / old release while a new release is already available, simply update the dataentry accordingly.

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Any hints for that situation? Which options exist in this case?

Downgrading is usually pretty straight forward... use the standard sysupgrade process. Just make sure that youdo not keep settings. Reconfigure from scratch.

A backup of your current config can be useful as a human readable reference while you reconfigure... but do not restore a backup from a different version.

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Okay, @psherman, I will then try this procedure.

  • Create config backup for old version
  • Run sysupgrade

In case things go wrong

  • Run sysupgrade to previous version
  • Restore config from previous version

Yes, but do not keep settings (uncheck the "keep settings" box, or use the -n argument if you're using the CLI)

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