Hi,
I have a Cisco C1111-8P and would like, if possible, install OpenWRT to replace the Cisco IOS.
This would be great if this is possible.
How would i go about accomplishing this? If it is at all possible.
Thanks.
Who would i ask for this to be supported?
This Device would really benefit from OpenWRT, brilliant in fact.
You could put in a request in the either the "for developers" section or the new feature requests category. It may or may not actually be possible/supportable, depending on the details of the hardware (i.e. does OpenWrt have support for the main chipset inside the router, among other questions). You will likely either need to be active in gathering details about the device (including boot logs and other technical deep dive details), or you'll need to wait for a developer to be interested and have access to the hardware (maybe you can send one of yours for to a developer for them to work on).
The one staring at you from the bathroom mirror. You're the only one with this hardware, ergo the only one who a) is in a position to actually do the porting work and b) probably has the motivation to actually do so.
There is no one taking suggestions for the next device to port, no one has the time, nor the budget to do so (for the porting, you will need to have the device on your desk, and chances are that it doesn't survive this process (or at least end up in a condition not fit for further usage - think case no longer intact)) - nor even the motivation. The only realistic chance would be trying to do it yourself, maybe you succeed, maybe you don't.
Just in general, these 'enterprise' devices tend to be rather 'specific' and often come with very exotic hardware and/ or custom accelerator engines, which generally doesn't make porting any easier.
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Im not going to post a very expensive piece of Equipment for someone to test, as much as i would want them to do testing, i would have to be with the hardware at the time of testing, its not like buying a simple Router i.e BT HomeHub 5 etc.
Ill put a question to the Developers, im sure the Chipset should be Supported, i guess it depends if OpenWRTs Kernel supports it is the question and would be worth working on as a starting point.
Understandable... then let's quote from @slh :
I wouldn't be so sure about that. Maybe, maybe not. Do you know what chipset it uses?
This is a reason OpenWRT should expand their knowledge, we all know Cisco Devices are of high quality.
I thought id ask the question anyway, never know until you ask.
Datasheet:
Other Datasheet:
This isn't so much about "knowledge" as it is about development work -- time, energy, and money -- to get it working. Many of the developers understand how to do this in principle, but need actual hardware to use for testing. And this whole project is done by volunteers, so unless you want to fund the program so that developers can purchase expensive hardware, you cannot expect the volunteer developers to jump into supporting a device that you happen to be the only one asking about.
Besides, maybe this is an opportunity for you to expand your knowledge and become an OpenmWrt developer.
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Where in that datasheet does it specify the processor/SoC/chipset?
Still looking, its like cisco keeps that part quiet, though found this:
Still looking for the Chipset, might have to oppen the Device up and read all the Chip ID`s, thats if they havent been blanked off.
Ill report tomorrow with Chipset IDs
This pdf only gives a little extra insight
So if the information is not readily available and requires having the expensive hardware in hand (and disassembling it), how do you expect it to be supported by a volunteer open source project??
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OpenWrt only supports what its users care to contribute (in the form of source code), there is no central project lead sitting on tons of money to buy hardware or telling volunteers how to spend their free time (on which hardware). Even in the best of all cases (SOC and drivers already supported, with just relatively little to do), this would take an experienced developer a (very) long and rainy weekend (plus several weeks to polish all up for the submission) - with exotic hardware and/ or new targets, you're looking at months to years of work (by several developers). Just look at ipq807x, hardware is plenty (but relatively expensive - albeit still cheaper than your example), it's been on the market for almost four years now - and is just now almost ready to be merged (and usable, with external forks, for less than 1.5 years of that).
Looking at it from a practical perspective, the C1111-8P seems to sell used for around 500 EUR (cheapest I've seen was 290 EUR, but most offers/ completed sales are above 500, up to early four figures), this hardware would have to be 'really good' to warrant that much money - especially when compared against the bog standard x86_64 competition (e.g. sophos sg2xx and up starting around 100 EUR used or Deciso DEC740 in the 800 EUR range) - which just works, straight out of the packaging, to warrant that kind of attention.
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Curiosity drives a brilliant IT Engineer, not someone who finds things that cannot be accomplished, as the word "Cant" does not exist in the IT World.
There is always a solution, if it not be with OpenWRT, there will be a way to diverse from the Command Line IOS.
Awesome. So I am looking forward to seeing your work developing against this device for openwrt!!
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No, what i will do is find ways that i can provide support to the people who are Experts with OpenWRT to find a way of Compatibility with the Cisco Device i have, and provide me a way to convert from the Cisco IOS if possible and Flash this Device with OpenWRT.
Hey if you have a decent device like this and want to unlock the potential, its worth the investigation , even if in the end it becomes unfeesable to make the transition. Worth the try anyway.
Oh... I'm sorry. I thought you were going to step in and become an OpenWrt developer. I would imagine that you are a brilliant IT engineer who is curious. Therefore, the word "Can't" shouldn't exist in your world.
But wait, maybe it's not that it's something you "can't" do, but rather that you don't have the time and energy to learn how to develop for OpenWrt? You have other things in your life like a full time job (or school), family, social life? Well, in that case, you could provide a device to an existing OpenWrt developer who is willing to undertake development for that device? Oh, but you said that the hardware is too expensive for you to donate to the project? I think you can see where this is going.
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