"Update Available" notification feed (is there one?)

Hi everyone,
I am new to Open-WRT and I am thinking about buying a new router with Open WRT. My current favourite is GL.inet Spitz, GL-X750 v2 as I need a built in LTE modem (found here: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/4g-lte-router-recommendation/27053/23)

I am interested in keeping my (to be) OpenWRT installation up to date "automatically".
I read in forum that there is no auto-update feature and there are reasons for it. I stumbled across a long forum thread and in there I found a quote which I really liked:

Personally.... something like an RSS feed checkbox on RELEASE images, that displays a SECURITY FIX notification in LUCI.... ( which could possibly be extended to per device "autopatch" opt in scripts ) is enough from where I stand. If a user is unable to check this every few weeks / months and reflash / mitigate at an APPROPRIATE time of day, then they really shouldn't be flashing firmware - setting up services in the first place.

I'd really like that. Does something like that exist? Maybe there is a mailing list which sends out a message only once a new stable or security patch has been released? I have no problem with having to update and reinstall my packages manually. I am just looking for a way to get notified automatically.

Is there a machine readable "feed" which lists the current version (security patch) of OpenWRT?
I have snooped around a little and found some possible sources:

  1. Forum Release Notes:
    https://forum.openwrt.org/c/announcements/14

  2. Download listing:
    https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/

  3. Git tags:
    https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=summary

My ideal solution would be something where I can just enter my email address and whenever a new stable or security relevant release comes out it sends me a message.

Thank you for reading.

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If you look at the bottom of OpenWrt 21.02.1 First service release, you will see the notification channels that have been setup for this purpose.

You can receive release announcements via Discourse with the bell icon in the topic view for the Release and security announcement category (I use "Watching first post"), or you can sign up for the mailing list at https://lists.openwrt.org/mailman/listinfo/openwrt-announce.

If you really want machine-readable data, you should be able to consume the tagged releases via https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/tags.atom.

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if you have basic requirements (preferably also on a stable release)... you should now be able to leverage auc for all of the gruntwork which substantially reduces any code you'd need for this...

opkg install auc

################## notify
auc ... && msmtp ...
################## just upgrade
auc ... && auc ...
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Thank you for your quick reply and the links.
Especially the "low-volume mailing list for important announcements" seems like a good fit for me.
https://lists.openwrt.org/mailman/listinfo/openwrt-announce "

Thank you for the hint with "auc" :slight_smile:
I don't (yet) know what "auc" is (currently looking into https://openwrt.org/packages/pkgdata/auc).

I am curious though. Is opkg development related to OpenWRT? The source seems separate but the package repo is hosted under an OpenWRT domain? Or is OpenWRT just mainting one (of many) openpkg repos? I assume the latter is the case.

if i understand what you are asking right...

github / openwrt / packages ( routing / telephony )

is for non-core packages... where they are non-essential to basic router function and/or benefit from wider development input... ( it comes down to source management objectives and sharing )

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Ah okay, so the OpenWRT opkg packages are just part of the git repo and are also maintained there. Thank you.

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Thanks for that. auc looks great. Can you clue me in what switches I'd use for auc to make notification of new releases work?

auc ... && msmtp ...

You may wish to make a new thread for your inquiry (i.e. a thread that existed after AUC was created).

EDIT: Also - you may wish to reply in the future - to someone who still has an account (anon means the account is deleted).

1 Like