OpenWrt Backend

The OpenWrt backend allows to generate OpenWrt compatible configurations.

Note

This backend purposely generates only named UCI blocks.

UCI stands for Unified Configuration Interface and it is the default configuration system installed on OpenWrt.

Important

OpenWrt introduced a new syntax for defining interfaces in OpenWrt 21. By default, the netjsonconfig library generates configuration in the new syntax. If you want to generate configuration in the legacy syntax (OpenWrt <=19), then set dsa=False while instantiating object of netjsonconfig.OpenWrt class.

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

o = OpenWrt(
    config={
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "eth0",
                "type": "ethernet",
                "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv4"}],
            }
        ]
    },
    dsa=False,  # This will generate configuration in legacy syntax
)

The examples present in this documentation only demonstrates configuration in new syntax. Refer older documentation versions to check examples of old syntax.

Initialization

OpenWrt.__init__(config=None, native=None, templates=None, context=None, dsa=True)[source]

Parameters:

config – dict containing a valid NetJSON configuration dictionary
native – str or file object representing a native configuration that will be parsed and converted to a NetJSON configuration dictionary
templates – list containing NetJSON configuration dictionaries that will be used as a base for the main config
context – dict containing configuration variables
dsa – bool flag to switch between OpenWrt configuration syntax. True generates configuration in OpenWrt >21 syntax. False generates configuration in OpenWrt <= 19 syntax.

Raises:

TypeError – raised if config is not of type dict or if templates is not of type list

If you are unsure about the meaning of the initalization parameters, read about the following basic concepts:

NetJSON configuration dictionary

Backend

Template

Context (configuration variables)

Initialization example (forward conversion):

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

router = OpenWrt({"general": {"hostname": "HomeRouter"}})

Initialization example (backward conversion):

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

router = OpenWrt(native=open("./openwrt-config.tar.gz"))

Render method

OpenWrt.render(files=True)

Converts the configuration dictionary into the corresponding configuration format

Parameters:: files – whether to include “additional files” in the output or not; defaults to True
Returns:: string with output

Code example:

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "eth0.1",
                "type": "ethernet",
                "addresses": [
                    {
                        "address": "192.168.1.2",
                        "gateway": "192.168.1.1",
                        "mask": 24,
                        "proto": "static",
                        "family": "ipv4",
                    },
                    {
                        "address": "192.168.2.1",
                        "mask": 24,
                        "proto": "static",
                        "family": "ipv4",
                    },
                    {
                        "address": "fd87::2",
                        "gateway": "fd87::1",
                        "mask": 64,
                        "proto": "static",
                        "family": "ipv6",
                    },
                ],
            }
        ]
    }
)
print(o.render())

Will return the following output:

package network

config interface 'eth0_1'
        option gateway '192.168.1.1'
        option ifname 'eth0.1'
        option ip6addr 'fd87::2/64'
        option ip6gw 'fd87::1'
        list ipaddr '192.168.1.2/24'
        list ipaddr '192.168.2.1/24'
        option proto 'static'

Generate method

OpenWrt.generate()

Returns a BytesIO instance representing an in-memory tar.gz archive containing the native router configuration.

Returns:: in-memory tar.gz archive, instance of BytesIO

Example:

import tarfile
from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "eth0",
                "type": "ethernet",
                "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv4"}],
            }
        ]
    }
)
stream = o.generate()
print(stream)
# <_io.BytesIO object at 0x7fd2287fb410>
tar = tarfile.open(fileobj=stream, mode="r:gz")
print(tar.getmembers())
# [<TarInfo 'etc/config/network' at 0x7fd228790250>]

As you can see from this example, the generate method does not write to disk, but returns an instance of io.BytesIO which contains a tar.gz file object with the following file structure:

/etc/config/network

The configuration archive can then be written to disk, served via HTTP or uploaded directly on the OpenWrt router where it can be finally “restored” with sysupgrade:

sysupgrade -r <archive>

Note that sysupgrade -r does not apply the configuration, to do this you have to reload the services manually or reboot the router.

Note

the generate method intentionally sets the timestamp of the tar.gz archive and its members to 0 in order to facilitate comparing two different archives: setting the timestamp would infact cause the checksum to be different each time even when contents of the archive are identical.

Write method

OpenWrt.write(name, path='./')

Like generate but writes to disk.

Parameters:

name – file name, the tar.gz extension will be added automatically
path – directory where the file will be written to, defaults to ./

Returns:

None

Example:

import tarfile
from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "eth0",
                "type": "ethernet",
                "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv4"}],
            }
        ]
    }
)
o.write("dhcp-router", path="/tmp/")

Will write the configuration archive in /tmp/dhcp-router.tar.gz.

Parse method

OpenWrt.parse(native): Parses a native configuration and converts it to a NetJSON configuration dictionary

This method is automatically called when initializing the backend with the native argument:

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

router = OpenWrt(native=open("./openwrt-config.tar.gz"))

The argument passed to native can be a string containing a dump obtained via uci export, or a file object (real file or BytesIO instance) representing a configuration archive in tar.gz format typically used in OpenWrt.

JSON method

OpenWrt.json(validate=True, *args, **kwargs)

returns a string formatted as NetJSON DeviceConfiguration; performs validation before returning output;

*args and *kwargs will be passed to json.dumps;

Returns:: string

Code example:

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

router = OpenWrt({"general": {"hostname": "HomeRouter"}})
print(router.json(indent=4))
# {
#     "type": "DeviceConfiguration",
#     "general": {
#         "hostname": "HomeRouter"
#     }
# }

General settings

The general settings reside in the general key of the configuration dictionary, which follows the NetJSON General object definition (see the link for the detailed specification).

Currently only the hostname option is processed by this backend.

General object extensions

In addition to the default NetJSON General object options, the OpenWrt backend also supports the following custom options:

key name	type	function
`timezone`	string	one of the allowed timezone values (first element of each tuple)

General settings example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "general": {
        "hostname": "routerA",
        "timezone": "UTC",
        "ula_prefix": "fd8e:f40a:6701::/48",
    }
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package system

config system 'system'
        option hostname 'routerA'
        option timezone 'UTC'
        option zonename 'UTC'

package network

config globals 'globals'
        option ula_prefix 'fd8e:f40a:6701::/48'

Network interfaces

The network interface settings reside in the interfaces key of the configuration dictionary, which must contain a list of NetJSON interface objects (see the link for the detailed specification).

There are 4 main types of interfaces:

network interfaces: may be of type ethernet, virtual, loopback or other
wireless interfaces: must be of type wireless
bridge interfaces: must be of type bridge
dialup interfaces: must be of type dialup
modem manager interfaces: must be of type modem-manager

Interface object extensions

In addition to the default NetJSON Interface object options, the OpenWrt backend also supports the following custom options for every type of interface:

key name	type	allowed values
`network`	string	logical interface name (UCI specific)

Important

OpenWrt introduced a new syntax for defining interfaces in OpenWrt 21. By default, the netjsonconfig library generates configuration in the new syntax. If you want to generate configuration in the legacy syntax (OpenWrt <=19), then set dsa=False while instantiating object of netjsonconfig.OpenWrt class.

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

o = OpenWrt(
    config={
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "eth0",
                "type": "ethernet",
                "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv4"}],
            }
        ]
    },
    dsa=False,  # This will generate configuration in legacy syntax
)

The examples present in this documentation only demonstrates configuration in new syntax. Refer older documentation versions to check examples of old syntax.

In the following sections some examples of the most common use cases are shown.

Loopback interface example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "lo",
            "type": "loopback",
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "address": "127.0.0.1",
                    "mask": 8,
                    "proto": "static",
                    "family": "ipv4",
                }
            ],
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'lo'
        option device 'lo'
        option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
        option netmask '255.0.0.0'
        option proto 'static'

Dualstack (IPv4 & IPv6)

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "eth0",
            "type": "ethernet",
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "family": "ipv4",
                    "proto": "static",
                    "address": "10.27.251.1",
                    "mask": 24,
                },
                {
                    "family": "ipv6",
                    "proto": "static",
                    "address": "fdb4:5f35:e8fd::1",
                    "mask": 48,
                },
            ],
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'eth0'
    option device 'eth0'
    option ip6addr 'fdb4:5f35:e8fd::1/48'
    option ipaddr '10.27.251.1'
    option netmask '255.255.255.0'
    option proto 'static'

DNS servers and search domains

DNS servers can be set using dns_servers, while search domains can be set using dns_search.

If specified, these values will be automatically added in every interface which has at least one static ip address; interfaces which have no ip address configured or are using dynamic ip address configuration won’t get the dns option in the UCI output, eg:

{
    "dns_servers": ["10.11.12.13", "8.8.8.8"],
    "dns_search": ["openwisp.org", "netjson.org"],
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "eth0",
            "type": "ethernet",
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "address": "192.168.1.1",
                    "mask": 24,
                    "proto": "static",
                    "family": "ipv4",
                }
            ],
        },
        # the following interface has DHCP enabled
        # and it won't contain the dns setting
        {
            "name": "eth1",
            "type": "ethernet",
            "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv4"}],
        },
        # the following VLAN interface won't get
        # the dns nor the dns_search settings
        {"name": "eth1.31", "type": "ethernet"},
    ],
}

Will return the following UCI output:

package network

config interface 'eth0'
        option dns '10.11.12.13 8.8.8.8'
        option dns_search 'openwisp.org netjson.org'
        option device 'eth0'
        option ipaddr '192.168.1.1'
        option netmask '255.255.255.0'
        option proto 'static'

config interface 'eth1'
        option dns_search 'openwisp.org netjson.org'
        option device 'eth1'
        option proto 'dhcp'

config interface 'eth1_31'
        option device 'eth1.31'
        option proto 'none'

DHCP ipv6 ethernet interface

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "eth0",
            "network": "lan",
            "type": "ethernet",
            "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv6"}],
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'lan'
        option device 'eth0'
        option proto 'dchpv6'

Using different protocols

OpenWrt supports many protocols (pppoe, pppoa, pptp, l2tp, ecc) and the list of supported protocols evolves over time.

OpenWISP and netjsonconfig try to stay out of your way by leaving you maximum flexibility to use any protocol and any configuration option you may need, just set type to other, then proceed by setting proto and any other configuration option according to your needs, see the example below.

PPPoE proto example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "type": "other",
            "name": "eth0",
            "network": "wan",
            "proto": "pppoe",
            "username": "<username>",
            "password": "<password>",
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'wan'
        option ifname 'eth0'
        option password '<password>'
        option proto 'ppoe'
        option username '<username>'

Bridge settings

Interfaces of type bridge contains options that are specific for network bridges.

The OpenWrt backend NetJSON extensions for bridge interfaces:

key name	type	default	allowed values
`bridge_members`	list	`[]`	list of interface names for creating bridge
`igmp_snooping`	boolean	`False`	sets the `multicast_snooping` kernel setting for a bridge
`multicast_querier`	boolean	`False`	enables the bridge as a multicast querier
`query_interval`	integer	`12500`	time interval in centiseconds between multicast general queries
`query_response_interval`	integer	`1000`	the max response time in centiseconds inserted into the periodic general queries
`last_member_interval`	integer	`100`	the maximum response time in centiseconds inserted into group-specific queries sent in response to leave group messages.
`hash_max`	integer	`512`	size of kernel multicast hash table
`robustness`	integer	`2`	sets Startup Query Count and Last Member Count
`stp`	boolean	`False`	enables the spanning tree protocol
`forward_delay`	integer	`4`	time in seconds to spend in listening and learning states (range between 2-30)
`hello_time`	integer	`2`	time interval in seconds for STP hello packets (range 1-10)
`priority`	integer	`32767`	sets the STP bridge priority (range 0-65535)
`ageing_time`	integer	`300`	expiration time in seconds for dynamic MAC entries in the filtering DB” (range 10-1000000)
`max_age`	integer	`20`	timeout in seconds until topology updates on link loss
`vlan_filtering`	list	[]`	a list of `dict ({})` defining VLANs for the bridge Refer to the VLAN options table below for a list of available options.

VLAN options:

key name

type

allowed values

vlan

integer

VLAN ID

ports

list

A list of dict defining interfaces participating in the VLAN

key name	type	allowed values
`ifname`	string	interface name (this interface should be a bridge member)
`tagging`	string	whether the port is tagged (`t`) or untagged (`u`)
`primary_vid`	boolean	whether the current VLAN should be used for all untagged incoming traffic on this interface

Bridge interface example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {"name": "eth0.1", "network": "lan", "type": "ethernet"},
        {"name": "eth0.2", "network": "wan", "type": "ethernet"},
        {
            "name": "br-lan",
            "type": "bridge",
            "stp": True,  # enable spanning tree protocol
            "igmp_snooping": True,  # enable imgp snooping
            "bridge_members": ["eth0.1", "eth0.2"],
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "address": "172.17.0.2",
                    "mask": 24,
                    "proto": "static",
                    "family": "ipv4",
                }
            ],
        },
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'lan'
        option device 'eth0.1'
        option proto 'none'

config interface 'wan'
        option device 'eth0.2'
        option proto 'none'

config device 'device_br_lan'
        option igmp_snooping '1'
        option name 'br-lan'
        list ports 'eth0.1'
        list ports 'eth0.2'
        option stp '1'
        option type 'bridge'

config interface 'br_lan'
        option device 'br-lan'
        option ipaddr '172.17.0.2'
        option netmask '255.255.255.0'
        option proto 'static'

Using VLAN Filtering on a Bridge

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "type": "bridge",
            "bridge_members": ["lan1", "lan2", "lan3"],
            "name": "br-lan",
            "vlan_filtering": [
                {
                    "vlan": 1,
                    "ports": [
                        {
                            "ifname": "lan1",
                            "tagging": "t",
                            "primary_vid": True,
                        },
                        {"ifname": "lan2", "tagging": "t"},
                    ],
                },
                {
                    "vlan": 2,
                    "ports": [
                        {
                            "ifname": "lan1",
                            "tagging": "t",
                            "primary_vid": False,
                        },
                        {
                            "ifname": "lan3",
                            "tagging": "u",
                            "primary_vid": True,
                        },
                    ],
                },
            ],
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config device 'device_br_lan'
        option name 'br-lan'
        list ports 'lan1'
        list ports 'lan2'
        list ports 'lan3'
        option type 'bridge'
        option vlan_filtering '1'

config bridge-vlan 'vlan_br_lan_1'
        option device 'br-lan'
        list ports 'lan1:t*'
        list ports 'lan2:t'
        option vlan '1'

config bridge-vlan 'vlan_br_lan_2'
        option device 'br-lan'
        list ports 'lan1:t'
        list ports 'lan3:u*'
        option vlan '2'

config interface 'vlan_br_lan_1'
        option device 'br-lan.1'
        option proto 'none'

config interface 'vlan_br_lan_2'
        option device 'br-lan.2'
        option proto 'none'

config interface 'br_lan'
        option device 'br-lan'
        option proto 'none'

Wireless settings

Interfaces of type wireless may contain a lot of different combination of settings to configure wireless connectivity: from simple access points, to 802.1x authentication, 802.11s mesh networks, adhoc mesh networks, WDS repeaters and much more.

The OpenWrt backend NetJSON extensions for wireless interfaces:

key name	type	default	allowed values
`network`	array	`[]`	attached networks; if left blank will be automatically determined

Some extensions are applicable only when mode is access_point:

key name	type	default	allowed values
`wmm`	boolean	`True`	enables WMM (802.11e) support
`ieee80211r`	boolean	`False`	enables fast BSS transition (802.11r) support
`reassociation_deadline`	integer	`1000`	reassociation deadline in time units (TUs / 1.024 ms, 1000-65535)
`ft_psk_generate_local`	boolean	`False`	whether to generate FT response locally for PSK networks
`ft_over_ds`	boolean	`True`	whether to enable FT-over-DS
`rsn_preauth`	boolean	`False`	allow pre-authentication for WPA2-EAP networks
`isolate`	boolean	`False`	isolate wireless clients from one another
`macfilter`	string	`disable`	ACL policy, accepts: “disable”, “allow” and “deny”
`maclist`	array	`[]`	mac addresses filtered according to macfilter policy

These extensions must be used the wireless object of a wireless interface eg:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "myWiFi",
                # OpenWrt backend NetJSON extensions
                "wmm": True,
                "isolate": True,
            },
        }
    ]
}

The same applies for custom configuration options not included in the OpenWrt backend schema:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "myWiFi",
                # custom configuration options not defined
                # in the OpenWrt backend schema
                "beacon_int": 200,
                "noscan": True,
                "custom1": "made-up-for-example-purposes",
            },
        }
    ]
}

In the following sections some examples of the most common use cases are shown.

Wireless access point

The following configuration dictionary represent one of the most common wireless access point configuration:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "myWiFi",
                "wmm": True,  # 802.11e
                "isolate": True,  # client isolation
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option isolate '1'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'myWiFi'
        option wmm '1'

Note

the network option of the wifi-iface directive is filled in automatically but can be overridden if needed by setting the network option in the wireless section of the configuration dictionary. The next example shows how to do this.

Wireless attached to a different network

In most cases you want to bridge a wireless interface to a different network, usually the LAN bridge:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {"name": "eth0", "type": "ethernet"},
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "wifi service",
                # "network": ["lan"]  this property can be omitted
                # but may be overridden if needed
            },
        },
        {
            "name": "lan",  # the bridge will be named br-lan by OpenWrt
            "type": "bridge",
            "bridge_members": ["eth0", "wlan0"],
            "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv4"}],
        },
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'eth0'
        option device 'eth0'
        option proto 'none'

config device 'device_lan'
        option name 'br-lan'
        list ports 'eth0'
        list ports 'wlan0'
        option type 'bridge'

config interface 'lan'
        option device 'br-lan'
        option proto 'dhcp'

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'ap'
        option network 'lan'
        option ssid 'wifi service'

Wireless access point with macfilter ACL

The OpenWrt backend supports a custom NetJSON extension for wireless access point interfaces: macfilter (read more about macfilter and maclist on the OpenWrt documentation for Wireless configuration).

In the following example we ban two mac addresses from connecting to a wireless access point:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "MyWifiAP",
                "macfilter": "deny",
                "maclist": ["E8:94:F6:33:8C:1D", "42:6c:8f:95:0f:00"],
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option macfilter 'deny'
        list maclist 'E8:94:F6:33:8C:1D'
        list maclist '42:6c:8f:95:0f:00'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'MyWifiAP'

Wireless access point with roaming (802.11r)

The OpenWrt backend supports custom NetJSON extensions to support (802.11r) in wireless access point interfaces (refer “Fast BSS transition options” section in the OpenWrt documentation for Wireless configuration).

In the following example we configure roaming options for a wireless access point:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "MyWifiAP",
                "ieee80211r": True,
                "ft_over_ds": False,
                "ft_psk_generate_local": True,
                "rsn_preauth": True,
                "reassociation_deadline": 1000,
                "network": ["lan"],
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ft_over_ds '0'
        option ft_psk_generate_local '1'
        option ieee80211r '1'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'ap'
        option network 'lan'
        option reassociation_deadline '1000'
        option rsn_preauth '1'
        option ssid 'MyWifiAP'

Wireless mesh (802.11s) example

Setting up 802.11s interfaces is fairly simple, in the following example we bridge eth0 with mesh0, the latter being a layer2 802.11s wireless interface.

Note

in 802.11s mesh mode the ssid property is not required, while mesh_id is mandatory.

{
    "interfaces": [
        {"name": "eth0", "type": "ethernet"},
        {
            "name": "mesh0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "802.11s",
                "mesh_id": "ninux",
                "network": ["lan"],
            },
        },
        {
            "name": "lan",
            "type": "bridge",
            "bridge_members": ["eth0", "mesh0"],
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "address": "192.168.0.1",
                    "mask": 24,
                    "proto": "static",
                    "family": "ipv4",
                }
            ],
        },
    ]
}

UCI output:

package network

config interface 'eth0'
        option device 'eth0'
        option proto 'none'

config device 'device_lan'
        option name 'br-lan'
        list ports 'eth0'
        list ports 'mesh0'
        option type 'bridge'

config interface 'lan'
        option device 'br-lan'
        option ipaddr '192.168.0.1'
        option netmask '255.255.255.0'
        option proto 'static'

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_mesh0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ifname 'mesh0'
        option mesh_id 'ninux'
        option mode 'mesh'
        option network 'lan'

Wireless mesh (adhoc) example

In wireless adhoc mode, the bssid property is required.

The following example:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "ssid": "freifunk",
                "mode": "adhoc",
                "bssid": "02:b8:c0:00:00:00",
            },
        }
    ]
}

Will result in:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option bssid '02:b8:c0:00:00:00'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'adhoc'
        option ssid 'freifunk'

WDS repeater example

In the following example we show how to configure a WDS station and repeat the signal:

{
    "interfaces": [
        # client
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "mode": "station",
                "radio": "radio0",
                "network": ["wds_bridge"],
                "ssid": "FreeRomaWifi",
                "bssid": "C0:4A:00:2D:05:FD",
                "wds": True,
            },
        },
        # repeater access point
        {
            "name": "wlan1",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "mode": "access_point",
                "radio": "radio1",
                "network": ["wds_bridge"],
                "ssid": "FreeRomaWifi",
            },
        },
        # WDS bridge
        {
            "name": "br-wds",
            "network": "wds_bridge",
            "type": "bridge",
            "addresses": [{"proto": "dhcp", "family": "ipv4"}],
            "bridge_members": [
                "wlan0",
                "wlan1",
            ],
        },
    ]
}

Will result in:

package network

config device 'device_wds_bridge'
        option name 'br-wds'
        list ports 'wlan0'
        list ports 'wlan1'
        option type 'bridge'

config interface 'wds_bridge'
        option device 'br-wds'
        option proto 'dhcp'

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option bssid 'C0:4A:00:2D:05:FD'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'sta'
        option network 'wds_bridge'
        option ssid 'FreeRomaWifi'
        option wds '1'

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option ifname 'wlan1'
        option mode 'ap'
        option network 'wds_bridge'
        option ssid 'FreeRomaWifi'

WPA2 Personal (Pre-Shared Key)

The following example shows a typical wireless access point using WPA2 Personal (Pre-Shared Key) encryption:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "wpa2-personal",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa2_personal",
                    # possible cipher values are:
                    #   "auto", "tkip", "ccmp", and "tkip+ccmp"
                    "cipher": "tkip+ccmp",
                    "key": "passphrase012345",
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option encryption 'psk2+tkip+ccmp'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option key 'passphrase012345'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'wpa2-personal'

WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) ap

The following example shows a typical wireless access point using WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) security on OpenWrt, you can use this type of configuration for networks like eduroam:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "eduroam",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa2_enterprise",
                    "cipher": "auto",
                    "key": "radius_secret",
                    "server": "192.168.0.1",
                    "port": 1812,
                    "acct_server": "192.168.0.2",
                    "acct_port": 1813,
                    "nasid": "hostname",
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI Output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option acct_port '1813'
        option acct_secret 'radius_secret'
        option acct_server '192.168.0.2'
        option auth_port '1812'
        option auth_secret 'radius_secret'
        option auth_server '192.168.0.1'
        option device 'radio0'
        option encryption 'wpa2'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option key 'radius_secret'
        option mode 'ap'
        option nasid 'hostname'
        option port '1812'
        option server '192.168.0.1'
        option ssid 'eduroam'

WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) client

WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) client with EAP-TLS example:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "station",
                "ssid": "enterprise-client",
                "bssid": "00:26:b9:20:5f:09",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa2_enterprise",
                    "cipher": "auto",
                    "eap_type": "tls",
                    "anonymous_identity": "anonymous",
                    "identity": "test-identity",
                    "password": "test-password",
                    "ca_cert_usesystem": True,
                    "subject_match": "CN = wifi.openwisp.io",
                    "altsubject_match": ["DNS Name: wifi.openwisp.io"],
                    "domain_match": ["wifi.openwisp.io"],
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI Output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        list altsubject_match 'DNS Name: wifi.openwisp.io'
        option anonymous_identity 'anonymous'
        option bssid '00:26:b9:20:5f:09'
        option ca_cert_usesystem '1'
        option device 'radio0'
        list domain_match 'wifi.openwisp.io'
        option eap_type 'tls'
        option encryption 'wpa2'
        option identity 'test-identity'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'sta'
        option password 'test-password'
        option ssid 'enterprise-client'
        option subject_match 'CN = wifi.openwisp.io'

WPA3 Personal (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals)

The following example shows a typical wireless access point using WPA3 Personal (SAE) encryption:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "wpa3-personal",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa3_personal",
                    # WPA3 only supports ccmp
                    "cipher": "ccmp",
                    "key": "passphrase012345",
                    # Management Frame Protection is required for WPA3
                    "ieee80211w": "2",
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option encryption 'sae+ccmp'
        option ieee80211w '2'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option key 'passphrase012345'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'wpa3-personal'

WPA3 Enterprise (802.1x) AP

The following example shows a typical wireless access point using WPA3 Enterprise (802.1x) security on OpenWrt, you can use this type of configuration for networks like eduroam:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "access_point",
                "ssid": "eduroam",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa3_enterprise",
                    # WPA3 only supports ccmp
                    "cipher": "ccmp",
                    "key": "radius_secret",
                    "server": "192.168.0.1",
                    "port": 1812,
                    "acct_server": "192.168.0.2",
                    "acct_port": 1813,
                    "nasid": "hostname",
                    "ieee80211w": "2",
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI Output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option acct_port '1813'
        option acct_secret 'radius_secret'
        option acct_server '192.168.0.2'
        option auth_port '1812'
        option auth_secret 'radius_secret'
        option auth_server '192.168.0.1'
        option device 'radio0'
        option encryption 'wpa3+ccmp'
        option ieee80211w '2'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option key 'radius_secret'
        option mode 'ap'
        option nasid 'hostname'
        option port '1812'
        option server '192.168.0.1'
        option ssid 'eduroam'

WPA3 Enterprise (802.1x) client

WPA3 Enterprise (802.1x) client example:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "station",
                "ssid": "enterprise-client",
                "bssid": "00:26:b9:20:5f:09",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa3_enterprise",
                    # WPA3 only supports ccmp
                    "cipher": "ccmp",
                    "eap_type": "tls",
                    "identity": "test-identity",
                    "password": "test-password",
                    "ieee80211w": "2",
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI Output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option bssid '00:26:b9:20:5f:09'
        option device 'radio0'
        option eap_type 'tls'
        option encryption 'wpa3+ccmp'
        option identity 'test-identity'
        option ieee80211w '2'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'sta'
        option password 'test-password'
        option ssid 'enterprise-client'

WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) client with EAP-TTLS example:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "station",
                "ssid": "enterprise-client",
                "bssid": "00:26:b9:20:5f:09",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa2_enterprise",
                    "cipher": "auto",
                    "eap_type": "ttls",
                    "auth": "MSCHAPV2",
                    "identity": "test-identity",
                    "password": "test-password",
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI Output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option auth 'MSCHAPV2'
        option bssid '00:26:b9:20:5f:09'
        option device 'radio0'
        option eap_type 'ttls'
        option encryption 'wpa2'
        option identity 'test-identity'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'sta'
        option password 'test-password'
        option ssid 'enterprise-client'

WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) client with EAP-PEAP example:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wlan0",
            "type": "wireless",
            "wireless": {
                "radio": "radio0",
                "mode": "station",
                "ssid": "enterprise-client",
                "bssid": "00:26:b9:20:5f:09",
                "encryption": {
                    "protocol": "wpa2_enterprise",
                    "cipher": "auto",
                    "eap_type": "peap",
                    "auth": "EAP-MSCHAPV2",
                    "identity": "test-identity",
                    "password": "test-password",
                },
            },
        }
    ]
}

UCI Output:

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        option auth 'EAP-MSCHAPV2'
        option bssid '00:26:b9:20:5f:09'
        option device 'radio0'
        option eap_type 'peap'
        option encryption 'wpa2'
        option identity 'test-identity'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'sta'
        option password 'test-password'
        option ssid 'enterprise-client'

Dialup settings

Interfaces of type dialup contain a few options that are specific to dialup connections.

The OpenWrt backend NetJSON extensions for dialup interfaces:

key name	type	default	allowed values
`proto`	string	`pppoe`	`3g`, `6in4`, `aiccu`, `l2tp`, `ncm`, `ppp`, `pppoa`, `pppoe`, `pptp`, `qmi`, `wwan`
`password`	string	`""`
`username`	string	`""`

Dialup interface example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "dsl0",
            "network": "xdsl",
            "type": "dialup",
            "proto": "pppoe",
            "password": "jf93nf82o023$",
            "username": "dsluser",
            "mtu": 1448,
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'xdsl'
        option ifname 'dsl0'
        option mtu '1448'
        option password 'jf93nf82o023$'
        option proto 'pppoe'
        option username 'dsluser'

Modem Manager settings

Interfaces of type modem-manager contain a few options that are specific to modem-manager interfaces (2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, etc).

These are the OpenWrt backend NetJSON extensions for Modem Manager interfaces:

key name	type	default	allowed values
`proto`	string	`modemanager`	`modemanager`
`apn`	string	empty	APN, can be left blank
`pin`	string	empty	PIN code, can be left blank
`device`	string	empty	path to device (see note below)
`password`	string	empty	password, can be left blank
`username`	string	empty	username, can be left blank
`metric`	integer	`50`	metric, can be left blank
`iptype`	string	`ipv4`	One of `ipv4`, `ipv6`, `ipv4v6`
`lowpower`	boolean	`False`	low power mode
`signalrate`	integer		singal refresh rate in seconds

Note

device is a required property but can be left empty so that the default value supplied by the hardware itself and already present on the device can be left untouched by merging the configuration generated with netjsonconfig (instead of fully overwriting it).

Modem Manager interface example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "type": "modem-manager",
            "apn": "apn.operator.com",
            "pin": "1234",
            "device": "/sys/devices/platform/ahb/1b000000.usb/usb1/1-1",
            "username": "user123",
            "password": "pwd123456",
            "metric": 50,
            "lowpower": False,
            "name": "modem0",
            "mtu": 1500,
            "signalrate": 5,
            "loglevel": "ERR",
            "force_link": True,
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config device 'device_modem0'
        option mtu '1500'
        option name 'modem0'

config interface 'modem0'
        option apn 'apn.operator.com'
        option device '/sys/devices/platform/ahb/1b000000.usb/usb1/1-1'
        option force_link '1'
        option loglevel 'ERR'
        option lowpower '0'
        option metric '50'
        option password 'pwd123456'
        option pincode '1234'
        option proto 'modemmanager'
        option signalrate '5'
        option username 'user123'

VLAN 802.1q / VLAN 802.1ad settings

Note

The configuration setting for VLAN 802.1q and VLAN 802.1ad are exactly same, except the type setting. Hence, the documentation only explains VLAN 802.1q.

Interfaces of type vlan_8021q contain a few options that are specific to VLAN 802.1q interfaces.

These are the OpenWrt backend NetJSON extensions for VLAN 802.1q interfaces:

key name	type	default	allowed values
`type`	string	`vlan_8021q`	type of interface (`vlan_8021ad` for VLAN 802.1ad)
`vid`	integer	empty	VLAN ID
`ingress_qos_mapping`	string	empty	Defines a mapping of VLAN header priority to the Linux internal packet priority on incoming frames
`egress_qos_mapping`	string	empty	Defines a mapping of Linux internal packet priority to VLAN header priority but for outgoing frames

VLAN 802.1q example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "type": "8021q",
            "vid": 1,
            "name": "br-lan",
            "mac": "E8:6A:64:3E:4A:3A",
            "mtu": 1500,
            "ingress_qos_mapping": ["1:1"],
            "egress_qos_mapping": ["2:2"],
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config device 'device_br_lan_1'
    list egress_qos_mapping '2:2'
    option ifname 'br-lan'
    list ingress_qos_mapping '1:1'
    option macaddr 'E8:6A:64:3E:4A:3A'
    option mtu '1500'
    option name 'br-lan.1'
    option type '8021q'
    option vid '1'

config interface 'vlan_br_lan_1'
    option device 'br-lan.1'
    option proto 'none'

VLAN 802.1ad example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "type": "8021ad",
            "vid": 6,
            "name": "eth0",
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config device 'device_eth0_6'
    option ifname 'eth0'
    option name 'eth0.6'
    option type '8021ad'
    option vid '6'

config interface 'vlan_eth0_6'
    option device 'eth0.6'
    option proto 'none'

Radio settings

The radio settings reside in the radio key of the configuration dictionary, which must contain a list of NetJSON radio objects (see the link for the detailed specification).

Radio object extensions

In addition to the default NetJSON Radio object options, the OpenWrt backend also requires setting the following additional options for each radio in the list:

key name	type	allowed values
`driver`	string	mac80211, atheros, ath5k, ath9k, broadcom
`protocol`	string	802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax

Radio example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "radios": [
        {
            "name": "radio0",
            "phy": "phy0",
            "driver": "mac80211",
            "protocol": "802.11n",
            "channel": 11,
            "channel_width": 20,
            "tx_power": 5,
            "country": "IT",
        },
        {
            "name": "radio1",
            "phy": "phy1",
            "driver": "mac80211",
            "protocol": "802.11n",
            "channel": 36,
            "channel_width": 20,
            "tx_power": 4,
            "country": "IT",
        },
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package wireless

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option band '2g'
        option channel '11'
        option country 'IT'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option phy 'phy0'
        option txpower '5'
        option type 'mac80211'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option band '5g'
        option channel '36'
        option country 'IT'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option phy 'phy1'
        option txpower '4'
        option type 'mac80211'

Automatic channel selection example

If you need to use the “automatic channel selection” feature of OpenWrt, you must set the channel to 0. You must also set the band property to tell OpenWrt which band to use (2g for 2.4 Ghz, 5g for 5 GHz, 6g for 6 GHz, 60g for 60 GHz).

The following example sets “automatic channel selection” for two radios, the first radio uses 802.11n in the 2.4 GHz band, while the second uses 802.11ac in the 5 GHz band.

{
    "radios": [
        {
            "name": "radio0",
            "phy": "phy0",
            "driver": "mac80211",
            "protocol": "802.11n",
            "channel": 0,  # 0 stands for auto
            "band": "2g",  # must set this explicitly, 2g means 2.4 GHz band
            "channel_width": 20,
        },
        {
            "name": "radio1",
            "phy": "phy1",
            "driver": "mac80211",
            "protocol": "802.11ac",
            "channel": 0,  # 0 stands for auto
            "band": "5g",  # must set this explicitly, 5g means 5 GHz band,
            # but this is optional for "802.11ac" because it only
            # support 5 GHz band.
            "channel_width": 80,
        },
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option band '2g'
        option channel 'auto'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option phy 'phy0'
        option type 'mac80211'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option band '5g'
        option channel 'auto'
        option htmode 'VHT80'
        option phy 'phy1'
        option type 'mac80211'

802.11ac example

In the following example we show how to configure an 802.11ac capable radio:

{
    "radios": [
        {
            "name": "radio0",
            "phy": "phy0",
            "driver": "mac80211",
            "protocol": "802.11ac",
            "channel": 36,
            "channel_width": 80,
        }
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option band '5g'
        option channel '36'
        option htmode 'VHT80'
        option phy 'phy0'
        option type 'mac80211'

802.11ax example

In the following example we show how to configure an 802.11ax capable radio:

{
    "radios": [
        {
            "name": "radio0",
            "phy": "phy0",
            "driver": "mac80211",
            "protocol": "802.11ax",
            "channel": 36,
            "channel_width": 80,
        }
    ]
}

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option band '5g'
        option channel '36'
        option htmode 'HE80'
        option phy 'phy0'
        option type 'mac80211'

Static Routes

The static routes settings reside in the routes key of the configuration dictionary, which must contain a list of NetJSON Static Route objects (see the link for the detailed specification).

Static route object extensions

In addition to the default NetJSON Route object options, the OpenWrt backend also allows to define the following optional settings:

key name	type	default	description
`type`	string	`unicast`	unicast, local, broadcast, multicast, unreachable prohibit, blackhole, anycast
`mtu`	string	`None`	MTU for route, only numbers are allowed
`table`	string	`None`	Routing table id, only numbers are allowed
`onlink`	boolean	`False`	When enabled, gateway is on link even if the gateway does not match any interface prefix

Static route example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "routes": [
        {
            "device": "eth1",
            "destination": "192.168.4.1/24",
            "next": "192.168.2.2",
            "cost": 2,
            "source": "192.168.1.10",
            "table": "2",
            "onlink": True,
            "mtu": "1450",
        },
        {
            "device": "eth1",
            "destination": "fd89::1/128",
            "next": "fd88::1",
            "cost": 0,
        },
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config route 'route1'
        option gateway '192.168.2.2'
        option interface 'eth1'
        option metric '2'
        option mtu '1450'
        option netmask '255.255.255.0'
        option onlink '1'
        option source '192.168.1.10'
        option table '2'
        option target '192.168.4.1'

config route6 'route2'
        option gateway 'fd88::1'
        option interface 'eth1'
        option metric '0'
        option target 'fd89::1/128'

Policy routing

The policy routing settings reside in the ip_rule key of the configuration dictionary, which is a custom NetJSON extension not present in the original NetJSON RFC.

The ip_rule key must contain a list of rules, each rule allows the following options:

key name	type
`in`	string
`out`	string
`src`	string
`tos`	string
`mark`	string
`invert`	boolean
`lookup`	string
`goto`	integer
`action`	string

For the function and meaning of each key consult the relevant OpenWrt documentation about rule directives.

Policy routing example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "ip_rules": [
        {
            "in": "eth0",
            "out": "eth1",
            "src": "192.168.1.0/24",
            "dest": "192.168.2.0/24",
            "tos": 2,
            "mark": "0x0/0x1",
            "invert": True,
            "lookup": "0",
            "action": "blackhole",
        },
        {"src": "192.168.1.0/24", "dest": "192.168.3.0/24", "goto": 0},
        {"in": "vpn", "dest": "fdca:1234::/64", "action": "prohibit"},
        {"in": "vpn", "src": "fdca:1235::/64", "action": "prohibit"},
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config rule 'rule1'
        option action 'blackhole'
        option dest '192.168.2.0/24'
        option in 'eth0'
        option invert '1'
        option lookup '0'
        option mark '0x0/0x1'
        option out 'eth1'
        option src '192.168.1.0/24'
        option tos '2'

config rule 'rule2'
        option dest '192.168.3.0/24'
        option goto '0'
        option src '192.168.1.0/24'

config rule6 'rule3'
        option action 'prohibit'
        option dest 'fdca:1234::/64'
        option in 'vpn'

config rule6 'rule4'
        option action 'prohibit'
        option in 'vpn'
        option src 'fdca:1235::/64'

Programmable switch settings

The programmable switch settings reside in the switch key of the configuration dictionary, which is a custom NetJSON extension not present in the original NetJSON RFC.

The switch key must contain a list of dictionaries, all the following keys are required:

key name	type
`name`	string
`reset`	boolean
`enable_vlan`	boolean
`vlan`	list

The elements of the vlan list must be dictionaries, all the following keys are required:

key name	type
`device`	string
`reset`	boolean
`vlan`	integer
`ports`	string

For the function and meaning of each key consult the relevant OpenWrt documentation about switch directives.

Switch example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "switch": [
        {
            "name": "switch0",
            "reset": True,
            "enable_vlan": True,
            "vlan": [
                {"device": "switch0", "vlan": 1, "ports": "0t 2 3 4 5"},
                {"device": "switch0", "vlan": 2, "ports": "0t 1"},
            ],
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config switch 'switch0'
        option enable_vlan '1'
        option name 'switch0'
        option reset '1'

config switch_vlan 'switch0_vlan1'
        option device 'switch0'
        option ports '0t 2 3 4 5'
        option vid '1'
        option vlan '1'

config switch_vlan 'switch0_vlan2'
        option device 'switch0'
        option ports '0t 1'
        option vid '2'
        option vlan '2'

Overriding or disabling `vid` UCI option

The OpenWrt UCI vid option of switch_vlan sections is automatically inferred from the vlan number, although it’s possible to override it or disable it if needed:

{
    "switch": [
        {
            "name": "switch0",
            "reset": True,
            "enable_vlan": True,
            "vlan": [
                {
                    "device": "switch0",
                    "vlan": 1,
                    "vid": 110,  # manual override
                    "ports": "0t 2 3 4 5",
                },
                {
                    "device": "switch0",
                    "vlan": 2,
                    # ``None`` or empty string will remove
                    # ``vid`` output from the UCI result
                    "vid": None,
                    "ports": "0t 1",
                },
            ],
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config switch 'switch0'
        option enable_vlan '1'
        option name 'switch0'
        option reset '1'

config switch_vlan 'switch0_vlan1'
        option device 'switch0'
        option ports '0t 2 3 4 5'
        option vid '110'
        option vlan '1'

config switch_vlan 'switch0_vlan2'
        option device 'switch0'
        option ports '0t 1'
        option vlan '2'

NTP settings

The Network Time Protocol settings reside in the ntp key of the configuration dictionary, which is a custom NetJSON extension not present in the original NetJSON RFC.

The ntp key must contain a dictionary, the allowed options are:

key name	type	function
`enabled`	boolean	ntp client enabled
`enable_server`	boolean	ntp server enabled
`server`	list	list of ntp servers

NTP settings example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "ntp": {
        "enabled": True,
        "enable_server": False,
        "server": [
            "0.openwrt.pool.ntp.org",
            "1.openwrt.pool.ntp.org",
            "2.openwrt.pool.ntp.org",
            "3.openwrt.pool.ntp.org",
        ],
    }
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package system

config timeserver 'ntp'
        list server '0.openwrt.pool.ntp.org'
        list server '1.openwrt.pool.ntp.org'
        list server '2.openwrt.pool.ntp.org'
        list server '3.openwrt.pool.ntp.org'
        option enable_server '0'
        option enabled '1'

LED settings

The led settings reside in the led key of the configuration dictionary, which is a custom NetJSON extension not present in the original NetJSON RFC.

The led key must contain a list of dictionaries, the allowed options are:

key name	type
`name`	string
`default`	boolean
`dev`	string
`sysfs`	string
`trigger`	string
`delayoff`	integer
`delayon`	integer
`interval`	integer
`message`	string
`mode`	string

The required keys are:

name
sysfs
trigger

For the function and meaning of each key consult the relevant OpenWrt documentation about led directives.

LED settings example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "led": [
        {
            "name": "USB1",
            "sysfs": "tp-link:green:usb1",
            "trigger": "usbdev",
            "dev": "1-1.1",
            "interval": 50,
        },
        {
            "name": "USB2",
            "sysfs": "tp-link:green:usb2",
            "trigger": "usbdev",
            "dev": "1-1.2",
            "interval": 50,
        },
        {
            "name": "WLAN2G",
            "sysfs": "tp-link:blue:wlan2g",
            "trigger": "phy0tpt",
        },
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package system

config led 'led_usb1'
        option dev '1-1.1'
        option interval '50'
        option name 'USB1'
        option sysfs 'tp-link:green:usb1'
        option trigger 'usbdev'

config led 'led_usb2'
        option dev '1-1.2'
        option interval '50'
        option name 'USB2'
        option sysfs 'tp-link:green:usb2'
        option trigger 'usbdev'

config led 'led_wlan2g'
        option name 'WLAN2G'
        option sysfs 'tp-link:blue:wlan2g'
        option trigger 'phy0tpt'

Including custom options

It is very easy to add configuration options that are not explicitly defined in the schema of the OpenWrt backend.

For example, in some cases you may need to define a “ppp” interface, which can use quite a few properties that are not defined in the schema:

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "ppp0",
                "type": "other",
                "proto": "ppp",
                "device": "/dev/usb/modem1",
                "username": "user1",
                "password": "pwd0123",
                "keepalive": 3,
                "ipv6": True,
            }
        ]
    }
)
print(o.render())

UCI output:

package network

config interface 'ppp0'
        option device '/dev/usb/modem1'
        option ifname 'ppp0'
        option ipv6 '1'
        option keepalive '3'
        option password 'pwd0123'
        option proto 'ppp'
        option username 'user1'

Including custom lists

Under specific circumstances, OpenWrt allows adding configuration options in the form of lists. Many of these UCI options are not defined in the JSON-Schema of the OpenWrt backend, but the schema allows adding custom properties.

The OpenWrt backend recognizes list options for the following sections:

interface settings

ip address settings

wireless settings

radio settings

Interface list setting example

The following example shows how to set a list of ip6class options:

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "eth0",
                "type": "ethernet",
                "ip6class": ["wan6", "backbone"],
            }
        ]
    }
)
print(o.render())

UCI Output:

package network

config interface 'eth0'
        option ifname 'eth0'
        list ip6class 'wan6'
        list ip6class 'backbone'
        option proto 'none'

Address list setting example

The following example shows how to set a list of dhcp reqopts settings:

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "eth0",
                "type": "ethernet",
                "addresses": [
                    {
                        "proto": "dhcp",
                        "family": "ipv4",
                        "reqopts": ["43", "54"],
                    }
                ],
            }
        ]
    }
)
print(o.render())

UCI Output:

package network

config interface 'eth0'
        option ifname 'eth0'
        option proto 'dhcp'
        list reqopts '43'
        list reqopts '54'

Radio list setting example

The following example shows how to set a list of advanced capabilities supported by the radio using ht_capab:

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "radios": [
            {
                "name": "radio0",
                "phy": "phy0",
                "driver": "mac80211",
                "protocol": "802.11n",
                "channel": 1,
                "channel_width": 20,
                "ht_capab": ["SMPS-STATIC", "SHORT-GI-20"],
            }
        ]
    }
)
print(o.render())

UCI output:

package wireless

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option channel '1'
        list ht_capab 'SMPS-STATIC'
        list ht_capab 'SHORT-GI-20'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option band '2g'
        option phy 'phy0'
        option type 'mac80211'

Wireless list setting example

The following example shows how to set the supported basic rates of a wireless interface using basic_rate:

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "name": "wlan0",
                "type": "wireless",
                "wireless": {
                    "radio": "radio0",
                    "mode": "access_point",
                    "ssid": "open",
                    "basic_rate": ["6000", "9000"],
                },
            }
        ]
    }
)
print(o.render())

UCI output:

package network

config interface 'wlan0'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option proto 'none'

package wireless

config wifi-iface 'wifi_wlan0'
        list basic_rate '6000'
        list basic_rate '9000'
        option device 'radio0'
        option ifname 'wlan0'
        option mode 'ap'
        option network 'wlan0'
        option ssid 'open'

Including additional files

The OpenWrt backend supports inclusion of arbitrary plain text files through the files key of the configuration dictionary. The value of the files key must be a list in which each item is a dictionary representing a file, each dictionary is structured as follows:

key name	type	required	function
`path`	string	yes	filesystem path, will be encoded in the tar.gz archive
`contents`	string	yes	plain text contents of the file, new lines must be encoded as `\n`
`mode`	string	yes	filesystem permissions, defaults to `0644`

The files key of the configuration dictionary is a custom NetJSON extension not present in the original NetJSON RFC.

Warning

The files are included in the output of the render method unless you pass files=False, eg: openwrt.render(files=False)

Plain file example

The following example code will generate an archive with one file in /etc/crontabs/root:

from netjsonconfig import OpenWrt

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "files": [
            {
                "path": "/etc/crontabs/root",
                "mode": "0644",
                # new lines must be escaped with ``\n``
                "contents": '* * * * * echo "test" > /etc/testfile\n'
                '* * * * * echo "test2" > /etc/testfile2',
            }
        ]
    }
)
o.generate()

Executable script file example

The following example will create an executable shell script:

o = OpenWrt(
    {
        "files": [
            {
                "path": "/bin/hello_world",
                "mode": "0755",
                "contents": "#!/bin/sh\n" "echo 'Hello world'",
            }
        ]
    }
)
o.generate()

OpenVPN

This backend includes the schema of the OpenVpn backend, inheriting its features.

For details regarding the OpenVPN schema please see OpenVPN backend schema.

Schema additions

The OpenWrt backend adds a few properties to the OpenVPN schema, see below.

key name	type	default	allowed values
`disabled`	boolean	`False`

OpenVPN example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "openvpn": [
        {
            "ca": "ca.pem",
            "cert": "cert.pem",
            "dev": "tap0",
            "dev_type": "tap",
            "dh": "dh.pem",
            "disabled": False,
            "key": "key.pem",
            "mode": "server",
            "name": "test-vpn-server",
            "proto": "udp",
            "tls_server": True,
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package openvpn

config openvpn 'test_vpn_server'
        option ca 'ca.pem'
        option cert 'cert.pem'
        option dev 'tap0'
        option dev_type 'tap'
        option dh 'dh.pem'
        option enabled '1'
        option key 'key.pem'
        option mode 'server'
        option proto 'udp'
        option tls_server '1'

WireGuard

This backend includes the schema of the Wireguard backend, inheriting its features.

For details regarding the WireGuard schema please see WireGuard backend schema.

Schema additions

The OpenWrt backend adds a few properties to the WireGuard schema, see below.

key name	type	default	description
`network`	string	`None`	logical interface name (UCI specific), 2 to 15 alphanumeric characters, dashes and underscores
`nohostroute`	boolean	`False`	do not add routes to ensure the tunnel endpoints are routed via non-tunnel device
`fwmark`	string	`None`	firewall mark to apply to tunnel endpoint packets
`ip6prefix`	list	`[]`	IPv6 prefixes to delegate to other interfaces
`addresses`	list	`[]`	list of unique IPv4 or IPv6 addresses

The OpenWrt backend also adds wireguard_peers option for sepecifying a list of WireGuard Peers. It add the following properties to the wireguard_peers property of WireGuard schema.

key name

type

default

description

interface

string

None

name of the wireguard interface,

2 to 15 alphanumeric characters, dashes and underscores

route_allowed_ips

boolean

False

automatically create a route for each of the Allowed IPs for this peer

WireGuard example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wg",
            "type": "wireguard",
            "private_key": "QFdbnuYr7rrF4eONCAs7FhZwP7BXX/jD/jq2LXCpaXI=",
            "port": 51820,
            "mtu": 1420,
            "nohostroute": False,
            "fwmark": "",
            "ip6prefix": [],
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "proto": "static",
                    "family": "ipv4",
                    "address": "10.0.0.5/32",
                    "mask": 32,
                }
            ],
            "network": "",
        }
    ],
    "wireguard_peers": [
        {
            "interface": "wg",
            "public_key": "94a+MnZSdzHCzOy5y2K+0+Xe7lQzaa4v7lEiBZ7elVE=",
            "allowed_ips": ["10.0.0.1/32"],
            "endpoint_host": "wireguard.test.com",
            "endpoint_port": 51820,
            "preshared_key": "",
            "persistent_keepalive": 60,
            "route_allowed_ips": True,
        }
    ],
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'wg'
        list addresses '10.0.0.5/32/32'
        option listen_port '51820'
        option mtu '1420'
        option nohostroute '0'
        option private_key 'QFdbnuYr7rrF4eONCAs7FhZwP7BXX/jD/jq2LXCpaXI='
        option proto 'wireguard'

config wireguard_wg 'wgpeer'
        list allowed_ips '10.0.0.1/32'
        option endpoint_host 'wireguard.test.com'
        option endpoint_port '51820'
        option persistent_keepalive '60'
        option public_key '94a+MnZSdzHCzOy5y2K+0+Xe7lQzaa4v7lEiBZ7elVE='
        option route_allowed_ips '1'

VXLAN

OpenWrt backend includes the schema requied for generating VXLAN interface configouration. This is useful of setting up layer 2 tunnels.

VXLAN Settings

key name	type	default	description
`network`	string	`None`	name of interface, 2 to 15 alphanumeric characters, dashes and underscores
`vtep`	string	`False`	VXLAN tunnel endpoint
`port`	integer	`4789`	port for VXLAN connection
`vni`	integer or string	`None`	VXLAN Network Identifier
`tunlink`	list	`[]`	interface to which the VXLAN tunnel will be bound
`rxcsum`	boolean	`True`	use checksum validation in RX direction
`txcsum`	boolean	`True`	use checksum validation in TX direction
`mtu`	integer	`1280`	MTU for route, only numbers are allowed
`ttl`	integer	`64`	TTL of the encapsulation packets

VXLAN example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "vxlan",
            "type": "vxlan",
            "vtep": "10.0.0.1",
            "port": 4789,
            "vni": 1,
            "tunlink": "",
            "rxcsum": True,
            "txcsum": True,
            "mtu": 1280,
            "ttl": 64,
            "mac": "",
            "disabled": False,
            "network": "",
        },
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'vxlan'
        option enabled '0'
        option ifname 'vxlan'
        option mtu '1280'
        option peeraddr '10.0.0.1'
        option port '4789'
        option proto 'vxlan'
        option rxcsum '1'
        option ttl '64'
        option txcsum '1'
        option vid '1'

VXLAN over WireGuard example

Since a layer 2 tunnel can be encapsulated in a layer 3 tunnel, here is an example configuration for setting up a VXLAN tunnel over WireGuard.

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "interfaces": [
        {
            "name": "wgvxlan",
            "type": "wireguard",
            "private_key": "QFdbnuYr7rrF4eONCAs7FhZwP7BXX/jD/jq2LXCpaXI=",
            "port": 51820,
            "mtu": 1420,
            "nohostroute": False,
            "fwmark": "",
            "ip6prefix": [],
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "proto": "static",
                    "family": "ipv4",
                    "address": "10.0.0.5/32",
                    "mask": 32,
                }
            ],
            "network": "",
        },
        {
            "name": "vxlan",
            "type": "vxlan",
            "vtep": "10.0.0.1",
            "port": 4789,
            "vni": 1,
            "tunlink": "wgvxlan",
            "rxcsum": True,
            "txcsum": True,
            "mtu": 1280,
            "ttl": 64,
            "mac": "",
            "disabled": False,
            "network": "",
        },
    ],
    "wireguard_peers": [
        {
            "interface": "wgvxlan",
            "public_key": "94a+MnZSdzHCzOy5y2K+0+Xe7lQzaa4v7lEiBZ7elVE=",
            "allowed_ips": ["10.0.0.1/32"],
            "endpoint_host": "wireguard.test.com",
            "endpoint_port": 51820,
            "preshared_key": "",
            "persistent_keepalive": 60,
            "route_allowed_ips": True,
        }
    ],
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package network

config interface 'wgvxlan'
        list addresses '10.0.0.5/32/32'
        option listen_port '51820'
        option mtu '1420'
        option nohostroute '0'
        option private_key 'QFdbnuYr7rrF4eONCAs7FhZwP7BXX/jD/jq2LXCpaXI='
        option proto 'wireguard'

config interface 'vxlan'
        option enabled '1'
        option ifname 'vxlan'
        option mtu '1280'
        option peeraddr '10.0.0.1'
        option port '4789'
        option proto 'vxlan'
        option rxcsum '1'
        option ttl '64'
        option tunlink 'wgvxlan'
        option txcsum '1'
        option vid '1'

config wireguard_wgvxlan 'wgpeer'
        list allowed_ips '10.0.0.1/32'
        option endpoint_host 'wireguard.test.com'
        option endpoint_port '51820'
        option persistent_keepalive '60'
        option public_key '94a+MnZSdzHCzOy5y2K+0+Xe7lQzaa4v7lEiBZ7elVE='
        option route_allowed_ips '1'

All the other settings

Do you need to include some configuration directives that are not defined in the NetJSON spec nor in the schema of the OpenWrt backend? Don’t panic!

Because netjsonconfig aims to be very flexible, it ships code that will try to render extra parts of the configuration dictionary into meaningful UCI output.

In order to accomplish this, you must add extra keys to the configuration dictionary which have to meet the following requirements:

the name of the key must be the name of the package that needs to be configured
the value of the key must be a list
each element in the list must be a dict
each dict MUST contain a key named config_name
each dict MAY contain a key named config_value

This feature is best explained with a few examples.

Dropbear example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "dropbear": [
        {
            "config_name": "dropbear",
            "config_value": "dropbear_1",
            "PasswordAuth": "on",
            "RootPasswordAuth": "on",
            "Port": 22,
        }
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package dropbear

config dropbear 'dropbear_1'
        option PasswordAuth 'on'
        option Port '22'
        option RootPasswordAuth 'on'

OLSRd2 example

The following configuration dictionary:

{
    "olsrd2": [
        {
            "config_name": "global",
            "config_value": "global",
            "pidfile": "/var/run/olsrd2.pid",
            "lockfile": "/var/lock/olsrd2",
        },
        {
            "config_name": "log",
            "config_value": "log",
            "syslog": "true",
            "stderr": "true",
            "file": "/var/log/olsrd2.log",
        },
        {
            "config_name": "interface",
            "config_value": "olsr2_common",
            "ifname": ["loopback", "wlan0", "wlan1"],
        },
    ]
}

Will be rendered as follows:

package olsrd2

config global 'global'
    option lockfile '/var/lock/olsrd2'
    option pidfile '/var/run/olsrd2.pid'

config log 'log'
    option file '/var/log/olsrd2.log'
    option stderr 'true'
    option syslog 'true'

config interface 'olsr2_common'
    list ifname 'loopback'
    list ifname 'wlan0'
    list ifname 'wlan1'

OpenWrt Backend

Initialization

Render method

Generate method

Write method

Parse method

JSON method

General settings

General object extensions

General settings example

Network interfaces

Interface object extensions

Loopback interface example

Dualstack (IPv4 & IPv6)

DNS servers and search domains

DHCP ipv6 ethernet interface

Using different protocols

PPPoE proto example

Bridge settings

Bridge interface example

Using VLAN Filtering on a Bridge

Wireless settings

Wireless access point

Wireless attached to a different network

Wireless access point with macfilter ACL

Wireless access point with roaming (802.11r)

Wireless mesh (802.11s) example

Wireless mesh (adhoc) example

WDS repeater example

WPA2 Personal (Pre-Shared Key)

WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) ap

WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) client

WPA3 Personal (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals)

WPA3 Enterprise (802.1x) AP

WPA3 Enterprise (802.1x) client

Dialup settings

Dialup interface example

Modem Manager settings

Modem Manager interface example

VLAN 802.1q / VLAN 802.1ad settings

VLAN 802.1q example

VLAN 802.1ad example

Radio settings

Radio object extensions

Radio example

Automatic channel selection example

802.11ac example

802.11ax example

Static Routes

Static route object extensions

Static route example

Policy routing

Policy routing example

Programmable switch settings

Switch example

Overriding or disabling vid UCI option

NTP settings

NTP settings example

LED settings

LED settings example

Including custom options

Including custom lists

Interface list setting example

Address list setting example

Radio list setting example

Wireless list setting example

Including additional files

Plain file example

Executable script file example

OpenVPN

Schema additions

OpenVPN example

WireGuard

Schema additions

WireGuard example

VXLAN

VXLAN Settings

VXLAN example

VXLAN over WireGuard example

All the other settings

Overriding or disabling `vid` UCI option