Advanced Package Management
In this article, we discuss adding custom package repositories and installing packages that are not in the package repository, which are advanced topics that are outside the everyday use of the opkg manager.
Add a package repo
The opkg package manager can be configured to access additional package repositories beyond its default configuration, enabling the installation of any packages in those repos. This is useful if there are key packages that are not included in the standard list of package repos.
The package feed configuration is stored in the distfeeds.conf file.
To add a package repo, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open the /etc/opkg/distfeeds.conf file in the editor.
Step 2: Edit the distfeeds.conf file and add a package repository link that is supported by Omega devices and the opkg package manager.
src/gz <repository_name> <repository_url>
Replace <repository_name> and <repository_url> with the URL based on Omega2 device architecture and supported by the OpenWRT release version.
Only use package repos that are compatible with the mipsel_24kc architecture used by the Omega2 family. The name of the architecture type is generally included in the package repository URL.
Step 3: Now save the changed distfeeds.conf file and exit.
Step 4: Open the Omega2 terminal and run the opkg update command to install the added package.
Install a package that's not in a package repo
It's sometimes useful to install a package that's not in any of opkg's configured package repos. This is especially true in early development, when the customer may want to install a package that's still in development or quickly try out a particular package from a package repo.
Only install packages that are compatible with the mipsel_24kc architecture of the Omega2. The package name will usually end with the architecture type, so use only installed packages ending with mipsel_24kc.ipk; ignore incompatible ones.
Method 1: Copy the IPK file to Omega2 and use OPKG
Download the IPK file from the package source URL and copy the IPK package file to the /tmp directory on the Omega2 device.
Now, navigate to the /tmp directory containing the downloaded IPK file and run the following command in the Omega2 terminal to install the package:
opkg install /tmp/<package-file.ipk>
Replace <package-file.ipk> with the actual filename.
This method is suitable for installing packages that are not available in standard repositories and useful for testing packages during development.
Method 2: Install a package from the Web based on its URL
Locate the URL of the package and execute the following command to install it directly from the URL.
opkg install <PACKAGE_URL>
Replace <PACKAGE_URL> with the actual URL of the package.
This method is useful for installing a package from an online source without adding the entire repository to the opkg configuration.
Be cautious when installing packages from external sources and ensure they are from trusted and secure locations.