OPKG Package Manager
Opkg is the default package manager for OpenWRT. This is an efficient package management system, best for resource-constrained devices and crucial for managing software packages on devices running OpenWRT. It relies on package repositories to fetch and install software packages.
This article provides instructions on how to update, locate, and install OpenWRT packages for Omega2 devices.
Update the package lists
Before using opkg to find packages, list packages, and install them, it is crucial to update opkg's package lists first.
Run the following command to update opkg's package lists:
opkg update
This command fetches the latest list of packages from the configured package repositories. When this command runs, OPKG will connect to the configured package repositories and determine which packages are available for installation.
Users must run the opkg update command after each reboot of the device to find or install packages.
Find packages to Install
In this section, we show you how to view the list of all available packages with their descriptions and find a particular package of interest. Follow the steps outlined below to search for packages using opkg.
Step 1: Display all available packages
Run the following command to view all the available packages:
opkg list
Step 2: Find specific packages
The opkg list command supports searching with wildcards, making it easy to search for specific packages in the configured package repos.
Narrow down your package search based on the package name and one or more wildcards:
opkg list 'keyword*' # starting with 'keyword'
opkg list '*keyword' # ending with 'keyword'
opkg list '*keyword*' # contains 'keyword'
Example: To find all packages starting with kmod-usb, run the command:
opkg list 'kmod-usb*'
This will show all the available packages with kmod-usb in their name or description:
root@Omega-FBF4:/# opkg list 'kmod-usb*'
kmod-usb-acm - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for USB ACM devices (modems/isdn controllers)
kmod-usb-atm - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for USB DSL modems
kmod-usb-atm-cxacru - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for cxacru based USB ADSL modems
kmod-usb-atm-speedtouch - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for SpeedTouch USB ADSL modems
kmod-usb-atm-ueagle - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for Eagle 8051 based USB ADSL modems
kmod-usb-audio - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for USB audio devices
kmod-usb-cm109 - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for CM109 VOIP phone
kmod-usb-core - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for USB
kmod-usb-dwc2 - 5.15.150-1 - This driver provides USB Device Controller support for the
Synopsys DesignWare USB OTG Core
kmod-usb-dwc2-pci - 5.15.150-1 - The Designware USB2.0 PCI interface module for controllers
connected to a PCI bus.
kmod-usb-dwc3 - 5.15.150-1 - This driver provides support for the Dual Role SuperSpeed
USB Controller based on the Synopsys DesignWare USB3 IP Core
kmod-usb-ehci - 5.15.150-1 - EHCI controller support
kmod-usb-hid - 5.15.150-1 - Kernel support for USB HID devices such as keyboards and mice
List installed packages
Use the opkg package manager to fetch all the installed packages on the Omega2 or specific packages. Follow these instructions to get the package list.
List all packages
Run the following command to list all the installed packages:
opkg list-installed
List specific packages
The opkg list-installed command supports searching with wildcards, making it easy to display a list of specific installed packages. Narrow down the search operation using a specific keyword alongside this command.
opkg list-installed 'keyword*' # starting with 'keyword'
opkg list-installed '*keyword' # ending with 'keyword'
opkg list-installed '*keyword*' # contains 'keyword'
Example: To see all installed packages starting with onion in the package directory, run the following command:
opkg list-installed 'onion*'
This will find all the installed packages that start with onion:
root@Omega-FBF4:/# opkg list-installed 'onion*'
onion-dt-overlay - 1.0-5
onion-repo-keys - 23.05.3-1
root@Omega-FBF4:/# opkg list-installed 'omega2*'
omega2-base - 23.05.3-20250121
omega2-base-files - 23.05.3-20250121
omega2-base-passwd - 23.05.3-20250121
omega2-ctrl - 0.3-1
Install packages
To install a specific package on the Omega2, add the package name to the following command:
opkg install <PACKAGE NAME>
The installation and downloading of the package will begin.
root@Omega-539F:~# opkg install curl
Installing curl (7.60.0-3) to root...
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/base/curl_7.60.0-3_mipsel_24kc.ipk
Configuring curl.
Don't forget to run opkg update beforehand to retrieve all the latest packages before installing any package.
Remove packages
Uninstall or remove a previously installed package from Omega2 using the remove command. From the available list of packages, choose the package intended to be removed.
Copy the package name to be removed in the following command:
opkg remove <PACKAGE NAME>
Example: To remove the curl package using OPKG, run the following command:
opkg remove curl
The output should look like this:
root@Omega-2757:/# opkg remove curl
Removing package curl from root...
Advanced package management
Sometimes you may want to add additional packages or custom repositories to your Omega2 device. These are advanced topics that are outside the everyday use of the opkg package manager.
Here, we offer a brief description of these two advanced topics.
Add a package repo
You can configure the opkg package manager to access additional package repositories that are beyond its default configuration and enable installation of packages within those repos.
Install a package that's not in a package repo
During early development you may want to try out a package or install just a single package from a package repo that is not part of the opkg’s configured package repos.
For more detail on these advanced topics, see the Advanced Package Management article.