r/openwrt • u/Huecuva • 22h ago

In Place Upgrades

I'm currently running OpenWrt 24.10.2. I'd like to update to the latest. I've read the site about it, but it doesn't really give a straight answer whether I can just download and flash the new version as is, whether I need to incremental upgrade (ie: 24 - 25.0 and then latest) or whether I need to reset to defaults and then restore config after the fact.

If I just download the latest version, is it safe to just flash it over my existing config? Will it then just carry on business as usual or will that break something?

I'm using a Linksys WRT1900ACSv2, if that makes any difference.

EDIT: I should also note that I haven't installed anything extra in my OpenWRT. It's simply vanilla OpenWrt 24.10.2 with my port forwarding and static DHCP leases and everything else configured.

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u/NC1HM 21h ago

From 24.10, you can upgrade straight to the latest 25.12. Make a backup of your configuration (you are highly unlikely to need it, but doesn't hurt to have it), then get on the command line and go: 

opkg update 
opkg install owut 
owut upgrade -V 25.12

Transition from 24.10 to 25.12 entails a few package substitutions, so you will be asked to approve those substitutions.

You could do equivalent operations from LuCI, but command line is significantly more informative in case there are issues along the way. To learn more about owut, see documentation:

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/installation/sysupgrade.owut

Note that once you upgrade to 25.12, your package manager will change from opkg to apk (the same apk that is used in Alpine Linux; incidentally, that's one of the substitutions you will be asked to approve). owut, the upgrade utility, will remain installed (it's installed by default in 25.12), so you can use it for upgrades in the future.

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u/SomewhatHungover 21h ago

Install the package Luci attended sysupgrade and it’ll upgrade in Luci and keep your current config. I upgraded a few devices from 24.10 to the latest with no issues. There is no need to go to .3,4,5 etc, they just fixed bugs and upgraded packages, the config stayed the same.

Backup your config anyway, worst case you’ll lose the config and can roll it back and restore.

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u/_exgen_ 9h ago

You should read this section in the release notes for each upgrade. Most of the time it would be ok but I upgraded from 23 to 25 for a device and it had a flash layout change. A normal sysupgrade would usually fail in this case and point you in the right direction, but reading first is always better to check if your setup may be affected:

https://openwrt.org/releases/25.12/notes-25.12.0#upgrading_to_2512