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remote_upgrade_poc
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| remote_upgrade_poc [2023/06/27 00:16] – [Remote Upgrade types] -formatting hogwild | remote_upgrade_poc [2023/07/13 17:05] (current) – [Concerns, Issues, and Known Challenges] -formatting hogwild | ||
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| - How critical is Internet access at the remote location? \\ \\ | - How critical is Internet access at the remote location? \\ \\ | ||
| - How quickly can you reach the remote location to fix possible problems? \\ \\ | - How quickly can you reach the remote location to fix possible problems? \\ \\ | ||
| - | - Best practices include firmware upgrades when available. However, in scenarios involving | + | - Best practices include firmware upgrades when available. However, in remote |
| - Make a backup plan in case the upgrade fails: | - Make a backup plan in case the upgrade fails: | ||
| - Keep a spare device on site, fully configured and ready, or; | - Keep a spare device on site, fully configured and ready, or; | ||
| - Reach the remote location in x hours/days or; | - Reach the remote location in x hours/days or; | ||
| - Have someone on site who can recover from a failure. | - Have someone on site who can recover from a failure. | ||
| - | - (Such as using the factory | + | - (Such as using the Reset button to restore the backup configuration/ |
| - | - One problem with these routers is that newer firmware is written on top of the running firmware. This involves some risk that \\ the (now invalid) filesystem could cause issues/ crash during reboot. This would cause a manual power cycle to be needed. | + | - A problem with these routers is the newer firmware is written on top of the running firmware. |
| - This could be easily resolved if someone on site could perform the power cycle. \\ \\ | - This could be easily resolved if someone on site could perform the power cycle. \\ \\ | ||
| - | - Asus tries to avoid this by creating a temporary rootfs where the critical bits are copied during reboot. | + | - Asus tries to avoid this by creating a temporary rootfs where the critical bits are copied during reboot. |
| - | - Newer Broadcom routers solve this using two separate | + | - Newer Broadcom routers solve this using two firmware partitions. The new firmware is written to \\ the other partition, so the running filesystem remains intact. |
| - **If you need something that is remotely managed, you need a router designed for that.**\\ | - **If you need something that is remotely managed, you need a router designed for that.**\\ | ||
| - Trying to script fail-safe procedures for all possible scenarios will require a lot of work. | - Trying to script fail-safe procedures for all possible scenarios will require a lot of work. | ||
| - | - Other, potentially unrecoverable issues remain when physical access isn't available. Even in non-critical use cases, \\ it's annoying to perform that kind of recovery. \\ \\ | + | - Other, potentially unrecoverable issues remain when physical access isn't available. |
| - You are strongly advised to perform an NVRAM full erase/reset after a FreshTomato upgrade. | - You are strongly advised to perform an NVRAM full erase/reset after a FreshTomato upgrade. | ||
| - On its first run, FreshTomato will recreate and initialize required default parameters. | - On its first run, FreshTomato will recreate and initialize required default parameters. | ||
| - A " | - A " | ||
| - | - Some form of permanent storage is needed. A full erase/reset of NVRAM-stored parameters via // | + | - A form of permanent storage is needed. A full erase/reset of NVRAM-stored parameters via // |
| - What is the difference betweeen the // | - What is the difference betweeen the // | ||
| - | - Issuing the //nvram erase// command still erases the nvram mtd. However, on reboot | + | - Issuing the //nvram erase// command still erases the nvram mtd. However, on actions like a reboot, \\ NVRAM is saved to mtd from RAM. Thus, it will not wipe everything unless power is removed |
| - | - The //nvram erase// command maintains the NVRAM structure (header/ | + | - The //nvram erase// command maintains the NVRAM header/ |
| - | - Thus, options for storage persistence seem to be: | + | - Thus, options for storage persistence |
| - JFFS. However, by default, if NVRAM is cleared, JFFS is unmounted. Also, JFFS needs to be unmounted \\ before an upgrade, since occasionally it gets repartitioned/ | - JFFS. However, by default, if NVRAM is cleared, JFFS is unmounted. Also, JFFS needs to be unmounted \\ before an upgrade, since occasionally it gets repartitioned/ | ||
| - USB storage \\ \\ | - USB storage \\ \\ | ||
| - | - All forks of Tomato | + | - All forks of Tomato trigger execution of certain shell scripts with the < |
| - Automount mounts all partitions to subdirectories in "/ | - Automount mounts all partitions to subdirectories in "/ | ||
| - | - Logic is needed to distinguish | + | - Logic is needed to tell if the .autorun |
| - | - Performing an upgrade via the shell is safer than via the web interface. From the shell, you download a .zip and check \\ for magic number errors when extracting the archive. Most devices have enough RAM to host the .zip. Uploading a " | + | - Performing an upgrade via the shell is safer than via the web interface. From the shell, you download a .zip \\ and check for magic number errors when extracting the archive. Most devices have enough RAM \\ to host the .zip. Uploading a " |
| - | - Clearing NVRAM and restoring variables remotely via a script could lead to a serious lockout or bootloop. \\ Even if such an approach (having a list of nvram set commands) saved time, too many things | + | - Clearing NVRAM and restoring variables remotely via a script could lead to a serious lockout or bootloop. \\ Even if such an approach (having a list of nvram set commands) saved time, too many things |
| - | - Having a persistent | + | - Having a stable |
| - | - Upgrade options using TFTP wouldn' | + | - Upgrade options using TFTP wouldn' |
| - | - Other options | + | - Other options to do a controlled reconfiguration during upgrade might include leaving specific entry points, \\ hooks, or callback scripts. However, this would require thorough examination, |
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| - Evaluate the use of external files for certificates. | - Evaluate the use of external files for certificates. | ||
| - | - Evaluate the use of an external file for the list of parameters | + | - Evaluate the use of an external file for the list of parameters to be preserved. |
| - Replace the: `....` notation for subshell with FreshTomato' | - Replace the: `....` notation for subshell with FreshTomato' | ||
| - | - Consider handling EOL of files you reference internally. There are many sed examples on how to achieve | + | - Consider handling EOL of files you reference internally. There are many sed examples |
| - Consider defining the USB path as a variable at the beginning of your script. | - Consider defining the USB path as a variable at the beginning of your script. | ||
| - | - Remember: some devices might have multiple USB drives plugged/ | + | - Remember: some devices might have multiple USB drives plugged/ |
| \\ | \\ | ||
| Line 173: | Line 173: | ||
| The Main Preserve Script, with a list of parameters to save, creates the Restore script with actual parameter values. | The Main Preserve Script, with a list of parameters to save, creates the Restore script with actual parameter values. | ||
| - | **Caution: Unexpected side effects can occur if any parameter value contains the single quote (') character. | + | **Caution: Unexpected side effects can occur if any parameter value contains the single quote (') character. Consider replacing single quotes with double |
| - | + | ||
| - | **Consider replacing single quotes with double | + | |
| \\ | \\ | ||
| - | After every upgrade, you should review the FreshTomato | + | After every upgrade, you should review the FreshTomato |
| - Bug fixes | - Bug fixes | ||
| Line 185: | Line 183: | ||
| - New features | - New features | ||
| - Explicit recommendations from the developers | - Explicit recommendations from the developers | ||
| + | |||
| \\ | \\ | ||
| Line 198: | Line 197: | ||
| \\ | \\ | ||
| + | |||
| <code bash> | <code bash> | ||
| #!/bin/sh | #!/bin/sh | ||
| Line 692: | Line 692: | ||
| | | ||
| ===== Alternatives ===== | ===== Alternatives ===== | ||
| + | |||
| - Compile your own firmware with your settings hard-coded within it. | - Compile your own firmware with your settings hard-coded within it. | ||
| - Building the compilation environment requires a lot of effort. | - Building the compilation environment requires a lot of effort. | ||
| - Consolidated experience with such process is necessary. | - Consolidated experience with such process is necessary. | ||
| - | - Several previous attempts were made using directions from: freshtomato-arm [[https:// | + | - Several previous attempts were made using directions from: freshtomato-arm [[https:// |
| ===== References and Online Resources ===== | ===== References and Online Resources ===== | ||
remote_upgrade_poc.1687821360.txt.gz · Last modified: 2023/06/27 00:16 by hogwild
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