OpenWrt version history

The OpenWrt project started in January 2004. The first OpenWrt versions were based on Linksys GPL sources for WRT54G and a buildroot from the uClibc project. This version was known as OpenWrt stable release and was widely in use.

In the beginning of 2005 some new developers joined the team. After some months of closed development the team decided to publish the first experimental versions of OpenWrt. The experimental versions use a heavily customized build system based on buildroot2 from the uClibc project.

OpenWrt uses official GNU/Linux kernel sources and only adds patches for the system on chip and drivers for the network interfaces. The developer team tries to re-implement most of the proprietary code inside the GPL tarballs of the different vendors. There are free tools for writing new firmware images directly into the flash (mtd), for configuring the wireless lan chip and to program the VLAN-capable switch via the proc filesystem.

Stable release version numbers are made from the year and the month when a new stable branch was created. An additional third number indicates a service or interim release from that branch.

Pre-built images of the final stable image for each release are in the Downloads column at the right. Information about the various types of builds is available on the Choosing an OpenWrt version page.

2007: The codename of the first OpenWrt release is White Russian. White Russian is a popular cocktail. Subsequent release names in 2007-2016 were based on other cocktails, and the recipe was shown in /etc/banner.

Subsequent releases continue the version scheme without the .0 prefix, and with the version number derived roughly from the year in which the release falls.

White Russian is no longer maintained or supported.

2006-2010: Substantial improvements to the build environment were made under the Buildroot-NG fork in August and September 2006, and these were merged back into the main Kamikaze development branch in mid-October 2006 and became the first official Kamikaze release. OpenWrt 7 and 8, both in the Kamikaze stream, were released throughout 2007-2008.

Kamikaze and Buildroot-NG are no longer maintained or supported.

2010-2011: The first Backfire release, OpenWrt 10.03, was released in April 2010:

• Release notes

Backfire is no longer maintained or supported.

2013: Attitude Adjustment (AA) was released on 25 April 2013:

• Release notes
• Release notes
• Announcement
• Changelog
• Downloads
• Code revision: r36088

Attitude Adjustment is no longer maintained or supported.

2014: Barrier Breaker (BB) was released in October 2014:

• Release notes
• Announcement / Release notes
• Downloads
• Code revision: r42625

Barrier Breaker is no longer maintained or supported.

2015-2016: Chaos Calmer (CC) was compiled at the end of January 2016, but hardware problems delayed the release until March.

The maintenance release of Chaos Calmer was released on 16 March 2016:

• Release notes
• Announcement / Release notes
• Downloads
• Code revision: r48532
• Linux kernel: 3.18

Chaos Calmer is no longer maintained or supported.

2017-2018: Most recent 17.01 release is 17.01.6 in September 2018:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r3979-2252731af4
• Linux kernel: 4.4

LEDE 17.01 is no longer maintained or actively supported.

2018-2020: Most recent 18.06 release is the final service release 18.06.9 in December 2020:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r8077-7cbbab7246
• Linux kernel: 4.9 / 4.14 depending on target

OpenWrt 18.06 has been declared End-of-Support in December 2020 and is no longer maintained or actively supported.

2020-2022: Most recent 19.07 release is the final service release 19.07.10 in April 2022:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r11427-9ce6aa9d8d
• Linux kernel: 4.14

OpenWrt 19.07 has been declared End-of-Support in April 2022 and is no longer maintained or actively supported.

2021-2023: Most recent 21.02 release is the final service release 21.02.7 in May 2023:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r16847-f8282da11e
• Linux kernel: 5.4

OpenWrt 21.02 has been declared End-of-Support in May 2023 and is no longer maintained or actively supported.

2022-: Most recent 22.03 release is 22.03.5 in May 2023:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r20134-5f15225c1e
• Linux kernel: 5.10.176

OpenWrt 22.03 is the current stable release, fully supported by the OpenWrt team providing updates for the core packages and fixing security and other problems.

The “bleeding edge” aka trunk (SVN age term) where the main development is being made, is called as the master branch in the Git repository. Snapshot images made from master are considered unstable and potentially can brick the device, so they are only supposed to be used by developers or experienced users.

Openwrt follows this branch strategy:

• All development happens in master. It progresses on, but no releases are made from it. Buildbot development snapshots are compiled from master. New devices are added to master.
• Before major releases, a release branch is branched off from master. This branch will get separate fix commits and the releases are made of that. No new features are normally added to the release branches after the branching.

Approximate branching dates of the recent release branches, reflecting the date from which the bulk of the source code also in the later maintenance releases is based on:

• 18.06: May 2018
• 19.07: June 2019
• 21.02: February 2021
• 22.03: March 2022

In the picture below, you can see 19.07, 21.02 and 22.03 branches with the historical releases made from them.