A OpenWrt device, by default, always listens for SSH command line access on port 22. To “ssh into your router”, you enter the command ssh root@192.168.1.1
in a terminal emulator (for a router whose address is 192.168.1.1).
The first time you ssh into your router, you will probably see a warning about the RSA key fingerprint. If you are certain this is the address of your OpenWrt device, simply type yes
and press Return. Then enter the password you have given to your router, or press Return if this is the initial setup. Here is an example session:
$ ssh root@192.168.1.1 <== You type this The authenticity of host '192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)' can't be established. RSA key fingerprint is SHA256:4VbDA/MOc7inPiyllF5f0r3Q6iEx89ddKdhLGBovsiY. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes <== and this Warning: Permanently added '192.168.1.1' (RSA) to the list of known hosts. root@192.168.1.1's password: <== and the password here BusyBox v1.28.4 () built-in shell (ash) _______ ________ __ | |.-----.-----.-----.| | | |.----.| |_ | - || _ | -__| || | | || _|| _| |_______|| __|_____|__|__||________||__| |____| |__| W I R E L E S S F R E E D O M ----------------------------------------------------- OpenWrt 18.06.2, r7676-cddd7b4c77 ----------------------------------------------------- root@OpenWrt:~# <== type next command here
To end your ssh session to your router, type exit
and press Return.
The remainder of this page describes several terminal emulators that Windows, Linux, or macOS can use to access your OpenWrt device.
Cmder, Smartty, Putty, and WinSCP are terminal emulators that allow you to ssh into a router.
As of April 2018, Win10 Powershell and command prompt provide SSH access after enabling the feature. Here's a description of the process: https://www.howtogeek.com/336775/how-to-enable-and-use-windows-10s-built-in-ssh-commands/
Cmder for Windows is an open-source terminal emulator that runs on Windows. It is free to use and provides an easy “command line shell” that allows you to ssh into OpenWrt. Its attractive fonts and color scheme are easy on the eyes. The Full distribution is preferred (over the mini distribution), since it provides a bash emulation, with a Unix-y suite of commands.
ssh root@192.168.1.1
then press ReturnSmartty gives you command line access to OpenWrt and allows you to open/edit/download/upload files in OpenWrt, and is overall more modern and user-friendly than Putty (another tool detailed below):
opkg update && opkg install openssh-sftp-server
to install it. If the next step fails, it might be necessary to reboot the OpenWrt device for this new service to start up properly.After the first time you connected to a device, Smartty saved a profile, so you can connect again to the same device (at that IP address with that password) by just doubleclicking its icon on the first window you see when starting Smartty. You can right-click on this profile icon to edit it again, if needed.
Putty gives you command line access to OpenWrt:
putty.exe
download from the Alternative binary files
section.putty.exe
on your Windows client → Putty's login window pops up.Session
category of Putty's login window, look for the field Host Name (or IP address)
and simply enter the IP-address (e.g. 192.168.1.1) of your OpenWrt device, keep the default provided port 22.Open
button at the Bottom to open a connection. This will pop up a shell windows, asking to login as
. Login as root with the OpenWrt password you have defined some time before. If you have not yet set a password yet on “root”, you will not be asked for the password.WinSCP allows you to browse the OpenWrt file system in Windows Exlorer like GUI-style:
Installation package
or portable executables
and install or unzip them on your Windows clientWinSCP.exe
on your Windows client, WinSCP's login window will pop upNew Site
on the left, then enter your OpenWrt device IP address (192.168.1.1) on the right side into Host name
, keep the default port 22
. In User name
enter root, in Password
, enter your root password (or leave blank, if you have not set a password yet)Login
at the bottom of the Window.
Editing OpenWrt config files with WINSCP's integrated GUI editor:
To edit a OpenWrt config file with WinSCP's GUI-based editor, just right-click the file in WinSCP and select Edit
from the context menu.
All Linux distributions provide a command-line ssh client as part of the default installation.
ssh root@192.168.1.1
(“ssh” is the command, “root” is the OpenWrt user you are connecting to, and “192.168.1.1” is OpenWrt default IP)Linux also usually has SCP clients (to open/edit/download/upload files in OpenWrt), which may or may not be installed by default. You need to look up your distro's documentation or search with your package management interface for “SCP” to find where it is and its current installation status. Read its integrated manual (“man scp” for example is for the command line SCP client) or google some tutorials to learn how to use it.
On macOS (formerly Mac OSX) any terminal emulator will allow you to ssh. There several terminal emulators:
To ssh into your OpenWrt router at 192.168.1.1, type ssh root@192.168.1.1
, then press Return.