Chapter 4: Installing OpenWrt Router Virtual Machine

This chapter explains how to install a router virtual machine using VMWare on a Windows system. Many students have likely installed Ubuntu or Windows on VMWare before.

Why Install a Virtual Machine

• Convenient for students without router hardware to test code
• The router virtual machine provides a debugging environment, giving developers an additional option
• Compared to hardware devices, it is easy to obtain and does not require powering on hardware or serial connections
• Disadvantage: Cannot provide hardware-related testing feedback

Obtaining the Virtual Machine Installation Package

We cannot directly use the firmware package obtained in Chapter 1 to install the virtual machine. Why? Because our Windows system is x86 platform, while the firmware package from Chapter 1 is for the rampis platform. Steps to operate:

• Execute “make menuconfig” in the root directory of the source code
• Select “Target System” as X86

• Select “Target Image” as “Build VMware image files (VMDK)”

• Select “<Save>” to save the modified configuration to the .config file in the root directory
• Execute “make -j $(nproc) download world V=s” in the root directory
• After compilation, we can obtain the following upgrade package in the bin directory. For the upgrade, select “openwrt-x86-generic-combined-ext4.vmdk”

Executing the Virtual Machine Installation

If you are familiar with the installation of virtual machines, you can install it on your own. Here’s a reminder: during the “virtual machine disk conversion” step, you need to select “keep existing format”

Here’s a video tutorial:

Open the virtual machine

When you see the display below, congratulations, your router has been successfully installed

Setting Up Communication Between the Virtual Machine and Windows Host

• Check the IP address information of the Windows host

• Modify /etc/config/network in the virtual machine so that the virtual machine and Windows host are on the same subnet

• Execute “/etc/init.d/network restart” in the virtual machine to restart the network

• Execute ssh in the Windows host

Follow the “Internet of Things Technology” WeChat public account for more content