README
1Openwrt inside a user mode linux. Why would we even want this many ask?
2
3There are potentially a lot of reasons, one obvious one to me, it allows
4folks to 'kick the tires' without actually flashing up any hardware. It's
5also a great environment for porting over packages, you can get a package
6fully functional in the uclibc root environment inside a uml without actually
7disturbing your 'real router', and then rebuild for a specific target once
8it's fully tested.
9
10This is a first stab at a build that 'just works' and there will be more
11cleanup to come. The simple directions are:-
12
13Configure for uml target
14Configure with an ext4 root file system
15build it all
16
17In your bin directory you will find a kernel and an ext4 root file system
18when it's finished. Just run it like this:-
19
20bin/uml/openwrt-uml-vmlinux ubd0=bin/uml/openwrt-uml-ext4.img con=null ssl=null ssl0=fd:0,fd:1 con0=null,fd:2
21
22The uml will start, and eventually the serial console of the uml will be at your
23console prompt. If you would like it in xterms, substitute con=xterm and con0=xterm.
24No networking is configured, but, it's a starting point. The resulting file system
25has just enough free space to start kicking the tires and playing in the world of
26'embedded routers' along with all the resource restrictions that come with that
27world.
28
29To configure networking and more, refer to the user mode linux documentation online.
30A quick start goes along this line. install the uml-utilities packages so you have
31the uml switch in and running, then add a command param to your uml start like this
32
33eth0=daemon,00:01:01:01:01:01,unix,/<your uml switch control socket here>
34
35With that in, and uml networking actually functional (can be a challenge at times),
36you should be able to ifconfig the interface and talk to the host side, or, if you
37bridged the uml switch to your host network, you should be able to run udhcp and be
38away with networking off to the world. Again, if you are unfamiliar with uml and
39uml networking, please read the docs and how-to stuff available on the net. It does
40take some fiddling to get it started and working right the first time, but after that,
41it opens up a whole new world of virtual machines.
42
43
44
45http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/
46