fips/packaging/openwrt-ipk

FIPS OpenWrt Package

This directory is an OpenWrt feed package that builds and installs FIPS on any OpenWrt 22.03+ router via the standard opkg package system.

Package contents

Installed path	Purpose
/usr/bin/fips	Mesh daemon
/usr/bin/fipsctl	CLI control tool (fipsctl show peers, fipsctl show links, …)
/usr/bin/fipstop	Live TUI dashboard
/usr/bin/fips-gateway	Outbound LAN gateway service (not started by default)
/usr/bin/fips-mesh-setup	Opt-in helper — creates an open 802.11s mesh interface for router↔router backhaul
/usr/bin/fips-ap-setup	Opt-in helper — creates the open !FIPS access SSID for client devices
/etc/init.d/fips	procd service for the daemon (auto-start, crash respawn)
/etc/init.d/fips-gateway	procd service for the gateway (disabled by default)
/etc/fips/fips.yaml	Node configuration (edit before first start)
/etc/fips/firewall.sh	Firewall helper — accepts traffic on fips0
/etc/sysctl.d/fips-bridge.conf	br_netfilter settings for Ethernet transport
/etc/sysctl.d/fips-gateway.conf	proxy_ndp and IPv6 forwarding for the gateway
/etc/hotplug.d/net/99-fips	Applies firewall rules when fips0 comes up
/etc/uci-defaults/90-fips-setup	First-boot kernel module, firewall and dnsmasq .fips forwarding setup
/lib/upgrade/keep.d/fips	Preserves /etc/fips/ across sysupgrade

Requirements

Build host

Requirement	Notes
OpenWrt SDK 22.03+	Older versions lack fw4 / nftables support
Rust host toolchain	Enable in make menuconfig → Advanced → Rust, or install rustup
Rust target for your router	Added automatically by the Makefile via rustup target add

Router

Requirement	Notes
kmod-tun	Required for fips0 TUN interface
kmod-br-netfilter	Required for Ethernet transport on bridge member ports

Both kernel modules are listed as package dependencies (DEPENDS) and will be installed automatically by opkg.

Target architectures

The Makefile maps the OpenWrt ARCH variable to the correct Rust musl target:

OpenWrt ARCH	Rust target
aarch64	aarch64-unknown-linux-musl
x86_64	x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
mipsel	mipsel-unknown-linux-musl
mips	mips-unknown-linux-musl
arm	arm-unknown-linux-musleabihf

To add a missing architecture, add an ifeq block in Makefile mapping the OpenWrt ARCH value to the Rust target triple.

Building with the OpenWrt SDK

1. Obtain the SDK

Download the SDK for your router's target from downloads.openwrt.org and extract it.

2. Add this package

Copy or symlink this directory into the SDK's package/ tree:

# From inside the SDK root:
ln -s /path/to/fips/packaging/openwrt-ipk package/fips

Or add the FIPS repository as a feed in feeds.conf:

src-git-full fips https://github.com/jmcorgan/fips.git

Then update and install feeds:

./scripts/feeds update fips
./scripts/feeds install -a -p fips

3. Build

make package/fips/compile V=s

The resulting .ipk is placed in bin/packages/<arch>/.

4. Pin the source version

For reproducible production builds, replace PKG_SOURCE_VERSION:=master in Makefile with a specific commit SHA and set PKG_MIRROR_HASH to the correct hash (or keep skip for development):

PKG_SOURCE_VERSION:=bf117dfabc123...  # full 40-char SHA
PKG_MIRROR_HASH:=skip

Installing on the router

scp bin/packages/<arch>/fips_0.1.0-1_<arch>.ipk root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/
ssh root@192.168.1.1 opkg install /tmp/fips_0.1.0-1_<arch>.ipk

First-time configuration

Edit /etc/fips/fips.yaml on the router before starting the daemon:

ssh root@192.168.1.1
vi /etc/fips/fips.yaml

The default config enables:

• Persistent identity (key generated on first start, saved to /etc/fips/fips.key)
• TUN interface fips0
• DNS responder on 127.0.0.1:5354
• UDP transport on 0.0.0.0:2121

For Ethernet transport, uncomment the ethernet: section and set the correct physical interface names for your router. Always use physical port names (eth0, eth1, or DSA port names like wan/lan1), never bridge names (br-lan). The shipped default WAN port is eth0 (OpenWrt 24); on OpenWrt 25 (DSA) boards the WAN port is named wan — the .apk package ships that default. Run ip link show to confirm the names on your board.

Service management

/etc/init.d/fips start
/etc/init.d/fips stop
/etc/init.d/fips restart
/etc/init.d/fips enable    # start at boot (already enabled by opkg postinstall)
/etc/init.d/fips disable

Outbound LAN gateway (optional)

The fips-gateway service is installed but disabled by default. It turns the router into an outbound gateway that bridges LAN clients onto the FIPS mesh. Enable only after configuring a gateway: section in /etc/fips/fips.yaml:

/etc/init.d/fips-gateway enable
/etc/init.d/fips-gateway start

See docs/tutorials/deploy-fips-gateway.md in the source tree for the full walkthrough.

Inspection and logs

# Node-level status overview
fipsctl show status

# Peer table
fipsctl show peers

# Transport links
fipsctl show links

# Active end-to-end sessions
fipsctl show sessions

# Live TUI dashboard
fipstop

# Daemon logs (OpenWrt syslog)
logread | grep fips

See docs/reference/cli-fipsctl.md for the full subcommand list.

Upgrading

Install the new .ipk over the existing one:

opkg install --force-reinstall fips_<new-version>_<arch>.ipk

The config in /etc/fips/fips.yaml and the identity key /etc/fips/fips.key are preserved by opkg (the yaml is installed as a conffile; the key is not a package file). Both survive sysupgrade via /lib/upgrade/keep.d/fips.