We're hiring!
*

Running Debian on the OpenWrt One

Sjoerd Simons avatar

Sjoerd Simons
January 15, 2026

Share this post:

Reading time:

The OpenWrt One is a rare piece of hardware: fully open, well-documented, and designed to be pushed beyond the limits of a traditional router. As the hardware is reasonably powerful and expandable, running a more general purpose OS like Debian on it can be rather convenient.

With openwrt-one-debian, you can now install and run a full Debian system leveraging the OpenWrt One’s NVMe storage, enabling everything from custom services and containers to development tools and lightweight server workloads, all on open hardware.

This project provides a rust-based flasher to install Debian on the OpenWrt One, opening the door to standard Debian tooling, packages, and workflows. For developers and power users, it transforms the OpenWrt One from a network appliance into a compact, general-purpose Linux system.

Key features

  • Full Debian install on NVMe
    Run a complete Debian system rather than a constrained embedded userspace.
  •  
  • Leverages standard Debian tooling
    Use familiar package management, services, and development workflows.
  •  
  • Designed for experimentation and extension
    Ideal for custom networking, edge compute, self-hosting, or development use cases.
  •  
  • Built for open hardware
    Aligns with the OpenWrt One’s open, hackable design philosophy.

Get started

The project is open source and available now on GitHub. If you’re interested in pushing the OpenWrt One beyond traditional router workloads, or exploring what’s possible when open hardware meets a full Debian system, check out the repository, try it on your own device, and contribute feedback or improvements:

https://github.com/sjoerdsimons/openwrt-one-debian

 

Search the newsroom

Latest News & Events

Linux 7.3: Color format control, Tyr progress, and more

03/11/2026

Collabora authored 111 patches for Linux 7.3, spanning DRM core, Rust, MediaTek, Rockchip, and more. Highlights include a new color format…

Panfrost is now using Kraid!

26/10/2026

Kraid is now the default Panfrost compiler for Valhall and newer Mali GPUs, delivering major reductions in shader instructions, spilling,…

USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode on Rockchip RK3588 and RK3576, starting with the Flipper One

06/10/2026

A look at the USB-PD, PHY, hotplug, and DRM changes involved in making USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode work on RK3588/RK3576, and where…

Open Since 2005 logo

Our website only uses a strictly necessary session cookie provided by our CMS system. To find out more please follow this link.

Collabora Limited © 2005-2026. All rights reserved. Privacy Notice. Sitemap.