The OpenWrt project started in January 2004. The first OpenWrt versions were based on Linksys GPL sources for WRT54G and a buildroot from the uClibc project. This version was known as OpenWrt “stable release” and was widely in use. There are still many OpenWrt applications, like the Freifunk-Firmware or [email protected], which are based on this version.

In the beginning of 2005 some new developers joined the team. After some months of closed development the team decided to publish the first “experimental” versions of OpenWrt. The experimental versions use a heavily customized build system based on buildroot2 from the uClibc project.

OpenWrt uses official GNU/Linux kernel sources and only adds patches for the system on chip and drivers for the network interfaces. The developer team tries to re-implement most of the proprietary code inside the GPL tarballs of the different vendors. There are free tools for writing new firmware images directly into the flash (mtd), for configuring the wireless lan chip and to program the VLAN-capable switch via the proc filesystem.

Stable release version numbers are made from the year and the month when a new stable branch was created. An additional third number indicates a service or interim release from that branch.

Pre-built images of the final stable image for each release are in the Download column at the right. Information about the various types of builds is available on the Choosing an OpenWrt Version page.

2007: The codename of the first OpenWrt release is “White Russian”. (White Russian is a popular cocktail. Subsequent release names in 2007-2016 were based on other cocktails, and and the recipe was shown in /etc/banner.)

Subsequent releases continue the version scheme without the '.0' prefix, and with the version number derived roughly from the year in which the release falls.

White Russian is no longer maintained or supported. It is not recommended for any use.

2006-2010: Substantial improvements to the build environment were made under the Buildroot-NG fork in August and September 2006, and these were merged back into the main Kamikaze development branch in mid-October 2006 and became the first official Kamikaze release. OpenWrt 7 and 8, both in the “Kamikaze” stream, were released throughout 2007-2008.

These older versions of OpenWrt are no longer maintained or supported. They are not recommended for any use.

2010-2011: The first Backfire release, OpenWrt 10.03, was released in April 2010. A maintenance release (Backfire 10.03.1) was released in December 2011.

Backfire is no longer maintained or supported. It is not recommended for any use.

2013: The 12.09 "Attitude Adjustment" version was released on 25 April 2013. It is based on r36088.

• Images (Downloads)
• Release announcement
• Release Notes
• Changelog
• SVN Tag

Attitude Adjustment is no longer maintained or supported.

2014: Barrier Breaker was released in October 2014.

• Images
• Announcement & Release Notes
• SVN: r42625

Barrier Breaker is no longer maintained or supported.

2015-2016: The Chaos Calmer (CC) release uses 3.18 LTS kernel as baseline.

The maintenance release of 15.05.1 was released on 16 March 2016:

• Images
• Announcement & Release Notes
• SVN: r48532. (The release has been compiled at the end of January 2016, but hardware problems delayed the release until March.)
• Linux kernel 3.18.23

Chaos Calmer is no longer maintained or supported.

2017-2018: The LEDE 17.01 releases uses 4.4 kernel as baseline.

Most recent 17.01 release is 17.01.6 in September 2018:

• Download images
• LEDE 17.01.6
• r3979-2252731af4

LEDE v17.01 is no longer maintained or actively supported.

2018-2020: The OpenWrt 18.06 is the previous stable release. It uses kernel 4.9 or 4.14 depending on target. The 18.06 release is currently in security maintenance mode, so that the OpenWrt team may still fix security problems but there is no focus on bugs any more.

Most recent 18.06 release is 18.06.8 in March 2020:

• Download images
• OpenWrt 18.06.8
• r7989-82fbd85747

2020: The OpenWrt 19.07 is the current stable release. It uses kernel 4.14. The 19.07 release is currently the fully supported stable release, so that the OpenWrt team provides updates for the core packages fixing security and other problems.

Most recent 19.07 release is 19.07.4 in September 2020:

• Download images
• OpenWrt 19.07.4
• r11208-ce6496d796

2020: The bleeding edge development master (trunk), where the main development is being made, is called as “master” in the GIT repository. Trunk is under heavy development, and a snapshot image should not be used except by developers or experienced users who accept occasional bricking of the device.

Openwrt follows this branch strategy:

• all development happens in master. It progresses on, but no releases are made of it. Buildbot development snapshots are made from master. New devices are added to master.
• before major releases, a release branch is branched off from master. This branch will get separate fix commits and releases are made of that. No new features are normally added to the release branches after the branching.

In the picture below, you can see 17.01, 18.06 and 19.07 branches with the historical releases made from them.