✶Update 09/2020✶ Omada Controller 3.2.10 for Debian, Raspbian and other Linux systems
Looking for Omada SDN Controller Linux version? It's here.
Last Update: 2020-09-07
[Update: To allow for version switching between different versions of the controller, V3.2.10 received an upgrade. You can install it over an existing V3.2.10 without losing data.]
I just made a .deb package with Omada Controller 3.2.10 for Debian, Raspbian and any other Linux system providing the dpkg installer. Please find the release notes at the end of this post.
This .deb package is in the tradition of the community version of Omada Controller, meaning it contains the same Java classes and remaining files as the official TP-Link version except for the binaries bundled with it (JRE, mongodb) and the start/stop script control.sh (which is replaced by my own version omadactl).
Prerequisites
You will need netstat (package: net-tools), curl and the native versions of JRE, jsvc and mongod (installed by default in Raspbian based on Stretch, unfortunately not so in Debian). Setting up the Oracle JRE and jsvc is left to you as an exercise; here are some suggestions:
Debian and any other Linux distribution:
Install mongodb from the standard repository and JRE8 from Oracle's website. As for jsvc, don't use the Debian binary package, it requires OpenJDK last time I checked this. Instead, get the source code for jsvc (command apt-get source jsvc), compile it and install jsvc manually. Sorry for this inconvenience, but TP-Link decided to use jsvc for Privilege Separation rather than the much more common standard start-stop-daemon or daemonize programs already present on almost any Linux system. Don't blame me for this – omadactl still can use both methods, but you need to use jsvc for Omada Controller versions V3.x.
Raspbian (see also »Limitations« below):
Oracle JRE8, jsvc and mongodb are pre-installed by default in Raspbian (make sure you did not explicitly choose OpenJDK as an alternative for the Oracle JRE). You can easily check whether the required programs are installed on your Raspbian:
$ java -version
java version "1.8.0_261"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_261-b12)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.261-b12, mixed mode)
$ update-java-alternatives -l
jdk-8-oracle-arm32-vfp-hflt 318 /usr/lib/jvm/jdk-8-oracle-arm32-vfp-hflt
$ mongod -version
db version v2.4.14
Thu Apr 30 12:49:28.060 git version: nogitversion
$
Donwload the all-architectures .deb package
Download https://rent-a-guru.de/ftp/omada-controller_3.2.10-3_all.deb
Compare the checksum of the downloaded .deb file for integrity:
$ md5sum -b omada-controller_3.2.10-3_all.deb
6b986ee67828d4c1e55d8dc6af1e8cbc *omada-controller_3.2.10-3_all.deb
or:
$ sha256sum -b omada-controller_3.2.10-3_all.deb
ef77aa88a3196d7663f35e59357a67833b86fa783923df480f56318ea84e5de2 *omada-controller_3.2.10-3_all.deb
Installation
First, make a backup of your Omada Controller's settings before installing. Either use the web UI or copy the whole content of the subdirectory data in /opt/tplink/OmadaController to a backup directory. You can later move the data directory back into the new controller version.
Install the new version of Omada Controller with:
dpkg -i omada-controller_3.2.10-3_all.deb
After a successful installation the controller will be started automatically.
Notes:
- Ignore the warnings from dpkg about some directories which can't be deleted. dpkg will remove files from older versions of the same package omada-controller, but it won't delete the old database directory (unless you do a manual purge before installing). This means that your database and settings from previous versions of Omada Controller will be retained - you can copy the files in the data subdirectory over to the new version. See »Restoring Omada Controller settings« below.
- Installation directory is /opt/tplink/OmadaController-3.2.10. The symlink /opt/tplink/OmadaController is a short-hand alias to the installation directory.
- Start/stop script has been renamed from tpeap to omadactl (
deprecatedtpeap is still there, it's a symlink to omadactl).
Update: tpeap has been finally removed.
If installing using dpkg, you won't be able to switch between versions of Omada Controller using omadactl's switch command.
Update: The current release of V3.2.10 now allows to switch between this and any newer controller versions.
- Some options of omadactl have no effect with only one version of the controller installed, that is if you install the .deb-Package. dpkg will override the old version before installing the new one. However, since the installation directoy reflects the version (intentionally!), you find all settings in the data subdirectory of the old version's installation directory. See »Restoring Omada Controller settings« below.
- On my RasPi the start of the controller needs ~69 seconds (first time start: ~124 seconds). You might want to increase the standard time-out (70 sec.) for starting the controller if it needs more time on your RasPi (time depends on other active processes during the start). To change the default time-out, use omadactl -S num, where num is the new time-out in seconds. This command will store the new time-out permanently in omadactl's config file and exits immediately (without starting Omada Controller).
Restoring Omada Controller settings
There is an easy way to restore your controller's settings using omadactl. Let's say you want to update Omada Controller 3.2.9 to 3.2.10. The directory OmadaController-3.2.9 will be cleaned by dpkg before it installs the new version in a new directory OmadaController-3.2.10. However, user files will be retained (dpkg prints warnings about which directories are not removed). Now stop the new controller using omadactl and use omadactl with the copydb command:
omadactl -w stop
omadactl copydb OmadaController-3.2.9 OmadaController-3.2.10
This will copy all settings under the data subdirectory from the old version to the new version. Restart the controller and you will see all your EAPs, settings, maps etc. If everything works, you can safely remove the old directory using rm -rf OmadaController-3.2.9.
Limitations
Keep in mind that under Rasbian, which still is a 32-bit OS for compatibility with older Pis, mongodb has a 2GB limit for the size of the database. You could compile a 64-bit kernel / userland programs to get rid of this limit.
If Omada Controller doesn't start automatically on reboot of the RasPi, check with systemctl whether the omadad.service is enabled.
Omada Controller on RasPi is slooooooow, especially if initializing the environment at the first start. Start it with omadactl -W 240, note the time it needs to start (omadactl will print a message) and set the time + a 10 seconds reserve using omadactl -S num, where num is the new time-out in seconds (see the manpage).
More information
For help with omadactl see its manpage attached to this post or use the command: man omadactl2
For customization of omadactl see the config file /etc/default/omada.
Update: has been merged into file CONFIG in /opt/tplink/OmadaController.
For selection of the correct JRE see file CONFIG in /opt/tplink/OmadaController.
For a list of all files installed by the .deb package use the command: dpkg -L omada-controller
If you want to uninstall this .deb package (except the database and other files created at run-time), use the »remove« option of dpkg: dpkg -r omada-controller
If you want to uninstall this .deb package (including the database and other files created at run-time), use the »purge« option of dpkg: dpkg -P omada-controller
Release notes for omadactl version 3.0 in package 3.2.10-3
Bugs fixed:
- Fixed non-working verbose option (-v) in omadactl.
New features:
- Changed version dependencies for mongodb: The controller needs either mongodb v2.4 or mongodb-org v3.2.
Release notes for omadactl version 3.0 in package 3.2.10-2
Bugs fixed:
- Fixed a bug in the DEBIAN/control file.
New features:
- Updated omadactl and omadad to version 3.0. The files are no longer installed in /usr/bin and /etc/init.d, but are included in Omada Controller's home dir. The installer adds symlinks for those commands in /usr/bin and /etc/init.d.
- Enabled support in omadactl for switching between controller versions when more than one Omada Controller is installed.
- Merged /etc/default/omadad and /opt/tplink/OmadaController/CONFIG.
Release notes for Omada controller version 3.2.10-1
Bugs fixed by TP-Link:
- Fixed the bug that Omada Controller allow any user to read the files of controller.
- Fixed the bug that controller will report an error when Top Usage data is empty.
Have fun!
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MichaelJTDesign wrote
Been using the Omada Controller in a container and it's been working fine except, I couldn't adopt newly installed Access Points - I had to adopt them "locally" using Omada Controller on my computer then export them. Not the best solution I'm afraid.
1- Can the "cloud" controller adopt newly installed AP (a la Ubiquiti) ?
2- Can we move AP from Site to Site ? because it came to Default Site and everything was reset (names, radio channel etc...)
Thanks :)
First all, you need to run the docker image locally. you can't put it in kubernetes or on a virtual server in cloud somewhere. Because he won't discover new devices.
Also I had the problem when I was exposing the ports mentioned to a local address on my intranet. So for example: -p 192.168.1.254:8043:8043 instead of -p 8043:8043. It was correctly exposed, but the controller couldnt connect anymore. So I left them like -p 8043:8043. Now I was able to adopt new Accesspoints. But haven't tested it on the latest version. I will check that. And drop one of my accesspoints to adopt is again. I earlier succeeded with a meshing eap225-outdook too. Also in docker there is an option called --network=host. You might wanna add that option to docker run. I haven't tried that yet, because it was working ok like this.
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Ronald1965 wrote
First all, you need to run the docker image locally. you can't put it in kubernetes or on a virtual server in cloud somewhere. Because he won't discover new devices.
You can link EAPs to the controller over Layer 3. If the controller in a docker container can be accessed from the local host, it can also be accessed from remote sites which can connect to the local host in any way. Only automatic discovery of EAPs is limited to the local subnet, but there are other ways to tell EAPs the IP of the controller: either by using the Discovery Utility or by using DHCP option 138 / CAPWAP in the remote network's DHCP server. See this FAQ for details using the CAPWAP method.
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@R1D2 What I did was, since everything was set up previously on a local controller, I've tried the site export.
The import didn't work so well. I then fired the EAP Discover tool - what a blessing. It found all of my AP on my local network, I just then simply specified my Controller Hostname/IP address, credentials and voila !
Everything is now working on my dockerized container on a private server over the internet - life is a bliss...
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Update notification for new version of Omada Controller 3.2.9
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@R1D2 I also updated the docker image to your new version 3.2.9-1. Thanks for making again. Tested and is running on my PI 3B+.
# docker pull ronaldo1965/omada-controller:3.2.9-1
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@Ronald1965, thank you very much!
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docker container works a treat thanks! Way easier than having to download oracle java etc.
Only issue is that from the mobile app i had to keep adding the controller manually as it would save the connect config with the internal docker ip (172.x.x.x instead of the actual network 10.x.x.x). deleting the container and changing the run command to network="host" has fixed this. My pi only runs this and pihole in docker containers and both have network=host and all seems fine.
Thanks again!
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@R1D2 I'm on 3.2.6 and I was going to upgrade to this version, but I noticed that 3.2.10 is now available. Are there any plans for a .deb version of 3.2.10 soon or should I go ahead and install 3.2.9?
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Hi saajid, I have just made a package of version 3.2.10, see first post.
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