apk-upgrade

List and upgrade OpenWrt packages using APK (Alpine Package Keeper).

A small POSIX shell / ash utility that makes it easier to check and upgrade packages on OpenWrt 25.12+, where the package manager has changed from opkg → apk.

Inspired by the original opkg-upgrade script but refactored for modern OpenWrt.

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Why this project exists

Starting with OpenWrt 25.x, the project began transitioning from opkg to apk (Alpine Package Keeper).

Because of this change many existing scripts relying on:

opkg update
opkg list-upgradable
opkg install

no longer work.

This script provides a simple replacement for those workflows using:

apk update
apk version -l
apk upgrade

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Features

• Designed for OpenWrt 25.12+
• Lightweight POSIX shell script
• No external dependencies
• Clean table output
• Interactive upgrade confirmation
• Works with cron / automation
• Safe default behavior

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Example output

root@N100:~# ./apk-upgrade.sh

=====================================
OpenWrt APK Upgrade Utility v1.2
Router : N100
Time   : 2026/03/10 02:41:21
=====================================
Updating package index...

#    Package                             Current              Available
---- ----------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
1    luci                                26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
2    luci-app-attendedsysupgrade         26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
3    luci-app-ddns                       26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
4    luci-app-firewall                   26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
5    luci-app-irqbalance                 26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
6    luci-app-mwan3                      26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
7    luci-app-nlbwmon                    26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
8    luci-app-package-manager            26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
9    luci-app-sqm                        26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
10   luci-app-statistics                 26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
11   luci-app-ttyd                       26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
12   luci-app-uhttpd                     26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
13   luci-base                           26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
14   luci-compat                         26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
15   luci-lib-base                       26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
16   luci-lib-chartjs                    26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
17   luci-lib-ip                         26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
18   luci-lib-ipkg                       26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
19   luci-lib-jsonc                      26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
20   luci-lib-nixio                      26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
21   luci-lib-uqr                        26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
22   luci-light                          26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
23   luci-lua-runtime                    26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
24   luci-mod-admin-full                 26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
25   luci-mod-network                    26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
26   luci-mod-status                     26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
27   luci-mod-system                     26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
28   luci-proto-ipv6                     26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
29   luci-proto-ppp                      26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
30   luci-proto-wireguard                26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
31   luci-ssl                            26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6
32   luci-theme-bootstrap                26.065.64115~7893658 26.067.64894~7e202d6

Total packages: 32

Proceed with upgrade? (y/N):

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Usage

apk-upgrade [options]

Options

-h, --help        Show help
-c, --check       Exit with code 0 if upgrades are available
-l, --list        List available upgrades only
-f, --force       Skip confirmation prompt
-n, --no-update   Skip repository update (apk update)
-q, --quiet       Quiet mode

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Examples

Check if updates exist (useful for monitoring scripts):

apk-upgrade --check

List upgrades:

apk-upgrade --list

Upgrade packages without confirmation:

apk-upgrade --force

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Installation

Clone repository

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kongvut/apk-upgrade/main/apk-upgrade.sh
chmod +x apk-upgrade.sh

Run directly:

./apk-upgrade.sh

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System install

Install globally to /usr/sbin:

cp apk-upgrade.sh /usr/sbin/apk-upgrade
chmod +x /usr/sbin/apk-upgrade

Run with:

apk-upgrade

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Quick run from internet

Download and run directly to /tmp:

Using wget

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kongvut/apk-upgrade/main/apk-upgrade.sh -O /tmp/apk-upgrade.sh \
&& chmod +x /tmp/apk-upgrade.sh \
&& /tmp/apk-upgrade.sh

Using curl

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kongvut/apk-upgrade/main/apk-upgrade.sh -o /tmp/apk-upgrade.sh \
&& chmod +x /tmp/apk-upgrade.sh \
&& /tmp/apk-upgrade.sh

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Automation (cron)

Run upgrade automatically every night:

0 3 * * * /usr/sbin/apk-upgrade --force

Only check for updates:

0 */6 * * * /usr/sbin/apk-upgrade --check

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Notes

• Always check for configuration file conflicts after upgrading packages.
• Ensure you have enough free space on /overlay before performing upgrades.
• On development snapshots, upgrading packages may occasionally break dependencies.

For production devices it is recommended to upgrade only on stable OpenWrt releases.

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Credits

Original idea from:

https://github.com/tavinus/opkg-upgrade

Refactored for modern OpenWrt using apk.

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License

MIT License