Install ForestVPN on OpenWrt

What you get

ForestVPN installed on your OpenWrt router from ForestVPN's own signed software source. Installing does not change your wan or lan settings: the package adds a tunnel interface of its own, fvpn0. Once it is installed the router registers with ForestVPN and connects, but nothing from your devices goes through ForestVPN until you finish the setup on the router, which is the next page.

Before you start

• Device: a router that runs OpenWrt 21.02 or newer on an ARM or x86-64 processor. Some MIPS chips are built too, see Limits.
• Firmware: OpenWrt 21.02 or newer. Older releases are not supported. On GL.iNet firmware, open System > Advanced Settings > Go To LuCI first.
• Access: the administrator password for the router's web page. A terminal is needed only to look up the firmware and to check that it worked, and for the one command and the offline bundle.
• Time: about ten minutes.
• What can break: nothing, until you finish the setup. A router that cannot run ForestVPN is refused before anything is changed, and the message says why.

Steps

1. Find out which firmware and platform the router has. In the router's web page open Status > Overview and read Firmware Version and Target Platform, or print them in a terminal.

   Prints the firmware release and the target platform

   cat /etc/openwrt_release

2. Find out which package manager it uses. OpenWrt 24.10 and older use opkg, OpenWrt 25.12 and newer use apk. OpenWrt 24.10 and older use the install file. OpenWrt 25.12 and newer use the one command.

   Prints apk or opkg

   command -v apk >/dev/null && echo apk || echo opkg

3. Look your Target Platform up in the table on the install page. It names the one file for your router, and says whether that build was tried on real hardware, only built, or not yet tried. A platform that is not in the table is one we do not know yet, and no file is offered for it. Do not guess a processor type.

4. Choose the form. Every form installs the same package, forestvpn, and none of them turns a signature check off. The setup file is not available yet.

   • The install file (.ipk): for OpenWrt 24.10 and older, and for GL.iNet firmware. In System > Software press Upload Package, choose the file and press Install. Your router shows a SHA256 value: it must be the one printed beside the file on the install page. The package adds ForestVPN's software source and signing key, so later updates come from the same place.
   • The one command: for OpenWrt 25.12 and newer, and for anyone with a terminal. install.sh checks ForestVPN's signing key against a SHA-256 written in the script, adds the software source next to yours and installs by name. It uses https:// only. If the router cannot run ForestVPN, or the install fails, the key and the software source are taken away again.
   • The setup file: not available yet. The install page will offer it, if at all, once it is published. Only from fvpn.net: a file like this from anywhere else is not ours.
   • The offline bundle: for a router that cannot reach us, see install when fvpn.net is blocked. It adds ForestVPN's signing key to your router, so compare its SHA-256 with the one on the install page before you copy it over.
5. If you chose the one command, paste it into the router's terminal. The release is 0.3.10, and the SHA-256 of install.sh is printed beside the command on the install page: to read the script before it runs, download it with wget -O install.sh and the same address, compare the SHA-256, then run sh install.sh.

   Installs ForestVPN from the signed software source

   wget -qO- https://routers.fvpn.net/dl/0.3.15/install.sh | sh

   The SHA-256 of install.sh for release 0.3.15 is c69a9b533501da5b328c798c27e29a3544ce316d76272df57d2b57b755084b65.

6. If you chose the install file or the one command, reload the router's web page and open Services > ForestVPN.

Check it worked

Services > ForestVPN exists and says "ForestVPN is installed" and that nothing on your network has changed yet. In a terminal, the package is listed.

Prints the package name, and its version on opkg

if command -v apk >/dev/null; then apk info -e forestvpn; else opkg list-installed forestvpn; fi

Undo it

Remove the package in System > Software, or in a terminal. This puts back the network and firewall settings the install added, and takes out the software source and key it added. Your other sources and keys stay.

Removes ForestVPN

if command -v apk >/dev/null; then apk del forestvpn; else opkg remove forestvpn; fi

Removing it keeps this router's key, so a reinstall is the same device on your account. See updates, firmware upgrades and uninstall before you reset or sell the router.

If something is wrong

Limits

• OpenWrt 21.02 is the oldest release the forms are made for.
• MIPS routers are built for MediaTek MT7621, MT7620 and MT7628, Qualcomm Atheros (ath79), Lantiq and Realtek, with 128 MB of memory and enough free storage. Other MIPS chips: not yet, and not promised before they are measured.
• The install page marks each build as tried on real hardware every release, built and tried in a lab, built only, or not yet tried. Read that mark before you trust a router with it.
• ForestVPN picks devices, not websites. Choosing sites is not part of the install.