What packages can I remove without breaking the entire router?

Technical Support for Routers
1

I have a brume and want to remove as many packages as possible on stock firmware. I don’t use a VPN, IPV6, load balancing or tor or anything like that. I just need a basic router. I don’t use wifi either which is why I got the basic wired only brume.

I want to remove as much as I can without breaking basic routing functionality, including any telemetry or data collection of any sort.

2

By default no data is sending back. So I think there is nothing you can do

3

Can you remove the tor, adguard and vpn packages without messing anything up? What about mwan3?

4

You can try to remove that, using opkg remove

5

Unless you install packages - can you actually remove them and recover space?

Default packages would be part of the /rom root prtition which is read-only squashfs for heavy compression. The overlay read/write partition can record changes - I think including replacing or marking files in the /rom as deleted but cannot delete and recover the space.

Simon

6

On alternate to uninstalling are deactivating not used stuff on startup and on on other points of device offered menus pe. like the follow:

  • Depend on misconfiguration by default of startup configuration are allays active the follow services, not depend on you are really configured by gui as i like to use it:
  • openvpn client and server
  • one other vpn client and server
  • ssh dropebear (AND ITS ACTIVE ON WAN SIDE by default !!!
  • IPV4 and IPV6 are active on WAN side by default, IPV6 show still traffic if you disable by IPV6 menu item …

You can see, they are some potential for a easy improvement the security, also if you not like to uninstall not used software parts.

A it can be uninstalling are on the end the better way, because, if you fix this part of security related misconfiguration, you will lost your work of fixing this after the next firmware update. Because, gl are setting by this way the by user fixed misconfiguration bac to the unsecure and energy unfriendly gl misconfiguration.

You can find this and other since long time open bugs on the follow and some older bug-lists which are created, since gl deleted the own bugtracer:

See forward.

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7

If I understand it correctly, you can only remove things from the /rom part through imagebuilder. On boot those get copied over, and there you can delete packages, including with a startup script.

I think gltertf and the associated db can be deleted giving you 1mb for other packages. At least, when I’ve done that I haven’t had any ill effects.

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