ngpkg - Netgear Package Manager for OpenNGFW

ngpkg is a standalone package manager designed for OpenNGFW (embedded Linux router operating systems). It enables routers to run userspace applications (such as bash, nano, htop, btop, screen, git, ufw, netclient, bareiron) installed on persistent USB storage (/mnt/usb/opt) without utilizing onboard flash memory.

Features

Zero Runtime Dependencies: The client is written in V and translated to standalone C (client/ngpkg.c). It compiles against musl libc with no external library dependencies.
Persistent Storage Integration: Installs binaries to /mnt/usb/opt and automatically manages symlinks in $HOME/.ngpkg-bin/ and /root/.ngpkg-bin/.
Standalone Recipe Framework: Each package is defined by a recipe.json manifest and a standalone build.sh script.
Universal BusyBox Extraction: Multi-tier extraction pipeline compatible with BusyBox tar and GNU tar.
Package Repository Server: Built-in HTTP server (server/pkg_server.v) providing package distribution and metadata APIs.

Router Usage

1. Configure Repository

On the OpenNGFW router:

export REPO_URL="http://<SERVER_IP>:8000/packages"
pkg update

2. Available Commands

# Update local package index
pkg update

# List available and installed packages
pkg list

# Search packages
pkg search <query>

# Show package metadata and installed file list
pkg info <package>

# Install a package to /mnt/usb/opt
pkg install <package>

# Remove a package and clean symlinks
pkg remove <package>

# Show storage breakdown and installation status
pkg status

Adding Packages (Recipe Framework)

Each package in recipes/<name>/ consists of two files:

recipe.json: Package metadata manifest
build.sh: Standalone cross-compilation and packaging script

Creating a Recipe

Scaffold a new recipe:

python3 framework/ngpkg_build.py new <name>

Example recipes/myapp/recipe.json:

{
  "name": "myapp",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Utility description",
  "category": "utilities",
  "license": "MIT",
  "homepage": "https://example.com",
  "type": "source",
  "binaries": [
    "bin/myapp"
  ]
}

Example recipes/myapp/build.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
mkdir -p "${STAGE_DIR}/bin"

# Cross-compile or download application
${CROSS_CC:-arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-gcc} -O2 src/main.c -o "${STAGE_DIR}/bin/myapp"
${CROSS_STRIP:-arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-strip} --strip-all "${STAGE_DIR}/bin/myapp"

Building Packages

# Build a single package
python3 framework/ngpkg_build.py build myapp

# Build all packages and generate repository index
python3 framework/ngpkg_build.py build-all

Repository Structure

ngpkg/
├── client/              # Client source code (ngpkg.v and standalone ngpkg.c)
├── server/              # Package repository server (pkg_server.v)
├── framework/           # Recipe build orchestration engine (ngpkg_build.py)
├── recipes/             # Standalone package build recipes
├── repo/packages/       # Built .ngpkg archives and index metadata
├── docs/                # Developer and CLI documentation
├── Makefile             # Workspace build targets
└── README.md            # Project overview

Local Compilation

# Build native host client, server, and package recipes
make

# Build ARM target client using cross-toolchain
make client-arm

# Start repository server on port 8000
make serve

License

MIT License.