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WifiGhost

Regular Contributor
While remoted into my new router I saw "poweroff" was an available command so instead of pulling the plug I tried it and nothing happened so I just hit the power button. Isn't poweroff supposed to turn off the device?
 
How would you ever power up (remotely)?
 
WifiGhost said:
While remoted into my new router I saw "poweroff" was an available command so instead of pulling the plug I tried it and nothing happened so I just hit the power button. Isn't poweroff supposed to turn off the device?
Click to expand...
Maybe. But as you haven't given us any information whatsoever about this device we can't comment.
 
The vast majority of routers do not have software-controlled power, so they can't turn themselves off. The poweroff command is generally just an alias to shutdown, which simply shuts down the OS itself.

Just like Windows 95 machines back in the AT days, where after shutdown you would get a message telling you that it was now safe to turn off the power.
 
RMerlin said:
The vast majority of routers do not have software-controlled power, so they can't turn themselves off. The poweroff command is generally just an alias to shutdown, which simply shuts down the OS itself.

Just like Windows 95 machines back in the AT days, where after shutdown you would get a message telling you that it was now safe to turn off the power.
Click to expand...
Kinda thought that may have been the case, not a huge fan of just turning things off IF there is a way to halt the system first, thanks for the info, appreciate it
 
RMerlin said:
The vast majority of routers do not have software-controlled power, so they can't turn themselves off. The poweroff command is generally just an alias to shutdown, which simply shuts down the OS itself.
Click to expand...

IIRC - this is linked to busybox as a built-in applet - and as @RMerlin mentions, most consumer routers it means shutdown.

Code: 
root@thumper:~# ls -l /sbin | grep busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 halt -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 hwclock -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 ifconfig -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 mkswap -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 pivot_root -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 poweroff -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 reboot -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 route -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 start-stop-daemon -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 swapoff -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 swapon -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 switch_root -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 sysctl -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 udhcpc -> ../bin/busybox
root@thumper:~# ls -l /bin | grep busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ash -> busybox
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root        319525 Jul 14 09:09 busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 cat -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chgrp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chmod -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chown -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 cp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 date -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 dd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 df -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 dmesg -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 echo -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 egrep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 false -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 fgrep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 fsync -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 grep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 gunzip -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 gzip -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 kill -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ln -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 lock -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 login -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ls -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mkdir -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mknod -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mktemp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mount -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mv -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 netmsg -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 netstat -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 nice -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 passwd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 pidof -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ping -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ping6 -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ps -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 pwd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 rm -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 rmdir -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sed -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sh -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sleep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sync -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 tar -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 touch -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 traceroute -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 traceroute6 -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 true -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 umount -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 uname -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 vi -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 zcat -> busybox

Keep in mind that busybox is used for many embedded systems where soft power control is supported - so it does serve a purpose
 
sfx2000 said:
IIRC - this is linked to busybox as a built-in applet - and as @RMerlin mentions, most consumer routers it means shutdown.

Code: 
root@thumper:~# ls -l /sbin | grep busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 halt -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 hwclock -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 ifconfig -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 mkswap -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 pivot_root -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 poweroff -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 reboot -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 route -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 start-stop-daemon -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 swapoff -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 swapon -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 switch_root -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 sysctl -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 udhcpc -> ../bin/busybox
root@thumper:~# ls -l /bin | grep busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ash -> busybox
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root        319525 Jul 14 09:09 busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 cat -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chgrp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chmod -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chown -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 cp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 date -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 dd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 df -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 dmesg -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 echo -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 egrep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 false -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 fgrep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 fsync -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 grep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 gunzip -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 gzip -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 kill -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ln -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 lock -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 login -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ls -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mkdir -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mknod -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mktemp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mount -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mv -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 netmsg -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 netstat -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 nice -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 passwd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 pidof -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ping -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ping6 -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ps -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 pwd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 rm -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 rmdir -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sed -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sh -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sleep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sync -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 tar -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 touch -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 traceroute -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 traceroute6 -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 true -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 umount -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 uname -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 vi -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 zcat -> busybox

Keep in mind that busybox is used for many embedded systems where soft power control is supported - so it does serve a purpose
Click to expand...
thanks, appreciate the info
 
sfx2000 said:
IIRC - this is linked to busybox as a built-in applet - and as @RMerlin mentions, most consumer routers it means shutdown.

Code: 
root@thumper:~# ls -l /sbin | grep busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 halt -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 hwclock -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 ifconfig -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 mkswap -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 pivot_root -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 poweroff -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 reboot -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 route -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 start-stop-daemon -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 swapoff -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 swapon -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 switch_root -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 sysctl -> ../bin/busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            14 Jul 14 09:09 udhcpc -> ../bin/busybox
root@thumper:~# ls -l /bin | grep busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ash -> busybox
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root        319525 Jul 14 09:09 busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 cat -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chgrp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chmod -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 chown -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 cp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 date -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 dd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 df -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 dmesg -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 echo -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 egrep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 false -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 fgrep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 fsync -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 grep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 gunzip -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 gzip -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 kill -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ln -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 lock -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 login -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ls -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mkdir -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mknod -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mktemp -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mount -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 mv -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 netmsg -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 netstat -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 nice -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 passwd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 pidof -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ping -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ping6 -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 ps -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 pwd -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 rm -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 rmdir -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sed -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sh -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sleep -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 sync -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 tar -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 touch -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 traceroute -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 traceroute6 -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 true -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 umount -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 uname -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 vi -> busybox
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Jul 14 09:09 zcat -> busybox

Keep in mind that busybox is used for many embedded systems where soft power control is supported - so it does serve a purpose
Click to expand...
so if I am able, would it better to ssh in and issue a poweroff before hitting the power button? I ask as I can start making this my process, I know its not possible to do it everytime, but if issuing poweroff would help prevent issues I am all for it, I have been prepping my new asus with merlin, converting my current scripts to vlanctl and mapping ports so since I am done for the night and about to shut it off so I figure may as well ask before i just press the power button
 
I came here with the same question: Is it better to cleanly shut down rather than just killing the power? My guess is that it doesn't matter for the most important functions, but could matter for AiProtection or other logging/settings saved to NVRAM.

Also ... hate to ask, but what is the command to shut down via SSH? I'm not seeing "poweroff" or anything related as a BusyBox function.
 
Last edited:
choleric said:
I came here with the same question: Is it better to cleanly shut down rather than just killing the power? My guess is that it doesn't matter for the most important functions, but could matter for AiProtection or other logging/settings saved to NVRAM.

Also ... hate to ask, but what is the command to shut down via SSH? I'm not seeing "poweroff" or anything related as a BusyBox function.
Click to expand...
try "halt -p"

edit: not tested.
but the "halt" comand did work on the rt-ac86u as far as i recall.
 
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