User NVRAM Save/Restore Utility (R26.2)

[john9527]

Hi,
i change m router from RT-N66U to RT -AC68U. On 66 i have made a backup (Merlin Firmware 3.0.0.4.374.43). Can i use the backup to restore it on my new Ac68 with Fork Firmware or its better to make new settings?

There is a special migration mode to be used when transferring settings to a new router....

nvram-save.sh -m

This will create a backup set that ends with -MIGR instead of the usual macid of your router. This backup set will exclude some variables that probably should not be transferred and should be configured from scratch.
- the Wireless/Professional settings for regulation mode and power
- certificates related to https access
- variables related to traffic monitor
- variables that remember usb attached devices
- variables related to WOL addresses
- variables related to jffs storage (you may need to re-enable and format)
- variable for overclocking
- will turn on the LEDs if you have them disabled

Then when you are ready to transfer the settings, explicitly run the restore script on the new router...

nvram-restore-yyyymmdd-MIGR.sh

One thing to keep in mind, is don't have both routers active on your network as the same time as there will be address conflicts, multiple DHCP servers, etc. all of which are bad things

Worst case, if something does go wrong, you can do a factory reset and you will have the saved nvram text files with all your settings to use as a guide when reconfiguring.

 

[tasar]

Wow! Many thanx for the detailed instruction, great! So i will make first a backup with the -m option on my "old" router. You spend me a lot of time

 

[decedion]

This setting isn't saved (tested with Release 17):

 

[Markmaster]

As of Release 16, executing

./nvram-restore.sh

without any parameters will scan the nvram-util.log file and find the latest saved values and ask you to confirm the
restore. You can also provide the yyyymmdd-macid code on the command line to load a specific set of saved values.

This works like a charm! Don't need to remember all this numbers in long names.

 

[RocketJSquirrel]

Does the restore script work on factory firmware?

I'm about to migrate settings from an N66U to a new AC86U. I would like to migrate the settings to get up and running fast, then decide which firmware to use at my leisure.

 

[john9527]

It should work fine , using a file gen'd with migration mode.....you may end up with some extra vars that are not used taking up space, but shouldn't hurt anything (V18 will offer a solution for that)

Things to double check after restoring would be the start with WAN status on the OpenVPN servers and the mac addresses if you use mac filtering.

 

[waffles]

Quick question :

I want to migrate all my settings from a RT-AC87R to another RT-AC87R. In other words, it is the same h/w and f/w; the only difference is the MAC address.

=> Would I still want to use the migration mode or is the 'regular' one preferred?

TIA!

 

[john9527]

For this case (I'm assuming it's a direct replacement) I'd use the 'regular' one...
The only caveats are:
- You need to run the restore script directly, nvram-restore-yyyymmdd-macid.sh, since the standalone nvram-restore.sh won't find a valid restore due to the change in mac's (same with the jffs_restore). In fact, I just added some code to the upcoming R18 release to more gracefully handle that case.
- There is one variable you'll need to hand edit afterwards, daapd_friendly_name, since it contains the macid (Note this would also be the case with migration mode currently, I missed excluding that one...also fixed in R18)

EDIT: And of course, the friendly reminder not to have both routers on the network at the same time.

 

[Markmaster]

EDIT: And of course, the friendly reminder not to have both routers on the network at the same time.

Or just comment the WAN, WI-FI and DHCP settings (correct me if I am not right).

 

[waffles]

Thank you, John!

.....
- There is one variable you'll need to hand edit afterwards, daapd_friendly_name, since it contains the macid ....
...

I searched the "normal" .sh back-up file for this variable. I only found a reference in the "Restoring [Media Server]" section, but it was clear text, not the MAC-ID.

 

[john9527]

Thank you, John!
I searched the "normal" .sh back-up file for this variable. I only found a reference in the "Restoring [Media Server]" section, but it was clear text, not the MAC-ID.

That's the one.....the default value has the last two bytes of the mac as part of the name...for example
daapd_friendly_name=RT-AC68R-EF01

 

[waffles]

Got it, thanks!
(I had it overwritten on mine already to just the router model name.)

 

[Chrysalis]

so question, when I use this to migrate from a ac66 to ac68 probably tomorrow.

Which settings does the migrate skip? so I know what to reconfigure.

thanks

 

[john9527]

Which settings does the migrate skip? so I know what to reconfigure.

Actually, not too many....

clkfreq (won't migrate an overclock)
Transmit power levels
Wireless regulation mode
JFFS settings (need to reset jffs)
HTTPS certificate for the router (if you had it saved)
Traffic manager settings for saved data
Redefined WPS button settings for MIPS routers
WOL list (I'll probably add this back to be migrated in the next release)
Forgets saved data on USB connections (nothing manual to do here)

You should also check the following which will be fixed in the next release:

ipv6_ns_drop (if you turned on neighbor solicitation filtering on a Merlin level)
The Media Server directories (there was a change in handling and a missed var)
The wireless Use DFS channels settings (missing var)
DMS Friendly Name (to be added in the next release, since by default it contains a partial mac. You should check this one on the current release)

 

[Chrysalis]

ok thanks, what is the harm of using Traffic manager settings on different models? That one seems unusual to skip.

Does the usb connection skip affect usb storage sticks?

 

[john9527]

R18 released

User NVRAM Save/Restore Utility
LATEST RELEASE: Release 18
14-June-2015
nvram-save-r18.zip
Download http://1drv.ms/16pENHc
===============================

Release 18 (14-June-2015)

Program Changes

• The generated restore scripts now take a single option, '-clean'
  This option will prevent the restore of unneccessary variables (variable removed, options no longer present if backleveling firmware) by only restoring those user variables which are initialized by a reset to factory defaults. The terminal window will list those variables which were not restored when you execute the restore. Restoring all the variables should not cause any problems except for wasted NVRAM space.
• If using nvram-restore.sh without parameters to load the last saved backup, it will prompt you to perform a 'clean' restore if the restore script was created with the latest level. I recommend selecting yes 'Y' for this option when moving backward in code levels.
• Running in migration mode automatically invokes the -clean option when restoring
• The codelevel has been added to the runlog
• The nvram-all-yyyymmdd-macid.txt file is no longer sorted by default since sorting loses the coherence of variables which contain line breaks.
• Update fork specific vars for removal on non-fork code in nvram-excp-merlin.sh
• Update QuickStart guide

INI file Changes

• General update based on latest defaults.c
  Includes those variables reported missing in this thread - ipv6_ns_drop, dms_dir_manual, acs_dfs
• Add [TOR VPN] section
• Remove unneccessary wl_, dhcp_ vars
• Update vars for migration mode

 

[RocketJSquirrel]

It would be nice to be able to access the /mnt/ASUS directory via Samba sharing. When I try, I can only see the backup subdirectory as read/writable. Is there a way to make the ASUS directory read/writable? Ideally, I would like to be able to install updates to the Save/Restore utility via drag'n'drop from my Windows machine.

 

[Martineau]

It would be nice to be able to access the /mnt/ASUS directory via Samba sharing. When I try, I can only see the backup subdirectory as read/writable. Is there a way to make the ASUS directory read/writable? Ideally, I would like to be able to install updates to the Save/Restore utility via drag'n'drop from my Windows machine.

Use WinSCP.

 

[john9527]

It's a quirk of the SMB implementation that it doesn't see the top level directory (there may have been a workaround in one the threads, I can't quite remember). If you change the access to Guest Mode, it will then show up.

But @Martineau has the right answer....it's what I use when working on the code...I can edit things directly out of WinSCP and it stays in the right format.

 

[RocketJSquirrel]

Thanks for the pointer to WinSCP. But I get the same result when setting up the router's FTP server as I did for the Samba server. I.e., ASUS is inaccessible and the read/write options only appear for the backup subdirectory.

What am I missing? Do I need to create another subdirectory for temporary storage and then move files around in the router shell? Sorry if I'm missing something obvious.