Guide to Installing Omada Software Controller on Raspberry Pi OS - V5
Update - 16 January 2024
Instructions below updated to most current Raspberry Pi OS, installed and tested on Raspberry Pi 5, with Omada SDN Controller v5.12.7. Confirmed that OpenJDK-17 work, which is installable through apt and for which the install instructions have been updated.
Update - 26 December 2023
Instructions below updated to most current Raspberry Pi OS, installed and tested on Raspberry Pi 5, with Omada SDN Controller v5.12.7. Note that the JAVA runtime installation instructions has been updated to OpenJDK-11.
Update - 3 June 2023
The links listed below for OpenJDK-8 no longer works. Omada SDN Controller will run on OpenJDK-11, but that requires JSVC 1.1.0 which is not in the official Raspberry Pi OS repos. It is possible to solve the dependecies to install JSVC 1.1.0, but I have not had time to update the instructions
Also see this FAQ with good info about installing the Omada SDN Controller on a number of Linux distros.
Update - 22 January 2023
Bare metal install on 64 bit Raspberry Pi OS - no Ubuntu server, no Docker. Tested with version 4 and now the latest version 5.7.4 of the Controller software. I have it running on a Model 3B+ with 1G RAM. Also running on Model 4 w/ 4G RAM.
Links have been updated and verified on most recent install
Instructions:
1. Download & install latest 64 bit LITE version of Raspberry pi OS to new sd card of your choice from the link below. Note - the legacy version of Raspberry Pi OS will not work
https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_lite_arm64/images/
This is not a guide to installing Raspberry Pi OS so I won't provide detailed instructions on that.
2. Download and install version 4.4.18 of MongoDB mongodb-server from https://www.mongodb.com/download-center/community/releases/archive
wget https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu/dists/focal/mongodb-org/4.4/multiverse/binary-arm64/mongodb-org-server_4.4.18_arm64.deb
sudo apt install /home/<username>/mongodb-org-server_4.4.18_arm64.deb
Note this post explaining that MongoDB V4.4.19 will not work.
3. Mongodb server would normally be run as a service by doing the following commands
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable mongod
sudo systemctl start mongod
In this case not required, as Omada controller starts the server as required.
4. Check that curl is installed
apt list curl
5. Download and install openjdk-17-jre
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jre-headless
6. Install jsvc
sudo apt install jsvc
7. If you have multiple versions of OpenJDK installed then you need to tell system which java to use
sudo update-alternatives --config java
Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
0 /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-arm64/bin/java 1111 auto mode
1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-arm64/bin/java 1111 manual mode
* 2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-arm64/jre/bin/java 1081 manual mode
Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:
Now select the option pointing to the version of OpenJDK you want to use.
8. Download and install latest version Omada SDN controller
wget https://static.tp-link.com/upload/software/2023/202309/20230920/Omada_SDN_Controller_v5.12.7_Linux_x64.deb
sudo apt install /home/<username>/Omada_SDN_Controller_v5.12.7_Linux_x64.deb
If all went well the controller should start and you should get the following message
Install Omada Controller succeeded!
==========================
Omada Controller will start up with system boot. You can also control it by [/usr/bin/tpeap].
check omada
Starting Omada Controller. Please wait.........................................................................................................................
Started successfully.
You can visit http://localhost:8088 on this host to manage the wireless network.
========================
Now you can access the web interface of the Omada Controller by pointing you web browser from any PC on the same network to
http://<IP_address_of_Omada_Controller>:8088
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Glad to see that you got it working. Unless you specifically need the features / bug fixes from the latest version, just stay with the one you got working for now. The 3B will only work adequately for very small wifi systems with a few APs. TP-Link recommends a Intel Core i3-8100 with 16GB RAM or better to run the Controller, so keep that in mind when you are frustrated by the slow response on a Pi3B with 1GB of memory
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Fair enough. It eventually stopped working while I was poking around with the two AP's.
I tried the docker method but dang if there is not much "how to" on that.
I then bailed on the pi completely and tried to use my Odroid N2+ which should have enough power to be sufficent but I didn't have much luck with that either, broken dependinces etc. relating to MongoDB.
Any suggestion on a guide for Ubuntu 22.04 ?
I probably just need to hook up a monitor and use the desktop docker/portainer, I lack skills to do most anything in command line.
Thanks for the help, I think a little better pi and I'd be in business.
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You are correct, I don't think the 1G of RAM in the 3B will cut it with the latest controllers. You will also need a CPU heatsink to get past the initial install/setup. The initial setup of the container could take 10-20min before it stabilizes into its running config...so be patient!
You can see from my thread below, I used a US$30 2G Pi clone and docker, and it's been running since then at one of my sites just fine (and it's also running portainer and pihole and wireguard too). Have a look at post#14 https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/606692?sortDir=ASC&page=2. I have also upgraded the controller twice since that initial install...very easy...take backup, stop/delete old controller container, pull/build new container, restore backup.
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The Odroid n2+ is running perfectly, it's a shame I couldn't get the two pi's running because outside of a Octopi I have never used them for anything meaningful...
I am looking at adding the pi-hole stuff to the odroid as well.
More to learn, I will check out your thread, thanks.
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@CarterKraft I am curious what OS you got to work on the Odroid n2+ with Omada Controller, as you mentioned in an earlier post that you could not get it to work?
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First time attempting an upgrade - going from 5.12.7 to 5.13.30.8
The new deb package will be in my home directory
To upgrade do we simply:
sudo apt install new package name DOT deb
or
sudo dpkg --install new package name DOT deb
Will all my settings carry over? (Yes I will backup just in case).
Thank you
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when I upgrade I first take backup of controller then I use this command from ssh console.
sudo -s
cd /tmp
wget https://static.tp-link.com/upload/software/2023/202312/20231201/Omada_SDN_Controller_v5.13.22_Linux_x64.deb
dpkg -i Omada_SDN_Controller_v5.13.22_Linux_x64.deb
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Ubuntu 22.04 mate from the Odroid wiki page.
I never tried the desktop environment though so I could have used the lite version I suppose.
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@VE7KOD The are obviously a number of ways (see other posts).
When I upgrade I uninstall
<sudo apt remove omadac>
The uninstaller will ask if I want to save settings, which I want and select yes.
Then I install the new version with the command in the guide (sudo apt install ,,...)
During the new install the installer will find the saved settings and ask if you want to import, and then you select yes
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