Expanding OpenWRT Storage With an 8GB USB Drive on TP-Link TL-WR902AC: a Step-by-Step Guide

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Expanding OpenWRT Storage With an 8GB USB Drive on TP-Link TL-WR902AC: a Step-by-Step Guide

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If you've ever tried to install additional software on a router like the TP-Link TL-WR902AC, you’ve probably run into storage issues due to its limited 8MB of internal flash memory. In this blog post, I'll walk you through how I expanded the storage of my TL-WR902AC using an 8GB USB drive and set up an FTP server with anonymous access, all while keeping things simple and efficient.

youtube link:

Why Expand Storage on OpenWRT?

By default, the TL-WR902AC router comes with only 8MB of flash memory, and after installing OpenWRT, you’re left with roughly 2MB of usable space. This makes it impossible to install additional packages like Samba, adblock, or even an FTP server, as the storage fills up too quickly. To solve this, I decided to use an external USB drive to expand the available space and store larger files.

Supplies

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Tp-link Tl-WR902AC

SanDisk USB [compact]

USB [INR]

1. TPlink_tl-wr902ac v4 custom build: https://pastebin.com/rF3MFZqK

2. Expand storage OpenWrt using USB: https://pastebin.com/nFvrrpdS

3. FTP using vsFTPd in OpenWrt: https://pastebin.com/h6vX8pXr

Preparing the USB Drive for Expansion

I started by using an 8GB USB drive. To prepare it:

Plug the USB into your Windows PC, right-click the Windows icon, and open Disk Management.
Find your USB drive, delete all existing partitions, and eject it without creating any new partitions.
Plug the USB drive into the router, and run the following script to partition and format the drive:

opkg update

opkg install block-mount kmod-fs-ext4 e2fsprogs parted kmod-usb-storage

DISK="/dev/sda"

# Create a GPT partition table

parted -s ${DISK} -- mklabel gpt

# Create a 2GB partition for extroot

parted -s ${DISK} -- mkpart primary ext4 1MiB 2050MiB

# Create a 5GB partition for file share

parted -s ${DISK} -- mkpart primary ext4 2050MiB 7500MiB

# Format the first partition as ext4 for extroot

mkfs.ext4 -L extroot ${DISK}1

# Format the second partition as ext4 for FTP storage

mkfs.ext4 -L ftp_share ${DISK}2

This setup allows us to use 2GB for expanded router storage (extroot) and 5GB for an FTP server.

Expanding OpenWRT Storage

Once the drive was partitioned, I moved the root filesystem to the 2GB partition. This provided extra space for installing packages and ensured the system wouldn’t run into storage issues again.

Without this custom setup, any attempt to expand storage or install large packages would fail due to the lack of disk space.

Setting Up an FTP Server

With the extra storage in place, I installed vsftpd, a lightweight FTP server. I configured it for anonymous access so that anyone could upload and download files without the hassle of creating users or setting complex permissions.

However, I had to adjust the folder permissions:

The root FTP directory (ftp_share) is secured with no access for anonymous users.
The storage subdirectory is given full 777 permissions, allowing users to read, write, and execute files within it.

This setup ensures that the root folder remains secure while giving users the freedom to interact with the storage folder as needed.

DONT COPY AND PASTE DIRECTLY!

#edit passwd file

root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/ash

daemon:*:1:1:daemon:/var:/bin/false

#By Default as shown below a ftp user is made but has wrong file path "home/ftp" change to your file path.

#For me its /mnt/ftp_share

ftp:*:55:55:ftp:/mnt/ftp_share:/bin/false

network:*:101:101:network:/var:/bin/false

nobody:*:65534:65534:nobody:/var:/bin/false

ntp:x:123:123:ntp:/var/run/ntp:/bin/false

dnsmasq:x:453:453:dnsmasq:/var/run/dnsmasq:/bin/false

logd:x:514:514:logd:/var/run/logd:/bin/false

ubus:x:81:81:ubus:/var/run/ubus:/bin/false

opkg update

opkg install vsftpd

#Ensure that the ownership of the directories is set correctly.

#Sometimes ownership issues can affect permissions:

mkdir -p /mnt/ftp_share

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/ftp_share

df -h

#You should see /dev/sda2 mounted on /mnt/ftp_share

#make a folder with full permissions!

mkdir -p /mnt/ftp_share/storage

vi /etc/vsftpd.conf

# Default Options

background=YES

listen=YES

write_enable=YES

local_umask=000

check_shell=NO

session_support=NO

# Anonymous FTP server specific settings

anonymous_enable=YES

no_anon_password=YES

anon_root=/mnt/ftp_share

anon_upload_enable=YES

anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES

anon_other_write_enable=YES

anon_umask=000

#extra timeout settings

idle_session_timeout=600

data_connection_timeout=120

accept_timeout=60

connect_timeout=60

#Root directory should not be writable

chmod 755 /mnt/ftp_share

#Writable subdirectory should be set to allow uploads

chmod -R 777 /mnt/ftp_share/storage

# see owners, groups and file permissions d -directory r -read w -write x -execute

ls -l /mnt/ftp_share

ls -l /mnt/ftp_share/storage

#restart service

/etc/init.d/vsftpd start

/etc/init.d/vsftpd reload

/etc/init.d/vsftpd restart

#Or

service vsftpd reload

service vsftpd restart

#Enable vsftpd to Start on Boot

/etc/init.d/vsftpd enable

#some useful commands

#force delete even if there are files inside

rm -rf /mnt/ftp_share/storage/*

#normal deletion of files

rm <filename.extension>

Resolving FTP Server Partition Auto-Mount Issues

Initially, after rebooting the router, the 5GB FTP partition wasn't auto-mounting. To fix this, I went into Mount Points in the LuCI web interface and enabled auto-mount for the ftp_share partition. After another reboot, everything mounted correctly, and the FTP server functioned as expected.

Final Thoughts

With this setup, I’ve transformed my TP-Link TL-WR902AC from a basic router with limited storage into a robust device with 2GB of usable space for packages and a 5GB FTP server. While this method works well, keep in mind that the TL-WR902AC is a low-powered device with a single-core CPU. Pushing it too hard may affect performance or even cause issues, so always keep your setup lightweight.

Future Plans

In future videos, I’ll dive into more advanced FTP server setups, such as user authentication and firewall configurations that restrict access to specific devices. But for now, this simple, anonymous FTP setup works perfectly!

Additional Resources

Check out my other videos for tutorials on setting up ad blockers, 5GHz Wi-Fi, and more on OpenWRT. All the links, commands, and resources mentioned in this post are available in the video description!

youtube links:

TP-Link TL-WR902AC v4 Usb tethering OpenWrt: A friendly guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oitYRDxWo5A

OpenWrt adblocking in router Tp-Link TLWR902AC: A friendly guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDm8THMLGYA

Thanks for reading, and until next time!