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Applying Network Configuration

Apply generated configuration to networking devices. Because these devices don't support declarative configuration management the way the cluster does, the general workflow is to reset a device to a known (factory-default) state and then apply configuration from scratch, rather than attempt to reconcile in-place changes.

Prerequisites​

  • Ensure the networking configuration reflects the desired changes

  • Generate rendered device configuration into network-config/:

    homelab generate-network-config

RouterOS​

  1. Copy the rendered script to the device:

    scp network-config/[script].rsc admin@[router-address]:/script.rsc:

  2. SSH into the router and reset its configuration, applying the script immediately on reboot:

    /system/reset-configuration no-defaults=yes run-after-reset=script.rsc

  3. Once the router is back online, log in as admin and set the router password.

SwitchOS​

  1. Factory-reset the switch using one of:

    • Hold the reset button while powering the switch on, keeping it held until it boots to factory defaults
    • If the switch's web UI is already reachable, trigger a reset from there
    tip

    After the reset, connect directly to one of the switch's ports, then manually configure your network interface with a static IP of 192.168.1.2, subnet 255.255.255.0, and gateway/DNS server 192.168.1.1. The switch should then be reachable at admin@192.168.1.1.

  2. Once the switch is back online at its default address (192.168.1.1) with default credentials (admin, no password), apply the rendered configuration:

    homelab apply-swos network-config/switch.core.yaml --address [switch-address]
    tip

    Pass --dry-run to preview changes before writing them. If credentials differ from the SwOS defaults (admin with no password), pass --username and --password.

OpenWrt​

  1. SSH into the access point and reset it to factory defaults:

    firstboot && reboot

    The device reboots into a default, unconfigured state.

    tip

    After the reset, connect directly to one of the access point's LAN ports. It will be reachable at root@192.168.1.1 with no password.

  2. Once back online, copy the rendered script onto it:

    scp -O network-config/ap.[name].sh root@[ap-address]:
    tip

    The -O flag forces the legacy SCP protocol, which copies over SSH directly. OpenWrt devices don't ship with sftp-server, so a plain scp (which defaults to SFTP) fails.

  3. SSH into the access point and run the script:

    sh ap.[name].sh
    tip

    After applying the configuration, you'll likely need to re-connect the device via it's WAN 1 port.

  4. Navigate to the device's web UI and set the admin password.

  5. Reboot the device