bnutzer/otbr-tcp repository overview

⁠Docker OpenThread Border Router with TCP Radio Support

A dockerized OpenThread Border Router (OTBR) that connects to network-attached Thread radio devices via TCP, such as SMLIGHT SLZB-06M and similar models.

This extends the standard OpenThread OTBR to support remote radio communication through socat tunneling, making it perfect for setups where your Thread radio is connected to the network rather than directly via USB. The image is based on the upstream image openthread/border-router⁠. OpenThread does not publish versioned images, so the moving tags track upstream's latest.

⁠🔗 Source Repository

GitHub: bnutzer/docker-otbr-tcp⁠

For complete documentation, configuration details, and source code, visit the GitHub repository.

⁠📦 Image Tags

⁠v2 — current

• latest, v2 - Most recent v2 build. Rebuilt weekly and on every change; stability depends on upstream.
• v2-YYYYMMDD - v2 build of that day (e.g., v2-20260928)
• YYYYMMDD - Alias of v2-YYYYMMDD, but only for dates from the v2 cutover onwards (see below)
• v2-sha-<sha>, sha-<sha> - v2 build of a specific git commit
• v2-build-<nr> - v2 build of a specific CI run

Pin v2 rather than latest if you want a future major version to be an explicit opt-in.

⁠v1 — legacy, do not use for new installations

⚠️ v1 is legacy. It is based on the older openthread/otbr⁠ image, which upstream targets at test environments. It receives no new features and is not rebuilt weekly anymore.

• v1 - Most recent v1 build
• v1-YYYYMMDD, v1-sha-<sha>, v1-build-<nr> - Pinned v1 builds
• Unprefixed YYYYMMDD tags up to and including 20260921 and build-<nr> up to build-67 are v1 images from before the cutover.

Upgrading from v1: until the cutover, latest was v1 — if you pull latest, you now get v2. To stay on v1 for the time being, pin bnutzer/otbr-tcp:v1. Migration notes are in the GitHub README⁠.

All images support both linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 architectures.

⁠🚀 Quick Start

⁠Minimal Example

docker run -d \
  --name otbr \
  --network host \
  --cap-add NET_ADMIN \
  --cap-add NET_RAW \
  --device /dev/net/tun \
  -e RCP_HOST=SLZB-06M.local \
  bnutzer/otbr-tcp

⁠Docker Compose (Recommended)

services:
  otbr:
    image: bnutzer/otbr-tcp
    container_name: otbr
    network_mode: host
    restart: unless-stopped
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN   # configure wpan0, routes, ip6tables
      - NET_RAW
    devices:
      - /dev/net/tun
    environment:
      - RCP_HOST=SLZB-06M.local  # Replace with your radio's hostname/IP

⁠⚙️ Key Configuration

This image is configured using environment variables. The only mandatory variable is RCP_HOST. See the full configuration documentation in github⁠.

License: MIT Maintainer: bnutzer⁠ Base Image: openthread/border-router⁠