CHR: RouterOS as a VM, and Why Every MikroTik Shop Needs One
MikroTik Cloud Hosted Router on Proxmox and public cloud: license tiers from free to p-unlimited, virtio specifics, lab twins, route reflectors, and VPN concentrators.
#routeros
35 posts tagged with "routeros"
L3 Hardware Offloading on RouterOS 7: Wire-Speed Routing, With an Asterisk
L3HW offloading on MikroTik CRS3xx/CRS5xx and CCR2116/2216: enabling switch-chip routing, what offloads and what falls to CPU, and monitoring hw vs cpu routes.
RoMON and Out-of-Band Access: Reaching Routers You Just Broke
RoMON on MikroTik RouterOS 7: L2 management overlay setup with secrets, WinBox through an agent, discovery, plus serial console and reset-button recovery.
The RouterOS Troubleshooting Toolkit: Torch, Sniffer, Profile, and a Method
Troubleshooting MikroTik RouterOS 7: torch live flows, packet sniffer streaming to Wireshark over TZSP, tool profile, conntrack inspection, and a real methodology.
DDoS on RouterOS 7: What a CPU-Routed Box Can Actually Absorb
DDoS mitigation on MikroTik RouterOS 7: SYN cookies, raw table drops, notrack for known-good flows, dynamic address-list blocking, and honest limits.
Locking Down the RouterOS Management Plane: The Attack Surface You Forgot
Hardening MikroTik RouterOS 7 management: /ip service restrictions, MAC-server and discovery on WAN, management VLAN with VRF, SSH keys, and WinBox exposure.
Centralized AAA on RouterOS 7: RADIUS for Logins, VPN and User Manager
RADIUS AAA on MikroTik RouterOS 7: router login via RADIUS with local fallback, the v7 User Manager as RADIUS server, PPP/VPN auth, and accounting.
Backup, Export and Upgrades on RouterOS 7: Recoverable by Design
RouterOS 7 backup strategy: binary backup vs export, scheduled off-box copies, upgrade channels, the correct RouterOS-then-firmware order, and netinstall.
RouterOS 7 Logging and Audit: Syslog, Firewall Logs, and NetFlow Without the Noise
Logging on MikroTik RouterOS 7 done right: /system logging topics and actions, remote syslog, firewall logging without drowning, flash wear, and NetFlow.
Monitoring RouterOS 7: SNMPv3, Prometheus, and the Metrics That Actually Matter
Monitoring MikroTik RouterOS 7 properly: SNMPv3 setup, mktxp Prometheus exporter with Grafana, REST API polling, and which router metrics deserve alerts.
Automating RouterOS 7 with the REST API and Ansible: Desired State, Finally
MikroTik RouterOS 7 automation: the built-in REST API, the binary API, and the community.routeros Ansible collection with idempotent api_modify playbooks.
Scheduler and Event-Driven Automation on RouterOS 7: Scripts That Run Themselves
RouterOS 7 automation with /system scheduler, netwatch hooks, DHCP lease scripts, and Telegram alerts via fetch — plus guarding scheduled scripts against overlap.
RouterOS Scripting That Does Not Bite: Scope, Arrays, and Error Handling
A practical guide to MikroTik RouterOS 7 scripting: local vs global scope, arrays, foreach, find/get/set patterns, on-error handling, and the footguns that break production.
Containers on RouterOS 7: Useful, Dangerous, and Frequently Misused
Running containers on MikroTik RouterOS 7: device-mode, veth and NAT wiring, mounts and registries, real use cases like Pi-hole and exporters — and the honest caveats.
WiFi on RouterOS 7: The wifi Driver, CAPsMAN v2, and Roaming That Works
MikroTik RouterOS 7 WiFi explained: wifi-qcom vs wifi-qcom-ac packages, the /interface/wifi model, CAPsMAN v2 provisioning, VLANs per SSID, WPA3, and 802.11r/k/v roaming.
Bonding and Spanning Tree on RouterOS 7: Redundancy That Actually Fails Over
LACP bonding and RSTP/MSTP on MikroTik RouterOS 7: transmit hash policies, bond monitoring, edge ports, and why disabling STP keeps ending in tears.
GRE, IPIP and EoIP on RouterOS 7: Picking the Right Dumb Tunnel
Plain tunnels on MikroTik RouterOS 7: GRE vs IPIP vs EoIP, GRE over IPsec, keepalives, MTU discipline, and routing over tunnels without recursion accidents.
VXLAN on RouterOS 7: Layer 2 Over Any IP Network
VXLAN on MikroTik RouterOS 7: interface and VTEP setup, unicast vs multicast BUM handling, the 50-byte MTU overhead, and hardware offload since 7.18.
VPLS on RouterOS 7: Layer 2 Over MPLS, With the MTU Math Done Right
VPLS on MikroTik RouterOS 7: LDP-signaled pseudowires, bridge integration with split horizon, pw-l2mtu math, and when VPLS still beats EoIP or VXLAN.
MPLS and LDP on RouterOS 7: Labels on a Budget
MPLS and LDP on MikroTik RouterOS 7: OSPF underlay, LDP sessions, label bindings, the MPLS MTU trap that causes most outages, and LSP verification.
VRFs on RouterOS 7: Real Separation, Not Firewall Hope
Virtual Routing and Forwarding on MikroTik RouterOS 7: /ip vrf setup, route leaking between VRFs, management VRF caveats, and VRF-aware troubleshooting tools.
Routing Filters in RouterOS 7: A Real Language, With One Nasty Trap
RouterOS 7 routing filters explained: the if/then rule syntax, dst-len prefix matching, BGP communities, chains, bogon filtering, and the empty-chain trap.
BGP on RouterOS 7: The Peer Is Dead, Long Live the Connection
BGP on MikroTik RouterOS 7: templates and connections, address-families, output.network, iBGP vs eBGP, multihop, prefix limits, and why the new stack scales.
OSPF on RouterOS 7: Templates, Not Network Statements
OSPF on MikroTik RouterOS 7: the instance/area/interface-template model, ptp vs broadcast, SHA authentication, redistribution, and fixing ExStart neighbors.
Policy-Based Routing on RouterOS 7: Tables First, Marks Second
Policy-based routing in MikroTik RouterOS 7: routing tables with fib, routing rules vs mangle marks, per-source VPN egress, and how to verify it all.
Multi-WAN on RouterOS 7: Recursive Failover, PCC Load Balancing, and When ECMP Is Enough
Multi-WAN on MikroTik RouterOS 7: recursive routing failover with check-gateway, netwatch scripts, PCC load balancing with mangle, and ECMP trade-offs.
CAKE on RouterOS 7: Killing Bufferbloat Without a QoS Degree
Fix bufferbloat on MikroTik RouterOS 7 with CAKE: queue types, simple queue vs queue tree, CAKE parameters, the fasttrack conflict, and verifying results.
IPv6 on RouterOS 7 Without Fear: Prefix Delegation, RA, and a Firewall That Holds
Practical IPv6 on MikroTik RouterOS 7: DHCPv6 client with prefix delegation, router advertisements, addressing the LAN from a pool, and the IPv6 firewall.
IKEv2 on RouterOS 7: Certificates, Mode-Config, and the Profile/Proposal/Policy Maze
IKEv2 road-warrior VPN on MikroTik RouterOS 7 with a local CA: profiles vs proposals vs policies explained, mode-config, split tunnel, iOS and Windows clients.
WireGuard on RouterOS 7: Road Warriors, Site-to-Site, and Allowed-Address Discipline
WireGuard on MikroTik RouterOS 7: interface and peer setup, road-warrior and site-to-site configs, allowed-address rules, firewall, MTU, and keepalives.
DHCP and DNS on RouterOS 7: The Services Everyone Misconfigures
DHCP server and DNS on MikroTik RouterOS 7: pools, static leases as inventory, DHCP options, DoH upstream, and why your router must never be an open resolver.
Bridge VLAN Filtering in RouterOS 7: One Bridge, Zero Lockouts
VLANs the RouterOS 7 way: a single bridge with vlan-filtering, tagged and untagged ports, hardware offload on switch chips, and a lockout-proof migration plan.
RouterOS 7 NAT Beyond Masquerade: srcnat, Hairpin, and Netmap
MikroTik RouterOS 7 NAT in depth: why static src-nat beats masquerade on stable IPs, dstnat port forwarding, hairpin NAT done right, netmap 1:1, and fasttrack pitfalls.
A RouterOS 7 Firewall That Actually Protects: Chains, States, and Fasttrack
Build a drop-by-default MikroTik RouterOS 7 firewall: input and forward chains, connection tracking states, fasttrack trade-offs, address lists, and logging.
RouterOS 7 First Boot Done Right: From Default Config to Hardened Baseline
What to do in the first hour with a MikroTik router: RouterOS 7 default config anatomy, admin access, service lockdown, packages, NTP, and a hardening checklist.