Document revision 28-Mar-2002
This document applies to the MikroTik RouterOS V2.5
The Guide describes the basic steps of installing and configuring a dedicated PC router running MikroTik RouterOS. The following sections are included in this Guide:
The download and installation process of the MikroTik RouterOS is described in the following diagram:
Depending on the desired media to be used for installing the MikroTik RouterOS please chose one of the following archive types for downloading:
Note! The installation from CD requires Full (paid) License. If you intend to obtain the Free Demo License, you should use the floppy installation media.
Use the appropriate installation archive to create the Installation CD or floppies.
Your dedicated PC router hardware should have:
Boot up your dedicated PC router from the Installation Media you created and follow the instructions on the console screen while the HDD is reformatted and MikroTik RouterOS installed on it.
After successful installation please remove the installation media from your CD or floppy disk drive and hit 'Enter' to reboot the router. While the router will be starting up for the first time you will be given a Software ID for your installation and asked to supply a valid software license key (Software Key) for it. Write down the Software ID. You will need it to obtain the Software License through the MikroTik Account Server.
If you need extra time to obtain the Software License Key, you may want to power off the router. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del keys to properly shut down and reboot the router. Power the router off while the BIOS is doing memory check.
The MikroTik RouterOS Software licensing process is described in the following diagram:
After installing the router and starting it up for the first time you will be given a Software ID.
If you have an account with MikroTik, follow to the next step.
If you do not have an account at www.mikrotik.com,
just press the 'New' button on the upper right-hand corner
of the MikroTik's web page to create your account.
You will be presented with the Account Sign-Up Form where you chose your account name and fill in the required information.
To obtain the Software License Key, log on to your account at www.mikrotik.com entering your account name and password (upper right-hand corner on this webpage), for example:
Note! The CD installation cannot be 'unlocked' with the Free Demo Key. Use the Floppy installation, or, purchase the License Key.
Software ID: 5T4V-IUT Software key: 4N7X-UZ8-6SP
After entering the correct Software License Key you will be presented with the MikroTik Router's login prompt.
Logging into the MikroTik Router
When logging into the router via terminal console,
you will be presented with the MikroTik RouterOS login prompt.
Use 'admin' and no password (hit 'Enter') for logging on to the router for the first time,
for example:
MikroTik v2.5 Login: admin Password:
The password can be changed with the '/password' command.
Navigating the Terminal Console
After logging into the router you will be presented with the
MikroTik RouterOS Welcome Screen and command prompt, for example:
MMM MMM KKK TTTTTTTTTTT KKK MMMM MMMM KKK TTTTTTTTTTT KKK MMM MMMM MMM III KKK KKK RRRRRR OOOOOO TTT III KKK KKK MMM MM MMM III KKKKK RRR RRR OOO OOO TTT III KKKKK MMM MMM III KKK KKK RRRRRR OOO OOO TTT III KKK KKK MMM MMM III KKK KKK RRR RRR OOOOOO TTT III KKK KKK Mikrotik RouterOS v2.5 (c) 1999-2001 http://www.mikrotik.com/ [MikroTik] >
The command prompt shows the identity name of the router and the current menu level, for example:
[MikroTik] > Base level menu [MikroTik] interface> Interface configuration [MikroTik] ip address> IP Address management
The list of available commands at any menu level can be obtained by entering the question mark '?', for example:
[MikroTik] > ? bridge Bridge settings driver Driver management export print configuration as set of router commands file Local router file storage. import Run exported configuration script interface Interface configuration ip IP protocol settings log System logs password Change password ping Send ICMP Echo packets port Serial ports queue Bandwidth management quit Quit console redo Redo previously undone action routing Routing protocol configuration setup Do basic setup of system snmp snmp settings system System information and utilities tool Diagnostics tools undo Undo previous action user User management [MikroTik] > ip ? accounting Traffic accounting address Address management arp ARP entries management dhcp-client DHCP client settings dhcp-server DHCP server settings dns DNS settings export print configuration as set of router commands firewall Firewall management neighbor Neighbour discovery packing IP Packet Packing setup policy-routing Policy routing setup ppp PPP general settings queue Bandwidth management route Route management service [MikroTik] >
The list of available commands and menus has short descriptions next to the items. You can move to the desired menu level by typing its name and hitting the [Enter] key, for example:
[MikroTik]> Base level menu [MikroTik]> driver Enter 'driver' to move to the driver level menu [MikroTik] driver> / Enter '/' to move to the base level menu from any level [MikroTik]> interface Enter 'interface' to move to the interface level menu [MikroTik] interface> /ip Enter '/ip' to move to the IP level menu from any level [MikroTik] ip>
A command or an argument does not need to be completed, if it is not ambiguous. For example, instead of typing 'interface' you can type just 'in' or 'int'. To complete a command use the [Tab] key.
The commands may be invoked from the menu level, where they are located, by typing its name. If the command is in a different menu level than the current one, then the command should be invoked using its full or relative path, for example:
[MikroTik] ip route> print Prints the routing table [MikroTik] ip route> .. address print Prints the IP address table [MikroTik] ip route> /ip address print Prints the IP address table
The commands may have arguments. The arguments have their names and values. Some arguments, that are required, may have no name. Below is a summary on executing the commands and moving between the menu levels:
Command Action command [Enter] Execute the command [?] Show the list of all available commands command [?] Display help on the command and the list of arguments command argument [?] Display help on the command's argument [Tab] Complete the command/word. If the input is ambiguous, a second [Tab] gives possible options / Move up to the base level /command Execute the base level command .. Move up one level "" Enter an empty string "word1 word2" Enter 2 words that contain a space
You can abbreviate names of levels, commands and arguments.
For the IP address configuration, instead of using the 'address' and 'netmask' arguments, in most cases you can specify the address together with the number of bits in the network mask, i.e., there is no need to specify the 'netmask' separately. Thus, the following two entries would be equivalent:
/ip address add address 10.0.0.1/24 interface ether1 /ip address add address 10.0.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 interface ether1
However, if the netmask argument is not specified, you must specify the size of the network mask in the address argument, even if it is the 32-bit subnet, i.e., use 10.0.0.1/32 for address 10.0.0.1 and netmask 255.255.255.255
Working with Interfaces
Before configuring the IP addresses and routes please check the '/interface' menu
to see the list of available interfaces. If you have PCI Ethernet cards installed in the router,
it is most likely that the device drivers have been loaded for them automatically,
and the relevant interfaces appear on the '/interface print' list, for example:
[MikroTik] interface> print Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic # NAME TYPE MTU 0 X ether1 ether 1500 [MikroTik] interface>
The device drivers for NE2000 compatible ISA cards need to be loaded using the 'add' command under the /drivers menu. For example, to load the driver for a card with IO address 0x280 and IRQ 5, it is enough to issue the command:
[MikroTik] driver> add name=ne2k-isa io=0x280 [MikroTik] driver> print Flags: I - invalid, D - dynamic # DRIVER IRQ IO MEMORY ISDN-PROTOCOL 0 D PCI NE2000 1 ISA NE2000 280 [MikroTik] driver>
The interfaces need to be enabled, if you want to use them for communications. Use the '/interface enable name' command to enable the interface with a given name, for example:
[MikroTik] interface> print Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic # NAME TYPE MTU 0 X ether1 ether 1500 0 X ether2 ether 1500 [MikroTik] interface> enable 0 [MikroTik] interface> enable ether2 [MikroTik] interface> print Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic # NAME MTU TYPE 0 ether1 ether 1500 0 ether2 ether 1500 [MikroTik] interface>
You can use the number or the name of the interface in the 'enable' command.
The interface name can be changed to a more descriptive one by using the '/interface set' command:
[MikroTik] interface> set 0 name=Public [MikroTik] interface> set 1 name=Local [MikroTik] interface> print Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic # NAME MTU TYPE 0 Public ether 1500 0 Local ether 1500 [MikroTik] interface>
Assume you need to configure the MikroTik router for the following network setup:
Please note that the addresses assigned to different interfaces of the router should belong to different networks. In the current example we use two networks:
The addresses can be added and viewed using the following commands:
[MikroTik] ip address> add address 192.168.0.254/24 interface Local [MikroTik] ip address> add address 10.0.0.217/24 interface Public [MikroTik] ip address> print Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic # ADDRESS NETWORK BROADCAST INTERFACE 0 10.0.0.217/24 10.0.0.217 10.0.0.255 Public 1 192.168.0.254/24 192.168.0.0 192.168.0.255 Local [MikroTik] ip address>
Here, the network mask has been specified in the value of the address argument. Alternatively, the argument 'netmask' could have been used with the value '255.255.255.0'. The network and broadcast addresses were not specified in the input since they could be calculated automatically.
You can see two dynamic (D) and connected (C) routes, which have been added automatically when the addresses were added:
[MikroTik] ip route> print Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic, J - rejected, C - connect, S - static, R - rip, O - ospf, B - bgp # DST-ADDRESS G GATEWAY DISTANCE INTERFACE 0 DC 192.168.0.0/24 r 0.0.0.0 0 Local 1 DC 10.0.0.0/24 r 0.0.0.0 0 Public [MikroTik] ip route> print detail Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic, J - rejected, C - connect, S - static, R - rip, O - ospf, B - bgp 0 DC dst-address=192.168.0.0/24 preferred-source=192.168.0.254 gateway=0.0.0.0 distance=0 interface=Local gateway-state=reachable 1 DC dst-address=10.0.0.0/24 preferred-source=10.0.0.217 gateway=0.0.0.0 distance=0 interface=Public gateway-state=reachable [MikroTik] ip route>
These routes show, that IP packets with destination to 10.0.0.0/24 would be sent through the interface Public, whereas IP packets with destination to 192.168.0.0/24 would be sent through the interface Local. However, you need to specify where the router should forward packets, which have destination other than networks connected directly to the router. This is done by adding the default route (destination 0.0.0.0, netmask 0.0.0.0). In this case it is the ISP's gateway 10.0.0.1, which can be reached through the interface Public:
[MikroTik] ip route> add gateway=10.0.0.1 [MikroTik] ip route> print Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic, J - rejected, C - connect, S - static, R - rip, O - ospf, B - bgp # DST-ADDRESS G GATEWAY DISTANCE INTERFACE 0 S 0.0.0.0/0 r 10.0.0.1 1 Public 1 DC 192.168.0.0/24 r 0.0.0.0 0 Local 2 DC 10.0.0.0/24 r 0.0.0.0 0 Public [MikroTik] ip route>
Here, the default route is listed under #0. As we see, the gateway 10.0.0.1 can be reached through the interface 'Public'. If the gateway would have been specified incorrectly, the value for the argument 'interface' would be unknown. Note, that you cannot add two routes to the same destination, i.e., destination-address/netmask! It applies to the default routes as well. Instead, you can enter multiple gateways for one destination. For more information on IP routes, please read the relevant topic in the Manual.
If you have added an unwanted static route accidentally, use the 'remove' command to delete the unneeded one. Do not remove the dynamic (D) routes! They are added automatically and should not be deleted 'by hand'. If you happen to, then reboot the router, the route will show up again.
[MikroTik] ip route> /ping 10.0.0.4 10.0.0.4 64 byte pong: ttl=255 time=7 ms 10.0.0.4 64 byte pong: ttl=255 time=5 ms 10.0.0.4 64 byte pong: ttl=255 time=5 ms 3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 5/5.6/7 ms [MikroTik] ip route> [MikroTik] ip route> /ping 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.1 64 byte pong: ttl=255 time<1 ms 192.168.0.1 64 byte pong: ttl=255 time<1 ms 192.168.0.1 64 byte pong: ttl=255 time<1 ms ping interrupted 3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 0/0.0/0 ms [MikroTik] ip route>
The workstation and the laptop can reach (ping) the router at its local address 192.168.0.254, If the router's address 192.168.0.254 is specified as the default gateway in the TCP/IP configuration of both the workstation and the laptop, then you should be able to ping the router:
C:\>ping 192.168.0.254 Reply from 192.168.0.254: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=253 Reply from 192.168.0.254: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=253 Reply from 192.168.0.254: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=253 C:\>ping 10.0.0.217 Reply from 10.0.0.217: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=253 Reply from 10.0.0.217: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=253 Reply from 10.0.0.217: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=253 C:\>ping 10.0.0.4 Request timed out. Request timed out. Request timed out. C:\>
You cannot access anything beyond the router (network 10.0.0.0/24 and the Internet), unless you do the following:
Next will be discussed situation with 'hiding' the private LAN 192.168.0.0/24
'behind' one address 10.0.0.217 given to you by the ISP.
Application Example with Masquerading
If you want to 'hide' the private LAN 192.168.0.0/24
'behind' one address 10.0.0.217 given to you by the ISP,
you should use the source network address translation (masquerading) feature of the MikroTik router.
Masquerading is useful, if you want to access the ISP's network and the Internet
appearing as all requests coming from the host 10.0.0.217 of the ISP's network.
The masquerading will change the source IP address and port of the packets
originated from the network 192.168.0.0/24 to the address 10.0.0.217 of the router
when the packet is routed through it.
Masquerading conserves the number of global IP addresses required and it lets the whole network use a single IP address in its communication with the world.
To use masquerading, a source NAT rule with action 'masquerade' should be added to the firewall configuration:
[MikroTik] ip firewall src-nat> add action=masquerade out-interface=Public [MikroTik] ip firewall src-nat> print Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid 0 src-address=0.0.0.0/0:0-65535 dst-address=0.0.0.0/0:0-65535 out-interface=Public protocol=all icmp-options=any:any flow="" limit-count=0 limit-burst=0 limit-time=0s action=masquerade to-src-address=0.0.0.0 to-src-port=0-65535 bytes=0 packets=0 [MikroTik] ip firewall src-nat>
Please consult the Firewall Manual for more information on masquerading.
Note! In MikroTik RouterOS V2.3 and 2.4, masquerading was implemented as a firewall rule with action 'masq' in the forward chain.
Application Example with Bandwidth Management
Mikrotik RouterOS V2.5 offers more extensive queue management as compared to V2.4.
However, the 'V2.4 type' queue setup is still there, and it will be discussed in the example below.
For information on extensive queue management, please refer to the relevant manual.
Assume you want to limit the bandwidth to 128kbps on downloads and 64kbps on uploads for all hosts on the LAN. Bandwidth limitation is done by applying queues for outgoing interfaces regarding the traffic flow. It is enough to add two queues at the MikroTik router:
[MikroTik] queue simple> add interface Local limit-at 128000 add interface Public limit-at 64000 [MikroTik] queue simple> print Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid 0 name="" src-address=0.0.0.0/0 dst-address=0.0.0.0/0 limit-at=128000 queue=default priority=8 bounded=yes interface=Local 1 name="" src-address=0.0.0.0/0 dst-address=0.0.0.0/0 limit-at=64000 queue=default priority=8 bounded=yes interface=Public [MikroTik] queue simple>
Leave all other parameters as set by default. The limit is approximately 128kbps going to the LAN and 64kbps leaving the client's LAN. Please note, that the queues have been added for the outgoing interfaces regarding the traffic flow.
Please consult the Queues Manual for more information on bandwidth management and queuing.
Assume we have moved the server in our previous examples from the public network to our local one:
The server's address now is 192.168.0.4, and we are running web server on it that listens to the TCP port 80. We want to make it accessible from the Internet at address:port 10.0.0.217:80. This can be done by means of Static Network Address translation (NAT) at the MikroTik Router. The Public address:port 10.0.0.217:80 will be translated to the Local address:port 192.168.0.4:80. One destination NAT rule is required for translating the destination address and port:
[MikroTik] ip firewall dst-nat> add action=nat protocol=tcp \ dst-address=10.0.0.217/32:80 to-dst-address=192.168.0.4 [MikroTik] ip firewall dst-nat> print Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid 0 src-address=0.0.0.0/0:0-65535 in-interface=all dst-address=10.0.0.217/32:80 protocol=tcp icmp-options=any:any flow="" src-mac-address=00:00:00:00:00:00 limit-count=0 limit-burst=0 limit-time=0s action=nat to-dst-address=192.168.0.4 to-dst-port=0-65535 bytes=0 packets=0 [MikroTik] ip firewall dst-nat>
Please consult the Firewall Manual for more information on NAT.
When connecting to the MikroTik router via http (TCP port 80), the router's Welcome Page is displayed in the web browser, for example:
By clicking on the Winbox Console link you can start the winbox.exe download. When you run the winbox.exe program, it opens the Winbox login window. Login to the router by specifying the IP address, user name, and password, for example:
The Winbox console is opened after logging in to the router:
The Winbox Console uses TCP port 3986. After logging on to the router you can work with the MikroTik router's configuration through the Winbox console and perform the same tasks as using the regular console.
You can use the menu bar to navigate through the router's configuration menus, open configuration windows. By double clicking on some list items in the windows you can open configuration windows for the specific items, and so on. Please consult the MikroTik RouterOS WinBox Console Manual for more detailed description of using the WinBox Console.
The additional software packages should have the same version as the system package. If not, the package wont be installed. Please consult the MikroTik RouterOS Software Package Installation and Upgrading Manual for more detailed information about installing additional software packages.
Software Licensing Issues
If you want to upgrade to a 'paid' version of your MikroTik RouterOS installation,
please purchase the new Software License KEY for the Software ID you used when
getting the 'free' demo license.
Similarly, if additional license is required to enable the functionality of a software package,
the license should be obtained for the Software ID of your system.
The new key should be entered using the /system license set key command,
and the router should be rebooted afterwards:
[MikroTik] system license> print software-id: TPNG-SXN key: 2C6A-YUE-3H2 upgradeable-to: jan/01/2003 [MikroTik] system license> feature print Flags: X - disabled # FEATURE 0 X AP 1 X synchronous 2 X radiolan 3 X wireless-2.4gHz 4 licensed [MikroTik] system license> set key=D45G-IJ6-QM3 [MikroTik] system license> /system reboot Reboot, yes? [y/N]: y system will reboot shortly
If there is no appropriate license, the appropriate interfaces wont show up under the interface list, even though the packages can be installed on the MikroTik RouterOS and corresponding drivers loaded.