MikroTik - RouterOS: Basic configuration

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In this post I will show you the basic configuration of a MikroTik RouterOS router.

Connecting to the Router

There are two types of routers:

  • With default configuration
  • Without default configuration. When no specific configuration is found, IP address 192.168.88.1/24 is set on ether1 or combo1, or sfp1.

Connect to the Router

You cen connect to the router with tree differente mode:

  • Web conssole
  • WinBox client discowers and connect to MikroTik RouterOS by mac-adress or IP
  • ssh connection

As you see there is several options to connect and configure, but here we will use one method that suits our needs.

Connect Routers ether1 port to the WAN cable and connect your PC to ether2. Now open WinBox and look for your router in neighbor discovery.

WinBox neighbor discovery

If you see the router in the list, click on MAC address and click Connect.

After connection open a terminal with the New Termonal menu and reset the configuration:

/system reset-configuration no-defaults=yes skip-backup=yes

Set admin password

Every Router has a factory preconfigured user admin with an empty password. To set the passford Password1 to user admin Use the command from terminal:

user set admin password=Password1

Configuring IP Access

Since MAC connection is not very stable, the first thing we need to do is to set up a router so that IP connectivity is available:

/ip address add address=192.168.88.1/24 interface=ether2

RouterOS license keys

MikroTik hardware routers that run RouterOS come preinstalled with a RouterOS license, if you have purchased a RouterOS based device, nothing must be done regarding the license.

Licensing information can be read from CLI system console:

/system license print

    software-id: "43NU-NLT9"
         nlevel: 6
       features:

Configuring Internet Connection

The next step is to get internet access to the router. There can be several types of internet connections, but the most common ones are:

  • dynamic public IP address;
  • static public IP address;
  • PPPoE connection.

Dynamic Public IP

Configure a DHCP client to get ip from a DHCP server:

/ip dhcp-client add disabled=no interface=ether1 comment=WAN

Static Public IP

If ther is no DHCP server in the network you can configure a static ip address and DNS server:

# static ip
/ip address add address=1.2.3.100/24 interface=ether1 comment=WAN

# Default Gateway
/ip route add gateway=1.2.3.1

# Configure dns server
/ip dns set servers=8.8.8.8

PPPoE Connection

PPPoE connection also gives you a dynamic IP address and can configure dynamically DNS and default gateway. Typically service provider (ISP) gives you a username and password for the connection

/interface pppoe-client
  add disabled=no interface=ether1 user=admin password=Password1 \
    add-default-route=yes use-peer-dns=yes comment=WAN

Verify Connectivity

ip address print

Flags: D - DYNAMIC
Columns: ADDRESS, NETWORK, INTERFACE
#   ADDRESS           NETWORK       INTERFACE
0   192.168.88.1/24   192.168.88.0  ether2
1 D 10.0.2.15/24      10.0.2.0      ether1

ping 8.8.8.8

  SEQ HOST                                     SIZE TTL TIME       STATUS
    0 8.8.8.8                                    56 254 37ms402us
    1 8.8.8.8                                    56 254 4ms978us
    2 8.8.8.8                                    56 254 4ms992us
    3 8.8.8.8                                    56 254 4ms97us
    sent=4 received=4 packet-loss=0% min-rtt=4ms97us avg-rtt=12ms867us max-rtt=37ms402us

How to change MikroTik RouterOS names

[vagrant@MikroTik] > system identity print
  name: MikroTik

[vagrant@MikroTik] > system identity set name=ros01.mydomain.intra

[vagrant@ros01.mydomain.intra] > system identity print
  name: ros01.mydomain.intra

Time Server Configuration

system ntp client print 
     enabled: no
        mode: unicast
     servers: 
  freq-drift: 0 PPM
      status: stopped

system clock print 
                  time: 10:30:15
                  date: jul/17/2022
  time-zone-autodetect: yes
        time-zone-name: manual
            gmt-offset: +00:00
            dst-active: no

system clock set time-zone-autodetect=no
system clock set time-zone-name=CET

system clock print
                  time: 12:36:54
                  date: jul/17/2022
  time-zone-autodetect: no
        time-zone-name: CET
            gmt-offset: +02:00
            dst-active: yes

# RouterOS 7
system ntp client set enabled=yes
system/ntp/client/servers/add address=2001:4860:4860::8844
system/ntp/client/servers/add address=202.4.100.106

# RouterOS 6
system ntp client set enabled=yes primary-ntp=2001:4860:4860::8844 secondary-ntp=202.4.100.106