Installing MikroTik RouterOS on a virtual server

Introduction

MikroTik RouterOS – a multifunctional operating system that turns an ordinary server into a powerful router. It is widely used in both corporate and home environments – thanks to its simplicity, flexibility and wide range of features.

In this guide, we will look at installing RouterOS on a virtual server running Ubuntu 20.04.

---

Minimum system requirements

• CPU: 1 vCore
• RAM: 512 MB
• Disk: 1 GB

Even the basic VDS plans on the F3 Cloud platform meet these requirements.

---

Step 1: Connecting to the server

Connect to your VDS via SSH. If you don't know how to do this, use our connection guide.

---

Step 2: Installing the required components

Update the system packages:

apt-get update

Install unzip if it is not installed yet:

apt-get install unzip -y

---

Step 3: Downloading and installing RouterOS

Go to the official MikroTik website → the Cloud Hosted Router section → choose the current stable version marked Raw disk image and copy the link.

Download the image with the command:

wget https://download.mikrotik.com/routeros/7.12/chr-7.12.img.zip

Unpack the archive:

unzip chr-*.img.zip

Write the image to the virtual disk:

rm chr-*.img.zip; for file in chr-*.img; do dd if="$file" of=/dev/vda bs=4M oflag=sync; done

The /dev/vda path applies to all servers on F3 Cloud. If you use a different hosting provider, check the partitions with the lsblk command.

---

Step 4: Rebooting into RouterOS

Run the commands one after another:

echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq
echo b > /proc/sysrq-trigger

---

Step 5: Connecting via VNC

1. Go to the server control panel.
2. Click the VNC button.
3. In the window that appears, enter the login admin, leave the password empty and press Enter.
4. Skip the licence by entering n, and set a new administrator password.

---

Step 6: Configuring the IP address and gateway

In the control panel, find the IP address and gateway parameters. Then run the following commands in VNC (type them in manually!):

ip address add address=YOUR_IP/32 network=GATEWAY_TEMPLATE interface=ether1
ip route add dst-address=0.0.0.0/0 gateway=GATEWAY_TEMPLATE

---

Step 7: Access via a browser

Now you can log in to the MikroTik RouterOS web interface:

• Enter your server's IP address in the browser's address bar.
• Log in with the login admin and the password you set earlier.

---

Conclusion

You have successfully installed and launched MikroTik RouterOS on a VDS. Now you can:

• Configure interfaces
• Manage IP addresses
• Set up routing
• Implement firewall, VPN and other features

Don't forget to save a backup of the configuration once you have finished setting it up!

---

Our resources

Telegram channel: https://t.me/
F3 Cloud: https://f3cloud.com