Install MikroTik RouterOS on a Vultr VPS

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MikroTik RouterOS is a Linux kernel based operating system that turns a computer into a network router. It possesses the following features:
  • Firewall.
  • Virtual private network (VPN) server and client.
  • Bandwidth shaping.
  • Quality of Service (QoS).
  • Ability to act as a wireless access point.
  • Bridging.
  • Portal-based hotspot.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Upload, deploy and run the SystemRescueCD live ISO

  1. Navigate to the Vultr’s Upload ISO page.
  2. Copy and paste a link to the SystemRescueCD ISO inside the “Remote URL” text field.
  3. Click the Upload button and the ISO will be installed in your personal library.
  4. When you are ready to deploy your server, proceed as you would normally, except choose the Upload ISO option when deploying, and click on “systemrescuecd-x86-x.x.x.iso” under My ISOs.
  5. Start your server instance.

Step 2: Download and install the MikroTik RouterOS raw disk image

  1. Open your browser to the MikroTik RouterOS download page.
  2. Scroll down to the “Cloud Hoster Router” section.
  3. Right click on the floppy disk image in the “Raw disk image” row and the “x.xx.x (Current)” column.
  4. Select “Copy Link Location” on the menu. The raw disk image URL will be saved to your operating system’s clipboard.
  5. Open a text editor and paste the URL for safe keeping.
  6. On the Vultr server instance page, click on View Console for your running SystemRescueCD instance.
  7. Use the wget command to retrieve the URL link you pasted in your text editor by typing it inside of the *View Console” window. 
    wget https://download2.mikrotik.com/routeros/x.xx.x/chr-x.xx.x.img.zip
  8. Use the unzip command to extract the raw disk image. 
    unzip chr-x.xx.x.img.zip
  9. Use the dd command to write the raw disk image to the Vultr virtual disk. 
    dd if=chr-x.xx.x.img.img of=/dev/vda
  10. Under the Settings, Custom ISO section of your server instance, click the Remove ISO option. Your server will be rebooted.
  11. Refresh the View Console windows and type admin at your new MikroTik login. The password is blank. Just hit the “return” key.

MikroTik RouterOS is now installed to your Vultr instance. Follow the guide here to secure your router, which will allow you to access it remotely. Thanks for reading.

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