Cloud Hosted Router

RouterOS Virtualization
1

We are releasing a test version of an exciting new feature - Cloud Hosted Router (CHR).

It is a Virtual Machine image of RouterOS that has full functionality of RouterOS without any kind of conventional RouterOS license, with the limitation of 1Mbit per interface, in future, we will offer unlimited speed with a paid subscription. This allows you to use RouterOS in training classes, for testing, for experimentation or any other purpose, without the need for 24h trial or Demo license.

We provide a generic (RAW) format IMG, VMDK file for VMWare, VDI for VirtualBox and VHDX for Hyper-V. These are ready to use virtual disk images (add as a virtual hard drive to your VM). These are NOT templates for importing.

qemu commands for converting images (if you need to convert to another format)
RAW to VMware:

qemu-img convert -f raw -O vmdk chr-6.31rc9.img chr-6.31rc9.vmdk

RAW to VirtualBox:

qemu-img convert -f raw -O vdi chr-6.31rc9.img chr-6.31rc9.vdi

See below for steps how to run this new system.

If you need a bigger virtual hdd (currently 128Mb), resize the image before first run

qemu-img resize -f raw chr-6.31rc9.img +1G

This will increase the disk by 1GB

Downloads:
http://www.mikrotik.com/download


VMware Player (Free): https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_player/7_0
VirtualBox (Free): https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Instructions for VMware:
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Instructions for VirtualBox:
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IMPORTANT STEP, change CPU setting to KVM:
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2

excellent

3

Pretty cool.I can drop a proposed OSPF/BGP site for the boss man on his laptop for little/no charge :smiley:


Is there any virtualizing software that you can pass frames over 1500 bytes for MPLS labs/testing ? I think last time I tested them VBox and VMWare Workstation were still a no go zone.

4

Is there any difference (besides licensing) compared to the standard Mikrotik x86 releases which already work on VMware?

5

This will have Fastpath and 64bit support, also custom drivers and other optimisations.

6

Can’t connect with winbox.

7

Nice!

Is vmxnet3 (10gbit) supported?

8

That is most likely a VM software config issue. Depends on how you set up your virtual NIC and how it is connected to the host PC.

VirtualBox has NAT by default, configure it to use Bridge or reconfigure your network accordingly

9

Normis could you confirm as per Chaos’s question whether this will support VMXNet3 or not ?

10

Why call it “Cloud Hosted”? Is there the ability to actually have a custom RouterOS installation hosted on a general hosting provider (NOT a specialized provider that would let you run custom VMs…)?

Have you guys (at MikroTik) considered maybe offering such a service (preferably one which, just like this VM, has full functionality, but with rate limits). If you do, I for one would certainly end up using it, as right now, to test my API client, I need to set up a VM on my PC, and no 3rd party CI service allows me to do the same with their infrastructure.

As it currently stands, this “Cloud Hosted Router” is really more like “RouterOS VM Edition”.

11

As it currently stands, this “Cloud Hosted Router” is really more like “RouterOS VM Edition”.

Well yes, for now :slight_smile:
Support for Amazon or other services is planned.

12

Not in this image, but planned

13

Nope, it seems that you actually provide a broken .vdi image, .vmdk image on the same configuration works well.

One more difference between .vdi and .vmdk:
.vdi — simply starts
.vmdk — self installs, generates keys then starts

14

OK, thanks, will investigate.

Everybody else - VirtualBox can actually use the VMDK file as well

15

So, the vmdk is already a 64bit build.

Cant run it using i386, only runs on a x64 VM.

Very nice!

16

Integrated it in my GNS3 instead of my current images, completely smooth and works very nicely.
Getting MikroTik working in GNS3 is now a 3-click process.

I am EXTREMELY happy with this, very nice job MikroTik, major props for this!

17

VirtualBox with .vdi works for me.

Try

interface ethernet reset-mac-address

It should get the mac address your virtualbox ethernet card has.

ip dhcp-client renew

I also had to renew my IP address after reseting the MAC address.

18

Great stuff, MIKROTIK!

Might I recommend a template based approach rather than a raw disk? Maybe in addition to?

An OVA\OVF for vSphere, whatever VB wants, whatever Proxmox\KVM\OpenVZ wants, etc. That way Mikrotik can exert more QA\QC over the deployment. The right virtual harwardware is used for optimal performance.

19

Outstanding! Thank you! This will allow me to develop scripts without having to test them on real boxes.

20

Please integrate virtio drivers.