So I noticed there is now support for (or perhaps just preliminary support for?) OAM CFM / 802.1ag in the Linux Kernel starting with kernel version 6.5.
It would be fantastic if we could use MikroTik devices as a NID (Network Interface Device) or sometimes known as an EDD (Ethernet Demarcation Device).
This would be particularly useful for service providers whose networks can respond to such OAM events when monitoring the whole link to a customer (with the MikroTik device put on the end of the customers metroethernet circuit). Basically at the moment the NID/EDD market is dominated by manufacturers such as RAD, ADVA, Metrodata, CTC Union, Ekinops/OneAccess, Actelis, Adtran, etc… but an affordable MikroTik device would be better.
I’m doubting that RouterOS 7.x has yet hit kernel version 6.x… but if and when it does, could this be looked at?
The only other way I’ve seen to do 802.1ag with a Linux based system is with this user space project that looks abandoned and hasn’t been packaged by any of the major distros…
Experience with move from ROS v6 to v7 shows that ROS v7 series will keep same kernel as it is in use now (5.6.3) until the end of series (just like v6 is still at kernel 3.3.5).
So you’ll have to wait for ROS v8 I’m afraid. And even then you can only hope MT will select kernel 6.5 or newer (kernel 5.6.3 wasn’t the newest when first ROS v7 beta came out).
While the Linux kernel itself added preliminary support for 802.1ag in version 6.5, integration into RouterOS may take time. Since RouterOS 7.x has not yet migrated to the Linux kernel 6.x, we are likely still a few versions away from full integration. However, MikroTik has historically been quite quick to incorporate new features, so once kernel support is stable, it is likely that MikroTik will update RouterOS to take advantage of these features.