In software download section you can always find a new version of Netinstall that, once opened, says "MikroTik Netinstall for RouterOS vX:XX:XX" but you can choose older version from packages path.
Why is this , and not just a generic Netinstall ? In what the software differs for each new version ?
Hi,
Assuming that each version of firmware could have small changes to the communication protocol with device at the bare metal level, it explains that each new version is "smarter" and knows how to talk to older ones, but the old NetInstall how to talk to the newer ones.
Mikrotik keeps the version in sync with ROS. As far as I can tell, there may be not a single difference other than version between e.g. Netinstall 7.20.5 and 7.20.6.
I agree with OP, it's a bit confusing to release new software that likely does not change. But AFAIK there is no strict requirement that netinstall version has to match RouterOS, and either can be older or newer without issue‡.
Now, as a best practice, I just download matching linux netinstall for package in a Makefile script, even if not strictly required.
‡ Many moons ago in V6 days, and only on device with specific firmware, I did have an issue where I needed an older netinstall version that matched the release.
So - basically - a newer release of netinstall Is surely compatibile with all previous versions of RouterOS, unless It isn't.
1 Like
Netinstall versioning, as already mentioned (in different words), is similar to routerboot versioning (i.e. changes with every ROS version even if this is the only change in that particular bundle of code).
This thread highlights something important : despite according Netinstall / RouterBOOT versions with RouterOS version number, we need dedicated changelogs for them !
I’ve been working with automatic script with netinstall-cli, and I had to check in changelogs of RouterOS 7.20beta2 to find a tiny “netinstall-cli - added multiple install option "-m";” breaking my scripts
That is not really ergonomic, and we cannot quickly search for changes in Netinstall / RouterBOOT anymore. On wiki.mikrotik.com, RouterBOOT changelogs were present, but since the site is down now…
1 Like