Somewhere in my poking around, I forget where, I got the impression there was a limit of 4 USB devices in RouterOS (7.10.2) — am I imagining that? Obviously I only have one port to work with, but presumably I could use a hub, potentially a powered one. Are there any specs or practical advice on the USB power output of the port available? Not looking to let the smoke out, or have a setup work fine only until I pound a few big files out to it then suddenly dismount everything.
USB in containers? Docker supports hardware access, but I don’t see a way for that to happen in RouterOS. But I’m also a Docker newb, and realize that’s not exactly a beginner topic so again I’d love to be directed to any docs, tutorials, etc. on such. If not, I suppose I can start up Samba (or even use the ROSE-storage module) on a drive that’s shared to the container(s) … or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?
USB-adjacent question : the “UPS” module for RouterOS says it supports APC brand units via serial / USB — is that a hard requirement, or does it turn out other brands happen to use the same protocol so I “may” be able to communicate with just for instance my CyberPower UPS? I’m willing to experiment, but adding a module in is something I’d rather avoid unless it’s likely to work.
Looks like the “Files” part of RouterOS can only handle a single level of directory — certainly on Webfig, but also in the Terminal / SSH / Winbox? (by that I mean no nested directories are permitted — except within a “Container store” obviously) Is there any way around that, or maybe I’m just mistaken? Every time I’ve tried to use tools to create deeper structures it’s failed.
HUBs work and you can connect more devices that way. But there seems to be hard limit in number of USB endpoints devices can have in total - 32 is maximum for all devices. See http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/two-lte-minipcie-modules-not-working-on-rbm33g-bug/120893/1 for more details. Simple devices like USB to RS232 converters usually just use three, but then some LTE modems just go crazy with 17 endpoints (wtf) and that’s causing problems..
Raw USB access from containers is currently not supported. It might be in the future (was suggested to developers multiple times…) But you can put containers on USB flash disk/drive, that works as intended (mount it, then use the path when creating container).
UPC support is limited. If yours works with “nut” on linux using APC protocol driver, it will probably work on ROS as well… otherwise no luck.
Yeah, creating directories in internal storage is just real PITA for no reason. Just look around forum for various hacky ways to accomplish that. It’s ugly. It sucks.
Thanks for the info r00t. I’m still feeling my way around RouterOS and appreciate that I can get some probably novice-level stuff answered even if it’s not exactly what I want to hear. Knowing about reported issues or long-standing complaints might save me pulling my hair for several hours wondering if my experiments aren’t working because of my own inexperience. That thread on USB devices is a little beyond what I’m doing, but it’s a good reference to at least jog my memory for “/system resource usb print” which is indeed how I got the impression I did, although I did it via Webfig. Given my goals and some of the RouterOS limitations I’m starting to rethink my strategy somewhat. (Mission Accomplished! that’s why I am experimenting after all)
I’ve had a persistent problem, perhaps created extraneously by my inexperience and / or use of Webfig, of setting up logging to my liking. I want certain firewall logs to live in /usb1/logs/firewall-log.1.txt and container logs to live in /usb1/logs/container-log.1.txt — setting those up to log to the internal drive was easy enough. So was getting them to the root directory of /usb drive. But every time I tried to set them in a subdirectory of the USB disk it would tell me the configuration was invalid and fail. (with typical MikroTik terseness) I was almost resolved to living with file clutter. This has solved that problem!
Actually, I decided since I was setting up SMB shares anyway I’d go ahead and create the directory and a user that had write permissions, then connect remotely to handle everything else, and it worked splendidly. My logs now have a home, and won’t fill up or degrade the internal storage.
