Winbox web

Router connection options

Material from MikroTik Wiki

The article discusses options for connecting to MikroTik devices: WinBox, WebFig and console access. The advantages and disadvantages of each connection method are analyzed.

After you have installed the RouterOS operating system on your PC or turned on the router, you will have several ways to connect to it:

On the Mikrotik sensei Telegram channel, you can get access to classified information from the official MikroTik trainer. In April and May 2023, Wi-Fi and QoS topics will be discussed. Subscribe

There are three main ways to connect to a MikroTik device:

Web interface (WebFig)

The utility that manages RouterOS via a web interface is called WebFig. With it, you can view, manage and diagnose the status of the router. Access is via a standard Internet browser. You need to enter the router address, then enter the credentials and you will be taken to the quick setup page. The general view of the interface is shown in the image below. Changing appearance options is available only in this control method.

The console can be accessed via serial port, telnet, SSH or a terminal window in the Winbox application. You can connect to the console via serial port, telnet or SSH using the Putty client.

Parameters for connecting via serial port (for all models except RouterBOARD 230):

115200bit/s, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, flow control=none by default.

Parameters for connection via serial port (for RouterBOARD 230 model):

9600bit/s, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control by default.

You can configure the router via GUI using WebFig web interface or Winbox application. Either through the console by connecting to the router using SSH, Telnet, etc. or by launching a terminal window from WinBox.
As a rule, it is more convenient for novice specialists to work with a graphical interface in the process of mastering, but as experience is gained, it becomes clear that configuration through the command line is much faster.

Via configuration files

You can use the preconfigured configuration file to quickly set up the router.

Useful materials on MikroTik

WinBox is a device management application based on Mikrotik RouterOS using an easy-to-system and easy-to-user interface. WinBox is released only for Windows, but it is also possible to run the utility using emulators for Linux or MacOS.

Download links

WinBox versions for other operating systems do not exist. Before using the MikroTik WinBox utility, we recommend that you study the information provided below in this article.

After the first launch, you will see the login window shown in the screenshot below. Buttons are marked on it with numbers:

The following screenshot shows the login window after switching from the Managed tab to the Neighbors tab. By clicking on the MAC (number 2) or IP (number 3) fields of a specific node on the Neighbors tab, you click to substitute this address in the Connect To field (number 1). The Refresh key (number 4) is used to update the list of devices visible on the network.

On the screenshot «Main window» you see 2 options for the main window — when connecting via MAC (numbers 1.3) or IP address (numbers 2.4). Also, in addition to the MAC or IP address, the window title contains the following information:

Number 5 indicates the status of the element, to decipher the designation, move the mouse cursor over the designation.
Under number 6 is an example of a disabled element.
Under the number 7, the designation of the changed element is shown (highlighted in blue).
Under number 8 is an example of value inversion (logical negation).
Under the number 9 is the Safe mode button — it turns on the «Safe Mode» — after its activation, the system monitors the connection between WinBox and RouterOS and if your actions led to a loss of communication, it will roll back the changes.

Description of the main buttons

Inside a separate section (you can also call it a module) you can quickly change the view of elements and search or display elements related only to a specific group (the screenshot shows a selection from the drop-down menu, all routes included in the main group).

Sort display items

An example of how to quickly filter out routes that will match the address range 10.0.0.0/8 :

As you can see on the screenshot, the elements are sorted by the filter we set.

The comparison operator (number 3 on the screenshot) can be given different boolean values. For example, the «Ip Route» window has only two — is and in. Other windows may contain values ​​- is not, contains, contains not.

You can add (they will be summed up) and remove filters — number 5 on the screenshot.

Setting the display column list

Winbox allows you to customize the display of columns for each window. For example, for the «Route List» window, add the «BGP AS path column» column:

The settings you have made will be saved for the current and all future launches of Winbox.

The mode in which all lines of the window display detailed information about each element of the window is called Detail mode.

To enable this mode, right-click on the item list and select Detail mode from the drop-down menu.

Grouping by category

You can turn on the category display mode.

Drag & Drop

You can use the «Pick and Drop» mechanism (a method of copying files with a drag-and-drop gesture) similar to the Windows family of operating systems. This feature is not available on Linux and Mac OS.

Winbox can be used as a tool to monitor traffic on every interface, queue or firewall rule in real time.

Let’s see how easy it is to copy elements in Winbox. In this example, we will use COPY to convert a Dynamic PPPoE server to a Static interface.

This screenshot shows the initial state, we see the letters DR, «D» stands for Dynamic:

Double click the interface and click the COPY button:

A new interface window will appear, a new name will be set automatically (in our case pppoe-in1)

After that, when you turn off/on, this interface will be Static

Saving the list of managed routers — in the File menu, use Save As and Open to save the list of managed routers to a file and import it to a new computer, respectively.

Router session transfer — in the Tools menu, use the Export and Import items to save existing sessions to a file and import it to a new computer respectively.

Winbox does not connect to the router by IP address

Check that your Windows Firewall (or other firewall) is not blocking WinBox.

You got a ‘(port 20561) timed out’ error when you try to connect to the router at mac address

Windows (7/8) does not allow to establish a mac connection if the «file and print sharing» function (enable file and printer sharing) is disabled.

You can learn how to set up MikroTik and WinBox with the help of the videos below from the course described above.

WebFig is a web interface for accessing RouterOS settings, which is used as an alternative to the WinBox utility. WebFig and WinBox have similar interfaces and allow you to access most of the features of RouterOS. To use the web interface, only a JavaScript-enabled browser is required.

Function button list for items:

When you select one of the elements, its specific element editing window opens.
At the top of the element, you see the type and name of the element. In the example in the image, you see an interface named bridge1.
Also at the top of the window there are buttons specific to this element.

There are buttons (Ok, Cancel, Apply, Remove and Torch) on the panel. Their number may be different for different elements. For example, Torch is only available for interfaces (traffic analysis utility).

Buttons common to all elements:

Working with files

The file section allows you to upload files to the device and download them from it. In the picture: under the number 1 is the section itself, under the number 2 is the call button for the «file selection window», under the number 3 is the file to be selected, under the number 4 is the file selection button, under the number 5 is the file download button.

Routers from the Latvian company Mikrotik occupy a special place among products of this kind. There is an opinion that this technique is intended for professionals and only a specialist can properly configure and operate it. And this point of view is justified. But time goes by, Mikrotik products are improving, and its software is becoming more and more understandable for the average user. And the super reliability, versatility of these devices, combined with an affordable price, make efforts to study its settings quite adequate to the result.

RouterOS — operating system for Mikrotik devices

A distinctive feature of Mikrotik routers is that their operation is carried out under the control of not just a banal firmware, but with the help of an operating system called RouterOS. It is a complete operating system based on the Linux platform. This is what scares away many users from Mikrotik, who believe that mastering it for them is something unbearable. But on the other hand, the presence of such an operating system has undeniable advantages:

The possibilities that the operating system from Mikrotik provides to the user are very extensive. Therefore, the time spent on its study will not be used in vain.

Router connection and basic settings

Having done these simple manipulations, you need to do the following:

The last point requires more detailed explanations. As you can see from the screenshot, the Mikrotik router can be configured in three ways:

Currently, developers are focusing on the Webfig interface, which is offered to the user by default. Therefore, in later versions of RouterOS, the start window may look like this:

And since there is no password in the factory settings to enter the web interface of the router, the first time you connect, the user can be immediately redirected to the Webfig settings page. However, most experts still continue to work with Winbox and consider it the most convenient way to configure Mikrotik devices. Therefore, all further examples will be based on the interface of this utility.

Setting the basic parameters of the router

The Mikrotik router has a lot of settings, but in order for it to perform its main functions, it is enough to know the main ones. Therefore, do not be afraid of the abundance of tabs, sections and parameters. Their purpose can be studied in more detail later. And first you need to learn how to do the basic settings of the device. More on this below.

Connecting to a router using Winbox

The Winbox utility, which is used to configure Mikrotik devices, is an executable EXE file. It does not require installation and is ready to work immediately after downloading. Initially, the utility is designed to work in Windows, but practice shows that it works fine on the Linux platform from under Wine.

The wireless network settings are located on the left side of the Quick Set window. The parameters that are available for editing there are the same as when configuring routers of other models.

Here the user needs to:

Almost all settings are made by selecting from a drop-down list or checking a checkbox, so you don’t need to invent anything.

Internet settings are located at the top right of the Quick Set window. The user is offered 3 options, depending on the type of connection used by the provider:

DHCP. In the factory configuration, it is present by default, so you do not have to configure anything further. Unless you need to check the MAC address if the provider uses binding to it.

Static IP address. Here you will have to enter the parameters received from the provider manually.

As you can see, there is nothing difficult in changing the Internet connection parameters in the Mikrotik router.

After changing all the parameters one by one in the Quick Set window, click on the “Apply” button. The connection to the router will be terminated. Restart your computer, or simply disable and then re-enable your network connection. Everything must work.

Setting the administrator password

There is no password in the factory settings of Mikrotik routers. It is strictly forbidden to leave it in this state for security reasons. Therefore, after completing the basic setup of the device, be sure to set an administrator password. For this:

This completes the administrator password setting. If necessary, in the same section, you can add other users or groups of users with different levels of access to the router.

Configuring a Mikrotik router in manual mode requires certain knowledge and patience from the user, as many different parameters will have to be entered. But the indisputable advantage of this method is the ability to configure the router as finely as possible, taking into account your own needs. In addition, a side effect of such work will be a significant expansion of the user’s knowledge in the field of network technologies, which can also be attributed to positive aspects.

Deleting factory configuration

Removing the typical configuration of the router is the first step from which its manual configuration begins. You just need to click on «Remove Configuration» in the window that appears when you first start the device.

If such a window does not appear, it means that you have already connected to the router before. The same situation will be when setting up a used device configured for a different network. In this case, the current configuration must be deleted as follows:

After that, the router will reboot and be ready for further configuration. It is recommended that you immediately change the administrator’s name and set a password for him in the manner described in the previous section.

Renaming network interfaces

One of the inconveniences of setting up Mikrotik routers is considered by many to be the monotonous names of its ports. You can see them in the «Interfaces Winbox» section:

By default, the functions of the WAN port in Mikrotik devices are performed by ether1. The rest of the interfaces are LAN ports. In order not to be confused during further configuration, they can be renamed as the user is more familiar with. This will require:

Other ports can be renamed to LAN or left unchanged. If the user is not annoyed by the default names, you can not change anything. This procedure does not affect the operation of the device in any way and is optional.

WAN connection setup has its own options. It all depends on the type of connection that the provider uses. Let’s consider this in more detail.

This type of setting is the easiest. Simply creating a new DHCP client is enough. For this:

Connection with static IP

In this case, you must first obtain all the necessary connection parameters from the provider. Then you need to do the following:

This completes the setup.

Connection requiring authorization

If the provider uses PPPoE or L2TP connection, the settings are made in the “PPP” section of Winbox. After going to this section, you need to do the following:

Setting up L2TP and PPTP connections follows the same scenario. The only difference is that on the «Dial Out» tab there is an additional «Connect To» field where you need to enter the address of the VPN server.

If the provider uses MAC address binding

In this situation, you should change the MAC address of the WAN port to the one required by the ISP. In Mikrotik devices, this can only be done from the command line. It is done like this:

This completes the Internet setup, but home network clients will not be able to use it until the local network is configured.

Wireless network setup

You can set up your wireless network on the Mikrotik router by going to the “Wireless” section. Similar to the Interfaces section, a list of wireless interfaces with the designation wlan will open here (depending on the router model, there may be one or more).

The setting is as follows:

The parameters shown in the screenshot are enough for the normal operation of the wireless network.

After deleting the factory configuration, the LAN ports and Wi-Fi module of the router remain unconfigured. In order for traffic exchange to begin between them, you need to combine them into a bridge. The sequence of settings to be made is as follows:

This completes the local network setup.

The article touched upon only the most basic points of setting up Mikrotik routers. Their possibilities are immeasurably greater. But these first steps can be the starting point from which you can begin to dive into the wonderful world of computer networks.

Welcome,
Let’s continue our acquaintance with routers of a wide range of applications from MIKROTIK
In the last part, we got acquainted with the object of our study.

Today, MikroTik routers are used quite widely and have proven themselves to knowledgeable people as a stable system on which you can build quite a lot of interesting things.
But an unprepared user or a novice router driver will have a hard time!
Yes, yes, that’s right, because the entry threshold for this equipment is quite high, but if you have an inquisitive mind, over time you will figure everything out and I will help you with this.

If you want to learn MikroTik, then this can be done with the help of a special online course «Setting up MikroTik hardware». The course covers all topics from the official MTCNA program, and the author of the course is the official trainer of MikroTik. The material is suitable for those who have been working with MikroTik equipment for a long time, and for those who have not even held it in their hands. The course includes 162 video lessons, 45 labs, and self-assessment questions with notes. By the way, I got the MTCNA certificate right here!

Having bought (borrowed, found, accepted as a gift, but it doesn’t matter how) a device called MikroTik you get a piece of iron, with, let’s say, partially old firmware.
The guys from MikroTik are very actively “sawing” firmware, patching bugs, adding new features and bugs (where without them) and posting it on their website.
Just look at the download page: mikrotik.com/download
and look at the RC branch

The firmware update itself will be discussed with you in another article =)

Routers come with standard settings and have an IP address of 192.168.88.1

To access the WEB setup interface, enter the address of the router in the address bar of the browser

After pressing Enter, the following window will open

Or the interface will open immediately

This is how the program interface looks like in a simple form and in an extended one, which one to use is up to you

Enable advanced mode

After filling in the required fields, you can connect to the router

Standard WinBox interface window

Open windows of various menus

As you can see, another important difference between this utility and the Web interface is the ability to open many windows of various menus. Which is very useful for monitoring changes in some values ​​while changing others in real time.

I highly recommend using the WinBox utility to monitor and configure routers and other MikroTik devices.
And I highly recommend not using the Quick Set window. when applying the changes, some important settings may change and you will have to configure everything all over again.

Therefore, I will carry out all the following parts of the setup and acquaintance through WinBox.
Most of the settings are easily replicated over the Web, and shouldn’t be difficult.

List of all articles in chronological order: History of articles

If you are not indifferent to the fate of the blog or you just want to thank the Author for his work, feel free to go to the Support page, all the information is described there, on how to do it as easy as shelling pears =)

In previous articles, we got acquainted with various ways to connect to our router and took a glimpse of the object we were looking for.
Today we will get acquainted in more detail with the wonderful WinBox utility for managing routers and systems on MikroTik RoS

WARNING: many letters =)

If you speak English well enough, you can read the official WinBox manual
Manual:Winbox

Download the utility from the official website:
Download page MikroTik.com
You need to scroll to the very bottom of the site and in the Useful tools and utilities section there will be a link to the file we need with the name Winbox version X. X
At the time of this writing, the version was 3.5, here is the direct link

Run the utility and connect to the device:

Use the skills from the last article. Let’s connect by MAC address.

1. Click once on the MAC address of the found router
2. Click Connect to connect.

The interface itself is quite voluminous in the number of possible panels, buttons and windows.
To describe it all will take a lot of time and text.
Therefore, I will only give the most basic in order to make the correct settings.
Let’s not forget that we will use this router at home or in a small office. In which all the settings of the router are not needed.
In addition, we will analyze in future articles what we will not analyze in this article.

Some ports and default settings may differ depending on your device!!!!

Let’s see what items are present:

Large menu list

Here we see a list of all interfaces in the default configuration (default configuration)

This tab shows the list of ports in one network bridge in the default configuration

Full range of settings visible

There are also a lot of points

Default output after logging into the router.

Actually, why not just do it this way)))

If you have read to the end, then I didn’t try in vain) Thank you for reading!!!
Now you know more 😉
Next: Firmware for MikroTik RoS based systems

Continuation of previous articles:
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 1
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 2 — Configuring hAP ac
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 3 — Setting up the RB750gr3 hEX
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 4 — Creating an OpenVPN tunnel
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 5 — Creating an EoIP tunnel
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 6 — Firewall access protection
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 7 — Firewall correct port forwarding in a network with two gateways
Creating a home network based on MikroTik devices: Part 8 — Installing and configuring MikroTik DUDE Network Monitor (You are here)

A series of articles on the organization of a single local area network with a mask (255.255.255.0)24 at a large distance of objects from each other.
In the last part, you and I set up the correct port forwarding on a network with two gateways.

In this article, I would like to talk about how to keep track of this whole zoo. So that no one runs away or goes beyond the scope of their duties =)
In general, there are quite a few different monitoring systems on the Internet. Take at least things like Zabbix, Graphite, Grafana and others like them.
Very great flexibility. a bunch of plug-ins, the ability to write your own plug-ins, make these systems the most used not only among enthusiasts, but also among corporations.
The operation of servers, the operation of various services on these servers. Instant notification when errors occur.
All this is very necessary with a wide range of different equipment.

And now let’s look from the side of a not quite ordinary user. Those. us, those who make a mini office at home.
Personally, I do not really like all these systems, although they are popular. And the very idea of ​​monitoring home hardware is, by and large, a “toy”, which at first glance does not give any practical benefit.

Nevertheless, I decided to try to implement this “toy” myself. Fortunately, the RB750Gr3 router allows you to install a microSD card and put a database on it.

Meet
The Dude
Dude Network Monitor is an application from the Latvian company MikroTik, which can significantly improve the performance of the network environment. It automatically scans all devices on specific subnets, draws and maps networks, monitors device services, and warns if certain services have problems.
You can not only control your devices, but also manage them. Support for mass updating devices on RouterOS and configuring them directly from Dude Client.

Here are some of its features:
— Automatic network discovery and layout
— Detects any type or brand of device
— Network device, channel monitoring and notifications
— Includes SVG icons for devices and supports custom icons and backgrounds
— Easy installation and use
— Allows you to create your own maps and add custom devices
— Supports SNMP, ICMP, DNS and TCP monitoring for devices that support it
— Monitoring the use of individual links and graphics on them
— Direct access to remote controls to control devices
— Works in Linux Wine, MacOS Darwine and Windows environments

WIKI: The Dude (ENG)

On the Internet you can find articles on installing the server part of The Dude on your PC, but they are already quite outdated.
MikroTik removed support for local Dude servers and left the possibility of its operation exclusively under RouterOS.
What does it mean?
This means that this service can be installed exclusively on MikroTik’s RouterOS operating system, which in turn can be installed separately on an x86 machine or on a virtual environment (VirtualBox, Proxmox, etc.). Well, or, as our option, is already in the router.
On the download page, you can see which hardware supports The Dude server installation:
— TILE architecture: all CCRs
— ARM architecture: LDF ac, LHG ac, SXTsq (ac series), Wireless Wire, cAP ac, hAP ​​ac², CRS3xx, RB3011, RB1100AHx4
— x86 architecture: RB230, X86
— MMIPS architecture: RB750Gr3, RBMxx

As you can see, this list includes our RB750Gr3. This cannot but rejoice! Let’s install the server side.
But before that, we need a microSD card. I recommend taking up to 8GB. More is unlikely to be needed. It must be installed in RB750Gr3
But if you don’t have an SD card handy, it’s okay, there is also a regular USB2.0 connector. And the database can be placed on a regular flash drive.

The hEX RB750Gr3 supports standard SDCC UHS-I / Class 10 SD cards, which means that large capacity memory cards can be used in the device.
The standard supports microSD cards up to 128GB

I just happened to have an SD card at hand.

Please note that industrial mircoSD cards or USB flash drives are preferable, as they have a longer life cycle in applications that can write data more often than read it.

1. Installing The Dude package on RB750Gr3 router
Drive Installation
router, install an SD card (or USB flash drive) into it

Since the microSD slot is located on the underside of the device, the SD card must be upside down when attempting to insert it. Those. contact pad up.

Turn on the router by connecting power to it, wait for the download and connect to it via WinBox.
Check if the router sees the connected SD card. If it does not see it, do the procedure again, but with another card or USB flash drive.

We prepare the flash drive for work.
Format it in ext3 format.
This format will be the best. because it is more reliable than the notorious Fat32 and the size of one file can be large.

We have the server package, it’s time to upload it to the router.
This can be done in many ways (Winbox drag’n’drop, webfig, ftp or sftp). I prefer winbox.
Just open Files and drag dude-6.40.7-mmips.npk into it

Just reboot the router and the package will install automatically.

Setting up and starting the service
Now we need to change the data storage path for the Server

Correct operation will be indicated by the Running status and the presence of a large tree /disk1/dude in the list of files

Now we can connect to the server remotely via The Dude client

2. Connecting to The Dude and starting setup
First, let’s install The Dude Client utility on our PC or laptop.
Installation is performed in the standard way, like any other program: Run the dude-install-6.40.7.exe installer and click Next, Next, Next, etc. =)

Unfortunately, a desktop shortcut is not created.
Therefore, we follow the installation path and create it ourselves.

Launching the client
Enter your user login information. We can save them for further quick connection and click Connect
The connection may take some time. Don’t be scared. just need to wait a bit.

This data indicates that there is a connection and data exchange with the server

After connecting, we will see the workspace:

I recommend not scanning the network and adding everything manually.
Next, I’ll show you how to add a device and network to display.
Everything else will be limited by your desire for further study.

Let’s try to add our device to the map and enable monitoring of several parameters: Processor, Memory and Disk

Right-click on an empty space and select Add Device

Enter the IP address of our server. That is what we will control for now. Do not forget to specify our Login and password to connect and that it is RouterOS

Starting to add controlled services

Choose the service we need and add it

Do the same for CPU, Memory and Disk services

As we can see, some of the parameters are in the down state
This means that either the service is really out of order (which is impossible because we are connected to the server), or SNMP is not running on the router.
Let’s check it out:

Enable SNMP on RouterOS
We connect via WinBox to the router and configure SNMP for the local network

In principle, you don’t have to go to the community. It should only be used if you want to make a protected group. But we are in a home local network and we do not need these surpluses

Let’s check if SNMP is working

Right click on our added device and select Snmpwalk

As you can see, everything works, we receive data.

As we see all the data, we get and even plot graphs

PS*
Yes, I had to expand CHR for demonstration =))

Let’s add a network and see how fast the network interface is.
Well, put the icon of the Router.

Add the network we know

Write down the name of the network and set the entire network

Now let’s connect our network and router with a regular link

Click on our router and without releasing the mouse button drag the line to the network until it is fixed

Select the desired parameters. Instead of SNMP, you can also choose RouterOS

see the speed of the interface and the graph

To change device parameters, double-click on it

With such a small network you can start working with The Dude

I already have all my devices on the local network, images added, various functions written and that’s not all.
You can do just as well, I’m sure of you. Dare!
And finally:

This is already a practical home network

On this, the series of articles on the organization of a single local network can be considered completed.
Although there are a couple more points that should be described, but these will be separate articles not within the cycle.

Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed it!!