Knowledgebase

Configuring & Building MikroTik RouterOS (v6 & v7) Templates

MikroTik RouterOS is widely used for routing, firewalling, and VPN tunneling. This guide covers how to prepare standard MikroTik Cloud Hosted Router (CHR) templates for automated provisioning in ESXi.

1. Creating the Virtual Machine in ESXi:

1. Download the official MikroTik CHR .vmdk or .ova image from mikrotik.com.
2. Create a new VM with Guest OS: Other Linux 64-bit.
3. Allocate 1 vCPU and 256 MB or 512 MB RAM (RouterOS is extremely lightweight).
4. Set the Network Adapter type to VMXNET3 or E1000.

2. Automated IP Configuration:

VMMakers injects network settings on initial boot. In RouterOS v7, ensure that interface names match the standard ethernet naming (ether1 for WAN).

/ip address add address=198.51.100.50/24 interface=ether1
/ip route add gateway=198.51.100.1
/ip dns set servers=8.8.8.8,1.1.1.1

3. Template Finalization:

1. Reset default credentials to blank or your standard template password.
2. Power off the VM cleanly.
3. Mark the VM as a reference template in VMMakers and map its name in WHMCS product configuration.