• Your shopping cart is empty!

Load a Config from the DuxTel Configuration Library

In order to deliver ready-to-use network appliances to our customers, we have developed a range of versatile configuration scripts that we make available for others to deploy on their own hardware, or as a starting point for their own applications.

This article describes how to use a configuration script to load onto a blank MikroTik router.
 

The first step to creating one of our DuxAppliance systems is to download a configuration file.  There are a range of configurations available, ready to deploy, or to use a base for your own application.  You can browse the available samples here and download them for free!

If you are not sure which of the available configuration scripts are best to suit your application, feel free to contact us to discuss your requirements!

For further information about developing your own configuration scripts, refer to this article.

You will also need the latest version of the MikroTik Winbox Configuration Tool.

The first step is to open the configuration file and review the routerOS version requirements listed in the config file header, for example:

# DuxLink Duo Point to Point true transparent Bridge
# with VLAN 101 for prioritised Traffic
# A-End Config
# For RouterOS min 5.4
#
# Copyright (c) DuxTel Pty Ltd 2011
# REDISTRIBUTION PERMITTED ONLY WITH THIS HEADER INTACT!
#

In the example above, you should make sure that RouterOS v5.4 or later.  Please note that configuration files will sometimes only work properly when the routerOS version is exactly (e.g. routerOS v5.4 in the above example) as specified in the configuration file header.

To Upgrade routerOS, first, obtain the routerOS package from the MikroTik download page:

http://www.mikrotik.com/download.html

Always start with the latest available version and let us know if you have trouble!

To install the latest package, simply download the "combined-package" (e.g. routeros-mipsbe-5.4.npk) to your desktop or convenience filesystem location, and then copy the package to your router:

  1. Log on to the router using WinBox
  2. Click on 'Files' in the main WinBox menu
  3. With the WinBox program open, and the files list visible, resize the WinBox tool so that you can see the routerOS package on your desktop (or filesystem) and then click-and-drag the file from your desktop into the files list window of WinBox
  4. After the package has successfully transferred (note the file size as shown in the WinBox display) reboot the router (e.g. system -> reboot)

Apple and linux users: although you can use the WINE tool to run winbox, you will not generally be able to transfer files in the method described above.  In that case, you need to assign an ip address to the router and then use ftp to upload the file to the router, and then reboot the router in the usual manner.

Once you have the routerOS upgraded, the next step is to clear out any existing configuration.  NOTE that it is important to start with a completely blank configuration!:

  1. Log on to the router using the WinBox tool
  2. Click on 'New terminal' in the main menu
  3. Enter: /system reset at the terminal prompt, and respond 'y' to the warning
  4. Log on to the router again with winbox when the router reboots (note that the password will be blank after the config reset!)
  5. If you are presented with an option to keep or remove the default configuration, be sure to choose REMOVE.

The final step is to import the configuration:

  1. Log on to the router using the WinBox tool (if you have not already! ;-)
  2. Click on 'New terminal' in the main menu
  3. Enter the command import followed by the first few characters of the configuration file name, e.g:
    • /import initial-config-dux
  4. And then press the <tab> key which should automatically complete the full filename.  If this does not happen, check the files window and make sure that the configuration file a) still exists, and b) is in the root of the router filesystem.
  5. Observe the command result - if there are any error messages, repeat the process again carefully to be sure that you did not miss any steps.

Sometimes it is easy to discover the cause of any config script errors.  As a first step, you can copy chunks of the configuration file at one or more commands at a time, then right click inside a 'new Terminal' windox within WinBox and choose 'paste' to send the configuration commands to the router.

In this way, you will be able to observe specific error messages and possibly deduce the problem with the configuration command - sometimes it is just a reference to an interface that does not exist on your particular router (e.g. attempt to configure ether5 on an RB/433 router) or a change in command syntax due to a different routerOS version.

If all else fails, feel free to contact us for further assistance! :-)