Installing a Mikrotik CHR virtual router

In Yandex Cloud, you can deploy a virtual Mikrotik Cloud Hosted Router from a ready-made VM image. To install Mikrotik Cloud Hosted Router and check its operability:

1. Prepare your cloud.
2. Create a VM with Mikrotik Cloud Hosted Router.
3. Log in to your VM and change your password.
4. Create a test VM.
5. Check the connection between the router and test VM.

If you no longer need the resources you created, delete them.

Prepare your cloudPrepare your cloud

Sign up for Yandex Cloud and create a billing account:

1. Go to the management console and log in to Yandex Cloud or create an account if you do not have one yet.
2. On the Yandex Cloud Billing page, make sure you have a billing account linked and it has the ACTIVE or TRIAL_ACTIVE status. If you do not have a billing account, create one.

If you have an active billing account, you can go to the cloud page to create or select a folder for your infrastructure to operate in.

Learn more about clouds and folders.

Required paid resourcesRequired paid resources

The cost of using a virtual router and test VM includes:

• Fee for the disks and continuously running VMs (see Yandex Compute Cloud pricing).
• Fee for using a public IP address (see Yandex Virtual Private Cloud pricing).

Create a VM with Mikrotik Cloud Hosted RouterCreate a VM with Mikrotik Cloud Hosted Router

1. In the management console, select the folder.

2. In the top-right corner, click Create resource and choose Virtual machine instance.

3. Under General information:

   1. In the Name field, enter a name for the VM, e.g., mikrotik-router.
   2. In the Availability zone field, select an availability zone with a subnet. If you do not know which availability zone you need, leave the default one.

4. Under Boot disk image, go to the Marketplace tab and select the Cloud Hosted Router image.

5. Under Computing resources, specify the parameters:

   • Platform: Intel Ice Lake
   • vCPU: 2
   • Guaranteed vCPU performance: 100%
   • RAM: 1 GB.

6. Under Network settings, select the required network and subnet and assign a public IP address to the VM either by selecting it from the list or automatically. If you do not have a network or subnet, create them on the VM creation page.

7. Under Access:

   1. Enter the username in the Login field.

   2. Paste the contents of the public SSH key file in the SSH key field. You need to create an SSH key pair yourself.

      Note that you only need this data for VM creation. You cannot use the data for router access.

8. Click Create VM.

It may take a few minutes to create a VM. When the VM status changes to RUNNING, you can log in.

Change the administrator password on the routerChange the administrator password on the router

The router is created with a public IP address, so you need to change the default administrator password for security reasons.

1. In the management console, select the folder.
2. In the list of services, select Compute Cloud.
3. Copy the mikrotik-router VM public IP and open it in your browser.
4. Enter the VM internal IP address in the IP Address field.
5. On the page that opens, enter the new administrator password, confirm it, and click Apply Configuration. You can make other setting later.

Create a test VMCreate a test VM

Create a test VM in the subnet that hosts the router, to test connectivity between the router and VM.

1. In the management console, select the folder.
2. In the top-right corner, click Create resource and choose Virtual machine instance.
3. Under General information:
   1. In the Name field, enter a name for the VM, such as test-vm.
   2. In the Availability zone field, choose the same availability zone that the mikrotik-router VM is in.
4. Under Boot disk image, go to the Marketplace tab and select the Ubuntu image.
5. Under Computing resources, specify the parameters:
   • Platform: Intel Ice Lake
   • vCPU: 2
   • Guaranteed vCPU performance: 20%
   • RAM: 1 GB
6. Under Network settings:
   1. In the Subnet field, select the network and subnet hosting the mikrotik-router VM.
   2. In the Public IP field, select No address.
7. Under Access:
   1. Enter the username in the Login field.
   2. Paste the contents of the public SSH key file in the SSH key field.
8. Click Create VM.

Check the connection between the router and test VMCheck the connection between the router and test VM

Make sure that a network connection has been established between the router and test VM:

1. Open the router's administrative interface in the browser.
2. Click Terminal.
3. In the terminal that opens, run the ping <internal_IP_address_of_the_test_VM> command.

If the packets reach the test VM, you can start configuring the router. To learn how to work with the router, see the Mikrotik documentation.

Delete the resources you createdDelete the resources you created

To stop paying for your deployed resources, delete the mikrotik-router and test-vm VMs.

If you reserved a public static IP address, delete it.