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Overview

MikroTik hardware routers that run RouterOS

Table of Contents

RouterBOARD and PC license

RouterBOARD devices come preinstalled with a RouterOS license, if you have purchased a RouterBOARD RouterOS based device, nothing must be done regarding the license.

For X86 systems (i.e. PC devices), you need to obtain a license key.

The license key is a block of symbols that needs to be copied from your mikrotik.com account, or from the email you received in, and then it can be pasted into the router. You can paste the key anywhere in the terminal, or by clicking "Paste key" in Winbox WinBox License menu. A reboot is required for the key to take effect.

Note

RouterOS licensing scheme is based on Software-ID / System-ID

number that

where:

  • RouterBOARD software-id is bound to storage media (HDD, NAND).
  • x86 software-id is bound to MBR
  • CHR system-id is bound to MBR and UUID

Before the license purchase it is recommended to check if the software ID does not change on reboot. (Software ID may change on defective HDD, on HDD where RAID controllers are used but not properly configured etc.)

Licensing information can be read from CLI system console:

Code Block
languagetext
themeFadeToGrey
[admin@RB1100] > /system license print 
    software-id: "43NU-NLT9"
         nlevel: 6
       features: 
[admin@RB1100] >

or from equivalent WinBox,  WebFig menu.

Image Modified

License Levels

After installation RouterOS runs in trial mode. You have 24 hours to register for Level1 (Free demo) or purchase a Level 3, 4,5 or 6 license and enter paste a valid key.

Level 3 is a wireless station (client or CPE) only license. For x86 PCs, Level3 is not available for purchase individually.

Level 2 was a transitional license from old legacy (pre 2.8) license format. These licenses are not available anymoreany more, if you have this kind of license, it will work, but to upgrade it - you will have to purchase a new license.

The difference between license levels is shown in the table below.

30 days1200500noneUnlimitedUnlimited
Level number0 (Trial mode)1 (Free Demo)3 (WISP CPE)4 (WISP)5 (WISP)6 (Controller)
Priceno keyregistration requirednot for sale$45$95$250Initial Config Support---15 days30 days
Wireless AP mode (PtMP)24h trial--noyesyesyes
Wireless Client and Bridge24h trial-yesyesyesyes
RIP, OSPF, BGP protocols24h trial-yes(*)yesyesyes
EoIP tunnels24h trial1unlimitedunlimitedunlimitedunlimited
PPPoE tunnels24h trial1200200500unlimited
PPTP tunnels24h trial1200200500unlimited
L2TP tunnels24h trial1200200500unlimited
OVPN tunnels24h trial1200200unlimitedunlimited
VLAN interfacesEoIP tunnels24h trial1unlimitedunlimitedunlimitedunlimitedHotSpot active users
VLAN interfaces24h trial1unlimitedunlimitedunlimitedunlimited
RADIUS client24h trial-yesyesyesyes
QueuesQueue rules24h trial1unlimitedunlimitedunlimitedunlimitedWeb proxy
HotSpot active users24h trial-1yes1yes200yes500yesunlimited
User manager active sessions24h trial1102050UnlimitedNumber of KVM guests
Bonding interfaces24h trial1unlimitedunlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
(*) - BGP is included in License Level3 only for RouterBOARDs, for other devices you need Level4 or above to have BGP.
unlimitedunlimited


All Licenses:

  • never expire
  • include 15-30 day free support over e-mail
  • (a running and licensed router can be used indefinitely)
  • can use unlimited number of interfaces
  • are for one installation each
  • offer unlimited software upgrades (exception - demo license does not allow ROS version upgrade (started from 7.8))

CHR

license

License Levels

License levels described until now do not apply to

p-unlimited perpetual-unlimited ($250)

Cloud Hosted Router Routers (CHRs). CHR ) is a RouterOS version intended for running as a virtual machine. The CHR It has 4 license levels:

  • free
  • p1 perpetual-1 ($45)
  • p10 perpetual-10 ($95)

    • its own 4 license levels as well as trial where you can test any of the paid license levels for 60 days.


    60-day free trial license is available for all paid license levels. To get the free trial license, you have to have an account on MikroTik.com as all license management is done there.

    Perpetual is a lifetime license (buy once, use forever). It is possible to transfer a perpetual license to another CHR instance. A running CHR instance will indicate the time when it has to access the account server to renew it's license. If the CHR instance will not be able to renew the license it will behave as if the trial period has ran out and will not allow an upgrade of RouterOS to a newer version.

    After licensing a running trial system, you must manually run the /system license renew function command from the CHR to make it active. Otherwise the system will not know you have licensed it in your account. If you do not do this before the system deadline time, the trial will end and you will have to do a complete fresh CHR installation, request a new trial and then license it with the license you had obtained.

    LicenseSpeed limitPriceDescription
    Free1MbitFREEThe free license level allows CHR to run indefinitely. It is limited to 1Mbps upload per interface. All the rest of the features provided by CHR are available without restrictions. To use this, all you have to do is download disk image file from our download page and create a virtual guest.
    P11Gbit$45
    P1010Gbit$95P-UnlimitedUnlimited$250
    Paid licenses
    p1
    p1
    P1 (perpetual-1) license level allows CHR to run indefinitely. It is limited to 1Gbps upload per interface. All the rest of the features provided by CHR are available without restrictions. It is possible to upgrade p1 to p10 or p-unlimited After the upgrade is purchased the former license will become available for later use on your account.
    P1010Gbit
    p10
    $95
    p10
    P10 (perpetual-10) license level allows CHR to run indefinitely. It is limited to 10Gbps upload per interface. All the rest of the features provided by CHR are available without restrictions. It is possible to upgrade p10 to p-unlimited After the upgrade is purchased the former license will become available for later use on your account.
    p-unlimited
    P-UnlimitedUnlimited

    $250

    		The p-unlimited (perpetual-unlimited) license level allows CHR to run indefinitely. It is the highest tier license and it has no enforced limitations
    .

    Free licenses
    There are several options to use and try CHR free of charge.

    free
    The free license level allows CHR to run indefinitely. It is limited to 1Mbps upload per interface. All the rest of the features provided by CHR are available without restrictions
    .
    To use this, all you have to do is download disk image file from our download page and create a virtual guest.
    60-day
    trial
    Trial
    		FREE

    In addition to the limited Free installation, you can also test the increased speed of P1/P10/PU licenses with a 60 trial.

    You will have to have an account registered on MikroTik.com. Then you can request the desired license level for trial from your router that will assign your router ID to your account and enable a purchase of the license from your account. All the paid license equivalents are available for trial. A trial period is 60 days from the day of acquisition, after this time passes, your license menu will start to show "Limited upgrades", which means that RouterOS can no longer be upgraded.

    If

    Note that if you plan to purchase the selected license, you must do it

    within

    before 60 days

    of the

    trial

    end date

    ends. If your trial

    ends

    has ended, and there are no purchases within 2 months

    after it ended

    , the device will no longer appear in your MikroTik account. You will have to make a new CHR installation to make a purchase within the required time frame.

    To request a trial license, you must run the command "/system license renew" from the CHR device command line. You will be asked for the username and password of your mikrotik.com account.


    Warning

    Warning: If you plan to use multiple virtual systems of the same kind, it may be possible that the next machine has the same SystemID as the original one. This can happen on certain cloud providers, such as Linode. To avoid this, after your first boot, run the command "/system license generate-new-id" before you request a trial license. Note that this feature must be used only while CHR is running on free type of RouterOS license. If you have already obtained paid or trial license, do not use regenerate feature since you will not be able to update your current key any more

    To use multiple virtual machines, download the disk image from our webpage, and make as many copies, as you need virtual machines. Then make new virtual machine system from each virtual disk image.

    Make sure to make copies of the Disk Image before you run or register the downloaded file.


    Replacement Key

    It is a special key which is issued by the Support Team MikroTik support team if you accidentally lose the license on a x86 instance running RouterOS, and the Mikrotik MikroTik Support employee decides that it is not directly your fault. It costs 10$ and has the same features as the key that you lost.

    Note that before issuing such key, the Mikrotik MikroTik Support can ask you to prove that the old drive has failed, in some cases, this means sending us the dead drive.

    Replacement key request

    1) Go to your account management in mikrotik.com and fill the "support contact form" or write a direct e-mail to support@mikrotik.com

    • ) Please provide detailed information about why replacement key is required

    2) Send required info to MikroTik support department.

    3) Re-check your account after support staff has confirmed that replacement key has been added to your account. Select the section "Make a key from replacement key"

    Image RemovedImage Added

    4) Select the appropriate license level on which you wish to perform the replacement

    5) Enter the new "software-ID"

    6) Proceed to checkout by pressing "Add license replacement to cart" and finish the payment

    7) An e-mail will be sent to your profile containing the new license.

    • ) You can also find the newly generated key in the section "Search and view all keys" under the folder "Purchased YYYY" where "YYYY" is the current Year
    Note

    We may issue only one replacement key per one original key, using replacement key procedure twice for one key will not be possible. In cases like this new key for this RouterOS device must be purchased.

    Obtaining Licenses and

    working with them

    Working With Them

    Where can I buy a RouterOS license key?

    RouterBOARD MikroTik devices come preinstalled with a license and no purchase is needed.

    To obtain a higher level license, or to obtain a license of for a x86 PC installation, you must register an account on our webpage, and in there, use the option "Purchase a RouterOS license key".

    If I have purchased my key elsewhere

    You must contact the company who sold you the license, they will provide the support.

    If I have a license and want to put it on another account?

    You can give access to keys with the help of Virtual Folders

     Change hyperlink to Virtual Folders

    The only kind of licenses, that could be transferred to another Account is a prepaid key, which is purchased or is got from MUM. Prepaid keys got as a gift from the Training are not transferable.
    To transfer purchased prepaid key navigate to "Transfer prepaid keys" in the section "ROUTEROS KEYS" on your MikroTik Account.

    If I have lost a license on my

    RouterBOARD

    device?

    If for some reason you have lost license from your RouterBOARDrouter, then upgrade router to the latest RouterOS version available and use "Request RouterBOARD license key" in your mikrotik.com account. Use soft-id and serial number available under System/License menu in RouterOS when requesting license. Apply received license or contact support@mikrotik.com if request feature do not work.

    Note

    If the license was lost due to repairs and they were not done via the distributor under warranty, you will have to purchase a new RouterOS license for a the full price!

    Using the License

    Can I Format or Re-Flash the drive?

    Formatting, and Re-Imaging the drive with non-MikroTik tools (like DD and Fdisk) will destroy your license! Be very careful and contact mikrotik MikroTik support before doing this. It is not recommended, as MikroTik support might deny your request for a replacement license. For this use MikroTik provided tools - Netinstall or CD-install that are freely available from our download page.

    How many computers can I use the License on?

    At the same time, the The RouterOS license can be used only in one system, at the same time. The License is bound to the HDD it is installed on, but you have the ability to move the HDD to another computer system. You cannot move the License to another HDD, neither can you format or overwrite the HDD with the RouterOS license. It will be erased from the drive, and you will have to get a new one. If you accidentally removed your license, contact the support team for help.

    Can I temporary use the HDD for something else, other than RouterOS?

    As stated above, no.

    Can I move the license to another HDD ?

    If your current HDD drive is destroyed, or can no longer be used, it is possible to transfer the license to another HDD. You will have to request a replacement key (see below) which will cost 10$

    Must I type the whole key into the router?

    No, simply copy it and paste in the menuSystem--> License,

    Can I install another OS on my drive and then install RouterOS again later?

    No, because if you use formatting, partitioning utilities or tools that do something to the MBR, you will lose the license and you will have to make a new one. This process is not free (see Replacement Key above)

    I lost my RouterBOARD, can you give me the license to use on another system?

    The RouterBOARD MikroTik hardware comes with an embedded license. You cannot move this license to a new system in any way, this includes any upgrades applied to the RouterBOARD MikroTik router while it was still working.

    Licenses Purchased from Resellers

    The keys that you purchase from other vendors and resellers , are not in your account. Your mikrotik.com account only contains licenses purchased from MikroTik directly. However, you can use the "Request key" link in your account, to get the key into your account for reference, or for some upgrades (if available).

    Upgrading from RouterOS v3 (2009)

    Since RouterOS 3.25 and 4.0beta3 new SoftID format is introduced. Your license menu will show both the old and the new SoftID. Even by upgrading to a new version, RouterOS will still work as before, but to use some of the new features, LICENSE UPDATE will be necessary. To do this, just click on "Update license key" button in WinBox (currently only in WinBox).

    New SoftID's are in the form of XXXX-XXXX (Four symbols, dash, four symbols).

    The following actions will be taken:

    1. WinBox will contact www.mikrotik.com with your old SoftID
    2. www.mikrotik.com will check the database and see details about your key
    3. The server will generate a new key as "upgrade" and put it into the same account as old one
    4. WinBox will receive the new key and automatically License your router with the new key
    5. Reboot will be required
    6. New RouterOS features will be unlocked

    Important: If you see this button also in v3.24, don't use it, it will not work.

    If you ever wish to downgrade RouterOS, you will have to apply the OLD key before doing so. When RouterOS applies the NEW key, the OLD key is saved to a file, in the FILES folder, to make sure you have the old key handy.

    I am not using the software, can you terminate my license?

    The licenses are stand alone keys and MikroTik does not have any remote control over your devices. Therefore, we are unable to verify if you use your license or not. This is why MikroTik cannot terminate any issued licensesImportant: Don't downgrade v4.0b3 to v3.23 or older. Use only v3.24 for downgrading, or you might lose your new format key.