Introduction

Netinstall is a tool designed for Windows operating systems to reinstall MikroTik devices running RouterOS (except for non-MikroTik x86 devices). Netinstall re-formats the device's disk and copies over fresh files on to the system's disk, this can solve multiple issues when your device is not working properly. Always try using Netinstall if you suspect that your device is not working properly.

Netinstall re-formats the system's drive, all configuration and saved files will be lost. Netinstall does not erase the RouterOS license key, nor does it reset RouterBOOT related settings, for example, CPU frequency is not changed after reinstalling the device.

How To Use

Netinstall can run also on a local network, in such case you could skip setting a static IP address, but it is highly recommended that you set a static IP address if you are not familiar with Netinstall.


If you have a working router, then you can use it and skip the setting up a static IP part of this tutorial, but it requires you to know your LAN address since you will need to specify an unused IP address in your network for the network boot server. For this reason it is recommended to apply a static IP address and follow this guide precisely, if you are not sure how to get these parameters out of your network.

Netinstall requires administrator rights, there should be a window asking for permissions to run Netinstall, you must accept these permissions in order for Netinstall to work properly.

The Client IP address must be unique! Don't use an existing IP address in your network, this also means that you should not use the computer's IP address as well. Use a completely different IP address from the same subnet.



Some computers have a network interface (especially USB Ethernet adapters) that tend to create an extra link flap, which is enough for Netinstall to fail to detect a device that is in Etherboot mode. In such a case you can use a switch between your device and your computer or a router in bridge mode to prevent this issue.

There are multiple ways how to put your device into Etherboot mode. Make sure you read the Etherboot manual before trying to put the device into this mode. Methods vary between different MikroTik devices.

If you downloaded RouterOS packages for multiple architectures, then Netinstall will only show the appropriate architecture packages for your device after you have selected it. All unsupported packages will not show up in this window after you have selected a device.

If the installation does not start (progress bar is not moving or no status is shown), then you can try closing the Netinstall application and opening it up again or try to put the device into Etherboot mode again. If you are still unable to get Netinstall working, then you should try using it on a different computer since there might be an operating system's issue that is preventing Netinstall from working properly.

After using Netinstall the device will be reset to defaults (unless you specified not to apply default configuration). Some devices are not accessible through ether1 port with the default configuration for security reasons. Read more about Default configuration.


When using the Configure script option, it is suggested to introduce a delay before configuration execution.