File share function allows you to use your routers external storage to share files with anyone on the internet. Simply attach a USB, nVME or any supported drive to your device, and then add whole directory paths to the fileshare menu. The router will use the MikroTik cloud service to issue a HTTPS certificate and a domain name for your router. The URL which you can then distribute to anyone will be shown in the file-share menu. You can also enable ability for anyone to upload files into your router. The URL is randomly generated, so while it is available to anyone who knows the link, if you keep it safe, only people with the link will be able to use it.
Adding shares
First, attach your USB drive and determine the file path of the directory you want to share:
[user@RouterOS] > file/print # NAME TYPE SIZE LAST-MODIFIED 0 web directory 2025-01-23 09:29:42 1 usb1 disk 2025-01-22 09:45:57 2 pub directory 2025-01-23 09:24:41 3 skins directory 2024-12-10 08:19:27 4 pub/index.html .html file 670 2025-01-23 09:24:41 5 skins/default.json .json file 151 2024-07-15 10:20:11 6 usb1/Secret Files directory 2024-03-18 09:01:41 7 usb1/forum directory 2025-01-22 10:58:20 8 usb1/Secret Files/Home Video.srt .srt file 267 2020-06-01 11:29:14 9 usb1/Secret Files/Home Video.mp4 .mp4 file 1584.4MiB 2020-06-01 11:34:33 10 usb1/forum/cat.jpeg .jpeg file 4307.7KiB 2025-01-22 09:38:55 11 usb1/forum/cat1.jpeg .jpeg file 231.8KiB 2025-01-22 10:58:20 12 usb1/forum/cat2.jpeg .jpeg file 129.6KiB 2025-01-22 10:58:20 13 usb1/forum/cat3.jpeg .jpeg file 263.8KiB 2025-01-22 10:58:20 14 usb1/forum/cat4.jpeg .jpeg file 438.4KiB 2025-01-22 10:58:20 15 web/index.html .html file 1473 2025-01-23 09:29:42
Now in the ip/cloud menu go to file share, and add a new share, specifying the expiration date and whether the other user will have permission to upload files to your router:
[user@RouterOS] /ip/cloud/back-to-home-file> add allow-uploads=no expires=never path="usb1/Secret Files/"
Now you can issue the print command to see if the share link has been made and what the URL is to copy for sharing:
[user@RouterOS] /ip/cloud/back-to-home-file> print Columns: PATH, URL, DIRECT-URL, EXPIRES, DOWNLOADS # PATH URL DIRECT-URL EXPIRES DOWNLOADS 0 /usb1/Secret Files https://acf017skgys.routingthecloud.net/s/4MPgHbEZCZYGVtp https://acf017skgys.routingthecloud.net/s/4MPgHbEZCZYGVtp?dl never 5 1 /usb1/Secrets https://acf017skgys.routingthecloud.net/s/K8zkh1UjKuqtEQ0 https://acf017skgys.routingthecloud.net/s/K8zkh1UjKuqtEQ0?dl never 2 [user@RouterOS] /ip/cloud/back-to-home-file>
Now, if you copy the "URL", you can share it with other people, regardless of where they are located, and regardless of whether your router has a public IP or not.
When you send the URL to a friend, they can then see all the files in the shared directory and can download them. If you enabled uploads in the share creation process, they can also upload files into your router. Keep this URL safe, or specify "expires" date to avoid other people accessing these files.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| enable (Default) | Enables the File Share function. The File Share service will be activated when the first share is added. If no shares are present, the File Share service remains disabled. |
| disabled (yes | no; Default: no) | Disables the File share function. |
| allow-uploads (yes | no; Default: no) | Enables the option for anyone to upload files to your router. |
| expires (Default: never) | Share expires date. Format: ISO 8601 (2025-01-25 00:00:00) |
| path | Sets the path for the file to be shared. Example: "/ip/cloud/back-to-home-file/add path=mypath/myfile" |
WinBox GUI
To share the file, access the "File Shares" menu located under the IP → Cloud "Configuration" section.
To create a new share, set the "Path", "Expires" and "Auto uploads" options.
[admin@MikroTik] > ip/cloud/back-to-home-file/print detail
Flags: X - disabled; I - invalid
0 path=/mypath/myfile allow-uploads=no expires=2025-01-25 07:15:00 key="*********"
url="https://*********.routingthecloud.net/s/*********" direct-url="https://*********.routingthecloud.net/s/*********"
downloads=0
Security warning
The URL is randomly generated, so while it is available to anyone who knows the link, if you keep it safe, only people with the link will be able to use it.
File share uses HTTPS (TCP port 443), but if you have manually configured WebFig to also use HTTPS, File Share will then automatically work only though our cloud relay service, since there can not be two things using the same port in one device. By default www-ssl is not enabled, so File Share works directly by default, without using the relay for downloads. Enabling file share will not in any way affect your WebFig confguration and will not open it to the world.
In the case of the File Share feature, when a user wants to share a file with somebody, this is the order of operation, if your router is directly accessible from the internet (checked by the Relay server):
- Router locally generates private key and certificate
- Signing of certificate is performed on router using standard ACME protocol (using DNS-01 challenge with LetsEncrypt backend)
- DNS-01 challenge is sent to MikroTik cloud DNS server, by temporarily adding a DNS TXT record (standard procedure)
- DNS name resolves to router
- Secure 443 port is opened with private certificate
Relay service
If device is not directly accessible from the internet, it will choose to use the MikroTik hosted Relay service.
- Router checks its reachability from internet
- If relayed connection is needed, then DNS is updated to relay IP
- Router picks closest relay based on latency
- If router uses the relay, then connection is kept open with relay. yyyyyy.routingthecloud.net resolves to relay. When client makes connection via relay, then TLS Client Hello is parsed to get destination router and whole HTTPS request is forwarded directly to router.
- Relay has no way of decrypting your data, because certificate with private key is on the router only