Getting started

Every command on this page only reads; none of them change a device, so you can follow it on equipment you care about.

1. Get a device into the list#

Every feature starts from this list. There are three ways to fill it, and for a first run the quickest is usually just going and looking.

• Go and look — MikroTik devices on the same network segment answer for themselves, so you do not need to

know their addresses first. Find them, pick the ones you want, and they land in the list.

• Import the WinBox address list — the file you already keep in WinBox. At import time you choose whether

the passwords stored in it come across.

• Type it in — enter the address and credentials yourself.

Whichever you use, a device needs an address and a username before it can run anything. The list header shows two numbers: how many you have ticked, and how many of those can actually run. Those are different things — a device missing credentials counts towards the first but not the second.

See Adding devices for the full version.

2. Keep the default WinBox 8291 connection#

WinBox 8291 is all you need to start. API, SSH and REST do not need to be enabled. 8291 supports RouterOS 6.x / 7.x and connects batch commands, monitoring, topology and health checks. It is also the connection required for port monitoring and access to all 31 health checks.

If you need an alternative, see Running commands for optional channels and version differences.

3. Tick the devices you actually mean#

Tick the box next to each device you want to run against. It deliberately does not run against "everything in the list", because what is on the list and what you mean this time are rarely the same set.

When the list is long, the buttons above the table help: search, tick the highlighted rows, tick everything that can be reached, or clear the lot and start again.

4. Enter a command#

In 2. Enter commands, type something that only reads. A good first one:

/system identity print

The counter next to the heading shows how big your commands are and how much this kind of connection can send (262,144 characters on the default line-by-line option).

Two more worth trying, both read-only:

/system resource print
/interface ethernet print where running

5. Set how many run at once, then go#

Concurrency is how many devices are worked on at the same time; per-device timeout is how long it will wait for any one of them. For a handful of devices the defaults are fine. Above twenty the field says so — it will not stop you, twenty is just the recommended number.

Press Run selected. A confirmation appears first, showing what is about to run and on how many devices. Nothing has been sent at that point.

6. Read the result properly#

This is the part worth slowing down for.

Each device gets its own row in 3. Review results, with a status, how long it took and what came back. Only this round's devices are listed; nothing bleeds in from the last one.

The devices that had trouble can be saved as a group, or simply re-run on their own, without going back to the list and ticking them one by one.

Where to go next#

• Adding devices — importing, finding devices, and saving a group for next time.
• Running commands — the differences between the options, size limits, and what

cancelling actually does.

• Health check — 31 checks in one go, reading only.
• Troubleshooting — when a device does not answer.