Running MikroTik RouterOS in Cozystack

Prerequisites

• MikroTik RouterOS ISO (CHR or NPK install image), for example, mikrotik-7.19.3.iso.
• A free static IP or DHCP on the connected tenant network.
• KubeVirt client virtctl installed in your local environment and configured for your tenant’s namespace.
• Cozystack version v0.34.2 or later.

Installation

1. Prepare disks

You need two disks:

1. Installation ISO – optical.
2. System disk – non‑optical.

apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: VMDisk
metadata:
  name: mikrotik-iso
spec:
  source:
    http:
      url: https://download.mikrotik.com/routeros/7.19.3/mikrotik-7.19.3.iso
  optical: true
  storage: 1Gi
  storageClass: replicated
---
apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: VMDisk
metadata:
  name: mikrotik-system
spec:
  optical: false
  storage: 1Gi
  storageClass: replicated

2. Create the VMInstance

RouterOS does not require a special instance profile. Use a lightweight Linux profile such as ubuntu with a small instance type such as u1.medium:

apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: VMInstance
metadata:
  name: mikrotik-demo
spec:
  running: true
  instanceType: "u1.medium"
  instanceProfile: ubuntu
  disks:
    - name: mikrotik-system
      bus: sata
    - name: mikrotik-iso
      bus: sata

3. Install RouterOS

1. Launch a console:

   virtctl vnc mikrotik-demo -n tenant-test
   

2. When prompted for package selection, choose the desired bundle (usually system, routing, security). Confirm formatting the system disk.

3. After installation completes, remove the installation ISO.

4. Adjust MTU (optional)

Cozystack’s virtual network interfaces default to MTU 1400. RouterOS respects this automatically on Virtio‑Net adapters, but you can verify or change it:

/interface ethernet print detail
/interface ethernet set [find default-name~"ether1"] mtu=1400

Avoid the legacy e1000/vmxnet drivers because they ignore non‑1500 MTUs and may drop large packets.