Mr.TechSparrow

In the previous guide , we covered how to spin up a MikroTik CHR instance on a Windows host using VirtualBox. In this guide, we will focus on the bare-minimum initial configuration and essential security hardening steps required to get the router up and running, and how to perform them using the CLI. The configurations shown here are intentionally kept simple and may vary depending on your network design, environment, and security requirements. This guide assumes that you have followed the previous guide and have a freshly set up MikroTik CHR instance running in VirtualBox, with access to the router via the CLI. Step 01: Removing the Default “admin” User MikroTik routers ship with a default user named admin. Even when protected with a strong password, it is considered best practice to remove or disable this default account and create a new administrative user to improve security. You can view the currently configured users using the command: user print Based on the command output, only...

Are you looking to set up a powerful virtual router on your Windows machine for a low-cost home lab, RouterOS feature testing, exam preparation, or even to demonstrate a proposed network solution? Hosting MikroTik Cloud Hosted Router (CHR) on Windows using VirtualBox is a simple, reliable, and cost-effective way to do exactly that — without requiring dedicated hardware. In this two-part series, we will: Host MikroTik CHR on Windows using VirtualBox Perform initial configuration and security hardening using CLI, WebFig, and WinBox This first part focuses on getting CHR up and running.  About MikroTik CHR MikroTik Cloud Hosted Router (CHR) is a virtualized version of RouterOS — a Linux-based operating system — designed to run on standard x86-64 hypervisors such as VirtualBox, VMware, Hyper-V, and others. It provides the full capabilities of a physical MikroTik router, including routing, firewalling, VPNs, and bandwidth management. However, since CHR runs as a virtual machine, wir...