ammo74/netinstall repository overview

⁠MikroTik netinstall using make

Automates MikroTik device flashing with netinstall-cli. Downloads the right packages for your device's CPU and version channel, then runs netinstall — all via make.

Works three ways:

• As a MikroTik /container — an OCI image runs netinstall as a service, no PC needed
• On macOS — runs netinstall via a lightweight QEMU VM with bridged networking (MikroTik only provides a Linux binary — this project makes it work on Mac)
• On Linux — runs netinstall-cli directly (or via QEMU user-mode on ARM/ARM64)

Source: tikoci/netinstall⁠ — DockerHub: ammo74/netinstall⁠ — License: CC0 1.0

⁠Quick Start

⁠Interactive Wizard

The easiest way to get started — walks you through every option:

git clone https://github.com/tikoci/netinstall.git
cd netinstall
./mknetinstall

The wizard detects your platform, guides you through architecture/package/interface selection, and runs netinstall. Use ./mknetinstall --help for CLI flags or ./mknetinstall --dry-run to preview the command without executing.

Install it to your PATH with make mknetinstall.

⁠Direct make Usage

# Download packages only (no device needed)
make download ARCH=arm64 PKGS="container wifi-qcom"

# Run netinstall once
sudo make run ARCH=arm64 PKGS="container wifi-qcom" IFACE=eth0

# Channel and arch shortcuts
sudo make testing arm64

# Run as a service (loop)
sudo make service ARCH=arm64 IFACE=eth0

# Pin exact versions
sudo make run ARCH=mipsbe VER=7.14.3 PKGS="iot gps" CLIENTIP=192.168.88.7

⁠macOS

MikroTik's netinstall-cli is a Linux-only binary. This project uses a lightweight QEMU⁠ VM with bridged networking so netinstall can access your ethernet port directly — no Docker required. The same make commands work on both platforms.

⁠Get the project

# Option A: git clone
git clone https://github.com/tikoci/netinstall.git && cd netinstall

# Option B: download ZIP
curl -L https://github.com/tikoci/netinstall/archive/refs/heads/master.zip -o netinstall.zip
unzip netinstall.zip && cd netinstall-master

⁠Install prerequisites

brew install qemu crane make wget

See macOS VM Details⁠ in the Configuration Guide for what each tool does.

⁠Run the interactive wizard

./mknetinstall

The wizard guides you through architecture, package, and interface selection. See Interactive Wizard⁠ for details.

⁠Run netinstall directly

Set IFACE to the macOS interface your target device is connected to (e.g., en5 for a USB ethernet adapter):

sudo make run ARCH=arm64 PKGS="container wifi-qcom-ac" IFACE=en5

⁠RouterOS /container Setup

Running netinstall as a container lets you flash MikroTik devices without a PC — the container bridges its VETH to a physical port and runs netinstall via QEMU emulation.

⁠Prerequisites

• RouterOS device with container support (ARM, ARM64, or x86)
• Non-flash storage (internal drive, USB, ramdisk, NFS/SMB)
• container.npk installed and /system/device-mode set to enable containers

See MikroTik's /container docs⁠ for prerequisites.

⁠Automated Setup

tools/container-manager.sh handles everything via the RouterOS REST API — creates the VETH, bridge, environment variables, builds and uploads the image, and creates the container.

# Store credentials in system keychain
./tools/container-manager.sh credentials -r 192.168.88.1 -P 7080 -S http

# Provision everything
./tools/container-manager.sh setup -r 192.168.88.1 -P 7080 -S http -d disk1 -p ether5

# Lifecycle
./tools/container-manager.sh start  -r 192.168.88.1 -P 7080 -S http
./tools/container-manager.sh status -r 192.168.88.1 -P 7080 -S http
./tools/container-manager.sh logs   -r 192.168.88.1 -P 7080 -S http
./tools/container-manager.sh stop   -r 192.168.88.1 -P 7080 -S http
./tools/container-manager.sh remove -r 192.168.88.1 -P 7080 -S http

Run ./tools/container-manager.sh without arguments for option summary, or see the Configuration Guide⁠ for the full reference.

⁠Manual Setup (RouterOS CLI)

For manual setup or to understand what the automated tool does, see tools/container-setup.rsc or the Configuration Guide⁠.

⁠Container Environment Variables

Configure via /container/envs (RouterOS 7.20+ syntax):

/container envs add key=ARCH    list=NETINSTALL value=arm64
/container envs add key=PKGS    list=NETINSTALL value="container wifi-qcom"
/container envs add key=CHANNEL list=NETINSTALL value=stable
/container envs add key=OPTS    list=NETINSTALL value="-b -r"
/container envs add key=IFACE   list=NETINSTALL value=veth-netinstall

⁠Configuration Variables

All variables use ?= — override via CLI (make VAR=val), environment, or /container/envs.

See the Configuration Guide⁠ for the complete variable reference, netinstall-cli flags, and advanced options.

⁠Controlling device-mode

RouterOS uses /system/device-mode to control access to advanced features like containers and ZeroTier. netinstall-cli 7.22 added the -sm flag, which accepts a RouterOS script that runs once on first boot — before the device is network-accessible.

When both VER and VER_NETINSTALL are 7.22 or newer, the Makefile automatically generates a MODESCRIPT that sets mode=advanced and conditionally enables container=yes and/or zerotier=yes based on what's in PKGS. For example, with the default PKGS=wifi-qcom-ac:

/system/device-mode update mode=advanced

With PKGS="container wifi-qcom-ac":

/system/device-mode update mode=advanced container=yes

When either version is below 7.22, no -sm flag is passed. MODESCRIPT accepts any RouterOS script content — set it directly to override the default, or set MODESCRIPT= (empty) to disable it entirely. See the Configuration Guide⁠ for the full behavior table and examples.

⁠Building Container Images

OCI images are built with crane (no Docker required):

make image                                    # All platforms
make image-platform IMAGE_PLATFORM=linux/arm64  # Single platform
make image-push IMAGE=ammo74/netinstall       # Push to registry

For Docker-based builds, see tools/docker/. For details on the image format and architecture mapping, see the Configuration Guide⁠.

⁠Make Targets

Channel shortcuts: make stable, make testing, make long-term, make development

Architecture shortcuts: make arm64, make mipsbe, make x86, etc.

Combine them: sudo make testing arm64 PKGS="container wifi-qcom"

See the Configuration Guide⁠ for the complete variable reference, netinstall-cli flags, multi-arch support, macOS VM internals, and advanced options.

⁠Project Structure

mknetinstall              Interactive wizard (POSIX sh)
Makefile                  All automation logic
Dockerfile                Alternative Docker-based image build
tools/
  container-manager.sh    Provision & manage container on RouterOS (REST API)
  container-setup.rsc     Manual RouterOS CLI setup reference
  docker/                 Docker buildx image customization

⁠License

CC0 1.0 — https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/⁠