Installation
Prepare a Windows computer and a WinBox 8291 connection, with nothing extra to install on your routers.
What your machine needs#
| Item | What you need |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 or Windows 11 |
| Architecture | x64 — ordinary 64-bit Windows |
| Anything to install first | No. Everything it needs is bundled inside. |
| macOS / Linux | Not available. There is no macOS or Linux build. |
Everything the application needs to run is bundled into it, so there is no "go and install this framework first" step and nothing to clash with other software on the machine.
What the devices need#
RosRunner does not install anything on your RouterOS devices. It uses the management interfaces the device already offers, so all that matters is which of them are switched on.
| Kind of connection | What the device needs |
|---|---|
| The one WinBox uses (8291) | The WinBox service reachable on 8291. To connect by MAC address — for a device with no usable IP yet — that also has to be allowed on the interface, and you have to be on the same network segment. |
Optional protocols (not required)#
| Protocol | Service |
|---|---|
| API | The API service reachable. Note that running commands over API is RouterOS 7.x only. |
| SSH | /ip service ssh switched on. |
| REST | /ip service www or www-ssl switched on. RouterOS 6.x has no REST at all. |
All tested against RouterOS 6.49.x and 7.21.x / 7.23.x.
The two builds#
It is the same application either way. What differs is how it is installed, and whether it can update itself.
| Installed | Portable | |
|---|---|---|
| Installs to | A folder under your own user profile | Nowhere — one executable, run it from anywhere |
| Updating | Downloads and applies new versions itself | Only tells you a newer version exists and opens the download page; you replace the file |
| Good for | A machine you work from regularly | A USB stick, a locked-down machine, or trying it without installing |
Both are a single executable with everything bundled. Neither needs administrator rights to run, and neither quietly installs something that stays running in the background.
Where your data is kept#
Your saved device groups, preferences and command history live under your own user profile, in a place separate from the application itself. Both builds use the same location.
That separation is deliberate: removing the application does not take these with it, and switching between the portable and installed builds does not lose them.
Credentials you save go into the Windows Credential Manager — the place the operating system already keeps your other passwords — rather than into a file format RosRunner invented. While the application is running, a password you type stays in memory.
How updating works#
The installed build checks for a newer version and can download and apply it on its own. The portable build checks too, but only tells you in the status bar and opens the download page — it does not replace itself.
A few things worth knowing:
- Updates only ever come from the product's own update address. There are no GitHub or cloud-storage addresses
or keys inside the application.
- A failed update never affects the version you are already running, and never leaves the application
unable to start.
- Cancelling a download part-way throws away what was downloaded. There is no pause and no resume — the
application says so plainly rather than offering a button that cannot deliver.
- Applying an update restarts the application; open windows go through a normal close rather than being killed.
First run#
Nothing has to be set up before it is useful. On first run you get an empty device list, and Getting started takes it from there.
If you want the interface in another language, you can switch it while the application is running, without restarting — English, 繁體中文 and 日本語 are built in, along with light and dark themes.