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MikroTik RouterOS is the stand-alone Linux operating system that is used with MikroTik’s networking equipment. However, that is not the only function it can perform. It is more than just an OS for routers. In fact, this software can even be installed on regular PCs to turn them into dedicated routers.
Nevertheless, the blog is a step-by-step tutorial on how to configure port forwarding in MikroTik. Before we get into it, however, we will first discuss a little more about the OS itself and give you a general idea of what port forwarding id & Mikrotik port Forwarding, and RouterOS Port Forwarding actually is.
What is Mikrotik?
MikroTik itself is a Latvian network equipment manufacturing company. They develop and sell wired and wireless network routers, network switches, access points, operating systems, and auxiliary software for their products.
MikroTik’s RouterOS is the operating system that powers its devices and has a very high level of flexibility when it comes to network management. RouterOS can also be installed on a PC turning it into a router with all the necessary features - routing, firewall, bandwidth management, wireless access point, backhaul link, hotspot gateway, VPN server, and more.
The feature that we will delve into today is RouterOS port forwarding. Unlike with other operating systems, the way to set it up might not be very intuitive, but not difficult at its core. Before setting up the configuration, let us first explain what port forwarding is.
What is Port forwarding?
Port forwarding is the process of intercepting data traffic headed for a computer's IP/port combination and redirecting it to a different IP and/or port. This process can be easily done using a MikroTik router or any system running RouterOS.
Before we get to that, try to imagine the following situation:
You are an IT administrator. You created a large network, and someone wants to connect remotely to your VPS server or dedicated server to work remotely. You can’t share the server IP with that person for security reasons. What should you do? In this situation, you should use port forwarding on the MikroTik router to handle all the requests. Also, You can check out our Mikrotik VPS Server.
How to Configure Mikrotik Port Forwarding?
First and foremost, you should ensure that you have installed the latest MikroTik RouterOS version. Click here to find out how to update MikroTik OS.
Step 1: Log in to your own MikroTik server with admin privileges.
Step 2: Click on IP from the left side panel.
Step 3: In the newly opened submenu, click on Firewall.
Step 4: Head over to the NAT tab in the Firewall window.
Step 5: Click on the + button to create a new rule.
Note: In this scenario, assume the router connects to IP (10.10.10.10), and we want to forward all requests from (10.10.10.10:5847) to the (20.20.20.20:4324).
Step 6: Click on the General tab and select dstnat from the chain drop-down list.
Step 7: In the Dst. Address field, type the IP you wish to forward all requests from (i.e., 10.10.10.10 in our case).
Step 8: From the Protocol list, select the connection protocol, such as TCP.
Step 9: In the Dst. Port field, type the port you wish to forward requests from (i.e., 5847 in this example).
Step 10: Now, navigate to the Action tab.
Step 11: From the Action drop-down list, select dst-nat.
Step 12: In the To Addresses field, type the IP to which you wish to forward all requests (i.e., 20.20.20.20 in our case).
Step 13: In the To Ports field, type the port you want to forward requests to (i.e., 4324 in this example).
Step 14: Click on Apply and then on OK to save and add the new rule.
And that’s it. You have successfully configured your first port forwarding rule on MikroTik. To add new port forwarding rules, simply follow the steps with new ports or IPs.
Conclusion
We hope that with the help of this article, you now have a better understanding of Mikrotik port forwarding and can set up the port forwarding configuration on MikroTik without any issues. If you run into an issue or have any questions, you can post them in the comment section below or contact us via live chat or e-mail.
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I’m Oliver k. I have MS degree in Computer Engineering. For nearly 5 years that I have been working on web programing and also in last 2 years I have worked on windows and Linux VPS. This is my honor to share my experiences with a new community.