Netinstall Guide: Reinstalling RouterOS Safely
Netinstall is MikroTik’s official tool for reinstalling RouterOS over the network, most often used to recover a device that won’t boot. Used correctly, it preserves your Software ID; used incorrectly, it can destroy it.
⚠ Read before you start
Netinstall reinstalls RouterOS and erases the device’s existing configuration. If you have a working configuration, export and back it up first (see our Backup & Export commands) — Netinstall is normally used specifically because a device isn’t in a state to do that, so this matters most when the device is still reachable.
What Netinstall Actually Does
Netinstall runs on a Windows PC (or another MikroTik router acting as the host) and functions as a temporary BOOTP and TFTP server. Your target device is put into a special network-boot state — Etherboot mode — where its bootloader requests an installation image over the network instead of booting normally from its own storage. Netinstall serves that image and writes RouterOS fresh onto the device.
Putting a Device Into Etherboot Mode
The exact method depends on the device, but the common RouterBOARD pattern is:
Power off the device
Disconnect power completely.
Hold the reset button while powering on
Press and hold reset, then apply power while continuing to hold it.
Watch the LEDs
Release the reset button after the status LED sequence indicates Etherboot mode is active (typically a blink pattern, then steady, then off — consult your specific model’s documentation for the exact sequence, as it varies by hardware).
Connect Netinstall
With the device in Etherboot mode and connected on the same network segment as your Netinstall PC, it should appear in the Netinstall device list.
Why This Preserves Your License
Netinstall is one of MikroTik’s own official installation tools, which reads and writes storage the way RouterOS expects. This is what keeps the Software ID intact through a reinstall — the license stays bound to the same underlying storage. This is the key difference from using a non-MikroTik disk-imaging tool, which can alter the storage in a way that generates a new Software ID and permanently loses the existing license.
⚠ Never use generic disk tools for this
Don’t use dd, third-party disk cloning software, or low-level formatting utilities to “reinstall” RouterOS. These bypass RouterOS’s own licensing storage handling and are a common, avoidable cause of permanent license loss. Always use Netinstall or the official installation media.
After Reinstalling
Once RouterOS boots successfully, confirm the license survived and restore your configuration:
/system license print
/import file-name=your-backup.rscIf /system license print shows the same license level you had before, the Software ID was preserved and your existing key is still valid — no need to reorder. If it doesn’t, or the device now shows an unfamiliar Software ID, contact support before doing anything else.
Technical reference
MikroTik RouterOS documentation — Netinstall. This page is an independent, original explanation written by our team, not an official MikroTik publication.