A Beginner's Guide to Storing Files in RAM on a Mikrotik Router

Introduction

Storing files in RAM on a Mikrotik Router is another way to increase the available storage space on your Router. It allows you to store information in memory, which can be accessed quickly and easily, or to store files that are larger than7 the available ROM size. This guide will walk you through the steps you need to take to be able to store files in the Router’s RAM. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to take full advantage of the benefits that come with storing files in RAM on a Mikrotik Router.

Requirements

Below is a list of items that are needed to complete this tutorial successfully
1) A desktop or laptop with at least 2GB RAM, a dual-core processor and 50GB of free disk space
2) The WinBox utility for Mikrotik
3) A Mikrotik router
4) For macOS devices the Wine compatibility layer software for windows is needed
5) Mikrotik RAMDISK package (optional)

Overview

The following is an overview of the steps that need to be taken to complete this tutorial successfully:
1) Download and install the WinBox utility
2) Connect to your router and install updates
3) Create a storage volume in the system RAM
4) Configure RAM disk
5) Conclusion

1. Download and install the WinBox utility

Go to mikrotik.com and click the Software tab. Click the WinBox button and select WinBox 64 Bit or WinBox 32 Bit depending on the architecture of your Operating System. If you are using a macOS or Linux based device you will need the Wine software compatibility later app. Click Here to learn how to install WinBox using Wine.

2. Connect to your router and install updates

The next step is to connect to your Mikrotik router and install updates. To do this, open WinBox and enter the IP address of the router on the ‘Connect To’ field. Enter your router username and password and click the Connect button. To install updates, click System > Packages > Check for updates. Click Download & Update to allow the router to download and automatically installed the updates. Note that the router will restart when installing the updates.

3. Create a storage volume in the system RAM

Before creating the storage volume, it is a good idea to first check the amount of RAM available. Run the command below to check this:

On the image below notice that the Router used in this demonstation has MiB worth of RAM space

Decide on the amount of storage space you would like to use then run the following commands to create a disk:

The slot is just a name for the folder created in the Router file list. You can now copy files to this folder and it works the same way as it would with non-volatile memory. However, if the Router is restarted, everything stored in the RAM folder will be lost. If you would like to save files to RAM in a persistent manner then you would have to set up a special package that enables persistent storage of files in RAM.