Hi all,

Just trying to get my head around a licencing scenario - as I want to try some features before I deploy a whitebox or CCR.

Say I install RouterOS with a L6 licence in a VM and want to transfer that to a physical machine (and destroy the subsequent spare VM) - do I really have to pay $10 to have the licence reinstated? Seems a little silly to me.

Would I be able to clone the VM disk to a physical HDD without incurring any issues such as invalidating my licence with say - dd?

Thanks in advance!

No, you can't just clone disk. Software ID (which license is for) depends also on disk properties (I think model and serial number). You could maybe transfer those from physical disk to virtual, but not the other way.

And looking at the manual, it only mentions license transfer when the old disk fails, not just because you want to. It also says:

Note that before issuing such key, the Mikrotik Support can ask you to prove that the old drive is failed, in some cases this means sending us the dead drive.

So lets hope that it's just a leftover from old times, when software was their main business, and they will be even willing to help you with your virtual to physical switch.

You won't have this problem if you choose CCR, they all seem to have L6 by default.

Also, if you don't already have the license and you'd only want to get it for testing, then use CHR instead. It has all features without limits, except network speed. And you can get unlimited trial license for higher speeds.