The CSS switches run SwOS, not RouterOS. That is a different system with its own web page and no command line. Pasting a script is not an option there, and that is exactly where people get stuck when they put a CSS next to a CRS and expect them to work the same way.
SwOS or RouterOS?
A CRS runs RouterOS and simply gets a script. A CSS runs SwOS. Some models can do both: they carry a dual bootloader and you choose which system to boot. The configurator looks at what the catalogue says about your model and gives you the matching output.
What SwOS does is switching: VLANs, port settings, mirroring, a management address, LACP. What it does not do is routing, firewalling, handing out DHCP or setting up a VPN. If you need that, it belongs on the router.
The setup sheet
The sheet walks through the switch's web page, tab by tab, using the names SwOS uses. Per tab it tells you what to fill in:
- System — the device name, the management address, and whether that is fixed or comes over DHCP.
- VLAN — the VLAN table: which numbers exist and which ports belong to them.
- VLANs per port — per port whether it is untagged, tagged or hybrid, and what its default VLAN becomes.
- Ports — speed, duplex and whether a port should be disabled.
You keep the sheet next to your screen and copy it across. Dull work, but it prevents the mistake everyone makes: forgetting the management VLAN on the port you are sitting on, after which the switch only comes back with a reset.
The push script
You can also download a Python script that you run on your own computer. It reads the switch first, compares what it finds against what it expects, stops if it does not recognise something, and then applies the settings through the SwOS web interface. You give it the switch's address and password.
This is a beta feature of eXtreme Hosting, not a feature of MikroTik. It uses the SwOS web interface, which is not meant for this, and we have not been able to test it on every model on real hardware. Use it at your own risk, and make sure you can reach the switch physically in case you lose it.
In a site with several devices
Put a SwOS switch in a site and it takes part like any other device: it appears in the VLAN table, you draw its cables on the network board, and the checks look at whether it carries the VLANs its neighbours use. It simply gets this setup sheet at the end instead of a RouterOS script.
What to watch
- Keep management reachable. Give the switch an address in the management VLAN and make sure the port you connect it to carries that VLAN. Otherwise it disappears once you are done.
- Default address. A new SwOS switch sits on
192.168.88.1. Put it in a network where your router has that same address and they clash. Configure the switch on its own first, or change your router's address first. - Password. SwOS has no user management like RouterOS. There is one password, and you do not want to leave it empty.
- Firmware. Update the switch before you configure it; older SwOS versions have fewer VLAN options and sometimes different tab names than the sheet mentions.