Skip to content
@jennifer/routeros

Files & backups

File: src/topics/files.j. Path: /file (FILE_PATH), plus the /system/backup/save command.

Background

The router's storage holds backups, certificates in transit, hotspot pages, and whatever else lands there. Two jobs matter for operations:

  1. Backups: /system backup save writes a full binary snapshot of the configuration - including password hashes and keys. An unencrypted backup that leaves the router is a credential leak, so there is an encrypted variant.
  2. Small text files: v7 can create and read small files through the API (contents property) - the transport importCertificatePem rides on, and handy for dropping scripts.

Restoring a backup (/system backup load) is deliberately not wrapped: it reboots the router into a possibly different identity (addresses, users, keys) - too sharp an edge for an abstraction layer; do it consciously via console/WinBox.

Struct

jennifer
mt.RouterFile { name, kind, size, creationTime }   # size is an int (bytes)

Functions

FunctionPurpose
files(c) → list of RouterFilewhat is on the storage
saveBackup(c, name)unencrypted backup, verified to appear
saveBackupWith(c, name, password)encrypted backup
readFileText(c, name) → stringsmall text files only
writeFileText(c, name, contents)create/overwrite a small text file (v7)
removeFile(c, name)delete

Examples

The nightly-backup pair - on-router schedule plus host-side pickup check:

jennifer
# on the router: a daily encrypted backup (scheduler topic)
mt.scheduleDaily($c, "nightly-backup", "03:00:00",
    "/system backup save name=nightly password=backupsecret");

# host-side audit: is it fresh, is it plausible?
def fs as list of mt.RouterFile init mt.files($c);
for (def f in $fs) {
    if ($f.name == "nightly.backup") {
        io.printf("backup: %d bytes, created %s\n", $f.size, $f.creationTime);
    }
}

One-off backup before risky changes:

jennifer
mt.saveBackupWith($c, "before-fw-rework", "a strong password");

Storage housekeeping:

jennifer
def fs as list of mt.RouterFile init mt.files($c);
for (def f in $fs) {
    io.printf("%s (%s) %d bytes\n", $f.name, $f.kind, $f.size);
}
mt.removeFile($c, "old-experiment.backup");

Pitfalls

  • A .backup file is the whole router, secrets included. Encrypt anything that leaves the device, and remember the password - an encrypted backup without it is noise.
  • The API exposes contents only for small files (a few KB); readFileText returns "" for bigger ones. Bulk download is FTP/ SFTP territory, outside the binary API.
  • Backups are version-and-model bound: restore on the same model and a close RouterOS version. For portable config, the console /export (rsc script) is the tool - it is console-only, not reachable through this API.
  • Flash wears: don't schedule high-frequency writes to storage.