DevOps, Kubernetes, and Infrastructure Automation Zola 2026-06-20T00:00:00+00:00 https://esmaeele.github.io/categories/lab/atom.xml 2026-06-20T00:00:00+00:00 2026-06-20T00:00:00+00:00 EsmaeelE https://esmaeele.github.io/blog/mikrotik/ <h1 id="networking-lab-with-mikrotik-routeros">Networking Lab with MikroTik RouterOS</h1> <p>MikroTik RouterOS is a good, low-cost way to get hands-on with networking concepts without buying physical hardware. This post covers running it as a VM, exposing its WebUI and SSH through a reverse proxy, and connecting to it from the host machine.</p> <h2 id="prerequisites">Prerequisites</h2> <table><thead><tr><th>Component</th><th>Version</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Host OS</td><td>Debian GNU/Linux (stable)</td></tr> <tr><td>Hypervisor</td><td>VirtualBox</td></tr> <tr><td>RouterOS</td><td>MikroTik x86 ISO</td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>Download the ISO from the <a rel="external" href="https://mikrotik.com/">MikroTik website</a>.</p> <hr /> <h2 id="1-create-the-vm">1. Create the VM</h2> <p>In VirtualBox, create a new VM with type <strong>Other/Unknown (64-bit)</strong>.</p> <ul> <li>Enable <strong>VT-x</strong> in system settings</li> <li>Attach <code>mikrotik-7.10.1.iso</code> to the CD drive</li> <li>Boot and press <code>i</code> then <code>Enter</code> to install</li> </ul> <hr /> <h2 id="2-first-boot">2. First Boot</h2> <p>Log in to the console:</p> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="plain"><span class="giallo-l"><span>user: admin</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span>password: (empty)</span></span></code></pre> <p>Request an IP from the internal DHCP server:</p> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">/ip</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> dhcp-client add interface=ether1 disabled=no</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">/ip</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> address print</span></span></code></pre> <p>Expected output:</p> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="plain"><span class="giallo-l"><span>[admin@MikroTik] &gt; ip/address/print</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span>Flags: D - DYNAMIC</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span>Columns: ADDRESS, NETWORK, INTERFACE</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span># ADDRESS NETWORK INTERFACE</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span>0 D 10.0.2.15/24 10.0.2.0 ether1</span></span></code></pre> <hr /> <h2 id="3-port-forwarding">3. Port Forwarding</h2> <p>VirtualBox's NAT network can forward ports from the host to the guest.</p> <table><thead><tr><th>Service</th><th>Host IP</th><th>Host Port</th><th>Guest IP</th><th>Guest Port</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>SSH</td><td>127.0.0.1</td><td>9090</td><td>10.0.2.15</td><td>22</td></tr> <tr><td>WebUI</td><td>127.0.0.1</td><td>8080</td><td>10.0.2.15</td><td>80</td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>Traffic hitting <code>localhost:9090</code> and <code>localhost:8080</code> now redirects to the guest.</p> <hr /> <h2 id="4-access-methods">4. Access Methods</h2> <h3 id="option-a-nginx-reverse-proxy">Option A: Nginx Reverse Proxy</h3> <p>Create <code>/etc/nginx/conf.d/local_proxy.conf</code>:</p> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="plain"><span class="giallo-l"><span>server {</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> listen 80;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> server_name webfig.ir;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> location / {</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080/;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> }</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span>}</span></span></code></pre><pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">sudo</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> nginx -t</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">sudo</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> systemctl restart nginx</span></span></code></pre> <p>Add to <code>/etc/hosts</code>:</p> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="plain"><span class="giallo-l"><span>127.0.0.1 webfig.ir</span></span></code></pre> <p>Now <code>http://webfig.ir</code> reaches the MikroTik WebUI.</p> <h3 id="option-b-simpleproxy-no-nginx">Option B: SimpleProxy (No Nginx)</h3> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">sudo</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> apt install simpleproxy</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">sudo</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> simpleproxy -L webfig.ir:80 -R 127.0.0.1:8080</span></span></code></pre><h3 id="option-c-ssh">Option C: SSH</h3> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">ssh</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> -p</span><span style="color: #FAB387;"> 9090</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> admin@127.0.0.1</span></span></code></pre> <p>Add to <code>~/.ssh/config</code> for convenience:</p> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="plain"><span class="giallo-l"><span>Host mikrotik</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> HostName 127.0.0.1</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> User admin</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> Port 9090</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span> KexAlgorithms diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256</span></span></code></pre> <p>Then just:</p> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">ssh</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> mikrotik</span></span></code></pre><h3 id="option-d-winbox-via-wine">Option D: Winbox via Wine</h3> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #1E1E2E;"><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">sudo</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> apt install wine</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;font-style: italic;">wine</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> winbox64.exe</span></span></code></pre> <hr /> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ul> <li><a rel="external" href="https://askubuntu.com/a/1001801/678872">AskUbuntu: Port forwarding</a></li> <li><a rel="external" href="https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/lunar/en/man1/simpleproxy.1.html">SimpleProxy manpage</a></li> <li><a rel="external" href="https://www.baeldung.com/linux/mapping-hostnames-ports">Baeldung: Mapping hostnames/ports</a></li> <li><a rel="external" href="https://superuser.com/a/1670774/1787481">SuperUser: MikroTik SSH</a></li> </ul> 2026-06-20T00:00:00+00:00 2026-06-20T00:00:00+00:00 EsmaeelE https://esmaeele.github.io/projects/mikrotik-lab/ <h1 id="mikrotik-networking-lab">MikroTik Networking Lab</h1> <p>A virtual networking lab using MikroTik RouterOS in VirtualBox for practicing routing, firewall rules, and network configurations.</p> <h2 id="features">Features</h2> <ul> <li>MikroTik RouterOS VM setup</li> <li>SSH and WebUI access</li> <li>Nginx reverse proxy configuration</li> <li>VLAN and routing labs</li> </ul> <h2 id="requirements">Requirements</h2> <ul> <li>VirtualBox</li> <li>MikroTik RouterOS ISO</li> <li>Debian/Ubuntu host</li> </ul> <h2 id="links">Links</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/blog/mikrotik/">Blog Post</a></li> </ul> 2025-11-10T00:00:00+00:00 2025-11-10T00:00:00+00:00 EsmaeelE https://esmaeele.github.io/blog/k8/ <p><strong>This is a personal lab writeup, not a claimed production project.</strong> I set it up to practice the workflow and tooling involved in a VM-to-Kubernetes migration, using a small sample service rather than a real company's infrastructure.</p> <h2 id="goal">Goal</h2> <p>Get hands-on with the pieces that make up a typical Kubernetes migration, end to end:</p> <ol> <li>Provision an EKS cluster with <strong>Terraform</strong> instead of clicking through the AWS console.</li> <li>Package the service with <strong>Helm</strong> so config is versioned and repeatable.</li> <li>Wire up <strong>ArgoCD</strong> for GitOps-style deployment instead of manual <code>kubectl apply</code>.</li> <li>Add <strong>Prometheus</strong> and <strong>Grafana</strong> for cluster and application metrics.</li> <li>Run the pipeline through <strong>GitHub Actions</strong> so image builds and Helm releases are automated.</li> </ol> <h2 id="what-i-practiced">What I practiced</h2> <ul> <li>Writing Terraform modules for VPC, subnets, and an EKS control plane, and tearing it down cleanly afterward (<code>terraform destroy</code>) to avoid runaway AWS costs on a personal account.</li> <li>Structuring a Helm chart with separate <code>values</code> files per environment, and using <code>helm diff</code> to review changes before they hit the cluster.</li> <li>Pointing ArgoCD at a Git repo and watching it reconcile drift instead of trusting manual deploys.</li> <li>Setting resource requests/limits and a basic HorizontalPodAutoscaler, then load-testing to see when pods actually scaled.</li> <li>Hooking up the kube-prometheus-stack and building a couple of Grafana dashboards for pod restarts and request latency.</li> </ul> <h2 id="what-i-d-still-want-to-test-on-a-real-workload">What I'd still want to test on a real workload</h2> <ul> <li>Zero-downtime cutover strategies (blue/green vs. canary) under real traffic, not synthetic load.</li> <li>Database migration alongside the app — stateful services are the part this lab skipped entirely.</li> <li>Cost comparison against the VM baseline with real numbers, not estimates.</li> </ul> <h2 id="notes-for-next-time">Notes for next time</h2> <p>Terraform state management got messy once I started iterating quickly — next time I'd set up remote state with locking from the start instead of retrofitting it. ArgoCD's health checks also needed tuning for a custom readiness probe; the defaults reported "healthy" before the app was actually ready to take traffic.</p>