MikroTik CHR VPS deployments are now available on ColossusCloud. We’ve added MikroTik Cloud Hosted Router (CHR) as a first-class OS option on the VPS platform. You can deploy RouterOS directly from the Client Portal on any VPS plan.
What is MikroTik CHR
MikroTik CHR (Cloud Hosted Router) is the RouterOS operating system packaged for virtual environments. It’s the same RouterOS that runs on MikroTik’s hardware routers, but in a VM. You get the full feature set: firewall rules, routing protocols, VPN servers, BGP, queueing, hotspot, bandwidth management, everything MikroTik is known for.
It’s free to run with a rate-limited license (1 Mbps per interface), and paid perpetual licenses unlock higher throughput.
Why deploy MikroTik CHR on a VPS
Common use cases for a MikroTik CHR VPS:
- VPN concentrator: terminate site-to-site VPNs from multiple offices, branches, or IoT fleets on a single cloud router
- BGP speaker: announce your IP space to upstream providers, run multihomed setups
- Cross-region routing: bridge networks across data centers or cloud providers
- Remote worker access: L2TP, WireGuard, SSTP, or OpenVPN concentrator for your team
- Traffic shaping and QoS: apply RouterOS’s queueing and traffic management to cloud-hosted services
- Network lab / testing: spin up routers for lab work without buying hardware
If you already know RouterOS from hardware deployments, MikroTik CHR hosting on a VPS means the same config patterns, the same WinBox tooling, everywhere.
How to deploy MikroTik CHR on your VPS
- Log in to the Client Portal
- Create a new VPS or reinstall an existing one
- Select MikroTik CHR from the OS list
- Deploy
Once the VPS is up, connect with WinBox, the MikroTik mobile app, or SSH/Telnet using the default credentials (change them immediately).
Sizing your MikroTik CHR VPS
For most uses, 1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM is enough. CHR is efficient. Scale up for:
- High-throughput VPN concentration (encryption is CPU-bound)
- BGP with large routing tables (memory-bound)
- Heavy queueing and traffic shaping (CPU-bound)
Availability
MikroTik CHR is available immediately in all ColossusCloud data centers: Silicon Valley, Las Vegas, Dallas, Ashburn, Amsterdam, and Singapore. Pick the location closest to your users or upstream provider for the lowest latency.
Licensing
The default installation runs with MikroTik’s free rate-limited license (1 Mbps per interface). For production workloads, buy a perpetual license from MikroTik and apply it through the router’s license page. Licenses tie to the CHR instance. They transfer if you move the VM but not across reinstalls.
Deploy a MikroTik CHR VPS at ColossusCloud and get RouterOS running in the cloud.