The Dude Network Monitor

The Dude is MikroTik’s network monitoring application that runs as a server package directly on RouterOS. It discovers network topology, monitors devices and services with configurable probes, and sends notifications when status changes occur. The Dude client application connects to the server to display maps and manage configuration.

Architecture

Dude Server (RouterOS package)
    ↓  TCP port 2211
Dude Client (Windows/Wine/Linux app)
    ↑  SNMP / ICMP / TCP probes
Monitored Devices

The server handles all probing, discovery, and notification logic. The client is a graphical interface — multiple clients can connect to the same server simultaneously.

Installing the Dude Server Package

The Dude server is not included in the base RouterOS image. It ships as an extra package (.npk) that must be installed separately.

Download and Install

Go to mikrotik.com/download and download the Extra packages archive matching your RouterOS version and CPU architecture.
Extract the archive and locate dude-<version>.npk.
Upload the package to the router:

# From the router CLI, or drag-and-drop via Winbox Files panel
/file print

Upload via SCP or FTP to /:

scp dude-7.x.x-arm64.npk [email protected]:/

Reboot to activate the package:

/system/reboot

After reboot, confirm the package is installed:

/system/package/print

The dude package should appear in the list with status installed.

Enabling the Dude Service

After installation, the Dude service must be enabled. It appears as an IP service on the router.

/ip/service/print
/ip/service/set [find name=dude] disabled=no port=2211

Restrict access to trusted management hosts:

/ip/service/set [find name=dude] address=192.0.2.0/24

Firewall Rule

Allow Dude client connections through the firewall input chain:

/ip/firewall/filter/add \
  chain=input \
  action=accept \
  protocol=tcp \
  dst-port=2211 \
  src-address=192.0.2.0/24 \
  comment="Allow Dude client"

Place this rule before any default drop rule in the input chain.

Connecting the Dude Client

Download The Dude client from mikrotik.com/download. The client runs on Windows; Linux users can run it under Wine.

Launch The Dude client.
Click Connect to server.
Enter the RouterOS IP address and port (2211 by default).
Log in with a RouterOS user account.

User permissions on the Dude server follow RouterOS user policies. A user with the read policy can view maps; write is required to make changes.

Preparing Monitored Devices for Discovery

Enable SNMP on devices you want The Dude to identify and monitor via SNMP:

/snmp/set enabled=yes contact="NOC" location="DC1"
/snmp/community/add \
  name=monitoring \
  addresses=192.0.2.10/32 \
  read-access=yes

Replace 192.0.2.10 with the IP address of your Dude server router. SNMP community names must match what you configure in Dude’s SNMP profiles.

Discovering Network Topology

Discovery scans address ranges, identifies responsive hosts, and adds them to the map automatically.

Running Discovery

In the Dude client:

Click Discover in the toolbar (or Tools → Discover).
Set one or more IP ranges to scan (e.g., 192.0.2.0/24).
Configure SNMP profiles with the community string used on your devices.
Click Discover to start the scan.

The Dude sends ICMP pings and probes common TCP ports (22, 23, 80, 443, 8291) to identify devices. SNMP responses provide device type, name, and interface information used to build topology links.

Map Topology

After discovery completes, discovered devices appear on the map. The Dude draws links between devices automatically when it detects Layer 2 adjacency via SNMP. You can:

Drag devices to arrange the map layout.
Right-click a link to view interface statistics.
Double-click a device to open its detail panel.

Background images (floor plans, network diagrams) can be imported as map backgrounds.

Adding Devices Manually

To add a device without running a full discovery scan:

Right-click on the map → Add Device.
Enter the device IP address or DNS name.
Set a Type (router, switch, server, etc.) to select an appropriate icon.
Assign Services (probes) to monitor.

Configuring Probes

Probes define what The Dude checks on each device. Services are probe templates — assign them to devices to activate monitoring.

Built-in Probe Types

Probe Type	What it checks
ICMP	Reachability (ping)
TCP	Port reachability (e.g., TCP/80)
DNS	DNS resolution correctness
SNMP	SNMP OID value thresholds
HTTP	HTTP/HTTPS response and status code
FTP	FTP service availability

Assigning Services to a Device

Double-click a device on the map to open its properties.
Go to the Services tab.
Click Add and select a probe type.
Configure the probe parameters:
- Interval: How often to run the probe (e.g., 00:00:30 for 30 seconds).
- Timeout: How long to wait for a response before marking as failed.
- Retries: Failed attempts before changing device status.

Testing a Probe

Click Test next to any configured service to run a one-off probe immediately and see the raw result. This is useful for verifying probe configuration before relying on it for alerts.

Configuring Notifications

Notifications are named objects that define a delivery channel. They are referenced from triggers that fire on status changes.

Email Notifications

Configure the RouterOS email tool on the Dude server router (used by The Dude for sending email):

/tool/e-mail/set \
  server=smtp.example.com \
  port=587 \
  from[email protected] \
  user[email protected] \
  password=yourpassword \
  start-tls=yes

Test the SMTP configuration:

/tool/e-mail/send \
  to[email protected] \
  subject="Dude SMTP test" \
  body="Test email from RouterOS"

In the Dude client, create an email notification:

Go to Notifications in the left panel.
Click Add → select E-mail.
Set the To address and customize the Subject and Message body.
Use template variables such as %[DeviceName], %[Status], %[Address] in the message body.

Syslog Notifications

To send Dude alerts to an external syslog server, configure a syslog notification object in the Dude client:

Go to Notifications → Add → Syslog.
Set the Server IP and Port (default: 514).
Select the Facility and Severity level.

Sound Notifications

Sound notifications play an audio alert on the Dude client machine when a trigger fires:

Go to Notifications → Add → Sound.
Select a .wav file to play, or use one of the built-in alert sounds.

Sound alerts require the Dude client to be running and connected.

Configuring Triggers

Triggers bind status transitions to notification actions.

Double-click a device → Services tab → select a service → Edit.
Go to the Triggers section.
Click Add and configure:
- Condition: the status transition that fires the trigger (e.g., down, up, changed).
- Action: select a notification object (email, syslog, sound) to invoke.

Triggers can be defined globally at the service template level or overridden per device.

Verifying the Setup

After configuration, verify end-to-end monitoring:

Check that devices show green (up) status on the map.
Temporarily block a probe port on a test device and confirm the status changes to red (down).
Verify the configured notification fires and is received.
Re-enable the port and confirm the device returns to green and an up notification fires.

Common Issues

Issue	Likely cause	Fix
Dude service not in `/ip/service/print`	Package not installed or reboot not done	Re-upload `.npk`, reboot
Client cannot connect	Firewall blocking port 2211	Add input accept rule for TCP 2211
Discovery finds no devices	ICMP blocked on targets or wrong IP range	Check target firewall rules; verify range
Email notifications not sent	SMTP auth/TLS mismatch or no DNS/route	Test with `/tool/e-mail/send`; check routing
SNMP-based probes fail	Wrong community string or SNMP not enabled	Match community string; enable SNMP on targets