Manual IP Firewall NAT - MikroTik Wiki
Manual IP Firewall NAT - MikroTik Wiki
Contents
Summary
Masquerade
Properties
Stats
Menu specific commands
Basic examples
Source NAT
Masquerade
Source nat to specific address
Destination NAT
Forward all traffic to internal host
Port mapping/forwarding
Port forwarding to internal FTP server
1:1 mapping
Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) or NAT444
Summary
Sub-menu: /ip firewall nat
Network Address Translation is an Internet standard that allows hosts on local area networks to use one set
of IP addresses for internal communications and another set of IP addresses for external communications. A
LAN that uses NAT is referred as natted network. For NAT to function, there should be a NAT gateway in
each natted network. The NAT gateway (NAT router) performs IP address rewriting on the way a packet
travel from/to LAN.
source NAT or srcnat. This type of NAT is performed on packets that are originated from a natted
network. A NAT router replaces the private source address of an IP packet with a new public IP
address as it travels through the router. A reverse operation is applied to the reply packets
travelling in the other direction.
destination NAT or dstnat. This type of NAT is performed on packets that are destined to the
natted network. It is most comonly used to make hosts on a private network to be acceesible from
the Internet. A NAT router performing dstnat replaces the destination IP address of an IP packet as
it travel through the router towards a private network.
Hosts behind a NAT-enabled router do not have true end-to-end connectivity. Therefore some Internet
protocols might not work in scenarios with NAT. Services that require the initiation of TCP connection from
outside the private network or stateless protocols such as UDP, can be disrupted. Moreover, some protocols
are inherently incompatible with NAT, a bold example is AH protocol from the IPsec suite.
To overcome these limitations RouterOS includes a number of so-called NAT helpers, that enable NAT
traversal for various protocols.
Masquerade
Firewall NAT action=masquerade is unique subversion of action=srcnat, it was designed for specific use
in situations when public IP can randomly change, for example DHCP-server changes it, or PPPoE tunnel
after disconnect gets different IP, in short - when public IP is dynamic.
Every time interface disconnects and/or its IP address changes, router will clear all masqueraded connection
tracking entries that send packet out that interface, this way improving system recovery time after public ip
address change.
Unfortunately this can lead to some issues when action=masquerade is used in setups with unstable
connections/links that get routed over different link when primary is down. In such scenario following things
can happen:
You can workaround this by creating blackhole route as alternative to route that might disappear on
disconnect).
When action=srcnat is used instead, connection tracking entries remain and connections can simply
resume.
Properties
Property Description
action (action name; Default: accept) Action to take if packet is matched by the rule:
address-list (string; Default: ) Name of the address list to be used. Applicable if action is
add-dst-to-address-list or add-src-to-address-list
address-list-timeout (none-dynamic | Time interval after which the address will be removed from the
none-static | time; Default: none- address list specified by address-list parameter. Used in
dynamic) conjunction with add-dst-to-address-list or add-src-to-
address-list actions
chain (name; Default: ) Specifies to which chain rule will be added. If the input does
not match the name of an already defined chain, a new chain
will be created.
comment (string; Default: ) Descriptive comment for the rule.
connection-bytes (integer-integer; Default: Matches packets only if a given amount of bytes has been
) transfered through the particular connection. 0 - means infinity,
for example connection-bytes=2000000-0 means that the
rule matches if more than 2MB has been transfered through
the relevant connection
connection-limit (integer,netmaks; Matches connections per address or address block after given
Default: ) value is reached.
connection-mark (no-mark | string; Default: Matches packets marked via mangle facility with particular
) connection mark. If no-mark is set, rule will match any
unmarked connection.
connection-rate (Integer 0..4294967295; Connection Rate is a firewall matcher that allow to capture
Default: ) traffic based on present speed of the connection. Read more>>
connection-type (ftp | h323 | irc | pptp | Matches packets from related connections based on
quake3 | sip | tftp; Default: ) information from their connection tracking helpers. A relevant
connection helper must be enabled under /ip firewall service-
port
content (string; Default: ) Match packets that contain specified text
dscp (integer: 0..63; Default: ) Matches DSCP IP header field.
dst-address (IP/netmask | IP range; Matches packets which destination is equal to specified IP or
Default: ) falls into specified IP range.
dst-address-list (name; Default: ) Matches destination address of a packet against user-defined
address list
dst-address-type (unicast | local | Matches destination address type:
broadcast | multicast; Default: )
unicast - IP address used for point to point
transmission
local - if dst-address is assigned to one of router's
interfaces
broadcast - packet is sent to all devices in subnet
multicast - packet is forwarded to defined group of
devices
dst-port (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; List of destination port numbers or port number ranges
Default: )
fragment (yes|no; Default: ) Matches fragmented packets. First (starting) fragment does not
count. If connection tracking is enabled there will be no
fragments as system automatically assembles every packet
hotspot (auth | from-client | http | local-dst Matches packets received from HotSpot clients against various
| to-client; Default: ) HotSpot matchers.
auth - matches authenticted HotSpot client packets
from-client - matches packets that are coming from
the HotSpot client
http - matches HTTP requests sent to the HotSpot
server
local-dst - matches packets that are destined to the
HotSpot server
to-client - matches packets that are sent to the
HotSpot client
jump-target (name; Default: ) Name of the target chain to jump to. Applicable only if
action=jump
layer7-protocol (name; Default: ) Layer7 filter name defined in layer7 protocol menu.
limit (integer,time,integer; Default: ) Matches packets until a given pps limit is exceeded.
Parameters are written in following format:
count[/time],burst.
log-prefix (string; Default: ) Adds specified text at the beginning of every log message.
Applicable if action=log
nth (integer,integer; Default: ) Matches every nth packet. Read more >>
out-bridge-port (name; Default: ) Actual interface the packet is leaving the router, if outgoing
interface is bridge
out-interface (; Default: ) Interface the packet is leaving the router
packet-mark (no-mark | string; Default: ) Matches packets marked via mangle facility with particular
packet mark. If no-mark is set, rule will match any unmarked
packet.
packet-size (integer[-integer]:0..65535; Matches packets of specified size or size range in bytes.
Default: )
per-connection-classifier PCC matcher allows to divide traffic into equal streams with
(ValuesToHash:Denominator/Remainder; ability to keep packets with specific set of options in one
Default: ) particular stream. Read more >>
port (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; Default: Matches if any (source or destination) port matches the
) specified list of ports or port ranges. Applicable only if
protocol is TCP or UDP
protocol (name or protocol ID; Default: Matches particular IP protocol specified by protocol name or
tcp) number
psd (integer,time,integer,integer; Default: ) Attempts to detect TCP and UDP scans. Parameters are in
following format WeightThreshold, DelayThreshold,
LowPortWeight, HighPortWeight
random (integer: 1..99; Default: ) Matches packets randomly with given probability.
routing-mark (string; Default: ) Matches packets marked by mangle facility with particular
routing mark
same-not-by-dst (yes | no; Default: ) Specifies whether to take into account or not destination IP
address when selecting a new source IP address. Applicable if
action=same
src-address (Ip/Netmaks, Ip range; Matches packets which source is equal to specified IP or falls
Default: ) into specified IP range.
src-address-list (name; Default: ) Matches source address of a packet against user-defined
address list
src-address-type (unicast | local |
broadcast | multicast; Default: ) Matches source address type:
src-port (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; List of source ports and ranges of source ports. Applicable only
Default: ) if protocol is TCP or UDP.
src-mac-address (MAC address; Default: ) Matches source MAC address of the packet
tcp-mss (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; Matches TCP MSS value of an IP packet
Default: )
(time-time,sat | fri | thu | wed | tue |
time Allows to create filter based on the packets' arrival time and
mon | sun; Default: ) date or, for locally generated packets, departure time and date
to-addresses (IP address[-IP address]; Replace original address with specified one. Applicable if
Default: 0.0.0.0) action is dst-nat, netmap, same, src-nat
to-ports (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; Replace original port with specified one. Applicable if action is
Default: ) dst-nat, redirect, masquerade, netmap, same, src-nat
ttl (integer: 0..255; Default: ) Matches packets TTL value
Stats
/ip firewall nat print stats will show additional read-only properties
Property Description
bytes (integer) Total amount of bytes matched by the rule
packets (integer) Total amount of packets matched by the rule
By default print is equivalent to print static and shows only static rules.
Basic examples
Source NAT
Masquerade
If you want to "hide" the private LAN 192.168.0.0/24 "behind" one address 10.5.8.109 given to you by the
ISP, you should use the source network address translation (masquerading) feature of the MikroTik router.
The masquerading will change the source IP address and port of the packets originated from the network
192.168.0.0/24 to the address 10.5.8.109 of the router when the packet is routed through it.
To use masquerading, a source NAT rule with action 'masquerade' should be added to the firewall
configuration:
/ip firewall nat add chain=srcnat action=masquerade out-interface=Public
All outgoing connections from the network 192.168.0.0/24 will have source address 10.5.8.109 of the router
and source port above 1024. No access from the Internet will be possible to the Local addresses. If you want
to allow connections to the server on the local network, you should use destination Network Address
Translation (NAT).
If you have multiple public IP addresses, source nat can be changed to specific IP, for example, one local
subnet can be hidden behind first IP and second local subnet is masqueraded behind second IP.
Destination NAT
If you want to link Public IP 10.5.8.200 address to Local one 192.168.0.109, you should use destination
address translation feature of the MikroTik router. Also if you want allow Local server to initiate connections
to outside with given Public IP you should use source address translation, too.
Add rule allowing access to the internal server from external networks:
Add rule allowing the internal server to initate connections to the outer networks having its source address
translated to 10.5.8.200:
Port mapping/forwarding
If you would like to direct requests for a certain port to an internal machine (sometimes called opening a
port, port mapping), you can do it like this:
/ip firewall nat add chain=dstnat dst-port=1234 action=dst-nat protocol=tcp to-address=192.168.1.1 to-port=1234
This rule translates to: when an incoming connection requests TCP port 1234, use the DST-NAT action and
redirect it to local address 192.168.1.1 and the port 1234
As you can see from illustration above FTP uses more than one connection, but only command channel
should be forwarded by Destination nat. Data channel is considered as related connection and should be
accepted with "accept related" rule if you have strict firewall. Note that for related connections to be properly
detected FTP helper has to be enabled.
Note that active FTP might not work if client is behind dumb firewall or NATed router, because data channel
is initiated by the server and cannot directly access the client.
If client is behind Mikrotik router, then make sure that FTP helper is enabled
1:1 mapping
If you want to link Public IP subnet 11.11.11.0/24 to local one 2.2.2.0/24, you should use destination address
translation and source address translation features with action=netmap.
Same can be written using different address notation, that still have to match with the described network
To combat IPv4 address exhaustion, new RFC 6598 was deployed. The idea is to use shared 100.64.0.0/10
address space inside carrier's network and performing NAT on carrier's edge router to sigle public IP or
public IP range.
Because of nature of such setup it is also called NAT444, as opposed to a NAT44 network for a 'normal' NAT
environment, three different IPv4 address spaces are involved.
CGNAT configuration on RouterOS does not differ from any other regular source NAT configuration:
Where:
2.2.2.2 - public IP address,
public_if - interface on providers edge router connected to internet
The advantage of NAT444 is obvious, less public IPv4 addresses used. But this technique comes with mayor
drawbacks:
The service provider router performing CGNAT needs to maintain a state table for all the address
translations: this requires a lot of memory and CPU resources.
Console gaming problems. Some games fail when two subscribers using the same outside public IPv4
address try to connect to each other.
Tracking of users for legal reasons means extra logging, as multiple households go behind one public
address.
Anything requiring incoming connections is broken. While this already was the case with regular NAT, end
users could usually still set up port forwarding on their NAT router. CGNAT makes this impossible. This
means no web servers can be hosted here, and IP Phones cannot receive incoming calls by default
either.
Some web servers only allow a maximum number of connections from the same public IP address, as a
means to counter DoS attacks like SYN floods. Using CGNAT this limit is reached more often and some
services may be of poor quality.
6to4 requires globally reachable addresses and will not work in networks that employ addresses with
limited topological span.
More on things that can break can be read in this article [1] (http://chrisgrundemann.com/index.php/2011/n
at444-cgn-lsn-breaks/)
Packets with Shared Address Space source or destination addresses MUST NOT be forwarded across Service
Provider boundaries. Service Providers MUST filter such packets on ingress links. In RouterOS this can be
easily done with firewall filters on edge routers:
Service providers may be required to do logging of MAPed addresses, in large CGN deployed network that
may be a problem. Fortunately RFC 7422 suggests a way to manage CGN translations in such a way as to
significantly reduce the amount of logging required while providing traceability for abuse response.
RFC states that instead of logging each connection, CGNs could deterministically map customer private
addresses (received on the customer-facing interface of the CGN, a.k.a., internal side) to public addresses
extended with port ranges.
In RouterOS described algorithm can be done with few script functions. Lets take an example:
100.64.1.1 2.2.2.2:2000-2099
100.64.1.2 2.2.2.2:2100-2199
100.64.1.3 2.2.2.2:2200-2299
100.64.1.4 2.2.2.2:2300-2399
100.64.1.5 2.2.2.2:2400-2499
100.64.1.6 2.2.2.2:2500-2599
Instead of writing NAT mappings by hand we could write a function which adds such rules automatically.
After pasting above script in the terminal function "addNatRules" is available. If we take our example, we
need to map 6 shared network addresses to be mapped to 2.2.2.2 and each address uses range of 100 ports
starting from 2000. So we run our function: