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CHR: Proxmox VE Installation

Overview​

Cloud Hosted Router (CHR) is a MikroTik RouterOS edition designed to run on x86_64 virtualized environments. It provides full routing, firewall, VPN, and management functionality, making it suitable for both on-premise and cloud-based virtual infrastructure such as Proxmox VE.

Proxmox VE (KVM/QEMU) allows flexible deployment of CHR using raw or qcow2 disk images and provides multiple storage backends and network adapter options.

Installation Steps​

Step 1: Create a Virtual Machine​

  • Create a new VM in Proxmox VE using the web interface.
  • Assign CPU, memory, and network interfaces as required.
  • Do not install an operating system (CHR disk will be attached manually).

Step 2: Download and Extract CHR Image​

Download the latest CHR image from the MikroTik download page: https://mikrotik.com/download to the Proxmox host:

wget https://download.mikrotik.com/routeros/7.21.4/chr-7.21.4.img.zip
warning

Replace the URL with the latest CHR version available on the MikroTik download page.

Unpack the image:

unzip chr-7.21.4.img.zip

This will produce a .img file used for installation.

Step 3: Move the Image to VM Storage​

Default Proxmox local storage location:

/var/lib/vz/images/<VM_ID>/

Create directory if needed:

mkdir -p /var/lib/vz/images/<VM_ID>

Move the image:

mv chr-7.21.4.img /var/lib/vz/images/<VM_ID>/

Step 4: Convert Image to QCOW2​

Convert the raw CHR image to qcow2 format:

qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 /var/lib/vz/images/<VM_ID>/chr-7.21.4.img /var/lib/vz/images/<VM_ID>/vm-<VM_ID>-disk-1.qcow2

Step 5: Attach Disk to VM​

VM configuration file location:

/etc/pve/qemu-server/<VM_ID>.conf

Attach the disk manually through the VM configuration file or by using the Proxmox web interface.

tip

Use a test VM first to validate correct configuration syntax.

Alternative GUI-Based Method​

  1. Create a basic VM via Proxmox web interface.
  2. Ensure storage is set to local storage.
  3. Upload CHR image to: /var/lib/vz/images/<VM_ID>/
  4. Convert image to qcow2:
qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 chr.img vm-<VM_ID>-disk-1.qcow2
  1. Attach disk via Proxmox GUI or .conf file.

Automated Installation Script​

CHR can also be deployed using a Bash script on the Proxmox host.

What the script does:

  • Creates temp directory (/root/temp).
  • Downloads CHR image.
  • Extracts and converts it.
  • Creates VM and attaches disk.
#!/bin/bash

version="nil"
vmID="nil"

echo "############## Start of Script ##############"

if [ ! -d /root/temp ]; then
    mkdir /root/temp
fi

read -p "Enter CHR version (e.g. 7.21.4): " version

cd /root/temp

wget https://download.mikrotik.com/routeros/$version/chr-$version.img.zip
unzip chr-$version.img.zip

read -p "Enter VM ID: " vmID

mkdir -p /var/lib/vz/images/$vmID

qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 \
chr-$version.img \
/var/lib/vz/images/$vmID/vm-$vmID-disk-1.qcow2

qm create $vmID \
  --name chr-$version \
  --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 \
  --bootdisk virtio0 \
  --ostype l26 \
  --memory 512 \
  --sockets 1 \
  --cores 1 \
  --virtio0 local:$vmID/vm-$vmID-disk-1.qcow2

echo "############## End of Script ##############"

Utility Tip​

Fix Windows line endings in scripts:

sed -i -e 's/\r$//' *.sh

Supported Network and Disk Interfaces​

Proxmox VE (KVM/QEMU)​

Network adapters:

  • Virtio (paravirtual)
  • E1000
  • vmxnet3 (optional)

Disk controllers:

  • IDE
  • SATA
  • Virtio (paravirtual)