System information
Manual:Console
5
Item Names and Numbers
Many of the command levels operate with arrays of items: interfaces, routes, users etc. Such arrays are displayed in
similarly looking lists. All items in the list have an item number followed by flags and parameter values.
To change properties of an item, you have to use set command and specify name or number of the item.
Item Names
Some lists have items with specific names assigned to each of them. Examples are interface or user levels. There
you can use item names instead of item numbers.
You do not have to use the print command before accessing items by their names, which, as opposed to numbers,
are not assigned by the console internally, but are properties of the items. Thus, they would not change on their own.
However, there are all kinds of obscure situations possible when several users are changing router's configuration at
the same time. Generally, item names are more "stable" than the numbers, and also more informative, so you should
prefer them to numbers when writing console scripts.
Item Numbers
Item numbers are assigned by the print command and are not constant - it is possible that two successive print
commands will order items differently. But the results of last print commands are memorized and, thus, once
assigned, item numbers can be used even after add, remove and move operations (since version 3, move operation
does not renumber items). Item numbers are assigned on a per session basis, they will remain the same until you quit
the console or until the next print command is executed. Also, numbers are assigned separately for every item list, so
ip address print will not change numbering of the interface list.
Since version 3 it is possible to use item numbers without running print command. Numbers will be assigned just as
if the print command was executed.
You can specify multiple items as targets to some commands. Almost everywhere, where you can write the number
of item, you can also write a list of numbers.
[admin@MikroTik] > interface print
Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic, R - running
# NAME TYPE MTU
0 R ether1 ether 1500
1 R ether2 ether 1500
2 R ether3 ether 1500
3 R ether4 ether 1500
[admin@MikroTik] > interface set 0,1,2 mtu=1460
[admin@MikroTik] > interface print
Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic, R - running
# NAME TYPE MTU
0 R ether1 ether 1460
1 R ether2 ether 1460
2 R ether3 ether 1460
3 R ether4 ether 1500
[admin@MikroTik] >