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MKController

Action History in MikroTik

Summary
Action History in MKController records every change made to MikroTik devices, providing full visibility, auditing capabilities, and faster troubleshooting. Without MKController, admins often rely on manual backups, /system history, Safe Mode, or scripts — solutions that are fragmented and unreliable.

What is Action History?

The Action History feature in MKController logs every command and configuration change made on your MikroTik devices, including:

  • Executed action or command
  • User who performed the change
  • Exact date and time
  • Result of the operation (success or error)

Why is Action History Important?

Tracking every action on your devices ensures:

  • Accountability – know who made each change.
  • Audit & Compliance – generate traceable logs for audits.
  • Faster Troubleshooting – instantly identify what caused a failure.
  • Security – detect unauthorized or suspicious activities.

How to Access your Mikrotik History

Step 1: Find the Device

Access the Devices option, in the left menu, and find the Mikrotik you want to check. Then, just press VIEW MORE.

Step 2: Access History

Now, on the device menu, in the left, choose the option History, as the image below.

Step 3: Example

For example, we can look for the word Firewall. Just type the word firewall, choose a range of date if needed, and then click apply.

As soon as you find the event you are interested or looking for, just click on it to see more details of that event.

The details displayed include:

  • Description: Category and subcategory of the action performed.
  • Time: Date and time of execution.
  • Removed Rules: List of rules that were deleted.
  • Inserted Rules: List of rules that were added.

What Happens Without MKController?

On MikroTik community forums, many admins share their frustrations with the lack of structured action history:

Lack of structured logs

One user asked:

“Is there a way to log all config changes with date, user, and the exact rule that was added?”
— (MikroTik Forum)

The common suggestion was to check /system history print in Winbox, which only shows limited information:

“Check /system history print”
— (MikroTik Forum)

Manual workarounds

Admins often resort to manual methods to compensate:

  • Export or backup the entire config before every change.
  • Use Safe Mode to roll back in case of failure.
  • Write scripts that periodically export configuration and email logs.
    — (MikroTik Forum)

For example:

“Every time a config changes, save date, changed item, and previous value…”
— (MikroTik Forum)

Others note the native Winbox history is insufficient:

“System → History in Winbox… but it doesn’t give real details.”
— (MikroTik Forum)

And for disaster recovery, some automate daily backups:

Daily backups to USB and automatic restore if the router crashes due to a bad firewall config.
— (Medium)

How MKController Solves This

Instead of relying on fragmented manual solutions, MKController automates action tracking:

  1. Every action is logged with user, device, and timestamp.
  2. The Action History tab allows filtering logs by user, device, or date.
  3. Troubleshooting time (MTTR) is drastically reduced, since you can immediately see “who did what and when”.

Practical Example

Suppose a PPPoE server suddenly stops working:

  • Without history – admins must guess or ask around who touched the config.
  • With MKController – filter the Action History for that device and see the exact change, timestamp, and user.

This turns a potentially hours-long investigation into a matter of minutes.

Conclusion

The Action History in MKController is more than just a log — it’s a strategic tool.
While MikroTik users without MKController can rely on backups, Safe Mode, or manual exports, these solutions are inconsistent and time-consuming. MKController provides structured, automated, and reliable visibility into every action taken on your routers, strengthening both security and operational efficiency.

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