To avoid dealing with binary extraction tools, always generate a plaintext script backup alongside your standard backup. Exporting Readable Configurations via Terminal
| Feature | Binary Backup ( .backup ) | Text Export ( .rsc ) | | :--------------- | :------------------------------------------------- | :--------------------------------------------- | | | Clone exact system state for disaster recovery | Create human-readable, editable configuration | | Format | Proprietary binary | Plain text (RouterOS CLI commands) | | Readability | Not human-readable | Fully human-readable | | Portability | Device and version specific | Highly portable between models/versions | | Contents | Config, logs, stats, MAC addresses, certificates | Configuration commands only | | Editing | Not possible to modify | Can be edited in any text editor |
Once restored, use the terminal command /export file=readable_config to generate a .rsc file, which is a plain-text script you can open in any text editor. 2. Use Third-Party Decryption Tools
(this will reboot the router with the old config):
This guide explains the technical reasons behind this limitation and provides step-by-step methods to extract, read, or convert your MikroTik configurations. Understanding the Difference: .backup vs .rsc
After unpacking a backup with RouterOS-Backup-Tools , you will have a collection of .dat and .idx files with names like user.dat , interface.dat , or firewall.dat . While these are still in a binary format, the community has done significant work to document the structure of these files. The idx file acts as an index, organizing entries, while the dat file contains the corresponding data. Extremely determined and technical users can create their own scripts to parse this binary data based on known schemas.
The safest way to read a backup file without modifying a live production router is to spin up a virtual . This serves as a free sandbox environment. How to Read Router backup File (.backup) - MikroTik Forum