Mikrotik Ubuntu L2TPv3

L2TPv3 Tunnel: Linux to MikroTik

Overview

This guide explains how to set up a static L2TPv3 site-to-site tunnel between a Linux server and a MikroTik router using ql2tpd from the go-l2tp package.

	Server	Client
Device	Ubuntu 24.04	MikroTik RouterOS 7.20+
Public IP	157.90.26.4	78.157.42.222
Tunnel IP	10.0.0.1/30	10.0.0.2/30
Tunnel ID	100	200
Session ID	1000	2000

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Prerequisites

Ubuntu 24.04 (kernel 6.8+)
MikroTik RouterOS 7.20 or later
Root access on both devices
IP protocol 115 allowed in firewall on both sides

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Linux Server Setup

1. Install packages

apt install -y linux-modules-extra-$(uname -r) go-l2tp

2. Load kernel modules

modprobe l2tp_eth l2tp_ip l2tp_netlink
echo -e "l2tp_eth\nl2tp_ip\nl2tp_netlink" > /etc/modules-load.d/l2tp.conf

3. Create ql2tpd configuration

mkdir -p /etc/ql2tpd
cat > /etc/ql2tpd/ql2tpd.toml << 'EOF'
[tunnel.t1]
  version = "l2tpv3"
  encap = "ip"
  local = "157.90.26.4:0"
  peer = "78.157.42.222:0"
  tid = 100
  ptid = 200

  [tunnel.t1.session.s1]
    pseudowire = "eth"
    sid = 1000
    psid = 2000
    interface_name = "l2tpeth0"
EOF

4. Create systemd service

cat > /etc/systemd/system/ql2tpd.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=L2TPv3 Static Tunnel
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/ql2tpd -config /etc/ql2tpd/ql2tpd.toml
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

systemctl enable --now ql2tpd

5. Assign tunnel IP

sleep 2
ip addr add 10.0.0.1/30 dev l2tpeth0
ip link set l2tpeth0 up

6. Persist IP after reboot

cat > /etc/networkd-dispatcher/routable.d/l2tp-ip.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
sleep 3
ip addr add 10.0.0.1/30 dev l2tpeth0 2>/dev/null
ip link set l2tpeth0 up 2>/dev/null
EOF
chmod +x /etc/networkd-dispatcher/routable.d/l2tp-ip.sh

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MikroTik Client Setup

Run the following commands in the MikroTik terminal:

/interface l2tp-ether add name=l2tpv3 connect-to=157.90.26.4 local-address=78.157.42.222 local-tunnel-id=200 remote-tunnel-id=100 local-session-id=2000 remote-session-id=1000 l2tp-proto-version=l2tpv3-ip unmanaged-mode=yes disabled=no

/ip address add address=10.0.0.2/30 interface=l2tpv3

Template:Note

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Verification

From Linux server:

ping 10.0.0.2 -c 4

From MikroTik:

/ping 10.0.0.1 count=4

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Cleanup

Linux server:

systemctl stop ql2tpd
systemctl disable ql2tpd
rm /etc/systemd/system/ql2tpd.service
rm -rf /etc/ql2tpd
rm -f /etc/networkd-dispatcher/routable.d/l2tp-ip.sh
rm -f /etc/modules-load.d/l2tp.conf
systemctl daemon-reload
ip link del l2tpeth0 2>/dev/null
modprobe -r l2tp_eth l2tp_ip l2tp_netlink 2>/dev/null
apt remove -y go-l2tp

MikroTik:

/ip address remove [find interface=l2tpv3]
/interface l2tp-ether remove l2tpv3

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`Module l2tp_eth not found`	Missing extra modules	`apt install linux-modules-extra-$(uname -r)`
Interface not created	`ql2tpd` not running in background	Run with `&` or use systemd service
Link stays DOWN	MikroTik sending control messages	Add `unmanaged-mode=yes`
No packets arriving	Firewall blocking proto 115	Allow IP protocol 115 on both sides
IP lost after reboot	No persistence script	Add networkd-dispatcher script (step 6)

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Notes

ql2tpd is a static (quiescent) L2TPv3 daemon — it does not run the L2TPv3 control protocol. Both peers must have matching tunnel and session IDs configured manually.
MikroTik l2tp-ether with unmanaged-mode=yes bypasses the control protocol and operates as a pure static data plane, making it compatible with ql2tpd.
The tunnel carries raw Ethernet frames (pseudowire type: eth), making it suitable for Layer 2 bridging between sites.
No encryption is applied by default. For production use, consider wrapping the tunnel with IPsec.

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