'router-outlet' is not a known element

Question

Try this:

Import RouterModule into your app.module.ts

import { RouterModule } from '@angular/router';

Add RouterModule into your imports []

like this:

 imports: [    RouterModule,  ]

Try with:

@NgModule({
  imports: [
      BrowserModule,
      RouterModule.forRoot(appRoutes),
      FormsModule               
  ],
  declarations: [
      AppComponent,  
      DashboardComponent      
  ],
  bootstrap: [AppComponent]
})
export class AppModule { }

There is no need to configure the exports in AppModule, because AppModule wont be imported by other modules in your application.

If you are doing unit testing and get this error then Import RouterTestingModule into your app.component.spec.ts or inside your featured components' spec.ts:

import { RouterTestingModule } from '@angular/router/testing';

Add RouterTestingModule into your imports: [] like

describe('AppComponent', () => {

  beforeEach(async(() => {    
    TestBed.configureTestingModule({    
      imports: [    
        RouterTestingModule    
      ],
      declarations: [    
        AppComponent    
      ],    
    }).compileComponents();    
  }));

For those that already have RoutingModule imported in the parent module, sometimes the issue is caused by not adding the component with <router-outlet></router-outlet> in the module declarations.

main.component.html

<router-outlet></router-outlet>

main.module.ts

import { MainComponent } from './main.component';
import { SharedModule } from './../shared/shared.module';
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { CommonModule } from '@angular/common';

import { MainRoutingModule } from './main-routing.module';
import { RouterModule } from '@angular/router';


@NgModule({
  declarations: [
    MainComponent // <----- DON'T FORGET TO DECLARE THIS
  ],
  imports: [
    CommonModule,
    SharedModule,
    RouterModule,
    MainRoutingModule
  ]
})
export class MainModule { }

Assuming you are using Angular 6 with angular-cli and you have created a separate routing module which is responsible for routing activities - configure your routes in Routes array.Make sure that you are declaring RouterModule in exports array. Code would look like this:

@NgModule({
      imports: [
      RouterModule,
      RouterModule.forRoot(appRoutes)
     // other imports here
     ],
     exports: [RouterModule]
})
export class AppRoutingModule { }

It works for me, when i add following code in app.module.ts

@NgModule({
...,
   imports: [
     AppRoutingModule
    ],
...
})

Thank you Hero Editor example, where I found the correct definition:

When I generate app routing module:

ng generate module app-routing --flat --module=app

and update the app-routing.ts file to add:

@NgModule({
  imports: [ RouterModule.forRoot(routes) ],
  exports: [ RouterModule ]
})

Here are the full example:

import { NgModule }             from '@angular/core';
import { RouterModule, Routes } from '@angular/router';

import { DashboardComponent }   from './dashboard/dashboard.component';
import { HeroesComponent }      from './heroes/heroes.component';
import { HeroDetailComponent }  from './hero-detail/hero-detail.component';

const routes: Routes = [
  { path: '', redirectTo: '/dashboard', pathMatch: 'full' },
  { path: 'dashboard', component: DashboardComponent },
  { path: 'detail/:id', component: HeroDetailComponent },
  { path: 'heroes', component: HeroesComponent }
];

@NgModule({
  imports: [ RouterModule.forRoot(routes) ],
  exports: [ RouterModule ]
})
export class AppRoutingModule {}

and add AppRoutingModule into app.module.ts imports:

@NgModule({
  declarations: [
    AppComponent,
    ...
  ],
  imports: [
    BrowserModule,
    FormsModule,
    AppRoutingModule
  ],
  providers: [...],
  bootstrap: [AppComponent]
})