BGP Overview

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. 2-1

 Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be

able to perform the following tasks:
• Explain the need for BGP and typical BGP
usage scenarios
• Describe basic BGP technical characteristics
• Describe BGP path attributes
• Describe BGP session establishment and
routing information exchange
• Configure basic BGP on Cisco router
• Monitor and troubleshoot basic BGP setup
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-2
 Introduction to BGP

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. www.cisco.com BGP Overview-3

 Objectives
Upon completion of this section, you will be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Explain the need for interdomain routing
• Describe the need for external routing
protocol
• List the basic BGP technical characteristics
• Identify typical BGP usage scenarios
• Explain BGP limitations

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-4

 Interdomain Routing

AS65000 AS65001

OSPF BGP
EIGRP

• An autonomous system (AS) is a collection of networks under

a single technical administration
• Interior routing protocol (IGP) is run inside an autonomous
system resulting in optimum intra-AS routing
• Exterior routing protocol (EGP) is run between autonomous
systems to enable routing policies and improve security
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-5
 Interdomain Routing Goals
• Scalability
• Internet has over 80,000 routes and is still growing
• Secure routing information exchange
• Routers from another autonomous system cannot
be trusted
• Tight filters are required, authentication is desirable
• Routing policies support
• Routing between autonomous systems might not
always follow the optimum path

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-6

 Routing Policies - Case Study

s
bp
M Company X (AS 20)
Service Provider 2
(AS 10)
ps

2
kb

M
bp
64

s
2 Mbps

Company A (AS 1) Company B (AS 2)

Q: Assuming standard IGP route selection rules, how will the

traffic between AS1 and AS20 flow?
Q: Will AS 2 allow this traffic?
Q: How would you solve this problem with OSPF or EIGRP?

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-7

 BGP Characteristics
• Distance-vector protocol with
enhancements:
• Reliable updates
• Triggered updates only
• Rich metrics (called path attributes)
• Designed to scale to huge internetworks

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-8

 Reliable Updates
• Uses TCP as transport protocol
• No periodic updates
• Periodic keepalives to verify TCP
connectivity
• Triggered updates are batched and rate-
limited (every 5 seconds for internal peer,
every 30 seconds for external peer)

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-9

 Common BGP Usages
• Customer connected to one Internet Service
Provider (ISP)
• Customer connected to several Service
Providers
• Service Provider networks (transit
autonomous systems)
• Service providers exchanging traffic at an
exchange point (CIX, GIX, NAP …)
• Network cores of large enterprise customers

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-10

 Single-homed Customers
• Large customer or small ISP connecting to
the Internet
Internet

Customer or small Service Provider

Service Provider
BGP

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-11

 Customer Connected to One ISP
Usage Guidelines
Use BGP between the customer and the Service
Provider:
• Customers multi-homed to the same Service
Provider
• Customer that needs dynamic routing protocol
with the Service Provider to detect failures
• Hint: Use private AS number for these customers
• Smaller ISPs that need to originate their routes in
the Internet
Use static routes in all other cases
• Static routes are always simpler than BGP
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-12
 Multi-homed Customers
• Customer connecting to several service-
providers (multi-homed customer)
Internet
Service Provider #1

Multi-homed P
Customer BG

Service Provider #2
BGP

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-13

 Multi-homed Customer
Usage Guidelines
• BGP is almost mandatory for multi-homed
customers
• Multi-homed customers have to use public
AS numbers
• Multi-homed customers should use
provider-independent address space

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-14

 Transit Autonomous System
• Using BGP to exchange routes is
mandatory for transit autonomous systems
(provider networks carrying customer
traffic) Internet
Multi-homed Another Service
Customer Provider
BGP

BG

BGP
P

Simple Customer Static

Routing

Service Provider
(Transit AS)

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-15

 BGP Limitations

• BGP and associated tools cannot

express all routing policies
• You cannot influence the routing policies of
downstream autonomous systems

RFC 1771: “BGP does not enable one AS to send

traffic to neighbor AS intending that the traffic
take a different route from that taken by traffic
originating in the neighbor AS”

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-16

 RFCs Covering Baseline BGP4
1930 Guidelines for creation, selection, and
registration of an Autonomous System
1774 BGP-4 Protocol Analysis
1773 Experience with the BGP-4 protocol
1772 Application of the BGP in the Internet
1771 A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)
1745 BGP4/IDRP for IP---OSPF interaction
1675 BGP MIB

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-17

 RFCs Covering Additions to
BGP4
1965 Autonomous System Confederations for BGP
1997 BGP Communities Attribute
1998 An Application of the BGP Community
Attribute in Multi-home Routing
2385 Protection of BGP sessions via the TCP MD5
Signature Option
2439 BGP Route Flap Damping
2796 BGP Route Reflection An alternative to full
mesh IBGP

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-18

 RFCs Covering BGP
Extensions
2842 Capabilities Advertisement with BGP-4
2858 Multiprotocol extensions for BGP-4
2918 Route Refresh Capability for BGP-4

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-19

 Protocol Development
Considerations
BGP was designed to perform well in
• Interdomain Routing application
• Huge internetworks with large routing tables
• Environments that require complex routing
policies
Some design tradeoffs that were made
• BGP uses TCP for reliable transport - CPU
intensive
• Scalability is the top priority - slower
convergence

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-20

 Summary
After completing this section, you should be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Explain the need for interdomain routing
• Describe the need for external routing
protocol
• List the basic BGP technical characteristics
• Identify typical BGP usage scenarios
• Explain BGP limitations

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-21

 Review Questions
• What is an autonomous system?
• What are the design goals of an interdomain
routing protocol?
• When should you use BGP between a
customer and a Service Provider?
• Which transport mechanism is used to
exchange the BGP routing updates?
• What is BGP optimized for?

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-22

 BGP Path Attributes

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. www.cisco.com BGP Overview-23

 Objectives
Upon completion of this section, you will be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Describe the concept of BGP path attribute
• Explain the difference between well-known
and optional BGP attributes
• List common mandatory and optional BGP
attributes
• Describe the functionality of AS-Path, Origin
and Next-Hop attributes

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-24

 BGP Path Attributes
• BGP metrics are called path attributes
• BGP attributes are categorized as well-
known and optional
• Well-known attributes must be recognized
by all compliant implementations
• Optional attributes are only recognized by
some implementations (could be private),
expected not to be recognized by everyone

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-25

 Well-known BGP Attributes
• Well-known attributes are divided into
mandatory and discretionary
• Well-known mandatory attributes must be
present in all update messages
• Well-known discretionary attributes are
optional - they could be present in update
messages
• All well-known attributes are propagated to
other neighbors

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-26

 Optional BGP Attributes
• Optional BGP attributes are transitive or non-
transitive
• Optional transitive attributes
• Propagated to other neighbors if not recognized,
Partial bit set to indicate that the attribute was not
recognized
• Optional non-transitive attributes
• Discarded if not recognized
• Recognized optional attributes are propagated
to other neighbors based on their meaning (not
constrained by transitive bit)
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-27
 Well-known Mandatory
Attributes
• Origin
• Specifies the origin of a BGP route
IGP Route originated in an IGP
EGP Route originated in EGP
Unknown Route was redistributed into BGP
• AS_Path
• Sequence of AS numbers through which the
network is accessible
• Next_Hop
• IP address of the next-hop router
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-28
 Well-known Discretionary
Attributes
• Local preference
• Used for consistent routing policy within AS
• Atomic aggregate
• Informs the neighbor AS that the originating
router aggregated routes

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-29

 Optional Attributes
• Non-transitive attributes
• Multi_Exit_Disc
– Used to discriminate between multiple entry
points to a single autonomous system
• Transitive attributes
• Aggregator
– Specifies IP address and AS number of the router
that performed route aggregation
• Communities
– Used for route tagging
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-30
 AS-Path
• The AS-path attribute is empty when a local
route is inserted in the BGP table
• The sender’s AS number is prepended to the
AS-path attribute when the routing update
crosses AS boundary
• The receiver of BGP routing information can
use the AS-path to determine through which
AS the information has passed
• An AS that receives routing information with
its own AS number in the AS-path silently
ignores the information
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-31
 AS-Path Example

AS 21

Network=10.0.0.0/8

AS-Path=21 123
Network=10.0.0.0/8
AS 123 AS-Path=123
21.0.0.1

10.0.0.1Network=10.0.0.0/8
AS-Path=37 21 123

Loop detected, incoming 37.0.0.1

update is ignored
AS 37
Sender’s AS number is prepended to AS
path when the update crosses AS boundary

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-32

 Next-Hop Attribute
• Next-hop attribute indicates the next-hop IP
address used for packet forwarding
• Usually set to the IP address of the sending
BGP router
• Can be set to a third-party IP address to
optimize routing

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-33

 Next-Hop Processing

Network=21.0.0.0/8 AS 21
AS-Path=21
Next-hop = 10.0.0.1
AS 123 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.1 Rtr-B

Rtr-A 10.1.0.5
Network=21.0.0.0/8
10.1.0.6
AS-Path=123 21
Next-hop = 10.1.0.5
Rtr-C
AS 37

•Next-hop is usually set to the IP address of the sending router

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-34
 Next-Hop Processing on
Shared Media
Network=21.0.0.0/8
AS 21
AS-Path=21
Next-hop = 10.0.0.1
AS 123 10.0.0.1
Rtr-B
10.0.0.2
Network=21.0.0.0/8
Rtr-A AS-Path=123 21
Next-hop = 10.0.0.1

10.0.0.3
Rtr-C
AS 37

• If the receiving BGP router is in the same subnet as the current next-hop,
the next-hop address is not changed to optimize packet forwarding
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-35
 Next-Hop Processing on
NBMA Network
Network=21.0.0.0/8 AS 21
AS-Path=21
Next-hop = 10.0.0.1
AS 123
10.0.0.2 10.0.0.1 Rtr-B
Frame
Relay
Rtr-A 10.0.0.3
Network=21.0.0.0/8
AS-Path=123 21
Next-hop = 10.0.0.1
Rtr-C
Connectivity is broken, Rtr-C AS 37
cannot reach next-hop 10.0.0.1
• BGP next-hop processing can break connectivity with improper network
designs over partially-meshed WAN networks
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-36
 BGP Path Attribute Summary
Well-known mandatory attributes
• Recognized by everone, always present
• AS-Path, Next-Hop, Origin
Well-known discretionary
• Recognized by everone, optional
• Local Preference, Atomic Aggregate
Optional transitive
• Might not be recognized, propagated if not
• BGP Community, Aggregator
Optional non-transitive
• Might not be recognized, dropped if not
• Multi-exit-discriminator

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-37

 Summary
After completing this section, you should be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Describe the concept of BGP path attribute
• Explain the difference between well-known
and optional BGP attributes
• List common mandatory and optional BGP
attributes
• Describe the functionality of AS-Path, Origin
and Next-Hop attributes

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-38

 Review Questions
• What is a BGP Path Attribute?
• Which BGP Path Attributes must be carried
with each update?
• List three well-known mandatory attributes?
• How are the optional transitive attributes
propagated between BGP neighbors?
• How do the BGP routers detect routing
loops?
• When is the next-hop attribute different from
the IP address of the sending router?
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-39
 BGP Neighbor
Configuration and
Session Establishment

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. www.cisco.com BGP Overview-40

 Objectives
Upon completion of this section, you will be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Explain the need for static neighbor
configuration
• Describe the BGP session establishment
procedures
• Describe the TCP MD5 signature protection
and its benefits for BGP

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-41

 BGP does not Auto-discover
Neighbors
• BGP neighbors are not discovered - they must
be configured manually
• Configuration must be done on both sides of
the connection
• Both routers will attempt to connect to the
other with a TCP session on port number 179
• Only one session will remain if both connection
attempts succeed
• Source IP address of incoming connection
attempts is verified against a list of configured
neighbors
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-42
 Small BGP Network Used in
Following Examples

AS 21
21.0.0.0/8
2.3.4.5
AS 123 2.3.4.6
1.0.0.0/8 Rtr-B

Rtr-A 3.4.5.7
3.4.5.6

Rtr-C AS 37
37.0.0.0/8

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-43

 BGP Neighbors - Idle State
• Initially all BGP sessions to the neighbors are
idle

Rtr-A#show ip bgp sum

BGP table version is 1, main routing table version 1

Neighbor V AS MsgRcvd MsgSent TblVer InQ OutQ Up/Down State

2.3.4.5 4 21 0 0 0 0 0 never Idle
3.4.5.6 4 37 0 0 0 0 0 never Idle

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-44

 Establishing Session
• TCP session is established when the neighbor
becomes reachable
• BGP Open messages are exchanged
Rtr-A#debug ip tcp transactions
Rtr-A#debug ip bgp events
0:06:17: BGP: 2.3.4.5 went from Idle to Active
0:06:22: TCB0012A910 created
0:06:22: TCB0012A910 setting property 0 12A8B4
0:06:22: TCB0012A910 bound to 2.3.4.6.11003
0:06:22: TCP: sending SYN, seq 3142900499, ack 0
0:06:22: TCP0: Connection to 2.3.4.5:179, advertising MSS 1460
0:06:22: TCP0: state was CLOSED -> SYNSENT [11003 -> 2.3.4.5(179)]
0:06:22: TCP0: state was SYNSENT -> ESTAB [11003 -> 2.3.4.5(179)]
0:06:22: TCP0: Connection to 2.3.4.5:179, received MSS 1460, MSS is
1460
0:06:22: TCB0012A910 connected to 2.3.4.5.179
0:06:22: BGP: 2.3.4.5 went from Active to OpenSent
0:06:22: BGP: 2.3.4.5 went from OpenSent to OpenConfirm
0:06:22: BGP: 2.3.4.5 went from OpenConfirm to Established

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-45

 BGP Open
The BGP Open message contains:
• BGP Version number
• My Autonomous System number
• Hold Time
• BGP Router Identifier
• Optional Parameters

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-46

 BGP Neighbors - Steady State

• All neighbors shall be up (no state info)

Rtr-A#show
Rtr-A#show ip
ip bgp
bgp sum
sum
BGP
BGP table
table version
version is
is 10,
10, main
main routing
routing table
table version
version 1010
33 network entries (3/6 paths) using 516 bytes of
network entries (3/6 paths) using 516 bytes of memory memory
33 BGP
BGP path
path attribute
attribute entries
entries using
using 284
284 bytes
bytes of
of memory
memory
00 BGP
BGP route-map
route-map cache
cache entries
entries using
using 00 bytes
bytes of
of memory
memory
00 BGP
BGP filter-list
filter-list cache
cache entries
entries using
using 00 bytes
bytes of
of memory
memory

Neighbor
Neighbor VV AS
AS MsgRcvd
MsgRcvd MsgSent
MsgSent TblVer
TblVer InQ
InQ OutQ
OutQ Up/Down
Up/Down State/PfxRcvd
State/PfxRcvd
2.3.4.5
2.3.4.5 44 21
21 17
17 22
22 10
10 00 00 0:01:47
0:01:47 27
27
3.4.5.6
3.4.5.6 44 37
37 11
11 17
17 10
10 00 00 0:07:07
0:07:07 35
35

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-47

 MD5 Authentication
• BGP Peers may optionally use MD5 TCP
authentication using shared secret
• Both routers must be configured with the
same password (MD5 shared secret)
• Each TCP segment is verified

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-48

 Summary
After completing this section, you should be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Explain that BGP neighbors must be
configured
• Describe the information exchanged using
the BGP Open message
• Explain the basic principles of BGP session
establishment
• Describe the TCP MD5 signature protection
and its benefits for BGP
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-49
 Review Questions
• How are BGP neighbors discovered?
• Which steps must be taken before a BGP
session is established?
• Which information is carried in a BGP Open
message?
• What are the benefits of using MD5?

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-50

 BGP Routing
Updates

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. www.cisco.com BGP Overview-51

 Objectives
Upon completion of this section, you will be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Describe BGP data structures
• Explain how BGP announces networks local
to an Autonomous System
• Describe the processing of incoming BGP
updates
• Explain the BGP route selection process
• Describe the propagation of the best BGP
routes to other BGP neighbors
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-52
 BGP in Action
BGP routing information exchange contains
the following steps:
• Receiving BGP routing updates
• Building BGP table
• BGP Route selection
• BGP Route propagation
• Building IP routing table
• Advertising local networks

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-53

 Receiving Routing Update
• Information from the BGP tables is exchanged
after adjacency establishment

Rtr-A#debug ip bgp update

1:24:11: BGP: 2.3.4.5 rcv UPDATE about 37.0.0.0 255.0.0.0,
next hop 2.3.4.5, path 21 37 metric 0
1:24:11: BGP: 2.3.4.5 rcv UPDATE about 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 --
denied
1:24:11: BGP: 2.3.4.5 rcv UPDATE about 21.0.0.0 255.0.0.0,
next hop 2.3.4.5, path 21 metric 0
1:24:11: BGP: nettable_walker 21.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 calling
revise_route
1:24:11: BGP: revise route installing 21.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 ->
2.3.4.5

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-54

 Building BGP Table
• All inbound updates are placed into the BGP
table

Rtr-A#show ip bgp
BGP table version is 16, local router ID is 1.2.3.4
Status codes: s suppressed, h history, * valid, > best, i - internal
Origin codes: i - IGP, e - EGP, ? - incomplete

Network Next Hop Metric LocPrf Weight Path

*> 1.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 0 32768 i
* 21.0.0.0 3.4.5.6 0 37 21 i
*> 2.3.4.5 0 0 21 i
*> 37.0.0.0 3.4.5.6 0 0 37 i
* 2.3.4.5 0 21 37 i

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-55

 BGP Route Selection Criteria
• Exclude routes with inaccessible next-hop
• Prefer highest weight (local to router)
• Prefer highest local-preference (global within AS)
• Prefer routes that the router originated
• Prefer shorter AS paths (only length is compared)
• Prefer lowest origin code (IGP < EGP < Unknown)
• Prefer lowest MED
• Prefer external (EBGP) paths over internal (IBGP)
• For IBGP paths, prefer path through closest IGP neighbor
• For EBGP paths, prefer oldest (most stable) path
• Prefer paths from router with the lower BGP router ID

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-56

 BGP Route Selection
• Best routes to the destination networks are
selected from the BGP table

as123#show ip bgp
BGP table version is 4, local router ID is 1.2.3.4
Status codes: s suppressed, h history, * valid, > best, i - internal
Origin codes: i - IGP, e - EGP, ? - incomplete

Network Next Hop Metric LocPrf Weight Path

*> 1.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 0 32768 i
*> 21.0.0.0 3.4.5.6 100 37 21 i
* 2.3.4.5 0 0 21 i
*> 37.0.0.0 3.4.5.6 0 100 37 i
* 2.3.4.5 0 21 37 i

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-57

 BGP Route Propagation
• Best BGP routes are propagated to BGP
neighbors

as123#debug ip bgp update

1:24:16: BGP: 3.4.5.6 computing updates, neighbor version 15, table
version 16, starting at 0.0.0.0
1:24:16: BGP: 3.4.5.6 send UPDATE 21.0.0.0 255.0.0.0, next 3.4.5.7,
metric 0, path 123 21
1:24:16: BGP: 3.4.5.6 1 updates enqueued (average=45, maximum=45)
1:24:16: BGP: 3.4.5.6 update run completed, ran for 4ms, neighbor
version 15, start version 16, throttled to 16, check point net 0.0.0.0

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-58

 Building IP Routing Table
• Best BGP routes are copied into the IP routing
table based on administrative distance

as123#show ip route
Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP
D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP
i - IS-IS, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2, * - candidate
default

Gateway of last resort is not set

C 1.0.0.0 is directly connected, Loopback0

C 2.0.0.0 is directly connected, Serial1
C 3.0.0.0 is directly connected, Serial0
B 21.0.0.0 [20/0] via 3.4.5.6, 00:02:06
B 37.0.0.0 [20/0] via 3.4.5.6, 00:02:06

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-59

 Advertising Local Networks
• BGP router process keeps a list of local
networks (defined with network command
or through redistribution)
• BGP process periodically scans the IP
forwarding table and inserts or revokes
routes from BGP routing table based on
their presence in the forwarding table

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-60

 Advertising Local Networks -
Example 1/2
• BGP route is revoked after the network is
removed from the forwarding table

as123# debug ip routing

as123# debug ip bgp update
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Loopback0 changed state to down
1:34:33: RT: interface Loopback0 removed from routing table
1:34:33: RT: del 1.0.0.0 via 0.0.0.0, connected metric [0/0]
1:34:33: RT: delete network route to 1.0.0.0
1:34:33: BGP: route down 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0
1:34:33: BGP: no valid path for 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0
1:34:33: BGP: nettable_walker 1.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 no best path selected
1:34:34: BGP: 2.3.4.5 send UPDATE 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 -- unreachable
1:34:34: BGP: 2.3.4.5 1 updates enqueued (average=25, maximum=25)
1:34:34: BGP: 2.3.4.5 update run completed, ran for 4ms, neighbor
version 4, start version 5, throttled to 5, check point net 0.0.0.0
1:34:34: BGP: 3.4.5.6 send UPDATE 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 -- unreachable

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-61

 Advertising Local Networks -
Example 2/2
• BGP route is advertised after the network
appears in the forwarding table

1:36:42: RT: add 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 via 0.0.0.0, connected metric [0/0]
1:36:42: RT: interface Loopback0 added to routing table
1:36:42: BGP: route up 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0
1:36:42: BGP: nettable_walker 1.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 route sourced locally
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Loopback0, changed state
to up
1:36:43: BGP: 2.3.4.5 computing updates, neighbor version 5, table
version 6, starting at 0.0.0.0
1:36:43: BGP: 2.3.4.5 send UPDATE 1.0.0.0 255.0.0.0, next 2.3.4.6,
metric 0, path 123
1:36:44: BGP: 2.3.4.5 1 updates enqueued (average=50, maximum=50)
1:36:44: BGP: 2.3.4.5 update run completed, ran for 4ms, neighbor
version 5, start version 6, throttled to 6, check point net 0.0.0.0

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-62

 Summary
After completing this section, you should be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Describe the basic functions of BGP and its
data structures
• Explain how BGP announces networks local
to an Autonomous System
• Describe the processing of incoming BGP
updates
• Explain the BGP route selection process
• Describe the propagation of the best BGP
routes to other BGP neighbors
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-63
 Review Questions
• Which of the received routing updates are
forwarded to other neighbors?
• Which incoming BGP updates are stored in
the BGP table?
• Which BGP routes are announced to other
BGP neighbors
• With no BGP attributes modified, which
criteria will determine route selection?
• Describe methods that are available to
announce local networks

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-64

 Simple BGP
Configuration

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. www.cisco.com BGP Overview-65

 Objectives
Upon completion of this section, you will be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Initial BGP setup
• Configuring BGP neighbors
• Originating local networks in BGP
• Basic BGP route aggregation

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-66

 Start the BGP Routing
Process
router(config)#

router bgp as-number

• Starts BGP routing

• Get your AS number from InterNIC (www.internic.net)
or RIPE (www.ripe.net)
• Use private AS numbers (64512 - 65535) if you run
BGP in a private network
• Only one BGP routing process per router is allowed

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-67

 Configure External Neighbors
router(config-router)#

neighbor ip-address remote-as as-number

neighbor ip-address description neighbor description

• Defines an external neighbor and (optionally) assigns

a description
• External neighbor has to be reachable over directly
connected subnet

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-68

 Temporary Disable BGP
Neighbor
router(config-router)#
neighbor ip-address shutdown

• Disables communication with a BGP neighbor

• Usage scenarios:
• Debugging and troubleshooting
• Shutdown the neighbor during extensive
modification of routing policies to prevent
inconsistent routing data

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-69

 Configuring TCP MD5
Signature
router(config-router)#
neighbor ip-address password string

• Enables Message Digest 5 authentication on BGP

session
• Use the same password string on both routers

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-70

 Announcing Networks in BGP
Only administratively defined networks are
announced in BGP
• Manually configure networks to be
announced
• Use redistribution from IGP
• Use aggregation to announce summary
prefixes

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-71

 Manually Define Major
Network
router(config-router)#

network major-network-number

• Allows advertising of major networks into BGP

• At least one of the subnets must be present in the
routing table
• The meaning of “network” command in BGP is
completely different from any other routing
protocol

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-72

 Redistributing Routes
from IGP
• Easier than listing networks in BGP
process in large networks
• Redistributed routes carry origin-attribute
‘incomplete’
• Always filter redistributed routes to prevent
route leaking
• Avoid in Service Provider environments

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-73

 Simple IGP to BGP
Redistribution

router(config)#
router bgp <AS>
redistribute <IGP>
distribute-list <ACL> out <IGP>
!
access-list <ACL> permit <network>

• Configure redistribution in BGP process

• Configure route-filter using distribute list
• Caveat:
• BGP routes originated through redistribution
have incomplete origin
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-74
 Redistribution Using Route-
Maps
router(config)#
router bgp <AS>
redistribute <IGP> route-map intoBGP
!
route-map intoBGP permit
match ip address <ACL>
set origin igp
!
access-list <ACL> permit <network>

• Origin can be set to ‘IGP’ with a route-map

• Other BGP path path attributes can also be set
• Metric
• Next-hop
• Community
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-75
 Classless BGP Operation
• BGP4 supports Classless Interdomain Routing
(CIDR)
• Any BGP router can advertise individual
networks or supernets (prefixes)
• Prefix notation is used with BGP instead of
subnet masks
• 192.168.0.0/16 = 192.168.0.0 255.255.0.0

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-76

 Manually Announce Classless
Prefix in BGP
router(config-router)#

network ip-prefix-address mask subnet-mask

• Configures a classless prefix to be advertised into
BGP
• The prefix must exactly match an entry in the IP
forwarding table
• Hint: use a static route to null 0 to create a
matching prefix in the IP forwarding table

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-77

 Advertising a Supernet Prefix
Example
• Advertise prefix 192.168.0.0/16 assigned to
the Internet Service Provider

router(config)#

router bgp 123

network 192.168.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0
!
ip route 192.168.0.0 255.255.0.0 null 0

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-78

 Aggregating BGP Networks
Summarization is called aggregation in BGP
• Aggregation creates summary routes (called
aggregates) from networks already in BGP
table
• Individual networks could be announced or
suppressed

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-79

 Configuring Aggregation (#1)
router(config)#

router bgp as-number

aggregate-address address-prefix mask
• Specify aggregation range in BGP routing process
• The aggregate will be announced if there is at least
one network in the specified range in the BGP table
• Individual networks will still be announced in
outgoing BGP updates

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-80

 Configuring Aggregation (#2)
router(config)#

router bgp as-number

aggregate-address address-prefix mask summary-only
• Configure aggregation of BGP routes
• Advertise only the aggregate and not the individual
networks
Benefits:
• Smaller BGP routing tables
• More stable internetworks (less route flapping)
Drawbacks:
• Problems with multi-homed customers

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-81

 Multihomed Customer
Problem
Alternate Provider

192.1.1.0/24 192.1.1.0/24
Multihomed
Customer
Rest of the Internet

192.1.1.0/24 192.1.0.0/16

Primary Provider
(aggregating)

• Customer prefers Primary provider using Alternate only as

backup
• Primary provider advertises the aggregate, Alternate
provider advertises individual network
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-82
 Multihomed Customer
Problem
Alternate Provider

192.1.1.0/24 192.1.1.0/24
Multihomed
Customer
Rest of the Internet

192.1.1.0/24 192.1.0.0/16
192.1.0.0/16
192.1.1.0/24
Primary Provider
(aggregating)

• Remote autonomous systems prefer longest-match prefix,

traffic toward the customer flows through Alternate
provider
• Solution: don’t use aggregation
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-83
 Classless BGP Examples
• Advertise prefix 192.168.0.0/20
• Aggregate networks in 192.168.16.0/20 and announce
individual networks
• Aggregate networks in 192.168.32.0/20 suppressing
individual network announcements

router(config)#
router bgp 123
network 192.168.0.0 mask 255.255.240.0
aggregate-address 192.168.16.0 255.255.240.0
aggregate-address 192.168.32.0 255.255.240.0 summary-only
!
ip route 192.168.0.0 255.255.240.0 null 0

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-84

 Aggregation Example - BGP
Table
as123#show
as123#show ip
ip bgp
bgp
BGP
BGP table version is
table version is 16,
16, local
local router
router ID
ID is
is 1.2.3.4
1.2.3.4
Status
Status codes: s suppressed, h history, * valid, >> best,
codes: s suppressed, h history, * valid, best, ii -- internal
internal
Origin
Origin codes:
codes: ii -- IGP,
IGP, ee -- EGP,
EGP, ?? -- incomplete
incomplete

Network
Network Next
Next Hop
Hop Metric
Metric LocPrf
LocPrf Weight
Weight Path
Path
*> 1.0.0.0
*> 1.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ii
** 21.0.0.0
21.0.0.0 3.4.5.6
3.4.5.6 00 37
37 21
21 ii
*>
*> 2.3.4.5
2.3.4.5 00 00 21
21 ii
*>
*> 37.0.0.0
37.0.0.0 3.4.5.6
3.4.5.6 00 00 37
37 ii
** 2.3.4.5
2.3.4.5 00 21
21 37
37 ii
*>
*> 192.168.0.0/20
192.168.0.0/20 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ii
*>
*> 192.168.16.0/20
192.168.16.0/20 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ii
*>
*> 192.168.16.0
192.168.16.0 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ??
*>
*> 192.168.17.0
192.168.17.0 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ??
*> 192.168.32.0/20
*> 192.168.32.0/20 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ii
s>
s> 192.168.32.0
192.168.32.0 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ??
s>
s> 192.168.33.0
192.168.33.0 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0 00 32768
32768 ??

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-85

 Aggregation Example -
Outgoing BGP Update

Router#debug
Router#debug ip
ip bgp
bgp updates
updates
1:36:43:
1:36:43: BGP:
BGP: 2.3.4.5
2.3.4.5 send
send UPDATE
UPDATE 192.168.0.0
192.168.0.0 255.255.240.0,
255.255.240.0, next
next
2.3.4.6,
2.3.4.6, metric
metric 0,
0, path
path 123
123
1:36:43:
1:36:43: BGP: 2.3.4.5 send UPDATE
BGP: 2.3.4.5 send UPDATE 192.168.16.0
192.168.16.0 255.255.255.0,
255.255.255.0, next
next
2.3.4.6, metric 0, path
2.3.4.6, metric 0, path 123123
1:36:43:
1:36:43: BGP:
BGP: 2.3.4.5
2.3.4.5 send
send UPDATE
UPDATE 192.168.17.0
192.168.17.0 255.255.255.0,
255.255.255.0, next
next
2.3.4.6,
2.3.4.6, metric
metric 0,
0, path
path 123
123
1:36:43:
1:36:43: BGP:
BGP: 2.3.4.5
2.3.4.5 send
send UPDATE
UPDATE 192.168.16.0
192.168.16.0 255.255.240.0,
255.255.240.0, next
next
2.3.4.6, metric 0, path
2.3.4.6, metric 0, path 123123
1:36:43:
1:36:43: BGP:
BGP: 2.3.4.5
2.3.4.5 send
send UPDATE
UPDATE 192.168.32.0
192.168.32.0 255.255.240.0,
255.255.240.0, next
next
2.3.4.6,
2.3.4.6, metric
metric 0,
0, path
path 123
123

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-86

 Summary
After completing this section, you should be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Explain that external peers are recommended
to be directly connected
• Describe how to generate routing information
about own networks using either a list of
networks or redistribution from the IGP
• Explain the benefits of generating route
summaries at once and avoid doing
aggregation at a later stage

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-87

 Review Questions
• How many BGP processes can be active in a
router?
• Which parameters must be configured for a BGP
neighbor?
• What potential problem could be caused by
redistributing all routes from the IGP to BGP?
• Why are external BGP neighbors almost always
directly connected?
• What are the benefits of BGP route summarization?
• When should you use BGP aggregation?
• What are the drawbacks of using BGP
aggregation?
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-88
 Monitoring and
Troubleshooting
BGP
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. www.cisco.com BGP Overview-89
 Objectives
Upon completion of this section, you will be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Monitor the overall BGP status
• Monitor BGP neighbors
• Monitor BGP table
• Inspect individual prefixes in the BGP table
• Perform basic BGP debugging
• Troubleshoot simple BGP-related problems

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-90

 Monitoring Overall BGP
Routing
router>
show ip bgp summary
• Displays BGP memory usage, BGP neighbors and
the state of communication with them

Fred#show ip bgp summary

BGP table version is 8, main routing table version 8
4 network entries (8/12 paths) using 832 bytes of memory
5 BGP path attribute entries using 576 bytes of memory
0 BGP route-map cache entries using 0 bytes of memory
0 BGP filter-list cache entries using 0 bytes of memory
2 received paths for inbound soft reconfiguration

Neighbor V AS MsgRcvd MsgSent TblVer InQ OutQ Up/Down State/PfxRcd

1.1.0.1 4 213 80 81 8 0 0 01:15:51 2
1.1.0.3 4 387 79 81 0 0 0 00:00:15 Active
1.2.0.1 4 213 82 82 0 0 0 02:15:23 Idle

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-91

 Monitoring BGP Neighbors
router>
show ip bgp neighbor ip-address
• Displays detailed neighbor information

Fred#show ip bgp neighbor 1.2.0.1

BGP neighbor is 1.2.0.1, remote AS 213, external link
Index 3, Offset 0, Mask 0x8
BGP version 4, remote router ID 10.1.1.1
BGP state = Established, table version = 11, up for 01:23:05
Last read 00:00:05, hold time is 180, keepalive interval is 60
seconds
Minimum time between advertisement runs is 30 seconds
Received 92 messages, 0 notifications, 0 in queue
Sent 92 messages, 0 notifications, 0 in queue
Connections established 1; dropped 0
Last reset never
No. of prefix received 2

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-92

 Monitoring BGP Table
router>
show ip bgp
• Displays all routes in the BGP table in summary
format

Fred#show ip bgp
BGP table version is 11, local router ID is 12.1.2.3
Status codes: s suppressed, d damped, h history, * valid, > best, i -
internal
Origin codes: i - IGP, e - EGP, ? - incomplete

Network Next Hop Metric LocPrf Weight Path

*> 10.0.0.0 1.2.0.1 500 0 213 i
* 1.1.0.1 1000 0 213 i
*> 11.0.0.0 1.2.0.1 500 0 213 i
* 1.1.0.1 1000 0 213 i
*> 12.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 0 32768 i
*> 14.0.0.0 1.1.0.3 0 0 387 i

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-93

 Displaying Entries in BGP
Table
router>
show ip bgp ip-prefix [mask subnet-mask]
• Displays detailed information about all paths for a
single prefix Advertising router IP address

Fred#show ip bgp 11.0.0.0

Advertising router router-ID
BGP routing table entry for 11.0.0.0/8, version 5
Paths: (2 available, best #1, advertised over EBGP)
213
1.2.0.1 from 1.2.0.1 (10.1.1.1)
Origin IGP, metric 500, localpref 100, valid, external, best
213
1.1.0.1 from 1.1.0.1 (11.0.0.1)
Origin IGP, metric 1000, localpref 100, valid, external

Next-hop
Other BGP attributes
AS-Path
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-94
 Debugging BGP
router#
debug ip tcp transaction

• Displays all TCP transactions (start of session,

session errors …)

router#
debug ip bgp event

• Displays significant BGP events (neighbor state

transitions, update runs)

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-95

 Debugging BGP
router#
debug ip bgp keepalives

• Debugs BGP keepalive packets

router#
debug ip bgp updates

• Displays all incoming or outgoing BGP updates

(use with caution)

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-96

 Debugging BGP
router#
debug ip bgp updates acl

• Displays all incoming or outgoing BGP updates for

routes matching an IP ACL

router#
debug ip bgp neighbor-ip updates [acl]

• Displays all BGP updates received from or sent to a

BGP neighbor (optionally matching an IP ACL)

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-97

 BGP Session Startup
Troubleshooting
Common BGP Session Startup
Symptoms
• BGP neighbors do not become active
• BGP neighbor is active, but the session is
never established
• BGP neighbor oscillates between idle and
active

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-98

 BGP Session Startup Issues:
1/4
Symptom
• BGP neighbors do not become active
show ip bgp neighbor display the neighbor state as idle
for several minutes

Diagnose
• Neighbor is not directly connected
Verification
• Verify with show ip route

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-99

 BGP Session Startup Issues:
2/4
Symptom
• BGP neighbor is active, session is not
established
debug ip tcp transaction display shows that the SYN
TCP packet is not answered with a SYN+ACK packet

Diagnose
• Neighbor is not reachable
Verification
• Verify connectivity with ping
• Check for access list presence

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-100

 BGP Session Startup
Neighbor not Reachable
Router#debug ip tcp transaction

16:34:30: TCB82119C40 created

16:34:30: TCB82119C40 setting property TCP_WINDOW_SIZE (0) 8223BDE8
16:34:30: TCB82119C40 setting property TCP_TOS (11) 8223BDEC
16:34:30: TCB82119C40 bound to 192.168.4.13.11007
16:34:30: TCP: sending SYN, seq 545426735, ack 0
16:34:30: TCP0: Connection to 192.168.4.14:179, advertising MSS 1460
16:34:30: TCP0: state was CLOSED -> SYNSENT [11007 -> 192.168.4.14(179)]

16:35:12: TCP0: state was SYNSENT -> CLOSED [11007 -> 192.168.4.14(179)]
16:35:12: TCB 0x82119C40 destroyed

SYN packet is sent

SYN+ACK reply never came back,

TCP session is closed

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-101

 BGP Session Startup Issues:
3/4
Symptom
• BGP neighbor is active, session is not
established
debug ip tcp transaction display shows that the SYN
TCP packet is answered with a RST packet

Diagnose
• This router is not configured as BGP neighbor on
the neighboring router
Verification
• Check IP addresses of BGP neighbors with show
ip bgp summary on the neighbor router
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-102
 BGP Session Startup
Neighbor not Configured
Router#debug ip tcp transaction

16:30:30: TCB82119C40 created

16:30:30: TCB82119C40 setting property TCP_WINDOW_SIZE (0) 8223BDE8
16:30:30: TCB82119C40 setting property TCP_TOS (11) 8223BDEC
16:30:30: TCB82119C40 bound to 192.168.4.13.11005
16:30:30: TCP: sending SYN, seq 305377215, ack 0
16:30:30: TCP0: Connection to 192.168.4.14:179, advertising MSS 1460
16:30:30: TCP0: state was CLOSED -> SYNSENT [11005 -> 192.168.4.14(179)]
16:30:30: TCP0: state was SYNSENT -> CLOSED [11005 -> 192.168.4.14(179)]
16:30:30: TCP0: bad seg from 192.168.4.14 -- closing connection: seq 0 ack
305377216 rcvnxt 0 rcvwnd 0 len 0
16:30:30: TCP0: connection closed - remote sent RST
16:30:30: TCB 0x82119C40 destroyed

SYN packet is sent

Neighbor replies with RST packet,

TCP session is closed

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-103

 BGP Session Startup Issues:
4/4
Symptom
• BGP neighbor oscillates between active and idle
debug ip tcp transaction display the TCP session
being established and torn down immediately

Diagnose
• AS-number mismatch between BGP neighbors
Verification
• Verify the AS-numbers configured for
neighboring routers show ip bgp summary on
both routes

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-104

 BGP Session Startup
AS-number Mismatch
Router#debug ip tcp transaction
Router#debug ip bgp event

16:40:43: TCB82119C40 created

16:40:43: TCP0: state was LISTEN -> SYNRCVD [179 -> 192.168.4.14(11000)]
16:40:43: TCP0: Connection to 192.168.4.14:11000, received MSS 1460
16:40:43: TCP: sending SYN, seq 918933898, ack 862828853
16:40:43: TCP0: Connection to 192.168.4.14:11000, advertising MSS 1460
16:40:43: TCP0: state was SYNRCVD -> ESTAB [179 -> 192.168.4.14(11000)]
16:40:43: TCB821197BC callback
16:40:43: TCB821197BC accepting 82119C40 from 192.168.4.14.11000
16:40:44: BGP: 192.168.4.14 reset due to BGP Notification sent
16:40:44: TCP0: state was ESTAB -> FINWAIT1 [179 -> 192.168.4.14(11000)]
16:40:44: TCP0: sending FIN

TCP session is established

BGP notification is sent due to AS

number mismatch in open message

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-105

 Summary
After completing this section, you should be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Monitor the overall BGP function
• Monitor the neighbor sessions
• Monitor the BGP table
• Monitor specific entries in the BGP table
• Debug and troubleshoot simple BGP

© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-106

 Review Questions
• What information do you get from a show ip
bgp summary?
• Which command is used to display detailed
BGP neighbor information
• How does the output from show ip bgp tell
you which route to a specific destination is
selected as the best?
• Which is the most common reason for a BGP
session not leaving the idle state?
• What happens when a BGP session is
established, but terminated immediately?
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-107
 Summary
After completing this lesson, you should be
able to perform the following tasks:
• Explain the need for BGP and typical BGP
usage scenarios
• Describe basic BGP technical characteristics
• Describe BGP path attributes
• Describe BGP session establishment and
routing information exchange
• Configure basic BGP on Cisco router
• Monitor and troubleshoot basic BGP setup
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-108
© 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc. BGP Overview-109