BGPCTL - Base Setup

Connecting to bgpctl

To connect to bgpctl, simply type the following command in the terminal:

bgpctl

You will be prompted to enter your username and password.

Configuring a BGP session

Once connected to bgpctl, you can configure a BGP session by using the appropriate command. For example, to configure a BGP session with a peer:

bgpctl
configure
neighbor 192.0.2.1 as 65000

You can then use the `description` command to add a description for this session, and the `announce` command to set the prefixes that should be announced to the peer.

Enabling/Disabling a BGP session

You can use the `disable` command to disable a BGP session and the `enable` command to enable it again.

For example, to disable a BGP session with peer 192.0.2.1:

bgpctl
configure
neighbor 192.0.2.1 disable

To enable the session again:

bgpctl
configure
neighbor 192.0.2.1 enable

Viewing BGP information

You can use the `show neighbor` command to view the BGP sessions. For example:

bgpctl show neighbor

You can also use the `show summary` command to view a summary of all BGP sessions, or the `show rib` command to view the Routing Information Base (RIB)

Manpage

BGPCTL(8) 	System Manager's Manual 	BGPCTL(8)
NAME
bgpctl — control the Border Gateway Protocol daemon
SYNOPSIS
bgpctl 	[-n] [-s socket] command [argument ...]
DESCRIPTION
The bgpctl program controls the bgpd(8) daemon. Commands may be abbreviated to the minimum unambiguous prefix; for example, s s for show summary.
The options are as follows:

-n
    Show neighbors' IP addresses instead of their description.
-s socket
    Use socket instead of the default /var/run/bgpd.sock to communicate with bgpd(8).

The commands are as follows:

fib [table number] couple
    Insert the learned routes into the specified Forwarding Information Base a.k.a. the kernel routing table.
fib [table number] decouple
    Remove the learned routes from the specified Forwarding Information Base a.k.a. the kernel routing table.
irrfilter [options] as [arguments]
    Get the aut-num object from the Internet Routing Registry and generate bgpd filters from the policy specified therein. The aut-num object as well as the associated as-set and route objects have to be in RPSL format.
    The options are as follows:

    -o directory
        Use directory to write the filter files to.
    -4
        Fetch only IPv4 prefixes from the registry.
    -6
        Fetch only IPv6 prefixes from the registry.

log brief
    Disable verbose debug logging.
log verbose
    Enable verbose debug logging.
neighbor peer up
    Take the BGP session to the specified neighbor up. peer may be the neighbor's address or description.
neighbor peer down
    Take the BGP session to the specified neighbor down. peer may be the neighbor's address or description.
neighbor peer clear
    Stop and restart the BGP session to the specified neighbor. peer may be the neighbor's address or description.
neighbor peer refresh
    Request the neighbor to re-send all routes. Note that the neighbor is not obliged to re-send all routes, or any routes at all, even if it announced the route refresh capability. peer may be the neighbor's address or description.
network add prefix [arguments]
    Add the specified prefix to the list of announced networks. It is possible to set various path attributes with additional arguments.
network delete prefix
    Remove the specified prefix from the list of announced networks.
network flush
    Remove all dynamically added prefixes from the list of announced networks.
network show family
    Show all announced networks. family, if given, limits the output to the given address family. The supported families are inet and inet6.
reload
    Reload the configuration file.
show fib filter
    Show routes from bgpd(8)'s view of the Forwarding Information Base. filter can be an IP address, in which case the route to this address is shown, or a flag:

    connected
        Show only connected routes.
    static
        Show only static routes.
    bgp
        Show only routes originating from bgpd(8) itself.
    nexthop
        Show only routes required to reach a BGP nexthop.
    inet
        Show only IPv4 routes.
    inet6
        Show only IPv6 routes.
    table number
        Show the routing table with ID number instead of the default routing table with ID 0.

show interfaces
    Show the interface states.
show neighbor peer modifier
    Show detailed information about the neighbor identified by peer, which may be the neighbor's address or description, according to the given modifier:

    messages
        Show statistics about sent and received BGP messages.
    terse
        Show statistics in an easily parseable terse format. The printed numbers are the sent and received open, sent and received notifications, sent and received updates, sent and received keepalives, and sent and received route refresh messages plus the current and maximum prefix count, the number of sent and received updates, and withdraws.
    timers
        Show the BGP timers.

show nexthop
    Show the list of BGP nexthops and the result of their validity check.
show rib [options] filter
    Show routes from the bgpd(8) Routing Information Base. filter can be an IP address, a CIDR prefix, an AS filter or nothing:

    address
        Show best matching route for address.
    address/len
        Show RIB entry for this CIDR prefix.
    address/len all
        Show all entries in the specified range.
    as as
        Show all entries with as anywhere in the AS path.
    source-as as
        Show all entries with as as rightmost AS.
    transit-as as
        Show all entries with as anywhere but rightmost.
    peer-as as
        Show all entries with as as leftmost AS.
    empty-as
        Show all entries that are internal routes with no AS's in the AS path.
    community community
        Show all entries with community community.
    neighbor peer
        Show only entries from the specified peer.
    table rib
        Show only entries from the specified RIB table.
    summary
        This is the same as the show summary command.
    memory
        Show RIB memory statistics.

    Additionally, the following options are defined:

    detail
        Show more detailed output for matched routes.
    family
        Limit the output to the given address family.
    in
        Show routes from the unfiltered Adj-RIB-In. This is only possible if softreconfig in is enabled for the neighbor.
    out
        Show the filtered routes sent to a neighbor also known as Adj-RIB-Out.

    Options are silently ignored when used together with summary or memory. Multiple options can be used at the same time and the neighbor filter can be combined with other filters.
show summary
    Show a list of all neighbors, including information about the session state and message counters.
show summary terse
    Show a list of all neighbors, including information about the session state, in a terse format.
show tables
    Show a list of all currently loaded fib routing tables.

FILES

/etc/bgpd.conf
    default bgpd(8) configuration file
/var/run/bgpd.sock
    default bgpd(8) control socket

SEE ALSO
bgpd.conf(5), bgpd(8), bgplg(8), bgplgsh(8)
Routing Policy Specification Language (RPSL), RFC 2622, June 1999.
HISTORY
The bgpctl program first appeared in OpenBSD 3.5. irrfilter mode was added in OpenBSD 4.1.
May 3, 2010 	Debian