BGP Aggregate AS-SET

When you use the BGP aggregate-address command on Cisco IOS without any parameters, then all information of individual route attributes such as AS_PATH is lost.

This can cause issues since the AS_PATH is used for loop prevention. For example, it’s possible that an AS installs a summary that it shouldn’t. With the AS-SET parameter, you can optionally include AS information in the summary. In this lesson, I’ll show you how to do this.

Configuration

Here is the topology we’ll use:

Bgp Aggregate As Set Topology Lab

We have four routers, all in a different AS. R2 and R3 have a loopback with an IP address that are advertised in BGP. R1 will send an aggregate to R4.




Configurations

Want to take a look for yourself? Here you will find the startup configuration of each device.

R1

hostname R1
!
ip cef
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 ip address 192.168.12.1 255.255.255.0
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/2
 ip address 192.168.13.1 255.255.255.0
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/3
 ip address 192.168.14.1 255.255.255.0
!
router bgp 1
 neighbor 192.168.12.2 remote-as 2
 neighbor 192.168.13.3 remote-as 3
 neighbor 192.168.14.4 remote-as 4
!
end

R2

hostname R2
!
ip cef
!
interface Loopback0
 ip address 172.16.2.2 255.255.255.255
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 ip address 192.168.12.2 255.255.255.0
!
router bgp 2
 network 172.16.2.2 mask 255.255.255.255
 neighbor 192.168.12.1 remote-as 1
!
end

R3

hostname R3
!
ip cef
!
interface Loopback0
 ip address 172.16.3.3 255.255.255.255
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 ip address 192.168.13.3 255.255.255.0
!
router bgp 3
 network 172.16.3.3 mask 255.255.255.255
 neighbor 192.168.13.1 remote-as 1
!
end

R4

hostname R4
!
ip cef
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 ip address 192.168.14.4 255.255.255.0
!
router bgp 4
 neighbor 192.168.14.1 remote-as 1
!
end

Right now, there is no aggregate so R4 sees two separate prefixes with the correct AS path information:

R4#show ip bgp 
BGP table version is 3, local router ID is 192.168.14.4
Status codes: s suppressed, d damped, h history, * valid, > best, i - internal, 
              r RIB-failure, S Stale, m multipath, b backup-path, f RT-Filter, 
              x best-external, a additional-path, c RIB-compressed, 
              t secondary path, 
Origin codes: i - IGP, e - EGP, ? - incomplete
RPKI validation codes: V valid, I invalid, N Not found

     Network          Next Hop            Metric LocPrf Weight Path
 *>   172.16.2.2/32       192.168.14.1                           0 1 2 i
 *>   172.16.3.3/32       192.168.14.1                           0 1 3 i

Each prefix has the correct AS path.

Without AS-SET

Let’s create a summary/aggregate. We’ll start without the AS-SET parameter so that we have a before and after example:

R1(config)#router bgp 1
R1(config-router)#aggregate-address 172.16.0.0 255.255.0.0 summary-only

Here’s what we get on R4:

R4#show ip bgp 
BGP table version is 10, local router ID is 192.168.14.4
Status codes: s suppressed, d damped, h history, * valid, > best, i - internal, 
              r RIB-failure, S Stale, m multipath, b backup-path, f RT-Filter, 
              x best-external, a additional-path, c RIB-compressed, 
              t secondary path, 
Origin codes: i - IGP, e - EGP, ? - incomplete
RPKI validation codes: V valid, I invalid, N Not found

     Network          Next Hop            Metric LocPrf Weight Path
 *>   172.16.0.0       192.168.14.1             0             0 1 i

We see the 172.16.0.0/16 prefix but all AS path information is lost. This prefix seems to come from AS 1 only.

If R4 was connected to R2 or R3 then those routers would install this prefix without hesitation since they don’t see their own AS number in the summary route. This could cause routing loops.

With AS-SET

Let’s add the as-set parameter on R1 now:

R1(config)#router bgp 1
R1(config-router)#aggregate-address 172.16.0.0 255.255.0.0 summary-only as-set

Here’s what we get on R4:

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Forum Replies

  1. Hi Rene,
    Just to be confirm , If we put the command aggregate-address 172.16.0.0 255.255.0.0 summary-only as-set on R1 then R2/R3 also get the prefix & discard based on as path , right ?Thanks

    br//zaman

  2. Hi Zaman,

    If you add as-set then the AS numbers of the prefixes are included so if there is a link between R2/R4 and R3/R4 and they receive this aggregate, they will drop it because they see their own AS number yes.

    Rene

  3. Dear Rene,

    If we set community for the aggregate-address and send this to eBGP speaker, on eBGP speaker can we see community for this aggregate-address.

    //BR
    Waqar

  4. Hi Rene
    is there a incorrect that is the As name.
    where is the AS 3 ,in my opinion R3 will be in the AS 3

  5. Hello Bahri

    Thanks for catching that! I’ve informed Rene and he will fix it.

    Thanks again!

    Laz

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