Lesson Contents
In this lesson we’ll take a look how we can configure a default route in EIGRP. Basically there are two methods how you can do this:
- Create a static route and advertise it into EIGRP.
- Flag an EIGRP route as the default network.
We will take a look at both methods. This is the topology we will use:
R1 and R2 are configured for EIGRP, R2 is connected to an ISP router. Behind the ISP is network 3.3.3.0 /24 that we can use to test our default route.
Configuration
Here’s the configuration of R1 and R2:
R1#show run | section eigrp
router eigrp 12
network 192.168.12.0
no auto-summary
R2#show run | section eigrp
router eigrp 12
network 192.168.12.0
no auto-summary
Nothing special, R1 and R2 are neighbors but that’s it.
Static Default Route
Let’s start with the first option, the static default route:
R2(config)#ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 FastEthernet 0/1
R2(config)#router eigrp 12
R2(config-router)#network 0.0.0.0
We configure the default route on R2 with FastEthernet 0/1 as the exit interface. In EIGRP we can use the network 0.0.0.0 command to advertise this. This might sound strange but it works, normally you can only use the network command to advertise networks on interfaces but EIGRP wil make an exception for this default route.
Let’s see what R1 thinks of this:
R1#show ip route eigrp | begin 0.0.0.0
Gateway of last resort is 192.168.12.2 to network 0.0.0.0
D* 0.0.0.0/0 [90/30720] via 192.168.12.2, 00:01:11, FastEthernet0/0
R1 has learned the default route.
Configurations
Want to take a look for yourself? Here you will find the final configuration of each device.
ISP
hostname ISP
!
interface FastEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.23.3 255.255.255.0
!
interface Loopback0
ip address 3.3.3.3 255.255.255.0
!
ip route 192.168.12.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.23.2
!
end
R1
hostname R1
!
interface FastEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.12.1 255.255.255.0
!
router eigrp 12
no auto-summary
network 192.168.12.0
!
end
R2
hostname R2
!
interface FastEthernet0/1
ip address 192.168.23.2 255.255.255.0
!
interface FastEthernet1/0
ip address 192.168.12.2 255.255.255.0
!
ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 FastEthernet0/1
!
router eigrp 12
no auto-summary
network 192.168.12.0
network 0.0.0.0
!
end
Let’s look at the other method. Let’s get rid of the default route now so we can try the other method:
R2(config)#router eigrp 12
R2(config-router)#no network 0.0.0.0
R2(config)#no ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 FastEthernet 0/1
There we go…let’s continue!
IP Default Network
This one is a bit tricky, we can use the ip default-network command to tell other EIGRP routers that this is a network of “last resort”. This means that they can use it as a default route. We will advertise the network between R2 and ISP in EIGRP and configure it as the “default network”:
Hi Rene,
Is there a tutorial on EIGRP default routes using redistribution?
Cheers
Rob
I enjoy your site very much! Thank you for all the great information!
Regarding this statement -
Rather than an exception, isn't this the equivalent of "network 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255"? EIGRP will use a classful wildcard if none is provided, so 0.0.0.0 will count as a class A.Testing on IOS 15.2(4), “network
... Continue reading in our forumThe second configuration did not work for me as well. I can the interface of the ISP router and get replies but not the loopback of 3.3.3.3
So it seems to be partly working.
//cdn-forum.networklessons.com/uploads/default/original/1X/5f17c768ebb82f3a838c88680dbc0f138fc18e25.JPG
the routes seem fine I am using this version of IOS: c3640-jk9s-mz.124-16.bin
//cdn-forum.networklessons.com/uploads/default/original/1X/952fbe97dbbd8bbbae07d7fb649062275ac0faf1.JPG
here is another pic
//cdn-forum.networklessons.com/uploads/default/original/1X/2a230141ce1547bf618b15789
... Continue reading in our forumHi @wilder7bc,
The ip default-network command is one of the weirder commands out there. I think I originally tried it on 12.4 when I wrote the lesson. On IOS 15.x, I can’t make it work…
The funny thing is, when I load my config, R1 doesn’t see 192.168.23.0/24 as a default network:
Once I remove and re-add the network command on R2, it does get propagated to R1:
... Continue reading in our forumHello Minghui
When you use an Ethernet port as an exit interface, what will happen depends on several factors including the IOS version and the platform that you are using. In some platforms/IOS combinations, what Rene has implemented will work as configured. However, there are some other situations in which it doesn’t. The following link shows a couple of examples where you have an IP address as a next hop IP or an interface as an exit interface. In this example, the use of an exit interface fails.
https://community.cisco.com/t5/networking-documents/static
... Continue reading in our forum