Specifying the Instance Type for Routing Instances

You can configure eight routing instance types at the [edit routing-instances routing-instance-name instance-type] and [edit logical-systems logical-system-name routing-instances routing-instance-name instance-type] hierarchy levels:

Forwarding—Use this routing instance type for filter-based forwarding applications. For this instance type, there is no one-to-one mapping between an interface and a routing instance. All interfaces belong to the default instance inet.0.
Layer 2 VPN—Use this routing instance type for Layer 2 VPN implementations.
Layer 2-control—(MX Series routers only) Use this routing instance type for RSTP or MSTP in customer edge interfaces of a VPLS routing instance. This instance type cannot be used if the customer edge interface is multihomed to two provider edge interfaces. If the customer edge interface is multihomed to two provider edge interfaces, use the default BPDU tunneling. For more information about configuring a layer2-control instance type, see the Junos Layer 2 Configuration Guide.
No-forwarding—Use this routing instance type when a separation of routing table information is required. There is no corresponding forwarding table. All routes are installed into the default forwarding table. IS-IS instances are strictly nonforwarding instance types.
Virtual router—This routing instance is similar to a VPN routing and forwarding instance type, but used for non-VPN-related applications. There are no VRF import, VRF export, VRF target, or route distinguisher requirements for this instance type.
Virtual switch—(MX Series routers only) Use the virtual switch instance type to isolate a LAN segment with its Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) instance and separates its VLAN identifier space. For more information about configuring a virtual switch instance type, see the Junos Layer 2 Configuration Guide. and the Junos MX Series Ethernet Services Routers Solutions Guide.
VPLS—Use this routing instance type for point-to-multipoint LAN implementations between a set of sites in a VPN.
VRF—Use this routing instance type for Layer 3 VPN implementations. For this instance type, there is a one-to-one mapping between an interface and a routing instance. Each VRF instance corresponds with a forwarding table. Routes on an interface go into the corresponding forwarding table.

To configure a routing instance type, include the instance-type statement:

routing-instances {routing-instance-name {interface interface-name;instance-type (forwarding | l2vpn | layer2-control | no-forwarding | virtual-router | virtual-switch | vpls | vrf);}}

You can include the statement at the following hierarchy levels:

[edit routing-instances routing-instance-name]
[edit logical-systems logical-system-name routing-instances routing-instance-name]

For more information about configuring Layer 2 VPNs, Layer 3 VPNs, and VPLS, see the Junos VPNs Configuration Guide.

For more information about configuring the types of routing instances, see the following sections:

Configuring VRF Routing Instances

To configure a VPN VRF routing instance, include the following statements:

interface interface-name;instance-type vrf;no-vrf-advertise;route-distinguisher (as-number:number | ip-address:number);vrf-import [ policy-names ];vrf-export [ policy-names ];vrf-table-label;protocols {bgp {... bgp-configuration ...}isis {... isis-configuration ...}l2vpn {... l2vpn-configuration ...}ldp {... ldp-configuration ...}msdp {... msdp-configuration ...}ospf {domain-id domain-id;domain-vpn-tag number;route-type-community (iana | vendor);... ospf-configuration ...}ospf3 {domain-id domain-id;domain-vpn-tag number;route-type-community (iana | vendor);... ospf3-configuration ...}pim {... pim-configuration ...}rip {... rip-configuration ...}vpls {... vpls-configuration ...}}

You can include the statements at the following hierarchy levels:

[edit routing-instances routing-instance-name]
[edit logical-systems logical-system-name routing-instances routing-instance-name]

Configuring Non-VPN VRF Routing Instances

To configure a non-VPN VRF routing instance (for example, to allow IPsec tunnels within VRF routing instances), include the following statements:

interface interface-name;instance-type virtual-router;protocols {bgp {... bgp-configuration ...}isis {,,, isis-configuration ...}ldp {... ldp-configuration ...}msdp {... msdp-configuration ...}ospf {domain-id domain-id;domain-vpn-tag number;route-type-community (iana | vendor);... ospf-configuration ...}ospf3 {domain-id domain-id;domain-vpn-tag number;route-type-community (iana | vendor);... ospf3-configuration ...}pim {... pim-configuration ...}rip {... rip-configuration ...}}

You can include the statements at the following hierarchy levels:

[edit routing-instances routing-instance-name]
[edit logical-systems logical-system-name routing-instances routing-instance-name]

Configuring VPLS Routing Instances

To configure a VPLS routing instance, include the following statements:

interface interface-name;instance-type vpls;protocols {vpls {... vpls-configuration ...}}

You can include the statements at the following hierarchy levels:

[edit routing-instances routing-instance-name]
[edit logical-systems logical-system-name routing-instances routing-instance-name]

For more detailed information about configuring VPLS and Layer 2 VPN, see the Junos VPNs Configuration Guide and the Junos Feature Guide.