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Routing Configuration on Session Smart Routers

Follow these steps to configure routing protocols including BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), BidAlirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) protocol, and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF).

Create a BGP Group

The BGP Neighbors configuration is where you define the other BGP routers that your WAN edge device is going to talk with. Follow these steps to configure a BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) group. Specify the policies and protocols, and add the neighbors to include in the group.

Before You Begin:

To create a BGP group:

  1. Navigate to your WAN Edge template, hub profile, or standalone WAN Edge device.
  2. In the BGP section, click Add BGP Groups.
  3. In the Add BGP Group configuration panel, enter the settings.

    Refer to the following descriptions of the general settings (in the main Add BGP Group panel) and additional settings that are hidden until you click specific links and buttons.

    Table 1: Settings for BGP Group—Major Fields
    Field Description
    Name Enter a unique, descriptive name to identify this group. You can enter letters, numbers, underscores, or dashes. The name must start and end with a letter or number. Maximum length: 32 characters.
    Peering Network

    Peering network is the network where you'll establish your BGP neighbor.

    Select the appropriate WAN, LAN, or SEC tunnel.
    Remove Private AS Select this check box if you want the WAN Edge device to remove private AS numbers from an AS path. When a router sends route information to a BGP neighbor in a different AS, the private numbers will not appear. This setting is useful because some ISPs automatically reject routes that contain private AS numbers.
    BFD

    The Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) protocol is a simple hello mechanism that detects failures or faults between network forwarding elements that share a link.

    Hello packets are sent at a specified, regular interval. If it doesn't get a reply within the expected time period, it considers this as a neighbor failure. Enabling BFD can be useful because the BFD timers are shorter, providing faster failure detection than with the default settings for BGP.
    Type Select Internal unless you have an existing External BGP (EBGP) network; in that case, select External.
    Local AS

    Enter your WAN edge device's AS number. It's the default autonomous system number for when the Session Smart Router advertises BGP. You can configure your Session Smart Router to be in one AS for one neighbor, and another AS for different neighbors.
    Graceful Restart Time Graceful restart allows a routing device to inform its adjacent neighbors when it is restarting. Enter a value from 1 to 495 seconds.
    Authentication Key For added security, you can add an MD5 password. Neighbors in this group will use this password to verify the authenticity of packets sent from this system.
    Export or Import Policy Select an existing routing policy or click the Create Policy link below the drop-down menu. If you click the create button, then the Add Routing Policy panel appears. For help with policy settings, see Configure a Routing Policy.
    Neighbors

    In the Neighbors section of the Add BGP panel, you manage the devices that are included in this BGP group. These are the other BGP routers the session smart router is going to talk with.

    You can edit a neighbor by clicking it.

    For new entries, click Add Neighbor. Enter the settings, and click the check mark at the top of the Neighbors section.

    For help, see the Table 2 table.
    Table 2: Settings for Neighbors
    Field Description
    Enabled or Disabled Administratively enable or disable a BGP neighbor.
    IP Address The IP address of the device, or a variable representing the address.
    Neighbor AS Enter the autonomous system number for this neighbor device.
    Multihop TTL

    Enter the number of hops that BGP packets can traverse to reach a remote BGP peer. This setting is necessary if the peers are separated by non-BGP routers.

    Valid entries: 0 (no multihopping) to 64
    Export or Import Policy Select a routing policy from the drop-down menu, or click the Create Policy link below the menu. If you click the create button, then the Add Routing Policy panel appears. For help with policy settings, see Configure a Routing Policy.
    Note:

    After entering the required details for a neighbor, click the check mark in the Add Neighbor title bar. (The check mark appears only after the required information is entered).

    User interface element labeled Neighbors with Add Neighbor option and blue checkmark for confirmation and X for cancel.

Configure OSPF in a WAN Edge Template

Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a link-state routing protocol used in IP networks to determine the best path for forwarding IP packets. OSPF divides a network into areas to improve scalability and control the flow of routing information. Follow these steps to configure OSPF for your WAN Edge device.

Before You Begin: Create your WAN Edge template, hub profile, or standalone device configuration. For help, see SSR and WAN Assurance Configuration Overview.

To configure OSPF:

  1. Navigate to your WAN Edge template, hub profile, or standalone WAN Edge device.
  2. In the Routing section, from the OSPF Areas tile, click Add OSPF Area.
  3. In the Add OSPF Area window, add the following information:
    Table 3: Add OSPF Area Options

    Field

    Description

    Area

    This number indicates the identification area that your OSPF network or WAN edge device belongs to.

    Type

    This is the OSPF Area type. Select one of the following options:

    • Default (Area 0) — This represents the core of an OSPF network.
    • Stub — Using this OSPF area type blocks external routes.
    • Not So Stubby Area (NSSA) — Using this OSPF area type allows redistribution of some external routes and not others.

    For a more in depth explanation of the different area types, see Configuring OSPF Areas.
    Error message At least one network is required displayed in red. Form includes Area field with default value 0 marked as required and radio buttons Default selected, Stub, NSSA for network type configuration.
  4. Click Add OSPF Network, then, in the Add OSPF Network section of the window, enter the following information:
    Table 4: Add OSPF Network Options

    Field

    Description

    Network

    This is the name of your OSPF network.

    Note:

    Select the Passive check box if you do not want OSPF to send Hello packets on an interface. This prevents the interface from forming unnecessary neighbor relationships, which reduces overhead on routers and ensures that only the crucial connections are being made.

    Interface Type

    • Broadcast — The default interface type for an OSPF Ethernet interface.

    • p2p (point to point) —A connection between two OSPF routers.

    • p2mp (SRX Only)—A connection between multiple OSPF routers.

    BFD Interval

    This value determines how frequently (in milliseconds) BFD packets will be sent to BFD peer.

    Metric

    This is the cost metric used by OSPF to determine the best path between two OSPF-enabled devices.

    Hello Interval

    This interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, before the routing device sends a hello packet out an interface. By default, the routing device sends Hello packets every 10 seconds.

    Dead Interval This interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, that the routing device waits before declaring a neighboring routing device as unavailable. By default, the routing device waits 40 seconds (four times the Hello interval).
    Auth Type

    • None — Selecting this means you are selecting no authentication to be done.

    • md5 (message-digest algorithm) —A hashing algorithm that uses a one-way cryptographic function, which takes a message of any length and returns a fixed-length output value.

    • password—Requires a password for authentication.
    Export or Import

    (SRX Only)

    		 Select an existing routing policy or click the Create Policy link below the drop-down menu. If you click the create button, then the Add Routing Policy panel appears. For help with policy settings, see Configure a Routing Policy.
  5. When you've entered in the appropriate information, click the check mark at the top of the Add OSPF Network section.

    Configuration interface for setting up OSPF network with Area set to 0, Default area type, OSPFCustom1 network being added. Passive unchecked, Interface Type p2p, BFD Interval 1000 ms, Hello Interval 10 seconds, Dead Interval 40 seconds, Auth Type md5 with key 247 and auth value 877241g00. Red error message states at least one network is required. Add and Cancel buttons visible below.

  6. Click Add at the bottom of the window. You will now see your OSPF area listed in the OSPF Areas tile.
  7. Now that you've created your OSPF area, you need to enable it. In the OSPF Configuration tile, select the Enabled check box. This causes the Enable OSPF Areas button to appear.
  8. Click Enable OSPF Areas.
    OSPF configuration interface showing Areas list with Area 0 and option to add areas, OSPF enabled checkbox checked, and button to apply areas.
  9. The Enable OSPF Area window appears. Select the Area you just created. For SRX Series Firewalls, select the No Summary checkbox if you do not want your SRX to advertise summary routes, then click Add at the bottom of the window.

Enable OSPF Area dialog with Area dropdown set to 0, No Summary checkbox, and Add and Cancel buttons.

You will see your area listed in the OSPF CONFIGURATION tile.

OSPF configuration interface showing OSPF enabled with one area labeled 0. No Summary is false, allowing summary routes. Additional areas can be enabled.

Monitor BGP Status

To monitor BGP neighbor status, go to WAN Edges > WAN Edge Insights, and then scroll down to the BGP Summary section.

Figure 1: BGP Neighbor Information Network monitoring dashboard showing traffic overview graph with port errors and timestamps, BGP summary table with neighbor status and metrics, and WAN edge device performance graphs for CPU and memory usage.