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ExaBGP Wiki

Welcome to the comprehensive ExaBGP documentation. This wiki covers everything from beginner setup to advanced features and production deployments.

Important Notice

ExaBGP does NOT manipulate the RIB (Routing Information Base) or FIB (Forwarding Information Base).

ExaBGP is a pure BGP protocol implementation that:

• Implements the BGP-4 protocol and modern extensions
• Provides JSON/text API for external process communication
• Maintains internal routing information
• Does NOT install routes into the kernel routing table
• Does NOT modify forwarding tables

If you need FIB manipulation, consider alternatives like BIRD, FRRouting, or Quagga.

Version Compatibility

ExaBGP has different major versions with important differences:

• 4.x (Recommended): Current stable release. All documentation examples work as-is.
• 5.x/main (Development): Adds ACK feature. Requires configuration changes for 4.x code. See Version Differences.
• 3.x (Deprecated): No longer maintained. Migration guide available.

New users: Start with ExaBGP 4.x unless you specifically need 5.x features.

Quick Navigation

New to ExaBGP?

• 5-Minute Quick Start - Get your first BGP session running
• Installation Guide - Detailed installation instructions
• First BGP Session - Step-by-step walkthrough with version differences
• Common Pitfalls - Avoid frequent mistakes

Configuration

• Configuration Syntax - File format and syntax
• Neighbor Configuration - Neighbor settings
• Templates & Inheritance - Template system
• Directives Reference - A-Z directive listing

API Documentation

• API Overview - API concepts, architecture, and ACK feature
• Text API Reference - Text format complete reference
• JSON API Reference - JSON format complete reference
• API Commands - All commands documented
• Writing API Programs - Best practices for 4.x and 5.x
• Error Handling - API error handling
• Production Best Practices - Production deployment

Address Families

Basic Address Families

• IPv4 Unicast - IPv4 unicast routing
• IPv6 Unicast - IPv6 unicast routing

FlowSpec

• FlowSpec Overview - Introduction to FlowSpec
• Match Conditions - All match types
• Actions Reference - All actions

L3VPN

• L3VPN Overview - L3VPN/MPLS VPN introduction

EVPN

• EVPN Overview - EVPN introduction and route types

BGP-LS

• BGP-LS Overview - Link-State introduction and topology collection

Other Address Families

• VPLS - VPLS/L2VPN guide
• IPv4 Multicast - IPv4 multicast routing
• IPv6 Multicast - IPv6 multicast routing
• RT Constraint - Route Target filtering

Use Cases

• DDoS Mitigation - Complete DDoS walkthrough with FlowSpec
• Anycast Management - Anycast patterns with health checks
• Service High Availability - HA with health checks
• Load Balancing - BGP-based load balancing patterns
• Traffic Engineering - Traffic engineering patterns
• SDN Integration - SDN controller integration

Features

Capabilities

• ADD-PATH - Multi-path advertisement (RFC 7911)
• Graceful Restart - Graceful restart implementation (RFC 4724)
• Route Refresh - Route refresh capability (RFC 2918)

Communities

• Communities - Standard, Extended, and Large Communities (RFC 1997, 4360, 8092)

Attributes & Other

• Segment Routing - SRv6 and SR-MPLS support (RFC 9514)

Tools

• Healthcheck Module - Production health check guide ⭐
• Configuration Examples - Health check configuration examples

Operations

• Debugging - Complete debugging and troubleshooting guide
• Monitoring - Prometheus and Grafana integration
• Performance Tuning - Optimization guide
• Security Hardening - Production security best practices
• Log Analysis - Log interpretation and analysis

Integration

• Docker - Docker deployment best practices
• Kubernetes - K8s deployment patterns and DaemonSets
• Prometheus - Metrics and monitoring setup
• Cloud Platforms - AWS, Azure, GCP integration

Reference

• Architecture - ExaBGP architecture deep-dive
• Command Reference - Complete command reference
• Attribute Reference - All BGP attributes
• Examples Index - Browse 98 configuration examples
• Glossary - Technical terms and definitions

Migration

• From 3.4 to 4.x - 3.4 to 4.x migration guide
• Version Differences - Comprehensive 3.x, 4.x, 5.x comparison

External Resources

• GitHub Repository - Source code
• Issue Tracker - Report bugs
• Slack Community - Live chat
• Twitter - Updates and news
• Vincent Bernat's Blog - Excellent production health check patterns

Configuration Examples

Browse 98 configuration examples organized by:

• User experience level (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced)
• Use case (DDoS/Anycast/VPN/etc)
• Feature (FlowSpec/EVPN/BGP-LS/etc)
• Protocol family (IPv4/IPv6/VPN/etc)

About This Documentation

This documentation is organized to help users at all levels:

• Beginners: Start with Getting Started
• Operators: Focus on Use Cases and Operations
• Developers: Explore API and Development sections
• Reference: Use the A-Z indices for quick lookups

Every document includes:

• Clear table of contents
• Practical examples from the 98 configuration files
• Cross-references to related docs
• Common errors and solutions
• Version compatibility notes (4.x vs 5.x)

RFC Compliance

ExaBGP implements 55+ RFCs including:

• Core BGP-4 (RFC 4271) - Protocol only, no RIB/FIB manipulation
• Multiprotocol BGP (RFC 4760) - Multiple address families
• FlowSpec (RFC 5575) - Traffic filtering
• EVPN (RFC 7432) - Ethernet VPN
• BGP-LS (RFC 7752) - Link State distribution
• SRv6 (RFC 9514) - Segment Routing over IPv6
• And many more...

See RFC Information for the complete list.

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👻 Ghost written by Claude (Anthropic AI)