Inter-VRF Local Route Leaking

Inter-VRF local route leaking allows the leaking of routes from one VRF (the source VRF) to another VRF (the destination VRF) on the same router. Inter-VRF routes can exist in any VRF (including the default VRF) on the system. Routes can be leaked using the following methods:

Inter-VRF Local Route Leaking using BGP VPN

Inter-VRF local route leaking allows the user to export and import routes from one VRF to another on the same device. This is implemented by exporting routes from a VRF to the local VPN table using the route target extended community list and importing the same route target extended community lists from the local VPN table into the target VRF. VRF route leaking is supported on VPN-IPv4, VPN-IPv6, and EVPN types.

Figure 1. Inter-VRF Local Route Leaking using Local VPN Table

Accessing Shared Resources Across VPNs

To access shared resources across VPNs, all the routes from the shared services VRF must be leaked into each of the VPN VRFs, and customer routes must be leaked into the shared services VRF for return traffic. Accessing shared resources allows the route target of the shared services VRF to be exported into all customer VRFs, and allows the shared services VRF to import route targets from customers A and B. The following figure shows how to provide customers, corresponding to multiple VPN domains, access to services like DHCP available in the shared VRF.

Route leaking across the VRFs is supported on VPN-IPv4, VPN-IPv6, and EVPN.

Figure 2. Accessing Shared Resources Across VPNs

Configuring Inter-VRF Local Route Leaking

Inter-VRF local route leaking is configured using VPN-IPv4, VPN-IPv6, and EVPN. Prefixes can be exported and imported using any of the configured VPN types. Ensure that the same VPN type that is exported is used while importing.

Leaking unicast IPv4 or IPv6 prefixes is supported and achieved by exporting prefixes locally to the VPN table and importing locally from the VPN table into the target VRF on the same device as shown in the figure titled Inter-VRF Local Route Leaking using Local VPN Table using the route-target command.

Exporting or importing the routes to or from the EVPN table is accomplished with the following two methods:
  • Using vxlan for encapsulation
  • Using MPLS for encapsulation

Using vxlan for Encapsulation

To use vxlan encapsulation type, make sure that VRF to VNI mapping is present and the interface status for the vxlan interface is up. This is the default encapsulation type for EVPN.

Example

The configuration for vxlan encapsulation type is as follows:
switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# address-family evpn
switch(config-router-bgp-af)# neighbor default encapsulation vxlan next-hop-self source-interface Loopback0
switch(config)# hardware tcam
switch(config-hw-tcam)# system profile vxlan-routing
switch(config-hw-tcam)# interface vxlan1
switch(config-hw-tcam-if-Vx1)# vxlan source-interface Loopback0
switch(config-hw-tcam-if-Vx1)# vxlan udp-port 4789
switch(config-hw-tcam-if-Vx1)# vxlan vrf vrf-blue vni 20001
switch(config-hw-tcam-if-Vx1)# vxlan vrf vrf-red vni 10001

Using MPLS for Encapsulation

To use MPLS encapsulation type to export to the EVPN table, MPLS needs to be enabled globally on the device and the encapsulation method needs to be changed from default type, that is vxlan to MPLS under the EVPN address-family sub-mode.

Example
switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# address-family evpn
switch(config-router-bgp-af)# neighbor default encapsulation mpls next-hop-self source-interface Loopback0

Route-Distinguisher

Route-Distinguisher (RD) uniquely identifies routes from a particular VRF. Route-Distinguisher is configured for every VRF from which routes are exported from or imported into.

The following commands are used to configure Route-Distinguisher for a VRF.

Switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-services
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-services)# rd 1.0.0.1:1

switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-blue 
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# rd 2.0.0.1:2

Exporting Routes from a VRF

Use the route-target export command to export routes from a VRF to the local VPN or EVPN table using the route target extended community list.

Examples

  • These commands export routes from vrf-red to the local VPN table.
    switch(config)# service routing protocols model multi-agent
switch(config)# mpls ip
switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-red
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# rd 1:1
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export vpn-ipv4 10:10
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export vpn-ipv6 10:20
  • These commands export routes from vrf-red to the EVPN table.
    switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-red
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# rd 1:1
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export evpn 10:1

Importing Routes into a VRF

Use the route-target import command to import the exported routes from the local VPN or EVPN table to the target VRF using the route target extended community list.

Examples

  • These commands import routes from the VPN table to vrf-blue.
    switch(config)# service routing protocols model multi-agent
switch(config)# mpls ip
switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-blue
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# rd 2:2
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import vpn-ipv4 10:10
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import vpn-ipv6 10:20
  • These commands import routes from the EVPN table to vrf-blue.
    switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-blue
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# rd 2:2
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import evpn 10:1

Exporting and Importing Routes using Route Map

To manage VRF route leaking, control the export and import prefixes with route-map export or import commands. The route map is effective only if the VRF or the VPN paths are already candidates for export or import. The route-target export or import commandmust be configured first. Setting BGP attributes using route maps is effective only on the export end.

Note: Prefixes that are leaked are not re-exported to the VPN table from the target VRF.
Examples
  • These commands export routes from vrf-red to the local VPN table.
    switch(config)# service routing protocols model multi-agent
switch(config)# mpls ip
switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-red
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# rd 1:1
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export vpn-ipv4 10:10
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export vpn-ipv6 10:20
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export vpn-ipv4 route-map EXPORT_V4_ROUTES_T0_VPN_TABLE
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export vpn-ipv6 route-map EXPORT_V6_ROUTES_T0_VPN_TABLE
  • These commands export routes to from vrf-red to the EVPN table.
    switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-red
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# rd 1:1
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export evpn 10:1
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-red)# route-target export evpn route-map EXPORT_ROUTES_T0_EVPN_TABLE
  • These commands import routes from the VPN table to vrf-blue.
    switch(config)# service routing protocols model multi-agent
switch(config)# mpls ip
switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-blue
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# rd 1:1
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import vpn-ipv4 10:10
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import vpn-ipv6 10:20
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import vpn-ipv4 route-map IMPORT_V4_ROUTES_VPN_TABLE
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import vpn-ipv6 route-map IMPORT_V6_ROUTES_VPN_TABLE
  • These commands import routes from the EVPN table to vrf-blue.
    switch(config)# router bgp 65001
switch(config-router-bgp)# vrf vrf-blue
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# rd 2:2
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import evpn 10:1
switch(config-router-bgp-vrf-vrf-blue)# route-target import evpn route-map IMPORT_ROUTES_FROM_EVPN_TABLE

Inter-VRF Local Route Leaking using VRF-leak Agent

Inter-VRF local route leaking allows routes to leak from one VRF to another using a route map as a VRF-leak agent. VRFs are leaked based on the preferences assigned to each VRF.

Configuring Route Maps

To leak routes from one VRF to another using a route map, use the router general command to enter Router-General Configuration Mode, then enter the VRF submode for the destination VRF, and use the leak routes command to specify the source VRF and the route map to be used. Routes in the source VRF that match the policy in the route map will then be considered for leaking into the configuration-mode VRF. If two or more policies specify leaking the same prefix to the same destination VRF, the route with a higher (post-set-clause) distance and preference is chosen.

Example

These commands configure a route map to leak routes from VRF1 to VRF2 using route map RM1.
switch(config)# router general
switch(config-router-general)# vrf VRF2
switch(config-router-general-vrf-VRF2)# leak routes source-vrf VRF1 subscribe-policy RM1
switch(config-router-general-vrf-VRF2)#