Timers

Scenario to verify BGP neighbor timers configuration and functionality. BGP uses three key timers to control session behavior:

  • holdtime: Time to wait without receiving keepalives before declaring the neighbor down (default 180s).

  • keepalive: Interval between sending keepalive messages (default holdtime/3, typically 60s).

  • connect: Interval between connection retry attempts after a failure (default 120s).

Custom timers optimize convergence speed (lower values) or reduce overhead (higher values). This test verifies that configured timer values are correctly applied and visible in BGP neighbor information.

Test iBGP - Neighbor holdtime timer

Description

Test BGP neighbor holdtime timer configuration. DUT0 configures a custom holdtime value (30s) for the neighbor. The holdtime specifies how long to wait without receiving keepalive before declaring the neighbor down.

Scenario

Step 1: Set the following configuration in DUT0 :

set interfaces ethernet eth0 address 10.10.0.100/24
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-address 10.10.0.200
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-as 20
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer timers holdtime 30
set system login user admin authentication encrypted-password '$6$GSjsCj8gHLv$/VcqU6FLi6CT2Oxn0MJQ2C2tqnRDrYKNF8HIYWJp68nvXvPdFccDsT04.WtigUONbKYrgKg8d6rEs8PjljMkH0'

Step 2: Set the following configuration in DUT1 :

set interfaces ethernet eth0 address 10.10.0.200/24
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-address 10.10.0.100
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-as 20
set protocols bgp 20 redistribute static
set protocols static route 192.168.10.0/24 blackhole
set system login user admin authentication encrypted-password '$6$GSjsCj8gHLv$/VcqU6FLi6CT2Oxn0MJQ2C2tqnRDrYKNF8HIYWJp68nvXvPdFccDsT04.WtigUONbKYrgKg8d6rEs8PjljMkH0'

Attention

Verify BGP session is established between DUT0 and DUT1.

Step 3: Run command protocols bgp show ip summary at DUT0 and check if output matches the following regular expressions:

10.10.0.200.*Established
Show output
IPv4 Unicast Summary:
BGP router identifier 10.10.0.100, local AS number 20 VRF default vrf-id 0
BGP table version 1
RIB entries 1, using 128 bytes of memory
Peers 1, using 24 KiB of memory

Neighbor        LocalAddr       V         AS   MsgRcvd   MsgSent   TblVer  InQ OutQ  Up/Down        State   PfxRcd   PfxSnt Desc
10.10.0.200     10.10.0.100     4         20         4         4        1    0    0 00:00:01  Established        1        0 FRRouting/10.4.1

Total number of neighbors 1

Attention

Verify that DUT0 has the configured holdtime timer value in BGP neighbor info.

Step 4: Run command protocols bgp show ip neighbors neighbor peer at DUT0 and check if output matches the following regular expressions:

hold time is 30 seconds
Show output
BGP neighbor is 10.10.0.200, remote AS 20, local AS 20, internal link
  Local Role: undefined
  Remote Role: undefined
Hostname: osdx
  BGP version 4, remote router ID 10.10.0.200, local router ID 10.10.0.100
  BGP state = Established, up for 00:00:01
  Last read 00:00:00, Last write 00:00:00
  Hold time is 30 seconds, keepalive interval is 10 seconds
  Configured hold time is 30 seconds, keepalive interval is 10 seconds
  Configured tcp-mss is 0, synced tcp-mss is 1448
  Configured conditional advertisements interval is 60 seconds
  Neighbor capabilities:
    4 Byte AS: advertised and received
    AddPath:
      IPv4 Unicast: RX advertised and received
    Paths-Limit:
      IPv4 Unicast: advertised (0) and received (0)
    Long-lived Graceful Restart: advertised and received
      Address families by peer:
    Route refresh: advertised and received
    Enhanced Route Refresh: advertised and received
    Address Family IPv4 Unicast: advertised and received
    Hostname Capability: advertised (name: osdx,domain name: n/a) received (name: osdx,domain name: n/a)
    Version Capability: advertised software version (FRRouting/10.4.1) received software version (FRRouting/10.4.1)
    Link-Local Next Hop Capability: not advertised not received
    Graceful Restart Capability: advertised and received
      Remote Restart timer is 120 seconds
      Address families by peer:
        none
  Graceful restart information:
    End-of-RIB send: IPv4 Unicast
    End-of-RIB received: IPv4 Unicast
    Local GR Mode: Helper*
    Remote GR Mode: Helper
    R bit: True
    N bit: True
    Timers:
      Configured Restart Time(sec): 120
      Received Restart Time(sec): 120
      Configured LLGR Stale Path Time(sec): 0
    IPv4 Unicast:
      F bit: False
      End-of-RIB sent: Yes
      End-of-RIB sent after update: Yes
      End-of-RIB received: Yes
      Timers:
        Configured Stale Path Time(sec): 360
        LLGR Stale Path Time(sec): 0
  Message statistics:
    Inq depth is 0
    Outq depth is 0
                         Sent       Rcvd
    Opens:                  2          1
    Notifications:          0          0
    Updates:                1          2
    Keepalives:             1          1
    Route Refresh:          0          0
    Capability:             0          0
    Total:                  4          4

  Prefix statistics:
    Inbound filtered: 0
    AS-PATH loop: 0
    Originator loop: 0
    Cluster loop: 0
    Invalid next-hop: 0
    Withdrawn: 0
    Attributes discarded: 0

  Minimum time between advertisement runs is 0 seconds

 For address family: IPv4 Unicast
  Update group 1, subgroup 1
  Packet Queue length 0
  Community attribute sent to this neighbor(all)
  1 accepted, 0 sent prefixes

  Connections established 1; dropped 0
  Last reset never
  Internal BGP neighbor may be up to 255 hops away.
Local host: 10.10.0.100, Local port: 179
Foreign host: 10.10.0.200, Foreign port: 56048
Nexthop: 10.10.0.100
Nexthop global: fe80::dcad:beff:feef:6c00
Nexthop local: fe80::dcad:beff:feef:6c00
BGP connection: shared network
BGP Connect Retry Timer in Seconds: 30
Estimated round trip time: 0 ms
Read thread: on  Write thread: on  FD used: 25

Test iBGP - Neighbor keepalive timer

Description

Test BGP neighbor keepalive timer configuration. DUT0 configures custom keepalive (10s) and holdtime (30s) values for the neighbor. The keepalive timer specifies the interval at which keepalive messages are sent.

Scenario

Note

keepalive requires holdtime to be configured.

Step 1: Set the following configuration in DUT0 :

set interfaces ethernet eth0 address 10.10.0.100/24
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-address 10.10.0.200
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-as 20
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer timers holdtime 30
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer timers keepalive 10
set system login user admin authentication encrypted-password '$6$GSjsCj8gHLv$/VcqU6FLi6CT2Oxn0MJQ2C2tqnRDrYKNF8HIYWJp68nvXvPdFccDsT04.WtigUONbKYrgKg8d6rEs8PjljMkH0'

Step 2: Set the following configuration in DUT1 :

set interfaces ethernet eth0 address 10.10.0.200/24
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-address 10.10.0.100
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-as 20
set protocols bgp 20 redistribute static
set protocols static route 192.168.10.0/24 blackhole
set system login user admin authentication encrypted-password '$6$GSjsCj8gHLv$/VcqU6FLi6CT2Oxn0MJQ2C2tqnRDrYKNF8HIYWJp68nvXvPdFccDsT04.WtigUONbKYrgKg8d6rEs8PjljMkH0'

Attention

Verify BGP session is established between DUT0 and DUT1.

Step 3: Run command protocols bgp show ip summary at DUT0 and check if output matches the following regular expressions:

10.10.0.200.*Established
Show output
IPv4 Unicast Summary:
BGP router identifier 10.10.0.100, local AS number 20 VRF default vrf-id 0
BGP table version 1
RIB entries 1, using 128 bytes of memory
Peers 1, using 24 KiB of memory

Neighbor        LocalAddr       V         AS   MsgRcvd   MsgSent   TblVer  InQ OutQ  Up/Down        State   PfxRcd   PfxSnt Desc
10.10.0.200     10.10.0.100     4         20         4         4        1    0    0 00:00:01  Established        1        0 FRRouting/10.4.1

Total number of neighbors 1

Attention

Verify that DUT0 has the configured keepalive and holdtime timer values in BGP neighbor info.

Step 4: Run command protocols bgp show ip neighbors neighbor peer at DUT0 and check if output matches the following regular expressions:

hold time is 30 seconds[\s\S]+keepalive interval is 10 seconds
Show output
BGP neighbor is 10.10.0.200, remote AS 20, local AS 20, internal link
  Local Role: undefined
  Remote Role: undefined
Hostname: osdx
  BGP version 4, remote router ID 10.10.0.200, local router ID 10.10.0.100
  BGP state = Established, up for 00:00:01
  Last read 00:00:00, Last write 00:00:00
  Hold time is 30 seconds, keepalive interval is 10 seconds
  Configured hold time is 30 seconds, keepalive interval is 10 seconds
  Configured tcp-mss is 0, synced tcp-mss is 1448
  Configured conditional advertisements interval is 60 seconds
  Neighbor capabilities:
    4 Byte AS: advertised and received
    AddPath:
      IPv4 Unicast: RX advertised and received
    Paths-Limit:
      IPv4 Unicast: advertised (0) and received (0)
    Long-lived Graceful Restart: advertised and received
      Address families by peer:
    Route refresh: advertised and received
    Enhanced Route Refresh: advertised and received
    Address Family IPv4 Unicast: advertised and received
    Hostname Capability: advertised (name: osdx,domain name: n/a) received (name: osdx,domain name: n/a)
    Version Capability: advertised software version (FRRouting/10.4.1) received software version (FRRouting/10.4.1)
    Link-Local Next Hop Capability: not advertised not received
    Graceful Restart Capability: advertised and received
      Remote Restart timer is 120 seconds
      Address families by peer:
        none
  Graceful restart information:
    End-of-RIB send: IPv4 Unicast
    End-of-RIB received: IPv4 Unicast
    Local GR Mode: Helper*
    Remote GR Mode: Helper
    R bit: True
    N bit: True
    Timers:
      Configured Restart Time(sec): 120
      Received Restart Time(sec): 120
      Configured LLGR Stale Path Time(sec): 0
    IPv4 Unicast:
      F bit: False
      End-of-RIB sent: Yes
      End-of-RIB sent after update: Yes
      End-of-RIB received: Yes
      Timers:
        Configured Stale Path Time(sec): 360
        LLGR Stale Path Time(sec): 0
  Message statistics:
    Inq depth is 0
    Outq depth is 0
                         Sent       Rcvd
    Opens:                  2          1
    Notifications:          0          0
    Updates:                1          2
    Keepalives:             1          1
    Route Refresh:          0          0
    Capability:             0          0
    Total:                  4          4

  Prefix statistics:
    Inbound filtered: 0
    AS-PATH loop: 0
    Originator loop: 0
    Cluster loop: 0
    Invalid next-hop: 0
    Withdrawn: 0
    Attributes discarded: 0

  Minimum time between advertisement runs is 0 seconds

 For address family: IPv4 Unicast
  Update group 1, subgroup 1
  Packet Queue length 0
  Community attribute sent to this neighbor(all)
  1 accepted, 0 sent prefixes

  Connections established 1; dropped 0
  Last reset never
  Internal BGP neighbor may be up to 255 hops away.
Local host: 10.10.0.100, Local port: 179
Foreign host: 10.10.0.200, Foreign port: 52896
Nexthop: 10.10.0.100
Nexthop global: fe80::dcad:beff:feef:6c00
Nexthop local: fe80::dcad:beff:feef:6c00
BGP connection: shared network
BGP Connect Retry Timer in Seconds: 30
Estimated round trip time: 0 ms
Read thread: on  Write thread: on  FD used: 25

Test iBGP - Neighbor connect timer

Description

Test BGP neighbor connect timer configuration. DUT0 configures a custom connect timer value (15s) for the neighbor. The connect timer specifies the interval between connection retry attempts.

Scenario

Note

connect requires keepalive and holdtime to be configured.

Step 1: Set the following configuration in DUT0 :

set interfaces ethernet eth0 address 10.10.0.100/24
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-address 10.10.0.200
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-as 20
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer timers connect 15
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer timers holdtime 30
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer timers keepalive 10
set system login user admin authentication encrypted-password '$6$GSjsCj8gHLv$/VcqU6FLi6CT2Oxn0MJQ2C2tqnRDrYKNF8HIYWJp68nvXvPdFccDsT04.WtigUONbKYrgKg8d6rEs8PjljMkH0'

Step 2: Set the following configuration in DUT1 :

set interfaces ethernet eth0 address 10.10.0.200/24
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-address 10.10.0.100
set protocols bgp 20 neighbor peer remote-as 20
set protocols bgp 20 redistribute static
set protocols static route 192.168.10.0/24 blackhole
set system login user admin authentication encrypted-password '$6$GSjsCj8gHLv$/VcqU6FLi6CT2Oxn0MJQ2C2tqnRDrYKNF8HIYWJp68nvXvPdFccDsT04.WtigUONbKYrgKg8d6rEs8PjljMkH0'

Attention

Verify BGP session is established between DUT0 and DUT1.

Step 3: Run command protocols bgp show ip summary at DUT0 and check if output matches the following regular expressions:

10.10.0.200.*Established
Show output
IPv4 Unicast Summary:
BGP router identifier 10.10.0.100, local AS number 20 VRF default vrf-id 0
BGP table version 1
RIB entries 1, using 128 bytes of memory
Peers 1, using 24 KiB of memory

Neighbor        LocalAddr       V         AS   MsgRcvd   MsgSent   TblVer  InQ OutQ  Up/Down        State   PfxRcd   PfxSnt Desc
10.10.0.200     10.10.0.100     4         20         4         4        1    0    0 00:00:02  Established        1        0 FRRouting/10.4.1

Total number of neighbors 1

Attention

Verify that DUT0 has all configured timer values in BGP neighbor info.

Step 4: Run command protocols bgp show ip neighbors neighbor peer at DUT0 and check if output matches the following regular expressions:

hold time is 30 seconds[\s\S]+keepalive interval is 10 seconds[\s\S]+BGP Connect Retry Timer in Seconds: 15
Show output
BGP neighbor is 10.10.0.200, remote AS 20, local AS 20, internal link
  Local Role: undefined
  Remote Role: undefined
Hostname: osdx
  BGP version 4, remote router ID 10.10.0.200, local router ID 10.10.0.100
  BGP state = Established, up for 00:00:02
  Last read 00:00:01, Last write 00:00:01
  Hold time is 30 seconds, keepalive interval is 10 seconds
  Configured hold time is 30 seconds, keepalive interval is 10 seconds
  Configured tcp-mss is 0, synced tcp-mss is 1448
  Configured conditional advertisements interval is 60 seconds
  Neighbor capabilities:
    4 Byte AS: advertised and received
    AddPath:
      IPv4 Unicast: RX advertised and received
    Paths-Limit:
      IPv4 Unicast: advertised (0) and received (0)
    Long-lived Graceful Restart: advertised and received
      Address families by peer:
    Route refresh: advertised and received
    Enhanced Route Refresh: advertised and received
    Address Family IPv4 Unicast: advertised and received
    Hostname Capability: advertised (name: osdx,domain name: n/a) received (name: osdx,domain name: n/a)
    Version Capability: advertised software version (FRRouting/10.4.1) received software version (FRRouting/10.4.1)
    Link-Local Next Hop Capability: not advertised not received
    Graceful Restart Capability: advertised and received
      Remote Restart timer is 120 seconds
      Address families by peer:
        none
  Graceful restart information:
    End-of-RIB send: IPv4 Unicast
    End-of-RIB received: IPv4 Unicast
    Local GR Mode: Helper*
    Remote GR Mode: Helper
    R bit: True
    N bit: True
    Timers:
      Configured Restart Time(sec): 120
      Received Restart Time(sec): 120
      Configured LLGR Stale Path Time(sec): 0
    IPv4 Unicast:
      F bit: False
      End-of-RIB sent: Yes
      End-of-RIB sent after update: Yes
      End-of-RIB received: Yes
      Timers:
        Configured Stale Path Time(sec): 360
        LLGR Stale Path Time(sec): 0
  Message statistics:
    Inq depth is 0
    Outq depth is 0
                         Sent       Rcvd
    Opens:                  2          1
    Notifications:          0          0
    Updates:                1          2
    Keepalives:             1          1
    Route Refresh:          0          0
    Capability:             0          0
    Total:                  4          4

  Prefix statistics:
    Inbound filtered: 0
    AS-PATH loop: 0
    Originator loop: 0
    Cluster loop: 0
    Invalid next-hop: 0
    Withdrawn: 0
    Attributes discarded: 0

  Minimum time between advertisement runs is 0 seconds

 For address family: IPv4 Unicast
  Update group 1, subgroup 1
  Packet Queue length 0
  Community attribute sent to this neighbor(all)
  1 accepted, 0 sent prefixes

  Connections established 1; dropped 0
  Last reset never
  Internal BGP neighbor may be up to 255 hops away.
Local host: 10.10.0.100, Local port: 179
Foreign host: 10.10.0.200, Foreign port: 40914
Nexthop: 10.10.0.100
Nexthop global: fe80::dcad:beff:feef:6c00
Nexthop local: fe80::dcad:beff:feef:6c00
BGP connection: shared network
BGP Connect Retry Timer in Seconds: 15
Estimated round trip time: 0 ms
Read thread: on  Write thread: on  FD used: 25