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Route Filtering Demystified

17 OSPF
Posted by Petr Lapukhov, 4xCCIE/CCDE in IGP

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Intro
There was a lot of blogging related to OSPF topics recently. In this post, I would like to clarify some common
misunderstandings that many people have about OSPF route filtering. I have seen so many folks wrongfully
understanding the underlying behavior so its about time to make the things clear.

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To begin with, avoid using the term LSA filtering with OSPF. You cannot really filter LSAs with the exception of
one special case you filter the network reachability information. To understand this in depth, start by recalling
that OSPF deals with the following data structures:
1) Topological information. Outlines the connections in the graph describing the routers and the links in the
network. This is what OSPF LSAs are about they contain information about attached links. Think of LSAs as the
objects that correspond to the edges of the graph. LSAs are stored in the LSBD link state database. No real
routes are stored in the LSDB, since this is the database for topological objects. However, routing or network
reachability information is attached to the LSAs.
2) Network Reachability information. Contains the actual IP subnets. This information is associated with the
network graph edges and you may think of it as leaves connected to the edges. Routing information does NOT
describe any connectivity, just the prefix associated with the link. This information is contained in the LSAs, but as
an attribute, and is used to populate the routing table i.e. the RIB.
3) Main routing table. This is the routers RIB. This structure is used when OSPF generates new summary or
external LSAs as we see later.
4) Routers routing table. This structure is unique to OSPF, and contains the IP addresses to reach the border
routers ASBRs and ABRs. It is used when calculating the respective inter-area routes, by adding the router path
cost to the respective prefix advertised by this router. You may display the contents of this data structure by using
the command show ip ospf border-routers.

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1) Routers establish adjacencies to flood topological information. The flooding process in OSPF is pretty
complicated, and ensures the LSAs are delivered to all routers in a single area. As mentioned, topological

Available

information is carried in the form of LSAs and cannot be filtered, which it is essential to the OSPF algorithm. The
only thing that limits LSA propagation is the flooding domain associated with the particular LSA type. Using the
topological information learned, all routers within an area build the consistent graph of the network connections.
2) After all routers have a consistent topology view, they may calculate intra-area paths using the SPF algorithm
and finally associate the network reachability information with the paths. This is where the secondary, leaf-level
information comes in play. The leaves are attached to the paths and the routing table entries are calculated. So
keep this in mind first LSA flooding, then LSDB population, then SPF computations, and finally the RIB
population.
3) After the intra-area paths have been calculated, inter-area routes are computed based on type-3/4 LSAs
contents for other area information summarization. This process uses a quick and simple distance-vector
computation algorithm, without the need for SPF computations. The routers routing table is used extensively
during this process.

When you can REALLY filter LSAs

Now, back to the case of LSA filtering. Some may recall the commands ip ospf database-filter all out or
neighbor <IP> database-filter all out. Good point, but what it does is prevent the OSPF process from sending
any LSAs out of the particular adjacencies. This could be done only if youre sure that the LSAs will be flooded to
all routers in the area by some other means. This is the special case Ive been talking about previously. The
purpose of this feature is to compensate for the absence of mesh-groups and limit the amount of flooding on
NBMA subnets shared by many routers.

Overview of OSPF route-filtering

All right, so if you cannot really filter LSAs, how do you perform route filtering with OSPF? Using the term route
filtering is the correct way of saying LSA filtering. You may apply route filtering to OSPF using the following two
general methods:
1) Preventing optimal paths generated by OSPF from entering the RIB. This is what you can do by applying the
command distribute-list in under the OSPF process. This affects routes installed in the RIB. There is one special
extension of this method to filtering the FA (forwarding address) to block external OSPF routes.
2) Affecting the LSA generation process, by changing the source information used to generate the LSAs. There
is a bunch of ways to do this, each specific to a particular LSA type. To understand this completely, we need to
recall all the basic LSA types and their flooding scopes.

How OSPF generates different LSA types

LSA type 1. Describes an attached circuit, different link types. This is the fundamental building block of the
topology graph. This LSA is flooded within the single area and never gets past the ABRs. The sources of
information for LSA type-1 are the directly connected links. If you want to remove the network reachability
information, just remove the link
LSA type 2. Generated only on the shared networks (BROADCAST/NON-BROADCAST network types) to
minimize the amount of topological information generated. Imagine that you have 10 routers on a shared Ethernet
segment. Normally, to fully describe the topology, every router would need to generate an LSA describing its
connection to all other 9 routers. This would result in 90 LSAs. Using LSA type-2 and the Designated Router
concept, every router needs to declare a connection to the DR, and the DR will generate a Type 2 LSA describing
all routers on the segment (the bunch). In our example, this will result in 11 LSAs total. This LSA does not carry
any real network reachability information with the exception of the netmask and the list of routers on the
segment. It is used along with information from type 1 LSAs to describe the shared network. I like to think of it as a
glue LSA. The flooding domain is one area as flooding stops at ABRs.
LSA type 3. Now this type is a bit tricky and brings in a lot of confusion. It is generated by an ABR to tell the
routers in one area about the network in another area. Essentially, the router pretends like all the foreign
networks are attached to it. From a topological perspective, this is true, because areas never know anything about
another areas topology this information is lost when crossing the area boundaries. How are Type 3 LSAs
generated? First of all, keep in mind that OSPF generates those by walking the main routing table, not the
LSDB. This is per RFC 2328 clause 12.4.3 and in full accordance with distance-vector protocol behavior. Every
route in the table has additional OSPF information associated with it, such as area number, route-type (intra-area,
inter-area, external) next hop, and so on.
1) The ABR goes over the network reachability information in the RIB associated with intra-are routes for the
particular area X and summarizes them honoring the area X range command settings. This results in Type-3
LSAs being generated and advertised into all other areas. Pay attention to the following important things:
1.1) Only intra-area routes are summarized. You cannot summarize inter-ara routes installed by processing type-3
LSAs learned from Area 0. Those will generate new type-3 LSAs in the ABR and will propagated them into nonbackbone areas unmodified.
1.2) The intra-area routes are summarized PRIOR to applying the distribute-list filter and blocking the routes
from entering the RIB. This is needed to allow for generation of a summary route, even if you dont want the
specific prefixes in the local RIB and calculate the correct metric if needed. Thus, even though OSPF walks over
the RIB to gather the intra-area prefixes for summarization, it does so BEFORE applying the filter. The ultimate
goal is making summarization the highest priority task, in order to increase network stability.
1.3) The OSPF metric for the summarized route is taken as the minimal among all intra-area routes. To ensure
better routing stability, it is usually recommended setting the metric manually, to prevent LSA re-flooding in case
some component route flaps and affects the summary metric.
2) Now, for dealing with the inter-area routes learned by the ARB, first of all, keep in mind that an ABR ONLY
accepts and processes type-3 LSAs received from the backbone area. This is the well-know loop prevention
mechanism built into OSPF, since OSPF behaves as a distance-vector protocol when dealing with inter-area
routing information. This is a short description of how an ABR processes type-3 LSAs:
2.1) Ignore the type-3 LSA if it is NOT from the backbone area (prevents routing loops).
2.2) Walk over the inter-area routes learned via Area 0 in the RIB and generate respective type-3 LSAs which are
flooded into the attached non-backbone areas. Thus, LSAs are effectively being re-generated based on the RIB
contents.
Next, consider an important aspect of this process. The re-generated summary LSAs are generated AFTER
applying the OSPF filter associated with the routing-process via the distribute-list in command. Thus, if you filter
some of the inter-area routes from entering the RIB, the respective new summary LSAs will NOT get generated.
This will stop routing information propagation into the attached non-backbone areas.
This quickly summarizes the type-3 LSA generation process. Notice that filtering the routing information is not
based on some LSA filtering procedure, but rather on the routes contained in the RIB. At this moment, some
people may recall the command area X filter-list prefix {in|out}. Good news here this command applies after
all summarization has been done and filters the routing information from being used for type-3 LSA generation. It
applies to all three type of prefixes: intra-area routes, inter-area routes, and summaries generated as a result of
the area X range command. All information is being learned from the routers RIB.
Oh, almost forgot LSA type-3 flooding scope is one area, it never crosses ABR boundaries it just gets regenerated when needed! Now, here is a summary of inter-area router filtering commands (applicable only at an
ABR):

Method 1: Filter the inter-area routes generated at ABR

router ospf 1
area 10 filter-list prefix in NAME
Method 2: Filter out intra-area routes
router ospf 1
area 10 range 1.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 no-advertise
Method 3: Filter inter-area routes learned by ABR from Area 0
router ospf 1
distribute-list 1 in

LSA type 4
This type has always been confusing to many people. This LSA describes the metric that the ABR uses to reach
the respective ASBR. This LSA contains the router-ID of the ASBR and the metric to reach it. ABRs generate type4 LSAs based on the special router routing table which is visible when you issue the command show ip ospf
border-routers. This command is the essense of the distance-vector OSPF behavior. During the inter-area path
calculations, the ABR populates this table with host routing entries for every ABR and ASBR detected with the
respective metrics. This table is never transferred to the main router routing table, but rather used for inter-area
path computations and type-4 LSA generation. Effectively, the metrics in this table are used as metric offsets for
the paths learned from ABRs and ASBRs.
The ABR generates type-4 summary LSAs into every normal attached area, to make sure the routers in there can
reach the prefixes from the ASBR. You cannot really filter the contents of this LSA, as they are taken from the
router routing table. The information from this LSA is used to populate the non-ABR routers special router
routing table. The flooding domain is one area as it stops at the ABR.
LSA type 5
This LSA is originated by an ASBR (router redistributing external routes) and flooded through the whole OSPF
autonomous system. You cannot limit the way this LSA is generated except to controlling the routes redistributed
into OSPF. When a type-5 LSA is being generated, it uses the RIB contents and honors the summary-address
commands in the ABR. You may filter the redistributed routes by using the command distribute-list out
configured under the protocol, which is the source of redistribution or simply applying filtering with your
redistribution.

Method 1:
router ospf 1
distribute-list 10 out rip
!
access-list 1 deny 1.1.1.0
access-list 1 permit any
Method 2:
router ospf
redistribute rip route-map RIP_TO_OSPF
!
route-map RIP_TO_OSPF
match ip address 1
Method 3:
router ospf
summary-address 10.0.0.0 255.255.25.0 no advertise

There is yet one more way to filter the routing information found in type-5 LSAs. If the LSA contains non-zero FA
(forwarding address) field, OSPF process will check for this address to be accessible via RIB (RFC specifies that
only OSPF routes should be considered, but it seems IOS satisfies with any route) before installing the actual
prefix into the RIB. If the FA is not accessible, the corresponding external prefix is not installed into the global
routing table. We will discuss this type of filtering a bit later, when well be looking into type-7 LSAs. However, keep
in mind that FA is non mandatory for type-5 LSA and is only assigned to a type-5 LSA under special conditions,
outlined in the following document Common Routing Problem with OSPF Forwarding Address. Here is the list of the
conditions:
OSPF is enabled on the ASBRs next hop interface AND
ASBRs next hop interface is non-passive under OSPF AND
ASBRs next hop interface is not point-to-point AND
ASBRs next hop interface is not point-to-multipoint AND
ASBRs next hop interface address falls under the network range specified in the router ospf command.
Please refer to the URL provided for more epxplanations.
There is only one more type of OSPF LSAs to discuss.
Type 7 LSA
These only exist at NSSA areas and have the flooding scope of a single area, as opposed to the whole domain for
type-5 LSAs. The type-7 LSAs reaching ABRs are used to populate the local routing table and re-generate the
new type-5 LSAs, originated now by the ABR. This is important since the ABR becomes an ASBR and reoriginates the routes, you may use the command summary-address ADDR MASK no-advertise to block the
type-5 LSA generation. There is another, less obvious way to do things:
When an ABR generates type-5 LSAs, it adds the forwarding-address (FA) based on the information learned in
the type-7 LSA. This information is originally inserted by the ASBR to help in optimal exit point selection. The use
of forwarding-address with the type-7 LSAs is mandatory per the RFC, since there is just one translator, and it
may lie on the sub-optimal path to the ASBR. Thus all routers in the OSPF autonomous system are supposed to
rely on the FA for optimal routing to the translated prefixes. And here is the trick: if you filter the forward-address
IP from the routing table in the ABR, using the command distribute-list in the type-5 LSA will not be generated!.
Look at the following output, where R2 is an ABR for NSSA area 27:

Rack1R2#show ip ospf database nssa-external

OSPF Router with ID (150.1.2.2) (Process ID 1)
Type-7 AS External Link States (Area 27)
Routing Bit Set on this LSA
LS age: 11
Options: (No TOS-capability, Type 7/5 translation, DC)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 162.1.7.0 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 162.1.7.7
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0xDEB5
Length: 36
Network Mask: /24
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
TOS: 0
Metric: 20
Forward Address: 150.1.7.7
External Route Tag: 0
Routing Bit Set on this LSA
LS age: 11
Options: (No TOS-capability, Type 7/5 translation, DC)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 162.1.10.0 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 162.1.7.7
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0xBDD3
Length: 36
Network Mask: /24
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
TOS: 0
Metric: 20
Forward Address: 150.1.7.7
External Route Tag: 0
Rack1R2#show ip ospf database external
OSPF Router with ID (150.1.2.2) (Process ID 1)
Type-5 AS External Link States
...
LS age: 26
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 162.1.7.0 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 150.1.2.2
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0x2193
Length: 36
Network Mask: /24
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
TOS: 0
Metric: 20
Forward Address: 150.1.7.7
External Route Tag: 0
LS age: 26
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 162.1.10.0 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 150.1.2.2
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0xFFB1
Length: 36
Network Mask: /24
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
TOS: 0
Metric: 20
Forward Address: 150.1.7.7
External Route Tag: 0

As you can see, R2 generates type-5 LSA with the same forwarding address found in type-7 LSA 150.1.7.7.
Now we filter this IP address from entering R2s routing table:

R2:
access-list 1 deny

150.1.7.7

access-list 1 permit any

!
router ospf 1
distribute-list 1 in

And apply our verification once again:

Rack1R2#show ip ospf database nssa-external

OSPF Router with ID (150.1.2.2) (Process ID 1)
Type-7 AS External Link States (Area 27)
LS age: 222
Options: (No TOS-capability, Type 7/5 translation, DC)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 162.1.7.0 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 162.1.7.7
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0xDEB5
Length: 36
Network Mask: /24
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
TOS: 0
Metric: 20
Forward Address: 150.1.7.7
External Route Tag: 0
LS age: 222
Options: (No TOS-capability, Type 7/5 translation, DC)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 162.1.10.0 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 162.1.7.7
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0xBDD3
Length: 36
Network Mask: /24
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
TOS: 0
Metric: 20
Forward Address: 150.1.7.7
External Route Tag: 0
Rack1R2#show ip ospf database external
OSPF Router with ID (150.1.2.2) (Process ID 1)
Type-5 AS External Link States

And we can see that Type-7 to Type-5 translation is not working anymore, as the forwarding address is no longer
reachable in the RIB. Notice that forwarding address should be accessible via the main RIB, not the routers routing
table of OSPF. This special behavior is unique to the routes learned by processing the type-7 LSAs. Now what if
you have to following topology:

And R3 is filtering the forwarding address for the type-5 LSAs originated at R4 using say area X range noadvertise or area X filer-list prefix {in|out} commands, so that R1 has no FA IP in its RIB. In this situation, R3
will have the route to the redistributed prefixes installed (it sees the FA!), but all other routers in the domain with
the exception of the NSSA area internal routers will not. Even though they will receive the type-5 LSA, they will not
be able to process them and use the information for routing the forwarding address will be unreachable. One
way to overcome this issue is by using the command area X nssa suppress-fa to instruct R3 on setting the FA to
itself.

Summary of the post

We went over almost all of the important route-filtering scenarios for OSPF. The key thing you should remember is
that non-local route filtering for OSPF is only available at ABRs and ASBRs, the points where OSPF behaves as a
distance-vector protocol with respect to inter-area routing information. Here is the list of points you need to
remember:
1) You cannot filter LSAs directly, you can only manipulate the routing information used to generate LSAs.
2) The above routing information is taken from local routers RIB directly.
2.1) In the case of intra-area routes, RIB filters are applied after the type-3 LSAs are generated (intra-area routes
are summarizable).
2.2) In the case of inter-area routes, RIB filters are applied prior to type-3 LSA generation (inter-area routes are
not summarizable).
3) External AS routes can only be filtered at the ASBR.
4) NSSA routes can be filtered at an ASBR and the ABR performing the translation.
5) If the FA for an external prefix is NOT reachable, the router will NOT install it into the route table nor will it
translate type-7 LSAs to type-5.

Futher Reading
1) RFC 2328. Dont skip this if you are serious about understanding OSPF
2) OSPF Design Guide by Sam Halabi. Excellent introductory reading on OSPF.
3) Cisco IP Routing by Alex Zinin. A must read to anyone who wants in-depth understanding of IP Routing
internals.
Tags: ccie, filtering, lsa, ospf
Download this page as a PDF
About Petr Lapukhov, 4xCCIE/CCDE:
Petr Lapukhov's career in IT begain in 1988 w ith a focus on computer programming, and progressed into netw orking
w ith his first exposure to Novell NetWare in 1991. Initially involved w ith Kazan State University's campus netw ork
support and UNIX system administration, he w ent through the path of becoming a netw orking consultant, taking part in
many netw ork deployment projects. Petr currently has over 12 years of experience w orking in the Cisco netw orking
field, and is the only person in the w orld to have obtained four CCIEs in under tw o years, passing each on his first
attempt. Petr is an exceptional case in that he has been w orking w ith all of the technologies covered in his four CCIE
tracks (R&S, Security, SP, and Voice) on a daily basis for many years. When not actively teaching classes, developing
self-paced products, studying for the CCDE Practical & the CCIE Storage Lab Exam, and completing his PhD in Applied
Mathematics.
Find all posts by Petr Lapukhov, 4xCCIE/CCDE | Visit Website

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53 Responses to OSPF Route Filtering Demystified

August 17, 2009 at 4:02 pm

Yandy Ramirez
very cool post! thanks for the info

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 5:36 pm

Rizzo
Really Nice one
Thanks

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 6:06 pm

Lejoe
Excellent Article Petr. I guess we can call it manipulation of OSPF prefixes to suppress generation of certain types of LSAs.

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 7:33 pm

Marcos Umino
Wow, incredible explanation on OSPF. If anyone ever asks me for an OSPF article, I know now where to point.

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 7:44 pm

Stan I
Anthony, thanks for the very insightful document and the form it has been presented in. I enjoyed reading it twice and I dont
particularly like re-reading stuffcall meenergy efficient (or part of the green initiative:).
Cheers!
Stan

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 8:17 pm

Anthony Sequeira, #15626

Hi Stan!!!
Thanks so much for following our blog! This was Petrs brilliant work. He is amazing for sure.

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 8:19 pm

saj
Thank you Petr,Very useful post

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 9:08 pm

Stan I
Oops, I apologize to Petr, I guess I was so much in a hurry to read the article that I just assumed it was part of the OSPF series.
Thank you for pointing it out Anthony!
Stan

Reply
August 17, 2009 at 9:46 pm

Arwin Erasga
Thanks Petr!

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 12:01 am

sarge
Great post. Thanks to Petr. It would be nice if anyone corrected the typos. They are obvious but sometimes look bad.

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 9:00 am

Anthony Sequeira, #15626

Fixing those now thanks!

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 1:27 am

Mohamed Zaki
Amazing article, thanks Petr, you are awesome.

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 3:38 am

Amit Chopra
More reason to have COD of this bootcamp after reading this OSPF explanation

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 6:28 am

John Spaulding
Awesome work!!! I always feel stupid after reading his blogs

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 8:15 am

Chirag
Mr Petr Lapukhov
can I ask my are you so clever

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 8:15 am

Chirag
There is only one Petr :0)

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 11:16 am

Wouter Prins
hi Petr,
You are the man of the bits at INE, shouldnt you mention something about the P-bit in the article?

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 11:28 am

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

Hmm i think I did, but apparently I missed that
Here is the thing related to filtering like i mentioned, type-7 LSAs with Pbit set MUST have a non-zero FA value. This is needed to ensure optimal routing as there is only one translator in potentially
multi-exit area. This allows for filtering based on hiding the FA address.

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 12:47 pm

andy jordan
so in order to get to an external ( nssa) destination , does a remote router in some other area use the metric to the FA or the metric to
the network itself ?

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 3:13 pm

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

To: Andy Jordan
If the FA field is non-zero, it is used to calculate the routing metric and the route itself. If the FA is zero, the path cost to reach
the respective ABR/ASBR is used instead.

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 2:05 pm

Narbik Kocharians
Based on what i hear from my students, Why do you have LSA type 3 Filtering all over your work books?

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 4:20 pm

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

To: Narbik
Appreciate your interest in our products. The reason is mainly that Cisco uses this term in their documentation. Although the
term is not entirely correct as I tried to show in this post, it became commonly used around. A more correct way of saying
would be Inter-Area Route Filtering.

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 5:21 pm

Narbik Kocharians
HAHAHAHAHA
So its NOT a misunderstanding like you mentioned? Is it? You need to stop and think before you write.

Reply
August 18, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

To: Narbik
Posting non-sense and pointless comments really does not make you look any smarter. Please, try being more constructive
and consider using your own advice next time.

Reply
August 19, 2009 at 5:30 am

Chris Gray
The article actually starts by saying
To begin with, I would have to ask everyone please, avoid using the term LSA filtering with OSPF
with the exception of one special case

You cannot really filter LSAs

Reply
August 19, 2009 at 7:58 am

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

To: Chris
Yeah, this message goes to Cisco as well
Their terminology is confusing, as filtering means blocking something transit
to the device and make you think type-3 LSAs are flooded through the ABR. I wish they use more consistent wording, as this
is misleading. We were using the same terminology in the past to follow Ciscos documentation, but that does not mean
LSAs could be filtered in general. Even if Cisco says that. Even if John Chambers calls you at night and yells that. LSAs are
flooded and every type has its own flooding domain. Network Reachability information is filtered

The whole point of my

post was showing the difference between LSA (topological) and NLRI (reachability) concepts.

Reply
August 19, 2009 at 5:36 am

Chirag
Narbik
Why you spoiling things .. if you want to make silly comments please do not here
Regards
Chirag

Reply
August 19, 2009 at 9:58 am

Chris Gray
I wish John Chambers would stop doing that, hes just confusing me man.

Reply
August 22, 2009 at 12:07 pm

Darby Weaver
When is Petr going to be teaching classes?
His articles are excellent and amazingly clear, love to hear everything he has to offer over a 1 or even 2 week class.

Reply
August 22, 2009 at 11:49 pm

Ted
Outstanding work, thats a good read.

Reply
August 23, 2009 at 6:18 am

Olu
Excellent and very clear post Petr
Thanks for this.
- Olu

Reply
August 23, 2009 at 12:51 pm

Daniel Spatig
I wanted to add this, because as I get a little mixed up with this also. The statement The OSPF metric for the summarized route is
taken as the minimal among all intra-area routes is only valid for RFC 1583 they changed the metric calculation in RFC2328 page
136 to be the cost equal to the largest of any of the component networks. to have the metric calculate based on RF2328 you need to
have no compatible rfc1583 because for some reason cisco defaults to rfc1583, or it does for me in ver 12.4

Reply
September 7, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Jorge
Great post Petr. Thank you for being so thorough about clarifying LSA vs route filtering. Super helpful!

Reply
September 9, 2009 at 2:59 am

Ananth Kumar
Much much appreciated Petr, for helping us to fill the gaps I have used these methods and thought that I understood the filtering,
but some point I was not clear about the difference between them.
Once again thanks a lot
at last is that a typo , acl name rip?
Method 1:
router ospf 1
distribute-list 10 out rip
!
access-list 1 deny 1.1.1.0
access-list 1 permit any

Reply
September 9, 2009 at 7:34 am

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

To: Ananth,
no, the ACL# is 10, and rip here is the source protocol, the protocol that is being redistributed into OSPF

Reply
September 13, 2009 at 3:12 am

A question
Hi,
I didnt understand the ospf type 3 lsa section..
Can you please tell me the follwoing things1- How does the ABR sends the intra area routes (area 0 routes) to non backbone areas
2- How does the ABR sends the inter area routes (area X routes) to non backnone areas (area Y)
3- If i have 2 ABRs (ABR1 and ABR2)connecting area 0 and area X..
a)Is there a possibility that routes learned from area X on ABR1 will be sent back to ABR2 into area X
b)Is there a possibility that routes learned from area 0 on ABR1 will be sent back to ABR2 into area 0.
Thanx a tonn in advance

Reply
September 13, 2009 at 6:28 pm

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

> 1- How does the ABR sends the intra area routes (area 0 routes) to non backbone areas
Walks over the routing table looking for area 0 routes, generates type 3 LSAs, performs summarization prior to this if needed
according to area-range table.
> 2- How does the ABR sends the inter area routes (area X routes) to non backnone areas (area Y)
It walks over the area X routes and generates type-3 LSAs. However, no summarization is performed. Other routers by default
ignore type-3 LSAs for non-area 0 to prevent routing loops. However, it is possible to consider them if the area is transit (Ill
make a separate blog post on that).
> 3- If i have 2 ABRs (ABR1 and ABR2)connecting area 0 and area X..
> a)Is there a possibility that routes learned from area X on ABR1 will be sent back to ABR2 into area X
No, as ABRs do not consider non-area 0 inter-area routes when calculating best-paths.
> b)Is there a possibility that routes learned from area 0 on ABR1 will be sent back to ABR2 into area 0.
No due to the same reason: only inter-area routes from Area 0 are considered in best-path computations with the special
exception to transit area. Im going to blog about it soon, as this topic seems to be confusing to many.
Thanx a tonn in advance

Reply
September 13, 2009 at 10:11 pm

A question
Thanx for your answer still a little confused on the below.
> 1- How does the ABR sends the intra area routes (area 0 routes) to non backbone areas
Walks over the routing table looking for area 0 routes, generates type 3 LSAs, performs summarization prior to this if needed
according to area-range table.
Q- So it summarizes only if the area range is configured or by default.
> 2- How does the ABR sends the inter area routes (area X routes) to non backnone areas (area Y)
It walks over the area X routes and generates type-3 LSAs. However, no summarization is performed.
Are these LSAs summaries or specific?
Question 3 and 4 If i change the words route to LSA what would happen then would the LSAs be fed back in case of 2 ABRs,
If yes how would the recieving router react to it and if no, why so?

Reply
September 30, 2009 at 10:01 pm

Alexei Monastyrnyi
Just a quick one, Petr. If we have say a router with Ethernet interface in UP/UP state advertised into OSPF with network statement but
the link it represents is not a transit network, i.e. there is no other OSPF neighbour on that link (it is just connected to L2 dumb
device). Which LSA type that link would be advertised with?

Reply
October 1, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

@Alexei
OSPF LSA Type 1 (router LSA);
Router LSA Link type 3 (Stub network);
Router Link ID Network Number;
Router Link Data Network Mask

Reply
October 1, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Alexei Monastyrnyi
Right, thanks Petr. Kind of lost it in LSDB.
Link connected to: a Stub Network
(Link ID) Network/subnet number: 11.11.11.0
(Link Data) Network Mask: 255.255.255.0
Number of TOS metrics: 0
TOS 0 Metrics: 1

Reply
November 24, 2009 at 7:53 am

OSPF Prefix Filtering using Forwarding Address - CCIE Blog

[...] at the ABR(s) of the area containing the ASBR. You may use any of the methods described in the post OSPF Route Filtering
Demystified to prevent type-3 LSA generation, e.g. use the inter-area route [...]

Reply
November 24, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Net_OG
Wow Petr,
this is a classic post. I love that you have a little reading list at the bottom.
Great job putting so much in one post. Part of the problem is: we see these situations in various contexts at different times in labs or
even in Cisco Documents and it is hard to tie them all together into a coherent procedure.
I really appreciate your posts.

Reply
November 25, 2009 at 9:34 am

Net_OG
Petr,
The type-7 LSAs reaching ABRs are used to populate the local routing table and re-generate the new type-5 LSAs, originated now
by the ABR. This is important since the ABR becomes an ASBR and re-originates the routes, you may use the command
summary-address ADDR MASK no-advertise to block the type-5 LSA generation.
The above quote is pretty significant because when reading the documentation it states that you do this summarizing on the ASBR,
but if you didnt think of the ABR as an ASBR you might get confused as to why you are applying the summary-address ADDR MASK
no-advertise command on the ABR.
Here is the link tot he cisco config guide entry:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/docs/ios/iproute/configuration/guide/irp_ospf_cfg_ps6350_TSD_Products_Configuration_Guide_Chapter.html#wp1054417

Reply
January 8, 2010 at 11:19 pm

James Huang
Hi Petr,
Thanks for such a clear post. It really demystifies some of the blur area in OSPF.
You mentioned that for type-3 LSA origination by intra-area routes, area filter-list prefix out is applied after all summarizaion is done.
I tested this and found what you said does not seem to be correct. Here is the quote from Ciscos document titled OSPF ABR Type 3
LSA Filtering: For area filter-list out command, if an area-range command has been configured for the area, type 3 LSAs that
correspond to the area range are sent to all other areas only if at least one prefix in the area range matches an entry in the prefix list.
Can you verify again?
Thanks,
James Huang

Reply
January 9, 2010 at 9:20 am

Petr Lapukhov, CCIE #16379

@James
I dont see a contradiction here: the documentation says that type 3 LSA is generated is there is at least one entry in the
prefix-list matching one of the area ranges (this behavior is valid for outgoing LSA advertisements). Thus, the routing process
performs route summarization, and then the prefix-list filters the summarized prefixes.

Reply
January 9, 2010 at 12:30 pm

James Huang
HiPetr,
Here are the tests I did to reach the conclusion that area filter-list out is executed BEFORE area range for intra-area routes.
Topology:
area 0: R1s loopback 0, IP 1.1.1.1/32
R1 f1/0, ip 12.0.0.1/24
R2s f1/0, ip 12.0.0.2/24
area 1: R2s f1/1, ip 23.0.0.2/24
R3s f1/0, ip 23.0.0.3/24
area 2: R1s loopback 1, ip 11.11.11.11/32
Test 1:
At R2, add area-range and area filter-list out:
Router#sh running-config | sec ospf
router ospf 1
router-id 2.2.2.2
log-adjacency-changes
area 0 range 1.1.0.0 255.255.0.0
area 0 filter-list prefix area0out out
network 12.0.0.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
network 23.0.0.0 0.0.0.255 area 1
Router#
Router#sh ip prefix-list area0out
ip prefix-list area0out: 3 entries
seq 5 deny 1.1.1.1/32
seq 10 deny 11.11.11.11/32
seq 15 permit 0.0.0.0/0 le 32
Verify at R3:
Router#sh ip route
Codes: L local, C connected, S static, R RIP, M mobile, B BGP
D EIGRP, EX EIGRP external, O OSPF, IA OSPF inter area
N1 OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 OSPF external type 1, E2 OSPF external type 2
i IS-IS, su IS-IS summary, L1 IS-IS level-1, L2 IS-IS level-2
ia IS-IS inter area, * candidate default, U per-user static route
o ODR, P periodic downloaded static route, + replicated route
Gateway of last resort is not set
12.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets
O IA 12.0.0.0 [110/2] via 23.0.0.2, 00:06:33, FastEthernet1/0
23.0.0.0/8 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 23.0.0.0/24 is directly connected, FastEthernet1/0
L 23.0.0.3/32 is directly connected, FastEthernet1/0
At R2, the 1.1.1.1/32 intra-area route was filtered out first and area range did not find anything in the range to summarize. So R3 did
not learn 1.1.1.1/32 or 1.1.0.0/16 route.
Test 2:
At R2, modify area0out prefix-list as follows:
Router#sh ip prefix-list area0out
ip prefix-list area0out: 3 entries
seq 5 deny 1.1.0.0/16
seq 10 deny 11.11.11.11/32
seq 15 permit 0.0.0.0/0 le 32
The OSPF configuration is the same as test 1.
Verify at R3,
Router#sh ip route
Codes: L local, C connected, S static, R RIP, M mobile, B BGP
D EIGRP, EX EIGRP external, O OSPF, IA OSPF inter area
N1 OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 OSPF external type 1, E2 OSPF external type 2
i IS-IS, su IS-IS summary, L1 IS-IS level-1, L2 IS-IS level-2
ia IS-IS inter area, * candidate default, U per-user static route
o ODR, P periodic downloaded static route, + replicated route
Gateway of last resort is not set
1.0.0.0/16 is subnetted, 1 subnets
O IA 1.1.0.0 [110/3] via 23.0.0.2, 00:00:32, FastEthernet1/0
12.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets
O IA 12.0.0.0 [110/2] via 23.0.0.2, 00:19:31, FastEthernet1/0
23.0.0.0/8 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 23.0.0.0/24 is directly connected, FastEthernet1/0
L 23.0.0.3/32 is directly connected, FastEthernet1/0
In this test, R2 will filter out 1.1.0.0/16 intra-area route. If R2 were to perform area range first and then area filter-list out, R2 would
not have advertised 1.1.0.0/16 type-3 LSA to R3. But R3s route table shows that R2 did advertise 1.1.0.0/16 to R3. A dump of the
OSPF database at R3 confirms that again:
At R3:
Router#sh ip ospf database summary 1.1.0.0
OSPF Router with ID (3.3.3.3) (Process ID 1)
Summary Net Link States (Area 1)
Routing Bit Set on this LSA in topology Base with MTID 0
LS age: 333
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward)
LS Type: Summary Links(Network)
Link State ID: 1.1.0.0 (summary Network Number)
Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0x48E8
Length: 28
Network Mask: /16
MTID: 0 Metric: 2
James Huang

Reply
September 12, 2010 at 9:46 pm

Al
Question:
If based on area address range, two routes are summarized in one summary LSA and at some point, the topology changes and one
of the mentioned routes is removed, would the summary LSA be flushed? or will it not change given it still covers one reachable
route?
Thanks in advance,
Al.

Reply
June 7, 2011 at 3:07 am

OSPF Filtering Toward The Triumph

[...] OSPF Route Filtering Demystified [...]

Reply
August 24, 2011 at 3:18 am

David Chosrova
Thanks for this very good post

Reply
September 7, 2011 at 10:19 am

Denis Mikhailov
Hi Petr,
Hope you are doing well ! Thanks for the good article! I met this today since Im on the R&S bootcamp now. The qustion arised is it
possible to filter intra-area OSPF route by any other method then distribute list ? There are tons of examples in the Internet but all of
them describe the same construction: distribute-list in in the OSPF process. As we know it is not a cultural method to do it. Is
where any other method ?
Thank you !
Best Regards,
Denis Mikhailov.

Reply
May 18, 2013 at 11:58 am

Fulvio Allegretti
Method 1:
router ospf 1
distribute-list 10 out rip
!
access-list 1 deny 1.1.1.0
access-list 1 permit any
Should that not be
distribute-list 1 out rip
Fulvio

Reply
August 21, 2013 at 2:54 pm

Roman Shilenko
I know years have passed, but since this article is still actual and useful:
> If the LSA contains non-zero FA (forwarding address) field,
> OSPF process will check for this address to be accessible via RIB
> (RFC specifies that only OSPF routes should be considered,
> but it seems IOS satisfies with any route)
> before installing the actual prefix into the RIB.
No, *any* route doesnt work. I gathered a topology described in the mentioned article Common Routing Problem with OSPF
Forwarding Address and made a static route towards FA:
ip route 3.3.4.4 255.255.255.255 1.1.1.2
OSPF process did NOT make a route for 200.1.1.0/24 out of LSA type-5, because Fail to find route to forwarding addr 3.3.4.4.
Cisco 3725, 12.3(22).

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