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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.

🚨 Common Problem - Pipe Filling

Many online ExaBGP script examples DO NOT read ACK responses ("done") from the API. Your own code MUST read the response message to your command as otherwise:

• The STDIN pipe will fill up
• ExaBGP will block and stop processing
• Your BGP session will hang

ExaBGP 4.x and 5.0.0+ have ACK enabled by default. Your scripts MUST either:

1. Read ACK responses with select() or equivalent (recommended)
2. Disable ACK via export exabgp.api.ack=false (simpler but less reliable)
3. Use runtime control (5.0.0+ only): disable-ack, enable-ack, silence-ack

See ACK Feature Documentation for correct implementation patterns.

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 or FRRouting.

Version Compatibility

• 6.0.0 (main): Active development. Async reactor, enhanced CLI, shell completion, health monitoring API. Python 3.12+ required. See 5.x → 6.0.0 Migration.
• 5.0.0 (LTS): Stable release. SRv6, BGP-MUP, security fixes. Python 3.8+.
• 4.x (End of Life): Critical fixes only. Python 3.6+. See 4.x → 5.0.0 Migration Guide.

New users: Install from main (6.0.0) — it is production-tested and has the best tooling.

Existing 5.x users: 6.0.0 has breaking changes (Python 3.12+, BGP-LS JSON). See 5.x → 6.0.0 Migration Guide.

Quick Navigation

New to ExaBGP?

• 5-Minute Quick Start - Get your first BGP session running
• Installation Guide - Detailed installation instructions
• Building From Source - Compile ExaBGP, create .deb/.rpm packages
• First BGP Session - Step-by-step walkthrough with version differences
• Common Pitfalls - Avoid frequent mistakes

⭐ Most Popular Feature: Health Checks

Zero-Code Health Checks Built-In! ExaBGP includes a production-ready exabgp healthcheck module - no custom scripting required:

# Automatically announce/withdraw routes based on service health
exabgp healthcheck --cmd "curl -sf http://localhost/health" --ip 10.0.0.1/32

• Healthcheck Module - Built-in healthcheck tool (zero code required!) ⭐
• Service High Availability - HA with automatic failover
• Anycast Management - Anycast with health-based route control
• Vincent Bernat's Health Check Guide - Excellent real-world patterns

Why health checks matter: ExaBGP's killer feature is automatic route announcement/withdrawal based on service health. Your application controls its own BGP routing - announce when healthy, withdraw when failing. No manual intervention, no external monitoring required.

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 all versions
• 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 - Built-in healthcheck tool (zero code!) ⭐⭐⭐
• 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
• MRT Format - Working with MRT BGP dumps (mrtparse, IOS2ExaBGP)

Reference

• Architecture - ExaBGP architecture deep-dive
• BGP State Machine - RFC 4271 Finite State Machine
• BGP Communities - RFC fundamentals (how communities affect BGP)
• Extended Communities - RFC 4360 specifications and encoding
• BGP Ecosystem - Alternative BGP implementations comparison
• Capabilities - AFI/SAFI support (IPv4/IPv6, Unicast/FlowSpec/EVPN/etc.)
• Command Reference - Complete command reference
• Attribute Reference - All BGP attributes
• Examples Index - Browse configuration examples
• Glossary - Technical terms and definitions

Migration

• Migration Guide - Complete upgrade guide for all versions
• From 5.x to 6.0.0 - ⚠️ Breaking changes (Python 3.12+, async reactor, BGP-LS JSON)
• From 4.x to 5.0.0 - Breaking changes (Python 3.8+, JSON API, config syntax)
• From 3.x to 4.x - Major breaking changes (configuration, JSON, ACK)
• Breaking Changes - Complete breaking changes reference

Community

• Community Projects - Third-party tools and integrations
• Production Users - Organizations using ExaBGP (Facebook, Cloudflare, BBC, etc.)

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 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 configuration files
• Cross-references to related docs
• Common errors and solutions
• Version compatibility notes

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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