OSPF Tutorial

OSPF tutorial
Computer Science Department, University of Crete
Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria

May 20, 2022
Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

OSPF Science
tutorialDepartment, University of Crete) May 20, 2022 1 / 15
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
• OSPF is a dynamic routing protocol
• It is classified as an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)
• Distributes routing information between routers belonging to a

single Autonomous System (AS)
• It is based on link-state technology and utilizes the Dijstra

algorithm to extract the shortest routing path
• Defined in RFC2328

OSPF Science
tutorial
Department, University of Crete) May 20, 2022 2 / 15
OSPF Overview
• OSPF routes packets based entirely on the destination IP of the

IP packet header
• It does not alter the IP packet header anyhow
• It react quickly on changes of the AS topology, utilizing a

minimum amount of routing traffic
• Each router maintains a database describing the topology of the

AS

OSPF Science
tutorial
OSPF Overview
• All routers execute the exact same algorithm in parallel
• Each router constructs a tree of shortest paths, with itself as the

root
• Each shortest path gives a route to a destination in the AS
• Externally derived routing information (eg BGP, OSPF of other

AS) appears as leaves

OSPF Science
tutorial
Advantages
• No limitation on hop count (in RIP this was 15)
• OSPF uses IP multicast to send link-state updates. Non-OSPF

devices do not receive the excess traffic
• OSPF uses the link cost, opposed to RIP that uses the hop count
as metric
• Better convergence than RIP. This is because routing changes are

propagated instantaneously and not periodically
• Better and more sophisticated load balancing capabilities
• Routing authentication through different methods of password

authentication

OSPF Science
tutorial
Routing Areas
• An OSPF area is a set of networks and hosts within an AS that

have been administratively grouped together
• It is a good practice to configure an area as a collection of

contiguous IP subnetted networks
• Routers that are wholly within an area are called internal routers
• All interfaces of internal routers are directly connected to

networks within the same area

OSPF Science
tutorial
Routing Areas
• The topology of an area is hidden on the rest of an AS, thus
significantly reducing the routing traffic in the AS and providing
a level of protection and isolation from bad routing data
• Splitting an AS into multiple areas makes network management

easier
• Each OSPF Area has a unique ID that is described using the

decimal dot notation (e.g 10.0.0.1)
• The Area ID does not depend in any way on the IP address of

any of the router interfaces
• Area IDs need only be unique within an AS

OSPF Science
tutorial
Routing Areas
• Area ID 0.0.0.0 is called Backbone Area and every AS should

have one
• All other areas in the AS must be directly connected to the

backbone area by a router that has interfaces in more than one
area
• These routers are called Area Border Routers (ABRs)

OSPF Science
tutorial
Routing Areas

OSPF Science
tutorial
OSPF Routing Messages
• OSPF exchanges messages using directly IP packets with a

protocol number 89 in the corresponding field of the IP header
• Hello: allow a router to discover other adjacent routers on its

local links and networks
• Database Description: contain descriptions of the topology of

the AS or area. If the database is large enough, multiple
messages may be exchanged

OSPF Science
tutorial
Routing Messages
• Link State Request: used by one router to request updated

information about a portion of the Link State Database
Description (LSDB) from another router
• Link State Update: contain information about an updated

portion of the LSDB. These messages are sent in response of a
Link State Request message
• Link State Acknowledgement: acknowledges a Link State

Update message

OSPF Science
tutorial
Cost Calculation
• OSPF uses a reference bandwidth divided with the actual

interface bandwidth for the link cost
• Commonly the reference bandwidth is 100 Mbps
• E.g: the cost for a 10 Mbps link will be 100Mbps

10Mbps = 10
• Cost can be also set manually

OSPF Science
tutorial
Vyatta useful OSPF commands
Configuration
• set protocols ospf parameters router-id x.x.x.x
• set protocols ospf area y.y.y.y network z.z.z.z/z
• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf cost X
• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf dead-interval Y
• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf hello-interval Z
• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf priority XX
• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf retransmit-interval YY
• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf transmit-delay ZZ

OSPF Science
tutorial
Vyatta useful OSPF commands
Information
• show ip ospf
• show ip ospf database
• show ip ospf interface ethx
• show ip ospf
• show ip ospf neighbor

OSPF Science
tutorial
Documentation
• https://docs.vyos.io/_/downloads/en/latest/pdf/
• https://www.csd.uoc.gr/~hy435/material/Vyatta-OSPF_
6.5R1_v01.pdf

OSPF Science
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OSPF tutorial

Computer Science Department, University of Crete

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• OSPF is a dynamic routing protocol

• It is classified as an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)

• Distributes routing information between routers belonging to a

• It is based on link-state technology and utilizes the Dijstra

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• OSPF routes packets based entirely on the destination IP of the

• It does not alter the IP packet header anyhow

• It react quickly on changes of the AS topology, utilizing a

• Each router maintains a database describing the topology of the

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• All routers execute the exact same algorithm in parallel

• Each router constructs a tree of shortest paths, with itself as the

• Each shortest path gives a route to a destination in the AS

• Externally derived routing information (eg BGP, OSPF of other

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• OSPF uses IP multicast to send link-state updates. Non-OSPF

• Better convergence than RIP. This is because routing changes are

• Better and more sophisticated load balancing capabilities

• Routing authentication through different methods of password

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• An OSPF area is a set of networks and hosts within an AS that

• It is a good practice to configure an area as a collection of

• All interfaces of internal routers are directly connected to

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• Splitting an AS into multiple areas makes network management

• Each OSPF Area has a unique ID that is described using the

• The Area ID does not depend in any way on the IP address of

• Area IDs need only be unique within an AS

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• Area ID 0.0.0.0 is called Backbone Area and every AS should

• All other areas in the AS must be directly connected to the

• These routers are called Area Border Routers (ABRs)

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• OSPF exchanges messages using directly IP packets with a

• Hello: allow a router to discover other adjacent routers on its

• Database Description: contain descriptions of the topology of

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• Link State Request: used by one router to request updated

• Link State Update: contain information about an updated

• Link State Acknowledgement: acknowledges a Link State

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• OSPF uses a reference bandwidth divided with the actual

• Commonly the reference bandwidth is 100 Mbps

• E.g: the cost for a 10 Mbps link will be 100Mbps

• Cost can be also set manually

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer

• set protocols ospf area y.y.y.y network z.z.z.z/z

• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf cost X

• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf dead-interval Y

• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf hello-interval Z

• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf priority XX

• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf retransmit-interval YY

• set interfaces ethernet ethx ip ospf transmit-delay ZZ

Spring 22 TAs: Lakiotakis Manos, Plevridi Eleftheria (Computer