path: root/docs/gettingstarted/developers/fib20/routes.rst

.. _routes:

Routes
^^^^^^

The control plane will install a route in a table for a prefix via a list of paths.
The prime function of the FIB is to *resolve* that route. To resolve a route is to
construct an object graph that fully describes all elements of the route. In Figure 3
the route is resolved as the graph is complete from *fib_entry_t* to *ip_adjacency_t*.

In some routing models a VRF will consist of a set of tables for IPv4 and IPv6, and
unicast and multicast. In VPP there is no such grouping. Each table is distinct from
each other. A table is identified by its numerical ID. The ID range is separate for
each address family.

A table is comprised of two route data-bases; forwarding and non-forwarding. The
forwarding data-base contains routes against which a packet will perform a longest
prefix match (LPM) in the data-plane. The non-forwarding DB contains all the routes
with which VPP has been programmed some of these routes may be unresolved for reasons
that prevent their insertion into the forwarding DB
(see section: Adjacency source FIB entries). 

The route data is decomposed into three parts; entry, path-list and paths;

* The *fib_entry_t*, which contains the routes prefix, is representation of that prefix's entry in the FIB table.
* The *fib_path_t* is a description of where to send the packets destined to the route's prefix. There are several types of path.

    * Attached next-hop: the path is described with an interface and a next-hop. The next-hop is in the same sub-net as the router's own address on that interface, hence the peer is considered to be *attached*

    * Attached: the path is described only by an interface. All address covered by the prefix are on the same L2 segment to which that router's interface is attached. This means it is possible to ARP for any address covered by the prefix which is usually not the case (hence the proxy ARP debacle in IOS). An attached path is only appropriate for a point-to-point (P2P) interface where ARP is not required, i.e. a GRE tunnel.

    * Recursive: The path is described only via the next-hop and table-id. 

    * De-aggregate: The path is described only via the special all zeros address and a table-id. This implies a subsequent lookup in the table should be performed. 

* The *fib_path_list_t* represents the list of paths from which to choose one when forwarding. The path-list is a shared object, i.e. it is the parent to multiple fib_entry_t children. In order to share any object type it is necessary for a child to search for an existing object matching its requirements. For this there must be a data-base. The key to the path-list data-base is a combined description of all of the paths it contains [#f2]_.  Searching the path-list database is required with each route addition, so it is populated only with path-lists for which sharing will bring convergence benefits (see Section: :ref:`fastconvergence`).

.. figure:: /_images/fib20fig2.png

Figure 2: Route data model class diagram

Figure 2 shows an example of a route with two attached-next-hop paths. Each of these
paths will *resolve* by finding the adjacency that matches the paths attributes, which
are the same as the key for the adjacency data-base [#f3]_. The *forwarding information (FI)*
is the set of adjacencies that are available for load-balancing the traffic in the
data-plane. A path *contributes* an adjacency to the route's forwarding information, the
path-list contributes the full forwarding information for IP packets.

.. figure:: /_images/fib20fig3.png

Figure 3: Route object diagram

Figure 3 shows the object instances and their relationships created in order to resolve
the routes also shown. The graph nature of these relationships is evident; children
are displayed at the top of the diagram, their parents below them. Forward walks are
thus from top to bottom, back walks bottom to top. The diagram shows the objects
that are shared, the path-list and adjacency. Sharing objects is critical to fast
convergence (see section :ref:`fastconvergence`). 

FIB sources
"""""""""""
There are various entities in the system that can add routes to the FIB tables.
Each of these entities is termed a *source* When the same prefix is added by different
sources the FIB must arbitrate between them to determine which source will contribute
the forwarding information. Since each source determines the forwarding information
using different best path and loop prevention algorithms, it is not correct for the
forwarding information of multiple sources to be combined. Instead the FIB must choose
to use the forwarding information from only one source. This choice is based on a static
priority assignment [#f4]_. The FIB must maintain the information each source has added
so it can be restored should that source become the best source. VPP has two
*control-plane* sources; the API and the CLI the API has the higher priority.
Each *source* data is represented by a *fib_entry_src_t* object of which a
*fib_entry_t* maintains a sorted vector.n A prefix is *connected* when it is
applied to a routers interface.

The following configuration:

.. code-block:: console

   $ set interface address 192.168.1.1/24 GigabitEthernet0/8/0

results in the addition of two FIB entries; 192.168.1.0/24 which is connected and
attached, and 192.168.1.1/32 which is connected and local (a.k.a receive or for-us).
Both prefixes are *interface* sourced. The interface source has a high priority, so
the accidental or nefarious addition of identical prefixes does not prevent the
router from correctly forwarding. Packets matching a connected prefix will
generate an ARP request for the packets destination address, this process is known
as a *glean*. 

An *attached* prefix also results in a glean, but the router does not have its own
address in that sub-net. The following configuration will result in an attached
route, which resolves via an attached path;

.. code-block:: console

   $ ip route add table X 10.10.10.0/24 via gre0

as mentioned before, these are only appropriate for point-to-point links. An
attached-host prefix is covered by either an attached prefix (note that connected
prefixes are also attached). If table X is not the table to which gre0 is bound,
then this is the case of an attached export (see the section :ref:`attachedexport`).

Adjacency source FIB entries
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Whenever an ARP entry is created it will source a *fib_entry_t*. In this case the
route is of the form:

.. code-block:: console

   $ ip route add table X 10.0.0.1/32 via 10.0.0.1 GigabitEthernet0/8/0

It is a host prefix with a path whose next-hop address is the same. This route
highlights the distinction between the route's prefix - a description of the traffic
to match - and the path - a description of where to send the matched traffic.
Table X is the same table to which the interface is bound. FIB entries that are
sourced by adjacencies are termed *adj-fibs*. The priority of the adjacency source
is lower than the API source, so the following configuration:

.. code-block:: console

   $ set interface address 192.168.1.1/24 GigabitEthernet0/8/0
   $ ip arp 192.168.1.2 GigabitEthernet0/8/0 dead.dead.dead
   $ ip route add 192.168.1.2 via 10.10.10.10 GigabitEthernet1/8/0

will forward traffic for 192.168.1.2 via GigabitEthernet1/8/0. That is the route added by the control
plane is favoured over the adjacency discovered by ARP. The control plane, with its
associated authentication, is considered the authoritative source. To counter the
nefarious addition of adj-fibs, through the nefarious injection of adjacencies, the
FIB is also required to ensure that only adj-fibs whose less specific covering prefix
is attached are installed in forwarding. This requires the use of *cover tracking*,
where a route maintains a dependency relationship with the route that is its less
specific cover. When this cover changes (i.e. there is a new covering route) or the
forwarding information of the cover is updated, then the covered route is notified.
Adj-fibs that fail this cover check are not installed in the fib_table_t's forwarding
table, there are only present in the non-forwarding table.

Overlapping sub-nets are not supported, so no adj-fib has multiple paths. The control
plane is expected to remove a prefix configured for an interface before the interface
changes RF.

So while the following configuration is accepted:

.. code-block:: console

   $ set interface address 192.168.1.1/32 GigabitEthernet0/8/0
   $ ip arp 192.168.1.2 GigabitEthernet0/8/0 dead.dead.dead
   $ set interface ip table GigabitEthernet0/8/0 2

it does not result in the desired behaviour, where the adj-fib and connected adjacencies are
moved to table 2.

Recursive Routes
""""""""""""""""

Figure 4 shows the data structures used to describe a recursive route. The
representation is almost identical to attached next-hop paths. The difference
being that the *fib_path_t* has a parent that is another *fib_entry_t*, termed the
*via-entry*

.. figure:: /_images/fib20fig4.png

Figure 4: Recursive route class diagram.

In order to forward traffic to 64.10.128.0/20 the FIB must first determine how to forward
traffic to 1.1.1.1/32. This is recursive resolution. Recursive resolution, which is
essentially a cache of the data-plane result, emulates a longest prefix match for the
*via-address" 1.1.1.1 in the *via-table* table 0 [#f5]_.

Recursive resolution (RR) will source a host-prefix entry in the via-table for the
via-address. The RR source is a low priority source. In the unlikely [#f6]_ event that the
RR source is the best source, then it must derive forwarding information from its
covering prefix.

There are two cases to consider:

* The cover is connected [#f7]_. The via-address is then an attached host and the RR source can resolve directly via the adjacency with the key {via-address, interface-of-connected-cover}
* The cover is not connected [#f8]_. The RR source can directly inherit the forwarding information from its cover.

This dependency on the covering prefix means the RR source will track its cover The
covering prefix will *change* when;

* A more specific prefix is inserted. For this reason whenever an entry is inserted into a FIB table its cover must be found so that its covered dependents can be informed.
* The existing cover is removed. The covered prefixes must form a new relationship with the next less specific.

The cover will be *updated* when the route for the covering prefix is modified. The
cover tracking mechanism will provide the RR sourced entry with a notification in the
event of a change or update of the cover, and the source can take the necessary action.

The RR sourced FIB entry becomes the parent of the *fib_path_t* and will contribute its
forwarding information to that path, so that the child's FIB entry can construct its own
forwarding information. 
 
Figure 5 shows the object instances created to represent the recursive route and
its resolving route also shown.

.. figure:: /_images/fib20fig5.png

Figure 5: Recursive Routes object diagram

If the source adding recursive routes does not itself perform recursive resolution [#f9]_
then it is possible that the source may inadvertently programme a recursion loop.

An example of a recursion loop is the following configuration:

.. code-block:: console

   $ ip route add 5.5.5.5/32 via 6.6.6.6
   $ ip route add 6.6.6.6/32 via 7.7.7.7
   $ ip route add 7.7.7.7/32 via 5.5.5.5

This shows a loop over three levels, but any number is possible. FIB will detect
recursion loops by forward walking the graph when a *fib_entry_t* forms a child-parent
relationship with a *fib_path_list_t*. The walk checks to see if the same object instances
are encountered. When a recursion loop is formed the control plane [#f10]_ graph becomes
cyclic, thus allowing the child-parent dependencies to form. This is necessary so that
when the loop breaks, the affected children and be updated.

Output labels
"""""""""""""

A route may have associated out MPLS labels [#f11]_. These are labels that are expected
to be imposed on a packet as it is forwarded. It is important to note that an MPLS
label is per-route and per-path, therefore, even though routes share paths the do not
necessarily have the same label for that path [#f12]_. A label is therefore uniquely associated
to a *fib_entry_t* and associated with one of the *fib_path_t* to which it forwards.
MPLS labels are modelled via the generic concept of a *path-extension* A *fib_entry_t*
therefore has a vector of zero to many *fib_path_ext_t objects* to represent the labels
with which it is configured.

.. rubric:: Footnotes:

.. [#f2] Optimisations
.. [#f3] Note it is valid for either interface to be bound to a different table than table 1
.. [#f4] The engaged reader can see the full priority list in vnet/vnet/fib/fib_entry.h
.. [#f5] Note it is only possible to add routes via an address (i.e. a/32 or /128) not via a shorter mask prefix. There is no use case for the latter
.. [#f6] For iBGP the via-address is the loopback address of the peer PE, for eBGP it is the adj-fib for the CE
.. [#f7] As is the case ofr eBGP
.. [#f8] As is the case for iBGP
.. [#f9] If that source is relying on FIB to perform recursive resolution, then there is no reason it should do so itself.
.. [#f10] The derived data-plane graph MUST never be cyclic
.. [#f11] Advertised, e.g. by LDP, SR or BGP
.. [#f12] The only case where the labels will be the same is BGP VPNv4 label allocation per-VRF