Network Working Group                                        K. Lougheed
Request for Comments:  1105                                cisco Systems
                                                             Y. Rekhter
                                 T.J. Watson Research Center, IBM Corp.
                                                              June 1989

                   A Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

Status of this Memo

  This RFC outlines a specific approach for the exchange of network
  reachability information between Autonomous Systems.

  At the time of this writing, the Border Gateway Protocol
  implementations exist for cisco routers as well as for the NSFNET
  Nodal Switching Systems.  A public domain version for "gated" is
  currently being implemented.

  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

1. Introduction

  The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an inter-autonomous system
  routing protocol.  It is built on experience gained with EGP as
  defined in RFC 904 [1] and EGP usage in the NSFNET Backbone as
  described in RFC 1092 [2] and RFC 1093 [3].

  The primary function of a BGP speaking system is to exchange network
  reachability information with other BGP systems.  This network
  reachability information includes information on the autonomous
  systems (AS's) that traffic must transit to reach these networks.
  This information is sufficient to construct a graph of AS
  connectivity from which routing loops may be pruned and policy
  decisions at an AS level may be enforced.

  BGP runs over a reliable transport level protocol.  This eliminates
  the need to implement explicit update fragmentation, retransmission,
  acknowledgement, and sequencing.  Any authentication scheme used by
  the transport protocol may be used in addition to BGP's own
  authentication mechanisms.

  The initial BGP implementation is based on TCP [4], however any
  reliable transport may be used.  A message passing protocol such as
  VMTP [5] might be more natural for BGP.  TCP will be used, however,
  since it is present in virtually all commercial routers and hosts.
  In the following descriptions the phrase "transport protocol
  connection" can be understood to refer to a TCP connection.  BGP uses
  TCP port 179 for establishing its connections.



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2. Summary of Operation

  Two hosts form a transport protocol connection between one another.
  They exchange messages to open and confirm the connection parameters.
  The initial data flow is the entire BGP routing table.  Incremental
  updates are sent as the routing tables change.  Keepalive messages
  are sent periodically to ensure the liveness of the connection.
  Notification messages are sent in response to errors or special
  conditions.  If a connection encounters an error condition, a
  notification message is sent and the connection is optionally closed.

  The hosts executing the Border Gateway Protocol need not be routers.
  A non-routing host could exchange routing information with routers
  via EGP or even an interior routing protocol.  That non-routing host
  could then use BGP to exchange routing information with a border
  gateway in another autonomous system.  The implications and
  applications of this architecture are for further study.

  If a particular AS has more than one BGP gateway, then all these
  gateways should have a consistent view of routing.  A consistent view
  of the interior routes of the autonomous system is provided by the
  intra-AS routing protocol.  A consistent view of the routes exterior
  to the AS may be provided in a variety of ways.  One way is to use
  the BGP protocol to exchange routing information between the BGP
  gateways within a single AS.  In this case, in order to maintain
  consist routing information, these gateways MUST have direct BGP
  sessions with each other (the BGP sessions should form a complete
  graph).  Note that this requirement does not imply that all BGP
  gateways within a single AS must have direct links to each other;
  other methods may be used to ensure consistent routing information.

3. Message Formats

  This section describes message formats and actions to be taken when
  errors are detected while processing these messages.

  Messages are sent over a reliable transport protocol connection.  A
  message is processed after it is entirely received.  The maximum
  message size is 1024 bytes.  All implementations are required to
  support this maximum message size.  The smallest message that may be
  sent consists of a BGP header without a data portion, or 8 bytes.

  The phrase "the BGP connection is closed" means that the transport
  protocol connection has been closed and that all resources for that
  BGP connection have been deallocated.  Routing table entries
  associated with the remote peer are marked as invalid.  This
  information is passed to other BGP peers before being deleted from
  the system.



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RFC 1105                          BGP                          June 1989


3.1 Message Header Format

  Each message has a fixed size header.  There may or may not be a data
  portion following the header, depending on the message type.  The
  layout of these fields is shown below.

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |        Marker                |          Length                |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |    Version   |     Type      |        Hold Time               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

  Marker: 16 bits

     The Marker field is 16 bits of all ones.  This field is used to
     mark the start of a message.  If the first two bytes of a message
     are not all ones then we have a synchronization error and the BGP
     connection should be closed after sending a notification message
     with opcode 5 (connection not synchronized).  No notification data
     is sent.

  Length: 16 bits

     The Length field is 16 bits.  It is the total length of the
     message, incluluding header, in bytes.  If an illegal length is
     encountered (more than 1024 bytes or less than 8 bytes), a
     notification message with opcode 6 (bad message length) and two
     data bytes of the bad length should be sent and the BGP connection
     closed.

  Version: 8 bits

     The Version field is 8 bits of protocol version number.  The
     current BGP version number is 1.  If a bad version number is
     found, a notification message with opcode 8 (bad version number)
     should be sent and the BGP connection closed.  The bad version
     number should be included in one byte of notification data.

  Type: 8 bits

     The Type field is 8 bits of message type code.  The following type
     codes are defined:







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                   1 - OPEN
                   2 - UPDATE
                   3 - NOTIFICATION
                   4 - KEEPALIVE
                   5 - OPEN CONFIRM

     If an unrecognized type value is found, a notification message
     with opcode 7 (bad type code) and data consisting of the byte of
     type field in question should be sent and the BGP connection
     closed.

  Hold Timer: 16 bits.

     This field contains the number of seconds that may elapse since
     receiving a BGP KEEPALIVE or BGP UPDATE message from our BGP peer
     before we declare an error and close the BGP connection.

3.2  OPEN Message Format

  After a transport protocol connection is established, the first
  message sent by either side is an OPEN message.  If the OPEN message
  is acceptable, an OPEN CONFIRM message confirming the OPEN is sent
  back.  Once the OPEN is confirmed, UPDATE, KEEPALIVE, and
  NOTIFICATION messages may be exchanged.

  In addition to the fixed size BGP header, the OPEN message contains
  the following fields.

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |    My Autonomous System      |   Link Type   |  Auth. Code    |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                                                               |
  |                 Authentication Data                           |
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

  My Autonomous System: 16 bits

     This field is our 16 bit autonomous system number.  If there is a
     problem with this field, a notification message with opcode 9
     (invalid AS field) should be sent and the BGP connection closed.
     No notification data is sent.

  Link Type: 8 bits

     The Link Type field is a single octet containing one of the



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     following codes defining our position in the AS graph relative to
     our peer.

                      0  - INTERNAL
                      1  - UP
                      2  - DOWN
                      3  - H-LINK

     UP indicates the peer is higher in the AS hierarchy, DOWN
     indicates lower, and H-LINK indicates at the same level.  INTERNAL
     indicates that the peer is another BGP speaking host in our
     autonomous system.  INTERNAL links are used to keep AS routing
     information consistent with an AS with multiple border gateways.
     If the Link Type field is unacceptable, a notification message
     with opcode 1 (link type error in open) and data consisting of the
     expected link type should be sent and the BGP connection closed.
     The acceptable values for the Link Type fields of two BGP peers
     are discussed below.

  Authentication Code: 8 bits

     The Authentication Code field is an octet whose value describes
     the authentication mechanism being used.  A value of zero
     indicates no BGP authentication.  Note that a separate
     authentication mechanism may be used in establishing the transport
     level connection.  If the authentication code is not recognized, a
     notification message with opcode 2 (unknown authentication code)
     and no data is sent and the BGP connection is closed.

  Authentication Data: variable length

     The Authentication Data field is a variable length field
     containing authentication data.  If the value of Authentication
     Code field is zero, the Authentication Data field has zero length.
     If authentication fails, a notification message with opcode 3
     (authentication failure) and no data is sent and the BGP
     connection is closed.

3.3 OPEN CONFIRM Message Format

  An OPEN CONFIRM message is sent after receiving an OPEN message.
  This completes the BGP connection setup.  UPDATE, NOTIFICATION, and
  KEEPALIVE messages may now be exchanged.

  An OPEN CONFIRM message consists of a BGP header with an OPEN CONFIRM
  type code.  There is no data in an OPEN CONFIRM message.





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3.4 UPDATE Message Format

  UPDATE messages are used to transfer routing information between BGP
  peers.  The information in the UPDATE packet can be used to construct
  a graph describing the relationships of the various autonomous
  systems.  By applying rules to be discussed, routing information
  loops and some other anomalies may be detected and removed from the
  inter-AS routing.

  Whenever an error in a UPDATE message is detected, a notification
  message is sent with opcode 4 (bad update), a two byte subcode
  describing the nature of the problem, and a data field consisting of
  as much of the UPDATE message data portion as possible.  UPDATE
  messages have the following format:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                         Gateway                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |   AS count    | Direction     |         AS Number             |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |     repeat (Direction, AS Number) pairs AS count times        |
  /                                                               /
  /                                                               /
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |      Net Count                |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                        Network                                |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |      Metric                   |                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
  |       repeat (Network, Metric) pairs Net Count times          |
  /                                                               /
  /                                                               /
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

  Gateway: 32 bits.

     The Gateway field is the address of a gateway that has routes to
     the Internet networks listed in the rest of the UPDATE message.
     This gateway MUST belong to the same AS as the BGP peer who
     advertises it.  If there is a problem with the gateway field, a
     notification message with subcode 6 (invalid gateway field) is
     sent.




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  AS count: 8 bits.

     This field is the count of Direction and AS Number pairs in this
     UPDATE message.  If an incorrect AS count field is detected,
     subcode 1 (invalid AS count) is specified in the notification
     message.

  Direction: 8 bits

     The Direction field is an octet containing the direction taken by
     the routing information when exiting the AS defined by the
     succeeding AS Number field.  The following values are defined.

           1  - UP            (went up a link in the graph)
           2  - DOWN          (went down a link in the graph)
           3  - H_LINK        (horizontal link in the graph)
           4  - EGP_LINK      (EGP derived information)
           5  - INCOMPLETE    (incomplete information)

     There is a special provision to pass exterior learned (non-BGP)
     routes over BGP.  If an EGP learned route is passed over BGP, then
     the Direction field is set to EGP-LINK and the AS Number field is
     set to the AS number of the EGP peer that advertised this route.
     All other exterior-learned routes (non-BGP and non-EGP) may be
     passed by setting AS Number field to zero and Direction field to
     INCOMPLETE.  If the direction code is not recognized, a
     notification message with subcode 2 (invalid direction code) is
     sent.

  AS Number: 16 bits

     This field is the AS number that transmitted the routing
     information.  If there is a problem with this AS number, a
     notification message with subcode 3 (invalid autonomous system) is
     sent.

  Net Count: 16 bits.

     The Net Count field is the number of Metric and Network field
     pairs which follow this field.  If there is a problem with this
     field, a notification with subcode 7 (invalid net count field) is
     sent.

  Network: 32 bits

     The Network field is four bytes of Internet network number.  If
     there is a problem with the network field, a notification message
     with subcode 8 (invalid network field) is sent.



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  Metric: 16 bits

     The Metric field is 16 bits of an unspecified metric.  BGP metrics
     are comparable ONLY if routes have exactly the same AS path.  A
     metric of all ones indicates the network is unreachable.  In all
     other cases the metric field is MEANINGLESS and MUST BE IGNORED.
     There are no illegal metric values.

3.5  NOTIFICATION Message Format

  NOTIFICATION messages are sent when an error condition is detected.
  The BGP connection is closed shortly after sending the notification
  message.

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |          Opcode               |           Data                |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

  Opcode: 16 bits

     The Opcode field describes the type of NOTIFICATION.  The
     following opcodes have been defined.

           1 (*) - link type error in open.  Data is one byte of proper
                   link type.
           2 (*) - unknown authentication code.  No data.
           3 (*) - authentication failure.  No data.
           4     - update error.  See below for data description.
           5 (*) - connection out of sync.  No data.
           6 (*) - invalid message length.  Data is two bytes of
                   bad length.
           7 (*) - invalid message type.  Data is one byte of bad
                   message type.
           8 (*) - invalid version number.  Data is one byte of
                   bad version.
           9 (*) - invalid AS field in OPEN.  No data.
          10 (*) - BGP Cease.  No data.

     The starred opcodes in the list above are considered fatal errors
     and cause transport connection termination.

     The update error (opcode 4) has as data 16 bits of subcode
     followed by the last UPDATE message in question.  After the
     subcode comes as much of the data portion of the UPDATE in



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     question as possible.  The following subcodes are defined:

              1 - invalid AS count
              2 - invalid direction code
              3 - invalid autonomous system
              4 - EGP_LINK or INCOMPLETE_LINK link type at other than
                  the end of the AS path list
              5 - routing loop
              6 - invalid gateway field
              7 - invalid Net Count field
              8 - invalid network field

  Data: variable

     The Data field contains zero or more bytes of data to be used in
     diagnosing the reason for the NOTIFICATION.  The contents of the
     Data field depend upon the opcode.  See the opcode descriptions
     above for more details.

3.6 KEEPALIVE Message Format

  BGP does not use any transport protocol based keepalive mechanism to
  determine if peers are reachable.  Instead KEEPALIVE messages are
  exchanged between peers often enough as not to cause the hold time
  (as advertised in the BGP header) to expire.  A reasonable minimum
  frequency of KEEPALIVE exchange would be one third of the Hold Time
  interval.

  As soon as the Hold Time associated with BGP peer has expired, the
  BGP connection is closed and BGP deallocates all resources associated
  with this peer.

  The KEEPALIVE message is a BGP header without any data.

4. BGP Finite State machine.

  This section specifies BGP operation in terms of a Finite State
  Machine (FSM).  Following is a brief summary and overview of BGP
  operations by state as determined by this FSM.  A condensed version
  of the BGP FSM is found in Appendix 1.

  Initially BGP is in the BGP_Idle state.

  BGP_Idle state:

     In this state BGP refuses all incoming BGP connections.  No
     resources are allocated to the BGP neighbor.  In response to the
     Start event (initiated by either system or operator) the local



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     system initializes all BGP resources and changes its state to
     BGP_Active.

  BGP_Active state:

     In this state BGP is trying to acquire a BGP neighbor by opening a
     transport protocol connection.  If the transport protocol open
     fails (for example, retransmission timeout),  BGP stays in the
     BGP_Active state.

     Otherwise,  the local system sends an OPEN message to its peer,
     and changes its state to BGP_OpenSent.  Since the hold time of the
     peer is still undetermined, the hold time is initialized to some
     large value.

     In response to the Stop event (initiated by either system or
     operator) the local system releases all BGP resources and changes
     its state to BGP_Idle.

  BGP_OpenSent state:

     In this state BGP waits for an OPEN message from its peer.  When
     an OPEN message is received, all fields are checked for
     correctness.  If the initial BGP header checking detects an error,
     BGP deallocates all resources associated with this peer and
     returns to the BGP_Active state.  Otherwise, the Link Type,
     Authentication Code, and Authentication Data fields are checked
     for correctness.

     If the link type is incorrect, a NOTIFICATION message with opcode
     1 (link type error in open) is sent.  The following combination of
     link type fields are correct; all other combinations are invalid.

                     Our view         Peer view
                     UP                DOWN
                     DOWN              UP
                     INTERNAL          INTERNAL
                     H-LINK            H-LINK

     If the link between two peers is INTERNAL, then AS number of both
     peers must be the same.  Otherwise, a NOTIFICATION message with
     opcode 1 (link type error in open) is sent.

     If both peers have the same AS number and the link type between
     these peers is not INTERNAL, then a NOTIFICATION message with
     opcode 1 (link type error in open) is sent.

     If the value of the Authentication Code field is zero, any



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     information in the Authentication Data field (if present) is
     ignored.  If the Authentication Code field is non-zero it is
     checked for known authentication codes.  If authentication code is
     unknown, then the BGP NOTIFICATION message with opcode 2 (unknown
     authentication code) is sent.

     If the Authentication Code value is non-zero, then the
     corresponding authentication procedure is invoked.  The default
     values are a zero Authentication Code and no Authentication Data.

     If any of the above tests detect an error, the local system closes
     the BGP connection and changes its state to BGP_Idle.

     If there are no errors in the BGP OPEN message, BGP sends an OPEN
     CONFIRM message and goes into the BGP_OpenConfirm state.  At this
     point the hold timer which was originally set to some arbitrary
     large value (see above) is replaced with the value indicated in
     the OPEN message.

     If disconnect notification is received from the underlying
     transport protocol or if the hold time expires, the local system
     closes the BGP connection and changes its state to BGP_Idle.

  BGP_OpenConfirm state:

     In this state BGP waits for an OPEN CONFIRM message.  As soon as
     this message is received, BGP changes its state to
     BGP_Established.  If the hold timer expires before an OPEN CONFIRM
     message is received, the local system closes the BGP connection
     and changes its state to BGP_Idle.

  BGP_Established state:

     In the BGP_Established state BGP can exchange UPDATE,
     NOTIFICATION, and KEEPALIVE messages with its peer.

     If disconnect notification is received from the underlying
     transport protocol or if the hold time expires, the local system
     closes the BGP connection and changes its state to BGP_Idle.

     In response to the Stop event initiated by either the system or
     operator, the local system sends a NOTIFICATION message with
     opcode 10 (BGP Cease), closes the BGP connection, and changes its
     state to BGP_Idle.







Lougheed & Rekhter                                             [Page 11]

RFC 1105                          BGP                          June 1989


5. UPDATE Message Handling

  A BGP UPDATE message may be received only in the BGP_Established
  state.  When a BGP UPDATE message is received, each field is checked
  for validity.  When a NOTIFICATION message is sent regarding an
  UPDATE, the opcode is always 4 (update error), the subcode depends on
  the type of error, and the rest of the data field is as much as
  possible of the data portion of the UPDATE that caused the error.

  If the Gateway field is incorrect, a BGP NOTIFICATION message is sent
  with subcode 6 (invalid gateway field).  All information in this
  UPDATE message is discarded.

  If the AS Count field is less than or equal to zero, a BGP
  NOTIFICATION is sent with subcode 1 (invalid AS count).  Otherwise,
  the complete AS path is extracted and checked as described below.

  If one of the Direction fields in the AS route list is not defined, a
  BGP NOTIFICATION message is with subcode 2 (invalid direction code).

  If one of the AS Number fields in the AS route list is incorrect, a
  BGP NOTIFICATION message is sent with subcode 3 (invalid autonomous
  system).

  If either a EGP_LINK or a INCOMPLETE_LINK link type occurs at other
  than the end of the AS path, a BGP NOTIFICATION message is sent with
  subcode 4 (EGP_LINK or INCOMPLETE_LINK link type at other than the
  end of the AS path list).

  If none of the above tests failed, the full AS route is checked for
  AS loops.

  AS loop detection is done by scanning the full AS route and checking
  that each AS in this route occurs only once.  If an AS loop is
  detected, a BGP NOTIFICATION message is sent with subcode 5 (routing
  loop).

  If any of the above errors are detected, no further processing is
  done.  Otherwise, the complete AS path is correct and the rest of the
  UPDATE message is processed.

  If the Net Count field is incorrect, a BGP NOTIFICATION message is
  sent with subcode 7 (invalid Net Count field).

  Each network and metric pair listed in the BGP UPDATE message is
  checked for a valid network number.  If the Network field is
  incorrect, a BGP Notification message is sent with subcode 8 (invalid
  network field).  No checking is done on the metric field.  It is up



Lougheed & Rekhter                                             [Page 12]

RFC 1105                          BGP                          June 1989


  to a particular implementation to decide whether to continue
  processing or terminate it upon the first incorrect network.

  If the network, its complete AS path, and the gateway are correct,
  then the route is compared with other routes to the same network.  If
  the new route is better than the current one, then it is flooded to
  other BGP peers as follows:

   - If the BGP UPDATE was received over the INTERNAL link, it is not
     propagated over any other INTERNAL link.  This restriction is
     due to the fact that all BGP gateways within a single AS
     form a completely connected graph (see above).

   - Before sending a BGP UPDATE message over the non-INTERNAL links,
     check the AS path to insure that doing so would not cause a
     routing loop.  The BGP UPDATE message is then propagated (subject
     to the local policy restrictions) over any of the non-INTERNAL
     link of a routing loop would not result.

   - If the BGP UPDATE message is propagated over a non-INTERNAL link,
     then the current AS number and link type of the link over which
     it is going to be propagated is prepended to the full AS path
     and the AS count field is incremented by 1.  If the BGP UPDATE
     message is propagated over an INTERNAL link, then the full AS
     path passed unmodified and the AS count stays the same.  The
     Gateway field is replaced with the sender's own address.

6. Acknowledgements

  We would like to express our thanks to Len Bosack (cisco Systems),
  Jeff Honig (Cornell University) and all members of the IWG task force
  for their contributions to this document.



















Lougheed & Rekhter                                             [Page 13]

RFC 1105                          BGP                          June 1989


                               Appendix 1

BGP FSM State Transitions and Actions.

  This Appendix discusses the transitions between states in the BGP FSM
  in response to BGP events.  The following is the list of these states
  and events.

      BGP States:

           1 - BGP_Idle
           2 - BGP_Active
           3 - BGP_OpenSent
           4 - BGP_OpenConfirm
           5 - BGP_Established

      BGP Events:

           1 - BGP Start
           2 - BGP Transport connection open
           3 - BGP Transport connection closed
           4 - BGP Transport connection open failed
           5 - Receive OPEN message
           6 - Receive OPEN CONFIRM message
           7 - Receive KEEPALIVE message
           8 - Receive UPDATE messages
           9 - Receive NOTIFICATION message
          10 - Holdtime timer expired
          11 - KeepAlive timer expired
          12 - Receive CEASE message
          13 - BGP Stop

  The following table describes the state transitions of the BGP FSM
  and the actions triggered by these transitions.

















Lougheed & Rekhter                                             [Page 14]

RFC 1105                          BGP                          June 1989


  Event                Actions               Message Sent   Next State
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  BGP_Idle (1)
    1            Initialize resources           none             2
  BGP_Active (2)
    2           Initialize resources            OPEN             3
    4                   none                    none             2
   13           Release resources               none             1

  BGP_OpenSent(3)
   3                    none                    none             1
   5            Process OPEN is OK            OPEN CONFIRM       4
                Process OPEN Message failed   NOTIFICATION       1
  11            Restart KeepAlive timer       KEEPALIVE          3
  13            Release resources               none             1

  BGP_OpenConfirm (4)
   6            Complete initialization         none             5
   3                   none                     none             1
  10            Close transport connection      none             1
  11            Restart KeepAlive timer       KEEPALIVE          4
  13            Release resources               none             1

  BGP_Established (5)
   7            Process KEEPALIVE               none             5
   8            Process UPDATE is OK          UPDATE             5
                Process UPDATE failed         NOTIFICATION       5
   9            Process NOTIFICATION            none             5
  10            Close transport connection      none             1
  11            Restart KeepAlive timer       KEEPALIVE          5
  12            Close transport connection    NOTIFICATION       1
  13            Release resources               none             1
  --------------------------------------------------------------------

  All other state-event combinations are considered fatal errors and
  cause the termination of the BGP transport connection (if necessary)
  and a transition to the BGP_Idle state.














Lougheed & Rekhter                                             [Page 15]

RFC 1105                          BGP                          June 1989


  The following is a condensed version of the above state transition
  table.

  Events|BGP_Idle BGP_Active BGP_OpenSent BGP_OpenConfirm BGP_Estab
        |  (1)   |    (2)   |     (3)    |      (4)      |      (5)
        |-------------------------------------------------------------
   1    |   2    |          |            |               |
        |        |          |            |               |
   2    |        |     3    |            |               |
        |        |          |            |               |
   3    |        |          |      1     |       1       |
        |        |          |            |               |
   4    |        |     2    |            |               |
        |        |          |            |               |
   5    |        |          |    4 or 1  |               |
        |        |          |            |               |
   6    |        |          |            |       5       |
        |        |          |            |               |
   7    |        |          |            |               |       5
        |        |          |            |               |
   8    |        |          |            |               |       5
        |        |          |            |               |
   9    |        |          |            |               |       5
        |        |          |            |               |
  10    |        |          |            |       1       |       1
        |        |          |            |               |
  11    |        |          |      3     |       4       |       5
        |        |          |            |               |
  12    |        |          |            |               |       1
        |        |          |            |               |
  13    |        |     1    |      1     |       1       |       1
        |        |          |            |               |
        --------------------------------------------------------------


















Lougheed & Rekhter                                             [Page 16]

RFC 1105                          BGP                          June 1989


References

 [1]  Mills, D., "Exterior Gateway Protocol Formal Specification", RFC
      904, BBN, April 1984.

 [2]  Rekhter, Y., "EGP and Policy Based Routing in the New NSFNET
      Backbone", RFC 1092, T. J. Watson Research Center, February 1989.

 [3]  Braun, H-W., "The NSFNET Routing Architecture", RFC 1093,
      MERIT/NSFNET Project, February 1989.

 [4]  Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol - DARPA Internet
      Program Protocol Specification", RFC 793, DARPA, September 1981.

 [5]  Cheriton, D., "VMTP: Versatile Message Transaction Protocol", RFC
      1045, Stanford University, February 1988.

Authors' Addresses

  Kirk Lougheed
  cisco Systems, Inc.
  1360 Willow Road, Suite 201
  Menlo Park, CA 94025

  Phone: (415) 326-1941

  Email: [email protected]


  Jacob Rekhter
  T.J. Watson Research Center
  IBM Corporation
  P.O. Box 218
  Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

  Phone: (914) 945-3896

  Email: [email protected]













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