RFC 9351 | BGP-LS Extensions for Flexible Algorithm | February 2023 |
Talaulikar, et al. | Standards Track | [Page] |
Flexible Algorithm is a solution that allows some routing protocols (e.g., OSPF and IS-IS) to compute paths over a network based on user-defined (and hence, flexible) constraints and metrics. The computation is performed by routers participating in the specific network in a distributed manner using a Flexible Algorithm Definition (FAD). This definition is provisioned on one or more routers and propagated through the network by OSPF and IS-IS flooding.¶
Border Gateway Protocol - Link State (BGP-LS) enables the collection of various topology information from the network. This document defines extensions to the BGP-LS address family to advertise the FAD as a part of the topology information from the network.¶
This is an Internet Standards Track document.¶
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.¶
Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9351.¶
Copyright (c) 2023 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.¶
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.¶
The classical IGP (e.g., OSPF and IS-IS) computation of best paths over the network is based on the IGP metric assigned to the links in the network. Many network deployments use solutions based on RSVP-TE [RFC3209] or Segment Routing (SR) Policy [RFC8402] to enforce traffic over a path that is computed using different metrics or constraints than the shortest IGP path. [RFC9350] defines the Flexible Algorithm solution that allows IGPs themselves to compute constraint-based paths over the network.¶
Flexible Algorithm is called so because it allows a user the flexibility to define:¶
The operations of the IGP Flexible Algorithm solution are described in detail in [RFC9350].¶
The BGP-LS extensions for SR are defined in [RFC9085] and [IDR-BGPLS-SRV6-EXT] for SR-MPLS and Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6), respectively. They include the extensions for advertisement of SR information including various types of Segment Identifiers (SIDs) as below:¶
This document defines extensions to BGP-LS for the advertisement of the Flexible Algorithm Definition (FAD) information to enable learning of the mapping of the Flexible Algorithm number to its definition in each area/domain of the underlying IGP. This definition indicates the type of computation used and the constraints for a given Flexible Algorithm. This information can then be used for setting up SR Policy paths end to end across domains by using the appropriate Flexible-Algorithm-specific SIDs in its segment list [RFC9256]. For example, picking the Flexible Algorithm Prefix-SID (in case of SR-MPLS) or End SID (in case of SRv6) of Area Border Routers (ABRs) or Autonomous System Border Routers (ASBRs) corresponding to a definition that optimizes on the delay metric enables the building of an end-to-end low-latency path across IGP domains with minimal SIDs in the SID list.¶
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.¶
BGP-LS [RFC7752] specifies the Node Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) for the advertisement of nodes, along with their attributes using the BGP-LS Attribute; the Link NLRI for the advertisement of links, along with their attributes using the BGP-LS Attribute; and the Prefix NLRI for the advertisement of prefixes, along with their attributes using the BGP-LS Attribute.¶
The FADs advertised by a node are considered as a node-level attribute and advertised as specified in Section 3.¶
Various link attributes, like affinities and Shared Risk Link Group (SRLG), that are used during the Flexible Algorithm route calculations in IS-IS and OSPF are advertised in those protocols using the Application-Specific Link Attribute (ASLA) advertisements, as described in [RFC8919], [RFC8920], and [RFC9350]. The BGP-LS extensions for ASLA advertisements are specified in [RFC9294].¶
The Flexible Algorithm Prefix Metric (FAPM) is considered as a prefix attribute and advertised as specified in Section 4.¶
This document defines a new optional BGP-LS Attribute TLV associated with the Node NLRI called the "Flexible Algorithm Definition TLV" ("FAD TLV" for short), and its format is as follows:¶
The FAD TLV that is advertised in the BGP-LS Attribute along with the Node NLRI of a node is derived from the following IGP protocol-specific advertisements:¶
The BGP-LS Attribute associated with a Node NLRI may include one or more FAD TLVs corresponding to the FAD for each algorithm that the particular node is advertising.¶
The following subsections define sub-TLVs of the FAD TLV.¶
The Flexible Algorithm Exclude-Any Affinity sub-TLV is an optional sub-TLV that is used to carry the affinity constraints associated with the FAD and enable the exclusion of links carrying any of the specified affinities from the computation of the specific algorithm, as described in [RFC9350]. The affinity is expressed in terms of the Extended Admin Group (EAG), as defined in [RFC7308].¶
The sub-TLV has the following format:¶
The information in the Flexible Algorithm Exclude-Any Affinity sub-TLV is derived from the IS-IS and OSPF protocol-specific Flexible Algorithm Exclude Admin Group sub-TLV, as defined in [RFC9350].¶
The Flexible Algorithm Include-Any Affinity sub-TLV is an optional sub-TLV that is used to carry the affinity constraints associated with the FAD and enable the inclusion of links carrying any of the specified affinities in the computation of the specific algorithm, as described in [RFC9350]. The affinity is expressed in terms of the EAG, as defined in [RFC7308].¶
The sub-TLV has the following format:¶
The information in the Flexible Algorithm Include-Any Affinity sub-TLV is derived from the IS-IS and OSPF protocol-specific Flexible Algorithm Include-Any Admin Group sub-TLV, as defined in [RFC9350].¶
The Flexible Algorithm Include-All Affinity sub-TLV is an optional sub-TLV that is used to carry the affinity constraints associated with the FAD and enable the inclusion of links carrying all of the specified affinities in the computation of the specific algorithm, as described in [RFC9350]. The affinity is expressed in terms of the EAG, as defined in [RFC7308].¶
The sub-TLV has the following format:¶
The information in the Flexible Algorithm Include-All Affinity sub-TLV is derived from the IS-IS and OSPF protocol-specific Flexible Algorithm Include-All Admin Group sub-TLV, as defined in [RFC9350].¶
The Flexible Algorithm Definition Flags sub-TLV is an optional sub-TLV that is used to carry the flags associated with the FAD that are used in the computation of the specific algorithm, as described in [RFC9350].¶
The sub-TLV has the following format:¶
The information in the Flexible Algorithm Definition Flags sub-TLV is derived from the IS-IS and OSPF protocol-specific Flexible Algorithm Definition Flags sub-TLV, as defined in [RFC9350].¶
The Flexible Algorithm Exclude SRLG sub-TLV is an optional sub-TLV that is used to carry the Shared Risk Link Group (SRLG) information associated with the FAD and enable the exclusion of links that are associated with any of the specified SRLG in the computation of the specific algorithm, as described in [RFC9350]. The SRLGs associated with a link are carried in the BGP-LS Shared Risk Link Group (TLV 1096) [RFC7752].¶
The sub-TLV has the following format:¶
The information in the Flexible Algorithm Exclude SRLG sub-TLV is derived from the IS-IS and OSPF protocol-specific Flexible Algorithm Exclude SRLG sub-TLV, as defined in [RFC9350].¶
The OSPF and IS-IS signaling for FAD allows for extensions via new sub-TLVs under the respective IGP's Flexible Algorithm Definition TLV. As specified in Section 5.3 of [RFC9350], it is important that the entire FAD be understood by anyone using it for computation purposes. Therefore, the FAD is different from most other protocol extensions, where the skipping or ignoring of unsupported sub-TLV information does not affect the base behavior.¶
The Flexible Algorithm Unsupported sub-TLV is an optional sub-TLV that is used to indicate the presence of unsupported FAD sub-TLVs. The need for this sub-TLV arises when the BGP-LS implementation on the advertising node does not support one or more of the FAD sub-TLVs present in the IGP advertisement.¶
The sub-TLV has the following format:¶
The node originating the advertisement MUST include the Flexible Algorithm Unsupported sub-TLV when it comes across an unsupported sub-TLV in the corresponding FAD in the IS-IS and OSPF advertisement. When advertising the Flexible Algorithm Unsupported sub-TLV, the protocol-specific sub-TLV types that are not supported SHOULD be included. This information serves as a diagnostic aid.¶
The discussion on the use of the FAD information by the consumers of the BGP-LS information is beyond the scope of this document. However, it is RECOMMENDED that the choice of the node used for originating the IGP topology information into BGP-LS be made such that the advertising node supports all the FAD extensions in use in its part of the network. This avoids the scenario where an incomplete FAD gets advertised via BGP-LS.¶
This document defines a new optional BGP-LS Attribute TLV associated with the Prefix NLRI called the "Flexible Algorithm Prefix Metric TLV ("FAPM TLV" for short), and its format is as follows:¶
The FAPM TLV that is advertised in the BGP-LS Attribute along with the Prefix NLRI from a node is derived from the following IGP protocol-specific advertisements:¶
The BGP-LS Attribute associated with a Prefix NLRI may include one or more FAPM TLVs corresponding to the Flexible Algorithm Prefix Metric for each algorithm associated with that particular prefix.¶
IANA has allocated code points in the "BGP-LS Node Descriptor, Link Descriptor, Prefix Descriptor, and Attribute TLVs" registry <https://www.iana.org/assignments/bgp-ls-parameters> based on the table below for the TLVs/sub-TLVs introduced by this document.¶
TLV Code Point | Description |
---|---|
1039 | Flexible Algorithm Definition |
1040 | Flexible Algorithm Exclude-Any Affinity |
1041 | Flexible Algorithm Include-Any Affinity |
1042 | Flexible Algorithm Include-All Affinity |
1043 | Flexible Algorithm Definition Flags |
1044 | Flexible Algorithm Prefix Metric |
1045 | Flexible Algorithm Exclude SRLG |
1046 | Flexible Algorithm Unsupported |
The new protocol extensions introduced in this document augment the existing IGP topology information that can be distributed via [RFC7752]. Procedures and protocol extensions defined in this document do not affect the BGP protocol operations and management other than what is discussed in the "Manageability Considerations" section of [RFC7752]. Specifically, the malformed NLRIs attribute tests in the "Fault Management" section of [RFC7752] now encompass the new TLVs for the BGP-LS NLRI in this document.¶
The extensions specified in this document do not specify any new configuration or monitoring aspects in BGP or BGP-LS. The specification of BGP models is an ongoing work based on [IDR-BGP-MODEL].¶
Security considerations for acquiring and distributing BGP-LS information are discussed in [RFC7752].¶
The TLVs introduced in this document are used to propagate the IGP Flexible Algorithm extensions defined in [RFC9350]. It is assumed that the IGP instances originating these TLVs will support all the required security (as described in [RFC9350]) for Flexible Algorithm deployment.¶
This document specifies extensions for the advertisement of node and prefix-related Flexible Algorithm information. Tampering with this Flexible-Algorithm-related information may affect applications using it, including impacting route calculation and programming. As the advertisements defined in this document are related to a specific Flexible Algorithm topology, the impact of tampering is similarly limited in scope.¶
The authors would like to thank Les Ginsberg, Amalesh Maity, Y. F. Siu, Vijay Gurbani, and Donald Eastlake 3rd for their reviews and contributions to this work. The authors would like to thank Jie Dong for his shepherd review. The authors would like to thank Alvaro Retana for his detailed AD review and suggestions for improving this document.¶