OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is an interior routing protocol used in larger networks. With OSPF, a router that sees a change to its routing table or that detects a change in the network immediately sends a multicast update to all other routers in the network. OSPF is different from RIP because:
- OSPF sends only the part of the routing table that has changed in its transmission. RIP sends the full routing table each time.
- OSPF sends a multicast only when its information has changed. RIP sends the routing table every 30 seconds.
OSPF has these requirements:
- If you have more than one OSPF area, one area must be area 0.0.0.0 (the backbone area).
- All areas must be adjacent to the backbone area. If they are not, you must configure a virtual link to the backbone area.
Fireware supports OSPFv2 for IPv4 dynamic routing and OSPFv3 for IPv6 dynamic routing.
Routing Engine
Free Range Routing (Fireware v12.9 or Higher)
In Fireware v12.9 or higher, Fireware uses the Free Range Routing (FRR) routing engine, which replaces Quagga. If your configuration includes Quagga commands for dynamic routing, those commands work after you upgrade. Some FRR commands appear in a different section than in Quagga.
For more information about FRR commands for OSPF v2, go to:
For more information about FRR commands for OSPF v3, go to:
Quagga (Fireware v12.8.x or Lower)
In Fireware v12.8.x or lower, Fireware uses the Quagga routing software suite v1.2.4, which supports most routing commands available in more recent versions of Quagga.
For more information about IPv4 routing with OSPF v2, go to:
For more information about IPv6 routing with OSPF v3, go to:
Configure IPv4 Routing with OSPF