BGP Graceful Restart Capability Behavior on Velocloud SD-WAN Edge

Products

• VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN

Issue/Introduction

Customers may observe that the Edge is advertising BGP Graceful Restart capability, even when this feature is not enabled in the VCO UI configuration.

Environment

Edge version 5.1.0 and later

Resolution

The "Graceful Restart Capability in helper mode only" (GR Helper mode) will be sent by the Edge by default, regardless of whether BGP graceful restart capability is enabled or disabled.

The BGP Graceful Restart capability (GR mode) will be advertised by the edge only if BGP Graceful Restart is enabled.

 Attached is a screenshot showing the BGP capability (Helper mode only) advertised when forming the BGP session, even without enabling BGP graceful restart.

Additional Information

 

BGP Graceful Restart Mode (GR Mode)

• Definition: This mode is used to ensure that a BGP speaker (router) can restart without interrupting the forwarding of data or the BGP session itself. When a router in GR mode restarts, it attempts to retain its routing information to minimize disruption during the restart process.

BGP Graceful Restart Helper Mode (GR Helper Mode)

• Definition: In this mode, the router does not restart itself but acts as a helper for another BGP router that is in Graceful Restart mode. The helper router is responsible for maintaining the session state while the restarting router tries to maintain its routing information.