OSPF Configuration Step By Step Guide

In this tutorial we will provide a step by step configuration guide for OSPF
routing protocol. OSPF uses the concept of process ID, area number and
Wildcard mask which makes its configuration a little bit more complex. We
will explain these fundamental topics in easy language with examples.
This tutorial is the fourth part of our article OSPF Routing Protocol Explained
with examples". You can read other parts of this article here.
OSPF Fundamental Terminology Explained
This tutorial is the first part of this article. In this part we explained basic
terminology of OSPF such as Feature , Advantage and Disadvantage,
Autonomous System, Area concept, ABR, IR, Link, State ,LSA and LSDB with
example.
OSPF Neighborship Condition and Requirement
This tutorial is the second part of this article. OSPF neighborship is built
between two routers only if configuration value of Area ID, Authentication,
Hello and Dead interval, Stub Area and MTU are matched. This part explains
these parameters and OSPF adjacency in detail with examples.
OSPF Neighbor States Explained with Example
This tutorial is the third part of this article. OSPF adjacency process goes
through the seven states; OSPF State down, OSPF State Init, OSPF State
two ways, OSPF State Exstart, OSPF State Exchange, OSPF State Loading
and OSPF State full. This part explains these states with DR BDR selection
process in detail with examples.
OSPF Metric cost Calculation Formula Explained
This tutorial is the last part of this article. In this part we will explain OSPF
metric component bandwidth, Delay, Load, Reliability and MTU with cost
calculation formula in detail with examples.
For demonstration we will use packet tracer network simulator software. You
can use real Cisco devices or any other network simulator software for
following this guide.
Create a topology as illustrate in following figure or download this pre-
created topology.
Download OSPF Practice Topology
Device Interface IP Configuration Connected with

PC0 Fa0/0 10.0.0.2/8 Router0s Fa0/0

Router0 Fa0/0 10.0.0.1/8 PC0s Fa0/0

Router0 Fa0/1 192.168.1.1/30 Router5s Fa0/1

Router5 Fa0/1 192.168.1.2/30 Router0s Fa0/1

Router5 Fa0/0 192.168.1.5/30 Router6s F0/0

Router6 Fa0/0 192.168.1.6/30 Router5s Fa0/0

Router6 Fa0/1 20.0.0.1/8 Server0s Fa0/0

Server0 Fa0/0 20.0.0.2/8 Router6s Fa0/1

Router0 Serial 0/0/0 (DCE) 192.168.0.1/30 Router1s Se0/0/0

Router1 Serial 0/0/0 192.168.0.2/30 Router0s Se0/0/0

 Router1 Serial 0/0/1 (DCE) 192.168.0.5/30 Router2s Se0/0/1

Router2 Serial0/0/1 192.168.0.6/30 Router1s Se0/0/1

Router2 Serial 0/0/0 (DCE) 192.168.0.9/30 Router6s Se0/0/0

Router6 Serial 0/0/0 192.168.0.10/30 Router2s Se0/0/0

Router0 Serial 0/0/1 192.168.2.1/30 Router3s Se0/0/1

Router3 Serial 0/0/1 (DCE) 192.168.2.2/30 Router0s Se0/0/1

Router3 Serial 0/0/0 192.168.2.5/30 Router4s Se0/0/0

Router4 Serial 0/0/0 (DCE) 192.68.2.6/30 Router3s Se0/0/0

Router4 Serial 0/0/1 192.168.2.9/30 Router6s Se0/0/1

Router6 Serial0/0/1 (DCE) 192.168.2.10/30 Router4s Se0/0/1

Assign IP address to PC
Double click PC0 and click Desktop menu item and click IP Configuration.
Assign IP address 10.0.0.2/8 to PC0.

Repeat same process for Server0 and assign IP address 20.0.0.2/8.

Assign IP address to interfaces of routers

Double click Router0 and click CLI and press Enter key to access the
command prompt of Router0.
Four interfaces FastEthernet0/0, FastEthernet0/1, Serial 0/0/0 and
Serial0/0/1 of Router0 are used in this topology. By default interfaces on
router are remain administratively down during the start up.
We need to configure IP address and other parameters on interfaces before
we could actually use them for routing. Interface mode is used to assign the
IP address and other parameters. Interface mode can be accessed from
global configuration mode. Following commands are used to access the
global configuration mode.
Router>enable
Router# configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#
From global configuration mode we can enter in interface mode. From there
we can configure the interface. Following commands will assign IP address
on FastEthernet0/0 and FastEthernet0/1.
Router(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/0
Router(config-if)#ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/1
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#
interface fastEthernet 0/0 command is used to enter in interface mode.
ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0 command would assign IP address to
interface.
no shutdown command would bring the interface up.
exit command is used to return in global configuration mode.
Serial interface needs two additional parameters clock
rate and bandwidth. Every serial cable has two ends DTE and DCE. These
parameters are always configured at DCE end.
We can use show controllers interface command from privilege mode to
check the cables end.
Router#show controllers serial 0/0/0
Interface Serial0/0/0
Hardware is PowerQUICC MPC860
DCE V.35, clock rate 2000000
[Output omitted]
Fourth line of output confirms that DCE end of serial cable is attached. If you
see DTE here instead of DCE skip these parameters.
Now we have necessary information lets assign IP address to serial
interfaces.
Router# configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/0
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#clock rate 64000
Router(config-if)#bandwidth 64
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/1
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.2.1 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router#configure terminal Command is used to enter in global
configuration mode.
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/0 Command is used to enter in
interface mode.
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.252 Command
assigns IP address to interface. For serial link we usually use IP address from
/30 subnet.
Router(config-if)#clock rate 64000 In real life environment this
parameter controls the data flow between serial links and need to be set at
service providers end. In lab environment we need not to worry about this
value. We can use any valid clock rate here.
Router(config-if)#bandwidth 64 Bandwidth works as an influencer. It is
used to influence the metric calculation of OSPF or any other routing protocol
which uses bandwidth parameter in route selection process. Serial interface
has default bandwidth of 1544Kbps. To explain, how bandwidth influence
route selection process we will configure (64Kbps) bandwidth on three serial
DCE interfaces of our network; R0s Se0/0/0, R1s Se0/0/1 and R2s
Se0/0/0.
Router(config-if)#no shutdown Command brings interface up.
Router(config-if)#exit Command is used to return in global configuration
mode.
We will use same commands to assign IP addresses on interfaces of
remaining routers.
Router1

Router2

As I mention earlier, serial interface has a default bandwidth of 1544Kbps. If

we dont assign any custom bandwidth, router would use default bandwidth.
To see this feature in action we will not assign bandwidth on remaining
routers.
Router6
Router5

Router3
 Router4

Great job we have finished our half journey. Now routers have information
about the networks that they have on their own interfaces. Routers will not
exchange this information between them on their own. We need to
implement OSPF routing protocol that will insist them to share this
information.
To be on same track I have uploaded my practice topology. Use this if you
want to skip above IP configuration part.
Download OSPF Practice Topology with IP configuration

Configure OSPF routing protocol

Enabling OSPF is a two steps process:-
Enable OSPF routing protocol from global configuration mode.
 Tell OSPF which interfaces we want to include.
For these steps following commands are used respectively.
Router(config)# router ospf process_ID
Router(config-router)# network IP_network_# [wild card mask] Area
Number area number
Router(config)# router ospf process ID
This command will enable OSPF routing protocol in router. Process ID is a
positive integer. We can use any number from 1 to 65,535. Process ID is
locally significant. We can run multiple OSPF process on same router. Process
ID is used to differentiate between them. Process ID need not to match on
all routers.
Router(config-router)# network IP_network_# [wildcard_mask]
area [area number]
Network command allows us to specify the interfaces which we want to
include in OSPF process. This command accepts three arguments network
number, wildcard mask and area number.

Network number
Network number is network ID. We can use any particular host IP address or
network IP address. For example we can use 192.168.1.1 (host IP address)
or we can use 192.168.1.0 (Network IP address). While targeting a specific
interface usually we use host IP address (configured on that interface).
While targeting multiple interfaces, we use network IP address. So any
interface that belongs to specified network ID will be selected.

Wildcard mask
Wildcard mask are used with network ID to filter the interfaces. Wildcard
mask is different from subnet mask. Subnet mask is used to separate the
network portion and host portion in IP address. While wildcard mask is used
to match corresponding octet in network portion. Wildcard mask tells OSPF
the part of network address that must be matched. Wildcard masks are
explained with examples in access list tutorials of this category.

Key points
0 (Decimal octet format) Wildcard mask indicates that corresponding
octet in network address must be matched exactly.
255 (Decimal octet format) Wildcard mask indicates that we dont care
about corresponding octet in network address.
For example
0 (Binary bit format) Wildcard mask indicates that corresponding bit in
network address must be matched exactly.
255 (Binary bit format) Wildcard mask indicates that we dont care
about corresponding bit in network address.

OSPF is a classless protocol. With wildcard we can also filter Subnetted

networks. In classes implementation usually we use Subnetted networks. For
example consider following figure

We have four networks 172.168.1.0/24, 172.168.2.0/24, 172.168.3.0/24

and 172.168.4.0/24 subnetted from single class B network 172.168.0.0/16.
Classful configuration does not understand the concept of subnetting. In
classful configuration all these networks belong to a single network. Classful
configuration works only with in default boundary of mask. Default boundary
of this address is 16 bits. So a classful routing protocol will match only first
16 bits (172.168.x.y) of network address. A classful routing protocol such as
RIP cannot distinguish between different Subnetted networks.
A classless routing protocol such as OSPF goes beyond the default boundary
of mask and work well with Subnetted networks. With wildcard mask we can
easily filter Subnetted networks.
With wildcard we are no longer limited with default boundaries. We can
match Subnetted networks as well as default networks.
For example we want to exclude serial interfaces in above configuration. We
can use a wildcard mask of 0.0.0.255 to match the subnet mask of /24.
Router(config-router)# network 172.168.1.0 0.0.0.255
Router(config-router)# network 172.168.2.0 0.0.0.255
Above commands will ask router to match /24 bits of address instead of
default /16 bits. Now router will look for 172.168.1.x and 172.168.2.x
network. Our serial interfaces have 172.168.3.0/24 and 172.168.4.0/24
networks which do not fall in these search criteria.
Lets take one more example, if we use following network command, which
interfaces would be selected.
Router(config-router)# network 192.168.0.0 0.0.0.3

In this case valid host IP addresses are 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2. So

any interface that has these IP address would be selected. /30 network is
usually used for serial link connection which need only two valid host IP
addresses; one for each end.
If you are unfamiliar with wildcard mask, I suggest you to check our tutorials
on access lists configuration in this category. In those tutorials wildcard
masks are explained in detail with examples.
For this tutorial lets move on third argument. Third argument which network
command accept is area number. This parameter say router to put matched
interface in specified area. OSPF areas are explained in second part this
article.
Now we know the essential commands for configuration. Lets implement
them in our network.

OSPF configuration
Router0
Router1

Router2

Router6

Router5

Router4
Router3

Thats it. Our network is ready to take the advantage of OSPF routing. To
verify the setup we will use ping command. ping command is used to test
the connectivity between two devices. We have two routes between source
and destination. tracert command is used to know the route which is used to
get the destination.
Access the command prompt of PC1 and use ping command to test the
connectivity from Server0. After that use tracert command to print the
taken path.
Great! We have successfully implemented OSFP routing in our network. For
cross check we have uploaded a configured topology on our server. You can
use that if not getting same output.
Download OSPF Practice Topology with OSPF configuration
Summary

Command Description

Router(config)#router opsf 10 Enable OSPF routing protocol under process ID 10.

Router(config-router)#network Enable OSPF with area 0 on matching interface.

10.10.0.0 0.0.255.255 area 0

Router(config)#interface Create a Loopback interface and move in sub interface configuration

loopback 0 mode

Router(config-if)#ip address Assign IP address to loopback interface.

192.168.250.250 255.255.255.0
Router(config-router)#router-id Set 1.1.1.1 as router ID
1.1.1.1

Router(config)#interface serial Inter in sub interface configuration mode

0/0

Router(config-if)#ip ospf priority Used to influence DR/BDR selection process. Valid range is 0 to
100 255. 0 makes router ineligible for DR/BDR while 255 makes router
guaranteed DR/BDR. Higher priority value means higher chance of
becoming DR/BDR.

Router(config-if)#bandwidth 256 Used to influence route metric cost. Cost is the inverse of bandwidth.
Higher bandwidth has lower cost. Bandwidth is defined in Kbps. 256
means 256 Kbps.

Router(config-if)#ip ospf hello- Set hello interval timer to 15 seconds. Hello timer must be match on
interval timer 15 both routers in order become neighbors.

Router(config-if)#ip ospf dead- Set dead interval timer to 60 seconds. Dead interval timer must be
interval 60 match on both routers in order to become neighbor

Router#show ip route Display all routes from routing table

Router#show ip route ospf Display all routers learned through OSPF from routing table

Router#show ip ospf Display basic information about OSPF

Router#show ip ospf interface Display information about all OSPF active interfaces

Router#show ip ospf interface Display OSPF information about serial 0/0/0 interface
serial 0/0/0

Router#show ip ospf neighbor OSPF neighbors with basic info

List all

Router#show ip ospf neighbor List OSPF neighbors with detail info

detail

Router#show ip ospf database Display data for OSPF database

Router#clear ip route * Clear all routes from routing table.

Router#clear ip route 10.0.0.0/8 Clear particular route from routing table

 Router#clear ip ospf counters Clear OSPF counters

Router#debug ip ospf events Display all ospf events

Router#debug ip ospf packets Display exchanged OSPF packets

Router#debug ip ospf adjacency Display DR/BDR election process state

Thats all for this part. In next part of this article I will explain how OSPF
calculate the shortest path for destination.

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