Set up network router under Linux

For network interconnection engineers, it is very important to establish an Internet dynamic routing. Not only do you need to understand the concept of routing, but you must also know how to put it into practice. For now, network equipment is mainly provided by large companies such as Cisco. Most independent routing developers are often constrained by the school or lab environment to make full use of existing resources. The use of Cisco technology equipment to build the network requires a lot of cost. In order to break this situation, we use a small experimental network, the use of Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) two technologies, to demonstrate their different balance load scheme.

Of the three routers we use, one is modeled using Linux technology. Initially, we tried to build a test network using traditional routing and alternative-free background programs, but soon discovered that the method was very complex and limited in functionality. Finally, we decided to find a more advanced way to build a test network, and luckily we found zebra.

What is zebra

Zebra is a TCP/IP routing software that supports BGP-4, bgp-4+, OSPFv2, OSPFv3, RIPv1, RIPv2, and RIPng. It complies with the GNU GPL standard and can be run on Linux and other Unix variant systems. Zebra is one of the most advanced routing software available, and the latest version can be downloaded from the Gun Zebra Web site.

The earliest Zebra kits were developed by Kunihiro Ishiguro and Yoshinari Yoshikawa in 1996. At present, the Zebra suite is mainly maintained by IP Infusion Company, one of the founders of Software Ishiguro is the CTO of the company.

Zebra can use modular method to manage various protocols, this design is unique. It can activate or stop protocols based on the needs of the network. So far, we've found that the most useful thing about zebra is that it's very similar to the Cisco IOS Setup format. Although there are some differences between it and iOS, the network engineers who are familiar with iOS will quickly adapt to the Zebra network environment. Currently, Zebra 1.0 is not yet available, and the latest version is Zebra 0.93b, which is sufficient for a small network.

Installation of Zebra

We chose the stable ThinkPad X20 as the Zebra hardware test platform, and Red Hat Linux 9 as its software testing platform. The ThinkPad X20 has a built-in Ethernet interface. To enable it to act as a router, we added a PCMCIA Ethernet card to it. Before installing zebra, make sure that all network cards are identified by the Linux system.

The Zebra 0.93b rpm is already integrated into Red Hat 9. Of course, you can also download zebra software from the Internet. For convenience, we decided to install Zebra 0.93b RPM. The Zebra RPM installation process is basically the same as other software. The items that are installed include binary setup commands, small programs, configuration files, and required item menus, instances, and documents.

Basic Settings for Zebra

Zebra No background Interaction program is a real routing management program. It controls other software modules and also provides a primary port to interact with the customer. The Zebra RPM Kit includes a complete reference settings file. However, we only need to create a/etc/zebra/zebra.conf file that includes the following to set up the zebra.

The simplest Zebra settings file:

hostname speedmetal
password zebra
enable password zebra

Whenever you enter interactive setup mode, the hostname instruction specifies the name of the router. The name can be set arbitrarily and does not necessarily match the name of the host. The password instruction determines the login password for the interactive zebra terminal.

Once the/etc/zebra/zebra.conf is established, we can execute the following instructions to start the zebra without a background interaction program:

# service zebra start

Now we can enter the Zebra Interactive dialog mode by connecting the 2601 ports of the machine.

Zebra Dialog Mode instance:

[Root@speedmetal zebra]# telnet 127.0.0.1 2601
Trying 127.0.0.1 ...
Connected to 127.0.0.1.
Escape character is ' ^] '.
Hello, this is zebra (version 0.93b).
Copyright 1996-2002 Kunihiro Ishiguro.
User Access Verification
Password:zebra
Speedmetal> Enable
Password:zebra
speedmetal#?
Configure Configuration from Vty interface
Copy Copy Configuration
Debug debugging functions (also ' undebug ')
Disable Turn off privileged mode command
End, current mode, and change to enable mode.
Exit exit current mode and previous mode
Help Description of the interactive Help system
List Print Command list
No negate a command or set its defaults
Quit Exit current mode and down to previous mode
Show Show running System Information
Terminal Set Terminal Line parameters
Who Display, who vty
Write write running configuration to memory, network, or terminal
speedmetal#

It's easy to get a sense of it, because you can click on the screen. The key is always aware of the meaning of a command. If you have the experience of configuring Cisco routers, it is no stranger to this setup process.

So far, we have only completed the setup and operation of Zebra itself, the settings for various protocols have not yet begun, if you are ready, let us continue.