BGP
Use the UI or CLI to monitor Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) on a networkwide or per-session basis.
BGP Commands
Monitor BGP with the following commands. See the command line reference for additional options, definitions, and examples.
netq show bgp
netq show events message_type bgp
netq show events-config message_type bgp
The netq check bgp command checks for consistency across BGP sessions in your network fabric.
netq check bgp
View BGP in the UI
To add the BGP card to your workbench, navigate to the header and select 
Add card > Other card > Network services > All BGP Sessions card > Open cards. In this example, there are 44 nodes running the BGP protocol, 252 open events (from the last 24 hours), and 9 nodes with unestablished sessions.
Expand to the large card for additional BGP info. By default, the card displays the Sessions summary tab. From here you can see which devices are handling the most BGP sessions, or select the dropdown to view nodes with the most unestablished BGP sessions. You can view BGP-related events by selecting the 
Events tab.
Expand the BGP card to full-screen to view, filter, or export:
- Virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) information
- Autonomous system number (ASN) assignments
- Peer ASNs
- The received address prefix for IPv4/IPv6/EVPN when the session is established
From this table, you can select a row, then click Open card above the table.
NetQ adds a new, BGP ‘single-session’ card to your workbench. From this card, you can view session state changes and compare them with events, and monitor the running BGP configuration and changes to the configuration file.
Before adding a BGP single-session card, verify that both the peer hostname and peer ASN are valid. This ensures the information presented is reliable.
Monitor a Single BGP Session
The BGP single-session card displays the node, its peer, its status (established or unestablished), and its router ID. This information can help you determine the stability of the BGP session between two devices. The heat map indicates the status of the session over the designated time period. In this example, the session has been established throughout the entire time period:
Understanding the Heat Map
On the medium and large single-session cards, vertically stacked heat maps represent the status of the sessions: one for established sessions, and one for unestablished sessions. Depending on the time period of data on the card, the number of smaller time blocks indicate that the status varies. A vertical stack of time blocks, one from each map, includes the results from all checks during that time. The results appear by how saturated the color is for each block. If only established sessions occurred during that time period for the entire time block, then the top block is 100% saturated (white) and the unestablished block is 0% saturated (gray). As unestablished sessions increase in saturation, the established sessions block is proportionally reduced in saturation. The following table lists the most common time periods, their corresponding number of blocks, and the amount of time represented by one block:
| Time Period | Number of Runs | Number Time Blocks | Amount of Time in Each Block |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 hours | 18 | 6 | 1 hour |
| 12 hours | 36 | 12 | 1 hour |
| 24 hours | 72 | 24 | 1 hour |
| 1 week | 504 | 7 | 1 day |
| 1 month | 2,086 | 30 | 1 day |
| 1 quarter | 7,000 | 13 | 1 week |
View Changes to the BGP Service Configuration File
Each time a change is made to the configuration file for the BGP service, NetQ logs the change and lets you compare it with the previous version. This can be useful when you are troubleshooting potential causes for events or sessions losing their connections.
To view the configuration file changes:
-
From the large single-session card, select the
Configuration File Evolution tab. -
Select the time.
-
Choose between the File view and the Diff view.
The File view displays the content of the file:
The Diff view highlights the changes (if any) between this version (on left) and the most recent version (on right) side by side:
