Use the Routing Protocol > RIP > General (Configure) page to configure general settings and the basic timers.
RIP is used to specify how routers exchange routing information. When RIP is enabled on this router, it sends RIP messages to all devices in the network every 30 seconds (by default), and updates its own routing table when RIP messages are received from other routers. To communicate properly with other routers using RIP, you need to specify the RIP version used globally by the router, as well as the RIP send and receive versions used on specific interfaces.
Command Usage
RIP is used to specify how routers exchange routing information. When RIP is enabled on this router, it sends RIP messages to all devices in the network every 30 seconds (by default), and updates its own routing table when RIP messages are received from other routers. To communicate properly with other routers using RIP, you need to specify the RIP version used globally by the router, as well as the RIP send and receive versions used on specific interfaces.
Command Parameters
Global Settings -
Enables RIP routing globally. RIP must also be enabled on each network interface which will participate in the routing process. (Default: Disabled)
Specifies a RIP version used globally by the router. (Version 1, Version 2, By Interface; Default: By Interface)
When a Global RIP Version is specified, any VLAN interface not previously set to a specific Receive or Send Version is set to the following values:
RIP Version 1 configures previously unset interfaces to send RIPv1 compatible protocol messages and receive either RIPv1 or RIPv2 protocol messages.
RIP Version 2 configures previously unset interfaces to use RIPv2 for both sending and receiving protocol messages.
RIP send/receive versions set on the RIP Interface settings screen (page 540) always take precedence over the settings for the Global RIP Version. However, when the Global RIP Version is set to "By Interface," any VLAN interface not previously set to a specific receive or send version is set to the following default values:
Receive: Accepts RIPv1 or RIPv2 packets.
Send: Route information is broadcast to other routers with RIPv2.
Sets the default metric assigned to external routes imported from other protocols. (Range: 1-15; Default: 1)
The default metric must be used to resolve the problem of redistributing external routes with incompatible metrics.
It is advisable to use a low metric when redistributing routes from another protocol into RIP. Using a high metric limits the usefulness of external routes redistributed into RIP. For example, if a metric of 10 is defined for redistributed routes, these routes can only be advertised to routers up to 5 hops away, at which point the metric exceeds the maximum hop count of 15. By defining a low metric of 1, traffic can follow a imported route the maximum number of hops allowed within a RIP domain. However, note that using a low metric can increase the possibility of routing loops. For example, this can occur if there are multiple redistribution points and the router learns about the same external network with a better metric from a redistribution point other than that derived from the original source.
The default metric does not override the metric value set in the Redistribute screen. When a metric value has not been configured in the Redistribute screen, the default metric sets the metric value to be used for all imported external routes.
Sets the maximum number of RIP routes which can be installed in the routing table. (Range: 1-11766; Default: 11766)
Generates a default external route into the local RIP autonomous system. (Default: Disabled)
A default route is set for every Layer 3 interface where RIP is enabled. The response packet to external queries marks each active RIP interface as a default router with the IP address 0.0.0.0.
Defines an administrative distance for external routes learned from other routing protocols. External routes are routes for which the best path is learned from a neighbor external to the local RIP autonomous system. Routes with a distance of 255 are not installed in the routing table. (Range: 1-255; Default: 120)
Administrative distance is used by the routers to select the preferred path when there are two or more different routes to the same destination from two different routing protocols. A smaller administrative distance indicates a more reliable protocol.
Use the Routing Protocol > RIP > Distance page to configure the distance to a specific network address, or to configure an access list that filters networks according to the IP address of the router supplying the routing information.
The number of route changes made to the IP route database by RIP.
The number of responses sent to RIP queries from other systems.
Basic Timer Settings -
Note: The timers must be set to the same values for all routers in the network.
Sets the rate at which updates are sent. This is the fundamental timer used to control all basic RIP processes. (Range: 5-2147483647 seconds; Default: 30 seconds)
Setting the update timer to a short interval can cause the router to spend an excessive amount of time processing updates. On the other hand, setting it to an excessively long time will make the routing protocol less sensitive to changes in the network configuration.
Sets the time after which there have been no update messages that a route is declared dead. The route is marked inaccessible (i.e., the metric set to infinite) and advertised as unreachable. However, packets are still forwarded on this route. (Range: 90-360 seconds; Default: 180 seconds)
After the timeout interval expires, the router waits for an interval specified by the garbage-collection timer before removing this entry from the routing table. This timer allows neighbors to become aware of an invalid route prior to purging. (Range: 60-240 seconds; Default: 120 seconds)
Use the Routing Protocol > RIP > General (Clear Route) page to clear entries from the routing table based on route type or a specific network address.
Command Usage
RIP must be enabled to activate this menu option.
Clearing "All" types deletes all routes in the RIP table. To avoid deleting the entire RIP network, redistribute connected routes using the Routing Protocol > RIP > Redistribute screen to make the RIP network a connected route. To delete the RIP routes learned from neighbors, but keep the RIP network intact, clear "RIP" types from the routing table.
Command Parameters
Clears entries from the RIP routing table based on the following types:
All - Deletes all entries from the routing table.
Connected - Deletes all currently connected entries.
OSPF - Deletes all entries learned through OSPF.
RIP - Deletes all entries learned through the RIP.
Static - Deletes all static entries.
Clears a specific route based on its IP address and prefix length.
Deletes all related entries for the specified network address.
A decimal value indicating how many contiguous bits (from the left) of the address comprise the network portion of the address.