Prefix Lists & Policies in Cloud ROUTER

The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER allows you to manage Prefix Lists and Routing Policies to control which prefixes are exchanged with your connected networks.

Managing Prefix Lists and Policies in the DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER Portal

You can create, edit, delete, and list all Prefix Lists and Policies directly in the Portal — no API required for day-to-day management.

⚠️ Important: Creating or editing a Policy alone has no effect on your routing if not attached to a connection (e.g. DirectCLOUD AWS). A Policy only becomes active once it is attached to a connection (Inbound or Outbound). See Attaching a Policy to a Connection below.

Prefix Lists and Policies are managed via the Advanced Settings section in the left-hand navigation of your Cloud ROUTER service.

  1. Open your Cloud ROUTER service.
  2. In the left sidebar, click Advanced Settings.
  3. You will find two dedicated sections: Prefix Lists and Policies.

Prefix Lists

Overview

Clicking on Prefix Lists opens a full account-level overview of all Prefix Lists you have created. The table shows:

  • Prefix List Name
  • Prefix Matches – number of prefixes in the list
  • Used by Policies – whether the Prefix List is currently attached to any Policy
  • Used on this Cloud ROUTER – whether the Prefix List is actively in use on the currently viewed Cloud ROUTER

Note: One account can have multiple Cloud ROUTERs. The "Used on this Cloud ROUTER" column always refers to the specific Cloud ROUTER you are currently viewing.

Creating a New Prefix List

  1. Click New Prefix List in the top-right corner.
  2. Enter a descriptive Name for your Prefix List.
  3. Click Add Prefix to add one or more prefixes:
    • Prefix Match – the network prefix (e.g., 203.0.113.0/24)
    • Min length – minimum prefix length allowed
    • Max length – maximum prefix length allowed
  4. Click Save.

Viewing & Editing a Prefix List

Click the eye icon (👁) next to any Prefix List to open its detail view. Here you can:

  • See all prefix entries
  • See which Policies this Prefix List is attached to
  • Edit the Prefix List (add or remove prefixes)

Deleting a Prefix List

Click the trash icon next to a Prefix List to delete it.

Note: A Prefix List can only be deleted if it is not currently attached to any Policy. If "Used by Policies" shows Yes, detach it from the Policy first.

Policies

Overview

Clicking on Policies opens a full account-level overview of all Policies you have created. The table shows:

  • Policy Name
  • Used on account Cloud ROUTERs – whether the Policy is in use on any Cloud ROUTER in your account
  • Used on this Cloud ROUTER – whether the Policy is active on the currently viewed Cloud ROUTER

Creating a New Policy

  1. Click New Policy in the top-right corner.
  2. Enter a descriptive Name for your Policy.
  3. Under Policy Entries, click Add Prefix List.
  4. Search for and select the desired Prefix List.
  5. Configure the routing behavior for each entry:
    • Local Preference – sets the BGP Local Preference value for accepted routes
    • AS Path Prepend – adds one or more copies of your AS number to the AS path
    • Filter – choose Accept, Reject, or Continue
  6. Repeat to add more entries. Use the drag handle (☰) to reorder entries.
  7. Click Save to store the Policy.

⚠️ Saving a Policy does not activate it. You must separately attach it to a connection — see below

Importing From an Existing Policy

In the New Policy screen, click Import from Policy to duplicate entries from an existing Policy — useful for reusing configurations quickly.

Viewing & Editing a Policy

Click the eye icon (👁) next to any Policy to open its detail view. Here you can:

  • See all Policy Assignments (which connections use this Policy, and whether as Ingress or Egress)
  • See and edit all Policy Entries (Prefix List, Local Preference, AS to Prepend, AS Prepend Count, Filter)
  • Add or remove Prefix List entries

Deleting a Policy

Click the trash icon next to a Policy to delete it.

Note: A Policy can only be deleted if it is not currently in use on any Cloud ROUTER. If "Used on account Cloud ROUTERs" shows Yes, detach it from all connections first.

Attaching a Policy to a Connection

⚠️ This is the critical step. A Policy only becomes active on your Cloud ROUTER once it is attached to a specific connection as an Inbound (Ingress) or Outbound (Egress) Policy. Without this step, your routing is not affected.

Attaching a Policy works at the connection level, not from the Policies overview.

  1. Navigate to your Cloud ROUTER service and open the Overview with the relevant connection.
  2. Find the connection you want to apply the Policy to. Each connection shows its current Status and the assigned Policies (Inbound ↓ and Outbound ↑).
  1. Click the Inbound (↓) or Outbound (↑) Policy icon on the connection.
  2. A panel opens showing the currently assigned Policy (or No Policy if none is set).
  3. Under Attach a Policy, use the search field to find your Policy — or click New Policy to create one on the spot.
  4. Select the Policy from the list to attach it.

Tip: You can attach different Policies to Inbound and Outbound on the same connection — for example, to filter accepted prefixes on ingress and control advertisement on egress.

Summary Table

Feature

API Support

Portal Support

Create

✅

✅

Edit / Change

✅

✅

Delete

✅

✅ (if not in use)

Attach / Detach to Connection

✅

✅

List All

✅

✅

API Documentation is here: https://api-docs.de-cix.net/#0a282fef-297f-4c4f-aba9-a7d4aa7ddf06

How did we do?

Prefix Lists

Get in touch