AqabaIX GlobePEER Looking Glass Guide

DE-CIX PS Team Updated by DE-CIX PS Team

With the {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} Looking Glass service, it is possible to easily search for an AS number, a peer, a particular route or routes with particular BGP communities. In addition, the {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} looking glass service provides information on why a certain route is rejected by the {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} route servers (e.g. due to IRR filters). Below you can find a detailed explanation of how to use the {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} looking glass, how to narrow down search results, what exactly you can see, some typical search examples, and more information about query strings and how to use the API in your own scripts.

The {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} Looking Glass utilizes the open source projects Alice-LG and birdwatcher. A big thank you to all who contributed to these projects!

How to use the {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} Looking Glass

Screenshots are based on the DE-CIX GlobePEER Looking Glass and theme colors may vary; usage is always identical!

There are two basic ways to get information:

  • The global search over all {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} route servers (1)
  • The neighbor overview (2)

With the global search, you can search for routes, peer names, ASNs and BGP communities. This is the fastest way if you need to get information about a specific network; you see immediately at which IX/location it is available.

With the neighbor overview, you can have a look at a specific {{IXP_PPN}} route server. It shows you which networks are available at a specific {{IXP_PPN}} route server, provides BGP session information (state, last state changed), and gives you a summary of received/accepted/filtered routes from each peer.

DE-CIX Looking Glass search

The global search over all {{IXP_PPN}} route servers

With the global search, you can search across all {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} route servers. You can directly search for:

  • Routes
  • Peers (by name, e.g. Packet Clearing House)
  • ASNs (by prefixing them wich "AS", e.g. AS42)
  • BGP communities (by prefixing them with "#", e.g. #65535:666)

Just type in what you're looking for.

DE-CIX GlobePEER Looking Glass global search

Narrow down the search results

On the results page, it is possible to narrow down the search results with three drop-down menus on the right. You can refine your search by:

  • {{IXP_PPN}} Route server
  • Neighbor (in case your search matches more than one {{IXP_PPN}} route server peer)
  • BGP communities (multiple BGP community values can be selected; the communities are ordered by value)

The selected filters appear above the drop-down field and can be removed easily by clicking the red 'X' icon.

Please note: The database that is used to generate the search results in the global search contains data that may be up to 30 minutes old. The actual cache age is displayed in the upper right corner.

DE-CIX Looking Glass result filter

The neighbor overview

Using the neighbor overview, you can have a look at individual {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} route servers and their BGP peers (and their current status, e.g. session up, down, or errors).

To start the overview, select the {{IXP}} IX first and choose a {{IXP_PPN}} route server. This will result in a view that contains all peers that are known to the selected {{IXP_PPN}} route server. All table columns are sortable in ascending or descending order.

Narrow down the displayed data

With the search bar at the top, you can narrow down the data displayed. You can search for:

  • Neighbor IP
  • Peers (e.g. Packet Clearing House)
  • ASNs (e.g. AS42)
DE-CIX Looking Glass menu to choose route server
Get information about a specific route server neighbor

You can see more information about a specific {{IXP_PPN}} route server neighbor by clicking on its neighbor IP. All routes (filtered, accepted, and not exported) are shown. If the selected peer operates more than one router, you can switch between routers by clicking the tabs shown at the top. There are also quick links available to jump to sections with filtered, accepted, and not exported routes directly. Routes that are the best path are marked with a star icon.

If a route is rejected, the reason is displayed in text below the affected route. You can hover over the text to get a detailed explanation of what went wrong and how to fix it. You can also click on the reject reason to explore the route in question in IRR Explorer.

DE-CIX Looking Glass specific route server neighbor

To get more detailed information about a route, just click on it. This will show you the BGP attributes:

  • Age of the route (when it has been learned)
  • Origin of the route (IGP/EGP/unknown)
  • Local Preference
  • BGP next-hop
  • MED
  • AS Path
  • BGP Standard, Extended and Large communities in human-readable format if known by the {{IXP_PPN}} route server (i.e. {{IXP}} Action and Informational Communities and well-known BGP Communities)
DE-CIX Looking Glass detailed route information

Typical search examples

Find out which prefixes are filtered on your session(s)
  • Enter your ASN in the global search field on the start page
  • A list of routes from your ASN on all {{IXP_PPN}} route servers is shown
  • Filtered routes are shown at the top of the page (before accepted routes)
    • You can narrow down your search by using the drop-down menus on the right
    • You can click on the link in the description column to go the corresponding {{IXP_PPN}} route server for the selected route
Find out which networks peer with the route server in a particular metro
  • In the neighbor overview, select the {{IXP}} IX and the primary {{IXP_PPN}} route server (rs1) for the desired metro; participants usually peer with both {{IXP_PPN}} route servers (rs1 and rs2) for both IPv4 and IPv6
  • If you want to search for a specific network, narrow down the data displayed with the search field on top or click directly on the name of the network in the table, then you will only see the router of this network; if the network has multiple connected routers, they appear as tabs above the table

Using query strings

It is possible to use query strings in URLs, e.g. in bookmarks:

¹ Just replace rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4 with the corresponding RS

Use the API in your own scripts

Alice provides a JSON API for all {{IXP}} {{IXP_PPN}} route servers. You can use the API in your own scripts.

Please note that we provide the API with an attached fair use policy and preserve the right to blacklist your IP address(es) when you make use of aggressive/excessive querying!

The following endpoints are available:

Endpoint/example query

Description

/api/v1/status

Query the status of Alice

/api/v1/routeservers/rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4/status

Query the status of route server rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4

/api/v1/routeservers/rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4/neighbors/R194_110/routes/received

Query {{IXP_PPN}} route server rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4 for a list of received routes from peer R194_110

/api/v1/routeservers/rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4/neighbors/R194_110/routes/not-exported

Query {{IXP_PPN}} route server rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4 for a list of routes not exported to peer R194_110

/api/v1/routeservers/rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4/neighbors/R194_110/routes/filtered

Query {{IXP_PPN}} route server rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4 for a list of filtered routes from peer R194_110

/api/v1/routeservers/rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4/neighbors

Query {{IXP_PPN}} route server rs1_{{IXP_IATA}}_ipv4 for a list of its neighbors

/api/v1/routeservers

Query a list of route servers known to Alice

/api/v1/lookup/prefix?q=46.31.120.0/21

Query Alice for prefix 46.31.120.0/21

/api/v1/config

Query the Alice configuration

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

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AF-CIX GlobePEER Looking Glass Guide

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