16.3 Adding a routing protocol
In this part you will learn how to configure the RIP routing protocol on the routers. The protocol has different versions for IPv4 and IPv6, and the IPv4 version itself has two versions. For IPv4, we will use RIPv2, which is the version that is almost always used for IPv4. The IPv6 version is RIPng. The Central router will need to be configured for both as it is using both IPv4 and IPv6. This is called a dual-stack router.
Watch the video below, which is about 5 minutes long. It shows RIP and RIPng being configured.
Adding a routing protocol

Transcript
Now we have the IP addresses configured we will have LAN connectivity. We need to configure the routers with a routing protocol to allow access to the DNS server from the PCs. We could do this with static routes, but that would be time consuming and less efficient to manage later. The better solution is to use a dynamic routing protocol. RIP is the simplest routing protocol and uses hops as its metric.
We can start by configuring RIP version 2 on Branch-A’s router. Open the CLI and enter global configuration mode. From here type router rip. This will enter router configuration mode. Then type version 2, allowing us to use classless networks instead of the classful addresses used in version 1. Then we need tell RIP which networks to advertise on. This can be done using the network command. Type network 172.20.16.0and then network 172.20.18.0and also network 172.20.31.252.
To check the configuration of RIP we can use show ip protocols. This command shows us how often updates are sent and when the next update is expected. Also it shows us which interfaces are being used within RIP and some other useful information for troubleshooting if we need it.
Moving to Branch-B, we need to configure RIPng for IPv6 routing. This is done slightly differently compared to the IPv4 version. Start by entering global configuration mode. We need to enable IPv6 routing capabilities on this router. The command is ipv6 unicast-routing. Now we can enable RIPng on the router. The command is ipv6 router rip. Then you type an instance name; I will use RIPng1. This name is only locally significant, but it is easier to use the same name on all devices.
This is where the key difference between IPv4 and IPv6 configuration comes in. You have to add the interfaces to the RIP process and not the network. Therefore, enter the interface. Then add the interface to the RIP process with the command ipv6 rip RIPng1 enable where RIPng1 is the same as the process ID you set previously. Repeat this on all interfaces that need to be included in the RIP process.
Now, on the Central router we will need to configure RIP for both IP versions. First I will setup RIPng. From global configuration mode, use the command ipv6 unicast-routing to turn on IPv6 routing. Then we’re going to use ipv6 router rip RIPng1 to enable RIP on the router. Then we need to go into the interfaces that are being used by RIP and enable RIP on the interface using the command ipv6 rip RIPng1 enable. Repeat this on G0/2: ipv6 rip RIPng1 enable. We can then type exit to get back to global configuration mode.
Now we can start configuring RIP version 2 for IPv4. First we use router rip then upgrade it to version 2 and then add the network statements to advertise RIP. So we need network 172.20.31.252 and network 172.20.32.0.
To check that RIP is working properly and that routers are receiving updates, we can use show ip route to check the routing table to see if there are any RIP routing entries. From the Central router’s point of view, it should have two RIP entries for IPv4 and two RIP entries for IPv6. We can see the two specific routes at the top of the routing table and if we do show ipv6 routewe can see the IPv6 routes at the top of this table as well.
Now we have routing configured on all the routers, all the IPv4 devices should be able to communicate and all IPv6 devices should have connectivity. We will test this later in the session.
Activity 7 Test yourself
2 minutes
Is the following statement true or false? ‘By default, a router will route both IPv4 and IPv6 packets.’
The statement is false: IPv4 routing is on by default, but IPv6 must be switched on with the ipv6 unicast-routing command.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Activity 8 Try it out
15 minutes
Open PT Anywhere [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] in a new tab or window so you can read these instructions.
You saw in the last video the show ip protocols command on the Branch-A router. The equivalent command for IPv6 is show ipv6 protocols. Use this command on the Branch-B router to work out which interface has not been configured with RIPng. Then configure the interface with RIPng, and use the show ipv6 protocols command again to check that it has been suitably configured.
Answer
This is what the show ipv6 protocols command produces on the incorrectly configured Branch-B router:
Branch-B#show ip protocols
IPv6 Routing Protocol is "connected"
IPv6 Routing Protocol is "ND"
IPv6 Routing Protocol is "rip RIPng1"
Interfaces:
GigabitEthernet0/0
GigabitEthernet0/2
The GigabitEthernet0/1 interface is missing from the list of interfaces above. Its absence shows it has not been configured with the routing protocol rip RIPng1.
To configure the GigabitEthernet0/1 interface with this protocol requires these instructions:
Branch-B(config)#int g0/1
Branch-B(config-if)#ipv6 rip RIPng1 enable
To check this has produced what we want, using the show ipv6 protocols command now gives the following:
Branch-B#show ipv6 protocols
IPv6 Routing Protocol is "connected"
IPv6 Routing Protocol is "ND"
IPv6 Routing Protocol is "rip RIPng1"
Interfaces:
GigabitEthernet0/0
GigabitEthernet0/1
GigabitEthernet0/2
The list of configured interfaces now includes the GigabitEthernet0/1 interface.
The term ‘ND’ refers to a legacy technology used when routing isn’t available between direct connections. Sometimes you will see ‘static’ here instead.