Tools to took at BGP — screenshot of jvns.ca

Tools to took at BGP

This is a solid primer on BGP, offering practical tools like BGPView, traceroute -A, and mtr -z to understand how to inspect BGP routes and autonomous systems directly from your workstation. It's a great starting point for any dev interested in playing around with networking protocols.

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Questions & Answers

What is this article about?
This article explores tools for examining BGP routes and Autonomous Systems (ASes) following a major outage. It explains basic BGP terminology and demonstrates practical methods to look up BGP information using command-line tools and web services.
Who is the target audience for this information?
This article is intended for developers and individuals interested in learning about BGP and network routing from a practical perspective. It is especially useful for those who want to inspect BGP data without needing to publish routes themselves.
How does this guide differentiate from other BGP resources?
Unlike many high-level BGP explanations, this guide focuses on actionable tools and commands that users can immediately apply on their own computers. It provides hands-on examples for exploring ASes and BGP routes rather than just theoretical concepts.
When should one refer to this article?
One should refer to this article when seeking practical methods to investigate BGP routes, understand Autonomous Systems, or diagnose network path issues. It is particularly useful after major internet events to understand how BGP routing changes.
Can you provide a practical command or tool mentioned in the article?
The article recommends using traceroute -A or mtr -z to display Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) for each hop along a network path. For instance, mtr -z facebook.com will show the ASNs involved in reaching facebook.com.