[PATCH pve-docs 15/16] sdn: evpn: document new zone / controller options

Stefan Hanreich
2026-04-14T16:35:57Z

Several new options have been added to the EVPN controller / zones.
Additionally, document the existing behavior of the EVPN stack more
thoroughly, particularly the ASN generation - since it is required for
understanding the implications of setting the new 'bgp-mode' setting
for EVPN controllers.

Signed-off-by: Stefan Hanreich <s.hanreich@proxmox.com>
---
pvesdn.adoc | 72 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
1 file changed, 69 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/pvesdn.adoc b/pvesdn.adoc
index d20a0eb..5eccbea 100644
--- a/pvesdn.adoc
+++ b/pvesdn.adoc
@@ -331,8 +331,13 @@ EVPN zone configuration options:
VRF VXLAN ID:: A VXLAN-ID used for dedicated routing interconnect between VNets.
It must be different than the VXLAN-ID of the VNets.

-Controller:: The EVPN-controller to use for this zone. (See controller plugins
- section).
+Primay Controller:: The primary EVPN-controller to use for this zone.
+ The primary controller is used for auto-deriving the VTEP IPs, based on the
+ peer definition. For more information see the
+ xref:pvesdn_controller_plugin_evpn[controller section].
+
+Addtional Controllers:: Additional EVPN controllers to use for this zone.
+ Controllers listed here will announce the L2VPN EVPN routes for this zone.

VNet MAC Address:: Anycast MAC address that gets assigned to all VNets in this
zone. Will be auto-generated if not defined.
@@ -462,7 +467,8 @@ EVPN controller configuration options:

ASN #:: A unique BGP ASN number. It's highly recommended to use a private ASN
number (64512 – 65534, 4200000000 – 4294967294), as otherwise you could end up
- breaking global routing by mistake.
+ breaking global routing by mistake. Every EVPN controller configured on a node
+ must have the same ASN configured.

SDN Fabric:: A xref:pvesdn_config_fabrics[Fabric] that contains all the nodes
part of the EVPN zone. Will be used as the underlay network.
@@ -470,6 +476,66 @@ SDN Fabric:: A xref:pvesdn_config_fabrics[Fabric] that contains all the nodes
Peers:: An IP list of all nodes that are part of the EVPN zone. (could also be
external nodes or route reflector servers)

+Nodes:: A list of nodes where this controller should be active. This can be used
+ to configure EVPN peering sessions on specific nodes only.
+
+Peer Group Name:: EVPN controllers use the peer group name 'VTEP' by default.
+ When defining multiple EVPN controllers, each additional controller needs to
+ specify a custom peer group name to be used in the FRR configuration.
+
+BGP Mode:: Allows configuring the type of BGP session manually. The 'legacy'
+ mode preserves the old behavior of the SDN stack: EVPN controllers were iBGP,
+ unless there was a BGP controller configured. In that case the EVPN controller
+ re-used the BGP session from the BGP controller. With this option, the type of
+ BGP session can be overridden manually - allowing for explicitly configuring
+ the type of BGP session that should be established with the EVPN controller.
+
+ebgp-multihop:: Increase the number of hops to reach peers, in case they are
+ not directly connected or they use loopback. (only for BGP Mode 'external').
+
+ASN
+^^^
+Every router can be member of exactly one Autonomous System, so any iBGP
+sessions on a given node (irregardless of address family) need to have the same
+ASN configured. Any configuration that has two iBGP sessions with different ASNs
+is rejected and an error thrown, since it is by definition not possible to have
+two iBGP sessions with different ASNs on the same BGP instance, as one instance
+can only have one local ASN.
+
+The local ASN of the FRR instance is auto-derived based on the
+settings in the SDN controllers:
+
+If only a BGP or EVPN controller exists (but not both), then the respective ASN
+from the controller is used.
+
+For backwards-compatibility reasons, the SDN stack checks if there are any EVPN
+controllers in legacy mode. If a BGP controller exists, then the ASN from the
+BGP controller will be used in any case.
+
+Otherwise, if an EVPN controller is configured, then the ASN from the EVPN
+controller is used - otherwise the ASN from the BGP controller.
+
+The SDN stack utilizes the local-as directive together with the `no-prepend
+replace-as` option in the FRR configuration for handling multiple ASN numbers in
+the configuration. This is the case when the BGP and EVPN controller have
+different ASNs configured and legacy mode is disabled.
+
+
+VTEP IP auto-generation
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+The VTEP IPs for the VXLAN devices of a zone will be auto-derived based on the
+(primary) controller defined in the EVPN zone:
+
+If a BGP or IS-IS controller with a loopback interface is used, then the IP from
+the loopback interface will be used as VTEP IP.
+
+If the peer list of the controller contains an IP that is locally configured on
+the node, then this IP will be used as VTEP IP.
+
+Otherwise, the EVPN controller will check the route in the default routing table
+for the first peer IP and use the source IP address specified in the routing
+table as VTEP IP.
+

[[pvesdn_controller_plugin_BGP]]
BGP Controller
--
2.47.3