About Route Maps

Route maps are used when redistributing routes into an OSPF, RIP, EIGRP or BGP routing process. They are also used when generating a default route into an OSPF routing process. A route map defines which of the routes from the specified routing protocol are allowed to be redistributed into the target routing process.

Route maps have many features in common with widely known ACLs. These are some of the traits common to both:

• They are an ordered sequence of individual statements, and each has a permit or deny result. Evaluation of an ACL or a route map consists of a list scan, in a predetermined order, and an evaluation of the criteria of each statement that matches. A list scan is aborted once the first statement match is found and an action associated with the statement match is performed.

• They are generic mechanisms. Criteria matches and match interpretation are dictated by the way that they are applied and the feature that uses them. The same route map applied to different features might be interpreted differently.

These are some of the differences between route maps and ACLs:

• Route maps are more flexible than ACLs and can verify routes based on criteria which ACLs can not verify. For example, a route map can verify if the type of route is internal.

• Each ACL ends with an implicit deny statement, by design convention. If the end of a route map is reached during matching attempts, the result depends on the specific application of the route map. Route maps that are applied to redistribution behave the same way as ACLs: if the route does not match any clause in a route map then the route redistribution is denied, as if the route map contained a deny statement at the end.