FRRouting on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

FRRouting (FRR) is a full IP routing protocol suite for Linux, the successor to Quagga and a project of the Linux Foundation. It runs the core internet routing protocols, including BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, RIP, PIM, LDP and BFD, as cooperating daemons managed through a single shell, vtysh, turning a Linux host into a capable software router or route server. This cloudimg image runs the current stable FRRouting release on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS as a hardened systemd service, security patched and kept current by unattended upgrades.

The image ships with zebra, bgpd and ospfd enabled and managed by watchfrr, ready for BGP and OSPF, with kernel IP forwarding on so the VM is a correct router. So the image is provably working on a single VM with nothing attached, it includes a self contained OSPF demo: the router forms a real Full OSPF adjacency, over a virtual link, with a lightweight peer router in a network namespace, and learns a route from it via OSPF. On first boot show ip ospf neighbor shows the adjacency Full and show ip route shows a genuine OSPF learned route, with no external peers required. You replace the demo with your own routing when you are ready.

Security is built in. Each FRR daemon offers a telnet style VTY on a dedicated port, which left on a routable address is a serious attack surface, so this image binds every daemon VTY to 127.0.0.1 only. You manage the router locally as root with vtysh over its unix socket, so there is no login credential of any kind baked into the image. FRR is an internal routing node, so the Network Security Group needs only TCP 22 for administration; you open protocol ports such as BGP 179 only to your own peers inside your virtual network.

FRRouting is distributed under the GPL 2.0 or later license, free and open source with no per CPU or per deployment fee. cloudimg is not affiliated with or endorsed by The FRRouting Project or the Linux Foundation; FRRouting and FRR are marks of their owners. cloudimg provides packaging, the loopback only VTY hardening, the self contained OSPF demo, kernel router defaults, security patching, and 24/7 support with a guaranteed 24 hour response SLA.