Configuring RIP v2

Configuring RIP v2
1.2.4 This page will teach students how to configure RIP v2. RIP v2 is a dynamic routing protocol that is configured by naming the routing protocol RIP Version 2, and then assigning IP network numbers without specifying subnet values. This section describes the basic commands used to configure RIP v2 on a Cisco router. 
To enable a dynamic routing protocol, the following tasks must be completed:

• Select a routing protocol, such as RIP v2.
• Assign the IP network numbers without specifying the subnet values.
• Assign the network or subnet addresses and the appropriate subnet mask to the interfaces.

RIP v2 uses multicasts to communicate with other routers. The routing metric helps the routers find the best path to each network or subnet.
The router command starts the routing process. The network command causes the implementation of the following three functions:

• The routing updates are multicast out an interface.
• The routing updates are processed if they enter that same interface.
• The subnet that is directly connected to that interface is advertised.

The network command is required because it allows the routing process to determine which interfaces will participate in the sending and receiving of routing updates. The network command starts up the routing protocol on all interfaces that the router has in the specified network. The network command also allows the router to advertise that network.
The router rip and version 2 commands combined specify RIP v2 as the routing protocol, while the network command identifies a participating attached network. 
In this example, the configuration of Router A includes the following:

• router rip – Enables RIP as the routing protocol
• version 2 – Identifies version 2 as the version of RIP being used
• network 172.16.0.0 – Specifies a directly connected network
• network 10.0.0.0 – Specifies a directly connected network

The interfaces on Router A connected to networks 172.16.0.0 and 10.0.0.0, or their subnets, will send and receive RIP v2 updates. These routing updates allow the router to learn the network topology. Routers B and C have similar RIP configurations but with different network numbers specified.
Figure shows another example of a RIP v2 configuration.
The Lab Activities on this page will show students how to convert RIP v1 to RIP v2.
The next page will describe the commands that are used to verify RIP v2