guide

Ze User Guide

Project Status -- what works, what doesn't, Ze vs ExaBGP, and advice for early adopters.

I want to...

Task	Start here
Get Ze running for the first time	Quick Start
Announce routes to my upstream	Quick Start, then Route Injection
Build a route server at an IXP	Route Reflection
Monitor BGP sessions in real time	Monitoring
Validate routes against RPKI	RPKI Origin Validation
Restart without dropping routes	Graceful Restart
Back up config on commit or a schedule	Config Archive
Manage config through a browser	Web Interface
Migrate from ExaBGP	ExaBGP Migration
Run Ze in production	Operations
Debug a peer that won't come up	Operations

Getting Started

Guide	Description
Quick Start	Build, configure, run, and verify in 5 minutes
Configuration	Config syntax, peer setup, groups, static routes
Plugins	Which plugins you need, how to load and bind them
CLI Reference	Interactive CLI, runtime commands, peer/route/cache operations
Command Reference	Complete reference for all shell and runtime commands
Config Editor	Interactive NOS-like editor with YANG tab completion
Config Archive	Archive configs to local/remote destinations on commit or schedule
Config Reload	Live reload, what changes live vs. requires restart
Web Interface	HTTPS web UI for config viewing, editing, and admin commands

Features

Guide	When to use	Description
RPKI Origin Validation	Reject hijacked routes	RTR cache, origin validation, fail-open safety
Graceful Restart	Restart without blackholing traffic	Hold routes during restart window (RFC 4724)
Route Reflection	Forward routes between peers	Route server / reflector setup (RFC 7947)
ADD-PATH	Forward all paths, not just best	Multiple paths per prefix (RFC 7911)
BGP Role	Prevent route leaks	OTC attribute filtering (RFC 9234)
Monitoring	Watch sessions and routes	Real-time event streaming, JSON format
Route Injection	Announce routes at runtime	Text, hex, base64 UPDATE commands, commit workflow

Operations

Guide	Description
Operations	SSH setup, signals, health checks, systemd, troubleshooting
MCP Remote Access	SSH tunnels and WireGuard for remote MCP access
Logging	Log levels, backends, per-subsystem tuning, runtime changes
ExaBGP Migration	Config conversion and plugin compatibility bridge
Chaos Testing	Fault injection, deterministic replay, property validation
Fleet Configuration	Centralized config management for multi-node deployments

Reference

• Feature Inventory -- complete list of protocols, attributes, and CLI commands
• Architecture -- internal design, wire format, pool architecture
• Plugin Development -- writing external plugins, IPC protocol, SDK