Relation between Route-Distinguisher and route-target import/export

[M_Neman]

Hi All,

i have a little confussion and couldnt relate rd and rt values. i have read many articles and posts but still couldnt uderstand the relation.

scenario:

vrf definition CLIENTS

rd 32052:2

address-family ipv4 vrf CLIENTS
route-target export x:x 
route-target import x:x
exit-address-family

Question:
should the route-target value be same as rd ? if yes why and if not why ? how are these two related to each other ?

Thanks and sorry for my bad english.

[Albertt · Accepted solution]

Hi Mohammad,

The RD (Route Distinguisher) makes routes unique inside the router, while the RT (Route Target) controls which routes get shared in an MPLS VPN. RD doesn’t affect sharing, but RTs must match (export on one router, import on another) for routes to be exchanged. To keep things simple, people often use the same values for RD and RT, but it’s not mandatory.

Hope it helps for you to understand better.

[M_Neman]

Thanks, that cleared my doubt.