Cisco IOS Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Adjusting EIGRP Metrics

Problem

You want to modify the routing metrics for routes learned via EIGRP.

Solution

You can use the offset-list configuration command to modify the metrics of routes that EIGRP learns through a particular interface:

Router1#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router1(config)#access-list 22 permit 192.168.30.0
Router1(config)#router eigrp 55
Router1(config-router)#offset-list 22 in 10000 Serial0.1
Router1(config-router)#exit
Router1(config)#end
Router1#

This command can also modify the EIGRP metrics of routes as the router sends them out through an interface:

Router1#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router1(config)#access-list 33 permit 192.168.30.0
Router1(config)#router eigrp 55
Router1(config-router)#offset-list 33 out 10000 Serial0.1
Router1(config-router)#exit
Router1(config)#end
Router1#

Discussion

The offset-list command simply adds a constant value to the metrics of all routes that are either sent or received through a particular interface. There are actually two other ways to modify metrics in EIGRP. Recall that the EIGRP metric is a combination of the aggregate delay and the minimum bandwidth along a path. So instead of adding an offset to the entire metric, you can modify the bandwidth and delay separately as follows:

Router1(config)#interface Serial0.1
Router1(config-if)#bandwidth 56
Router1(config-if)#delay 1000

The bandwidth command takes an argument in kilobits ...