Cisco IOS Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Filtering Routes in OSPF

Problem

You want to apply a filter so that OSPF populates only certain routes into the routing table.

Solution

You can filter inbound routes to prevent the router from putting them in its routing table:

Router5#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router5(config)#access-list 1 deny 172.20.10.0
Router5(config)#access-list 1 permit any
Router5(config)#router ospf 87
Router5(config-router)#distribute-list 1 in Ethernet0/0
Router5(config-router)#exit
Router5(config)#end
Router5#

The OSPF algorithm requires that every router in an area receives all of the LSAs for that area, so you cannot filter outbound routing information in the same way:

Router5#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router5(config)#router ospf 87
Router5(config-router)#distribute-list 1 out Ethernet0/0
% Interface not allowed with OUT for OSPF
Router5(config-router)#exit
Router5(config)#end
Router5#

Filtering outbound LSAs is possible only if you filter out all of the LSAs. There are two ways to do this. For point-to-multipoint media, you can filter LSAs by going to a particular neighbor:

Router1#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router1(config)#router ospf 87
Router1(config-router)#neighbor 192.168.1.3 database-filter all out
Router1(config-router)#exit
Router1(config)#end
Router1#

And on broadcast, nonbroadcast, and point-to-point media, you can prevent the router ...