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description: ArubaCX's outbound BGP soft reconfiguration command (`clear bgp ipv4 unicast * soft out`) is effectively a no-op — it executes silently without triggering any...
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# ArubaCX: When BGP Soft Reconfiguration Becomes a No-Op « ipSpace.net blog

**[ipSpace.net Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

ArubaCX's outbound BGP soft reconfiguration command (`clear bgp ipv4 unicast * soft out`) is effectively a no-op — it executes silently without triggering any outgoing BGP updates or route refresh messages. Inbound soft reconfiguration works correctly via RFC 2918 route refresh. The bug is particularly painful during troubleshooting because the device gives no error or indication that the command did nothing. The post also briefly contrasts how platforms like Cisco IOS and Arista EOS handle BGP policy changes differently.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://blog.ipspace.net/2025/07/aruba-bgp-soft-reconfiguration>

## Questions this post answers

### Does ArubaCX outbound BGP soft reconfiguration work with 'clear bgp ipv4 unicast * soft out'?

No, on ArubaCX the outbound soft reconfiguration command `clear bgp ipv4 unicast * soft out` does absolutely nothing. No outgoing BGP update appears in packet captures regardless of how many times the command is executed, and the device provides no error or warning message. Inbound soft reconfiguration does work correctly, using RFC 2918 route refresh with proper beginning/end-of-route-refresh signaling.

_Network engineers debugging BGP policy changes on ArubaCX track platform-specific quirks like this on daily.dev._

### How does BGP inbound soft reconfiguration work on ArubaCX?

ArubaCX inbound soft reconfiguration works as expected: the device sends a route refresh message with the requested AFI/SAFI and subtype 'normal route refresh request'. The BGP peer responds with a beginning-of-route-refresh message, followed by one or more update messages, and concludes with an end-of-route-refresh message, per RFC 2918 (enhanced by RFC 7313).

_Engineers validating BGP behavior across vendors find platform-specific implementation notes like these on daily.dev._

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- [Exploring the BGP Neighbor CONNECT State « ipSpace.net blog](https://daily.dev/posts/exploring-the-bgp-neighbor-connect-state-ipspace-net-blog-q28k0i62x) · ipSpace.net Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
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---

Tags: [#bgp](https://daily.dev/tags/bgp)

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