--- title: Removing FRRouting Configuration Is Not Idempotent «... description: FRRouting (FRR) does not support idempotent removal of configuration elements, unlike traditional network OS implementations such as Cisco IOS or Arista EOS.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/removing-frrouting-configuration-is-not-idempotent-ipspace-net-blog-tprxokiaz twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Removing FRRouting Configuration Is Not Idempotent « ipSpace.net blog | daily.dev og:description: FRRouting (FRR) does not support idempotent removal of configuration elements, unlike traditional network OS implementations such as Cisco IOS or Arista EOS.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/removing-frrouting-configuration-is-not-idempotent-ipspace-net-blog-tprxokiaz og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/tPRXokIaZ.png og:image:alt: Removing FRRouting Configuration Is Not Idempotent « ipSpace.net blog og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Removing FRRouting Configuration Is Not Idempotent « ipSpace.net blog **[ipSpace.net Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary FRRouting (FRR) does not support idempotent removal of configuration elements, unlike traditional network OS implementations such as Cisco IOS or Arista EOS. Attempting to remove BGP network statements, IP addresses, or BGP process configurations a second time results in errors like '% Can't find static route specified' and '% Can't find BGP instance'. This is problematic for automation workflows because vtysh returns non-zero exit codes on these errors, making it hard to distinguish real failures from spurious ones. The recommended workaround is to generate complete FRR configuration files and use the FRR reload functionality rather than applying incremental no commands. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why does FRRouting give 'Can't find static route specified' errors when I run no network commands a second time? FRRouting does not treat removal commands as idempotent. Running a 'no network' BGP statement when that network is already absent causes FRR's bgpd to return an error and vtysh to exit with a non-zero code. Cisco IOS and Arista EOS silently accept duplicate removal commands, but FRR fails explicitly, which breaks automation scripts that apply the same deconfiguration block more than once. _Engineers automating FRR-based routers track these behavioral quirks on daily.dev before they hit production._ ### What is the recommended way to automate FRRouting configuration changes without hitting idempotency errors? Generate a complete FRR configuration file in your automation script and apply it using the FRR reload functionality rather than sending incremental 'no' commands. This avoids the non-idempotent removal problem entirely. FRR's reload mechanism diffs the running config against the new file and applies only the necessary changes, without erroring on already-absent statements. _Network automation engineers dealing with FRR edge cases share findings like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Dear Junos, Tunnels Are Not Virtual Links « ipSpace.net blog](https://daily.dev/posts/dear-junos-tunnels-are-not-virtual-links-ipspace-net-blog-1zdexbued) · ipSpace.net Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Exposing OpenShift networks using BGP](https://daily.dev/posts/exposing-openshift-networks-using-bgp-avwlypif7) · Red Hat Developer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Selective network hosting with BGP router in OpenShift](https://daily.dev/posts/selective-network-hosting-with-bgp-router-in-openshift-vb2vd2flg) · Red Hat Developer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Never-Ending IPv6 Loopback Prefix Saga « ipSpace.net blog](https://daily.dev/posts/the-never-ending-ipv6-loopback-prefix-saga-ipspace-net-blog-4nlhgh10l) · ipSpace.net Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to import provider network routes to OpenShift via BGP](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-import-provider-network-routes-to-openshift-via-bgp-vgwd6yrjl) · Red Hat Developer · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#networking](https://daily.dev/tags/networking), [#bgp](https://daily.dev/tags/bgp) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/removing-frrouting-configuration-is-not-idempotent-ipspace-net-blog-tprxokiaz) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Removing FRRouting Configuration Is Not Idempotent « ipSpace.net blog","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/removing-frrouting-configuration-is-not-idempotent-ipspace-net-blog-tprxokiaz","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/removing-frrouting-configuration-is-not-idempotent-ipspace-net-blog-tprxokiaz"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:55:32.461Z","dateModified":"2026-08-24T07:10:44.295Z","description":"FRRouting (FRR) does not support idempotent removal of configuration elements, unlike traditional network OS implementations such as Cisco IOS or Arista EOS....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--qPvKM23u--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2009","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--qPvKM23u--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2009","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"ipSpace.net Blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ipSpace.net Blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--xS7E82MT--/f_auto,q_auto/v1786438303/logos/ipspace?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/removing-frrouting-configuration-is-not-idempotent-ipspace-net-blog-tprxokiaz","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"networking,bgp","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ipSpace.net Blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Removing FRRouting Configuration Is Not Idempotent « ipSpace.net blog"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/removing-frrouting-configuration-is-not-idempotent-ipspace-net-blog-tprxokiaz#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does FRRouting give 'Can't find static route specified' errors when I run no network commands a second time?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"FRRouting does not treat removal commands as idempotent. Running a 'no network' BGP statement when that network is already absent causes FRR's bgpd to return an error and vtysh to exit with a non-zero code. Cisco IOS and Arista EOS silently accept duplicate removal commands, but FRR fails explicitly, which breaks automation scripts that apply the same deconfiguration block more than once. Engineers automating FRR-based routers track these behavioral quirks on daily.dev before they hit production."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the recommended way to automate FRRouting configuration changes without hitting idempotency errors?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Generate a complete FRR configuration file in your automation script and apply it using the FRR reload functionality rather than sending incremental 'no' commands. This avoids the non-idempotent removal problem entirely. FRR's reload mechanism diffs the running config against the new file and applies only the necessary changes, without erroring on already-absent statements. Network automation engineers dealing with FRR edge cases share findings like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```