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Policy-based routing (PBR) is a forwarding technique that lets a network administrator steer selected packets according to configured rules—such as their source address, protocol, or port—instead of relying only on the packet’s destination address. Despite the phrase “policy routing protocol,” PBR is not itself a standalone protocol for exchanging routes between routers; it is a policy applied to packet forwarding.
What does policy-based routing mean?
With ordinary destination-based routing, a router looks up a packet’s destination IP address in its routing table to decide where to send it. PBR adds a policy check for selected traffic. The policy can match other packet attributes and apply a forwarding action, allowing packets headed to the same destination to take different paths.
Cisco describes PBR as sending packets through configured route maps before routing. Juniper documents a related implementation called filter-based forwarding (FBF). Both are policy-driven forwarding approaches, but their configuration and behavior are vendor- and platform-specific.
How does PBR work?
- Traffic reaches a device. On Cisco’s interface-based implementation, packets received on an interface enabled for PBR are evaluated against route maps.
- The device checks packet attributes against policy rules. Depending on the platform, rules can match source or destination addresses, source or destination ports, IP protocol, DSCP, TCP flags, ICMP type, packet length, or application-related classification. Not every device supports every match field.
- A matching packet receives a forwarding treatment. The policy may specify a next hop or output interface; Juniper’s FBF model can direct traffic to a routing instance. Traffic that does not match the policy is handled according to the device’s ordinary routing behavior and configuration.
The details—including which traffic is evaluated and what happens if a policy action cannot be used—depend on the device, software release, and implementation. Check the documentation for the specific platform before relying on a particular behavior.
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How is PBR different from a routing protocol or static routing?
| Approach | How the path is selected | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Destination-based routing | Primarily by the packet’s destination address and the routing table | Selects a route based on where the packet is going. |
| Policy-based routing (PBR) | By configured rules that can consider attributes beyond destination address | Steers selected traffic using policy; it complements ordinary routing. |
| Static routing | By routes configured manually in the routing table | Provides a configured route; it is not, by itself, a policy-matching method for choosing different paths based on packet attributes. |
| Routing protocol | By exchanging routing information between routers | Helps routers learn or update routes; PBR instead applies local forwarding policy. |
PBR and static routes are not mutually exclusive: a PBR policy can influence how matching packets are forwarded, while routing tables and configured routes remain part of the network’s forwarding setup. The exact interaction depends on the implementation.
When is PBR useful?
PBR is useful when an administrator wants traffic with the same destination to follow different paths because of its source, traffic class, or another supported policy criterion. For example, selected priority traffic might be directed over a chosen link. Cisco documentation also describes source-sensitive and protocol-sensitive routing as possible use cases. Whether a particular use case is supported depends on the platform.
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Is PBR supported for IPv4 and IPv6?
Cisco documents PBR for both IPv4 and IPv6. Its IPv6 guide describes matching attributes such as addresses, ports, protocol, and packet size, with forwarding actions such as specifying a next hop or output interface. Support for match fields, actions, commands, and hardware forwarding varies by platform and software release; IPv4 support does not establish that a device supports the same behavior for IPv6.
What is Juniper filter-based forwarding?
Juniper uses the term filter-based forwarding, or FBF, for a policy-based approach in which a firewall filter matches traffic and directs it to a routing instance. Juniper’s documentation also describes FBF as “also known as Policy Based Routing (PBR).” This is Juniper terminology and implementation context, not a promise that Juniper and Cisco use identical commands or policy behavior.
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What should you check before configuring PBR?
- Device and software release: confirm feature support and use the guide for the exact router or switch family and release.
- Traffic scope: establish whether policy applies to ingress traffic, locally originated traffic, or both.
- Match criteria and actions: verify the packet fields the device can match and whether it can select a next hop, interface, routing instance, or other required action.
- IP version and forwarding mode: check IPv4 and IPv6 support separately, including any hardware-forwarding constraints.
- Fallback behavior: determine what happens when traffic does not match a rule or when a policy action cannot be used.
For Cisco switch-family context, the guide titled Policy-Based Routing | Configure IPv4 Policy-Based Routing is identified as updated June 25, 2026. That date applies to that guide and switch family, not to universal support across networking equipment. Cisco’s platform-scoped PBR configuration guide, Juniper’s Junos OS Routing Policies, Firewall Filters, and Traffic Policers User Guide, and Cisco’s IPv6 Policy-Based Routing guide describe their respective implementations.
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