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ahmedaljawad's avatar
ahmedaljawad
Copper Contributor
Sep 23, 2025

Azure Express Route Peering with on Prem Firewall

Is there any way we can have express route peer BGP directly with on Prem Firewall via /29 subnet 

The firewall has active / standby and VIP. 

The express route peering require two /30 . if I have an active standby and VIP on the firewall how is that going to work ? 

 

 

 

 

2 Replies

  • For ExpressRoute BGP Peering, below the requirements: 
    •    Azure requires two /30 subnets for private peering, one for the primary link and one for the secondary.
    •    If you reserve a /29 subnet, it gets split into two /30s: 
    o    First /30 → Primary BGP session
    o    Second /30 → Secondary BGP session
    •    Each /30 provides two usable IPs: 
    o    First IP → Your device (firewall/router)
    o    Second IP → Microsoft Enterprise Edge (MSEE) router

    Please consider: 
    •    VIPs are not supported for BGP peering with ExpressRoute. BGP requires dedicated IPs per physical/logical interface.
    •    You must configure BGP on each firewall node individually, not via the VIP.
    •    For high availability: 
    o    Use two physical interfaces (or logical interfaces) on the firewall, one for each /30 subnet.
    o    Configure BGP sessions on both firewalls, but only the active firewall will advertise routes.
    o    The standby firewall should be ready to take over and establish BGP if failover occurs.

    For your situation: 
    •    Use /29 subnet: Yes, it's valid. Azure will split it into two /30s automatically.
    •    Assign IPs directly to firewall interfaces, not to VIP.
    •    Ensure your firewall supports BGP failover and can handle dual peerings.

    • ahmedaljawad's avatar
      ahmedaljawad
      Copper Contributor

      Thank you for your reply. 

      Ok , So lets say I did all of that. then I add the circuit to the hub. in the hub > routing > Bgp peer 

       

      it is asking me for a vNet , I dont have a vNet for the peer. it is over the Express route 

       

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