How To Install babeld on Debian 12

Learn how to install babeld on Debian 12 with this tutorial. babeld is loop-free distance-vector routing protocol

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install babeld on Debian 12.

What is babeld

babeld is:

Babel is a distance-vector routing protocol for IPv6 and IPv4 with fast convergence properties, described in RFC 6126. It was designed to be robust and efficient on both wireless mesh networks and classical wired networks. Babel has extremely modest memory and CPU requirements. Unlike most routing protocols, which route either IPv4 or IPv6 but not both at the same time, Babel is a hybrid IPv6 and IPv4 protocol: a single update packet can carry both IPv6 and IPv4 routes (this is similar to how multi-protocol BGP works). This makes Babel particularly efficient on dual (IPv6 and IPv4) networks. This implementation also includes a radio frequency-aware variant of Babel.

Babel has the following features:

  • it is a distance-vector protocol;
  • it is a proactive protocol, but with adaptative (reactive) features;
  • it senses link quality for computing route metrics using a variant of the ETX algorithm;
  • it uses a feasibility condition that guarantees the absence of loops (the feasibility condition is taken from EIGRP and is somewhat less strict than the one in AODV);
  • it uses sequence numbers to make old routes feasible again (like DSDV and AODV, but unlike EIGRP);
  • it speeds up convergence by reactively requesting a new sequence number (like AODV, and to a certain extent EIGRP, but unlike DSDV);
  • it allows redistributed external routes to be injected into the routing domain at multiple points (like EIGRP, but unlike DSDV and AODV).

There are three methods to install babeld on Debian 12. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install babeld Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install babeld using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install babeld

Install babeld Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install babeld using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install babeld

Install babeld Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Debian. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install babeld using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install babeld

How To Uninstall babeld on Debian 12

To uninstall only the babeld package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove babeld

Uninstall babeld And Its Dependencies

To uninstall babeld and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Debian 12, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove babeld

Remove babeld Configurations and Data

To remove babeld configuration and data from Debian 12 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge babeld

Remove babeld configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove babeld configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge babeld

Dependencies

babeld have the following dependencies:

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install babeld package on Debian 12 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.