Edit

Create or modify an Exchange peering using the Azure portal

  • Article

This article describes how to create a Microsoft Exchange peering by using the Azure portal. This article also shows how to check the status of the resource, update it, or delete and deprovision it.

If you prefer, you can complete this guide by using PowerShell.

Before you begin

Create and provision an Exchange peering

Sign in to the portal and select your subscription

From a browser, go to the Azure portal and sign in with your Azure account.

If you have multiple subscriptions and need to switch subscriptions:

  1. Select the profile button, and then select Switch Directory.

    Select Switch directory

  2. Choose a subscription you want to use for peering setup.

    Choose subscription

Create an Exchange peering

As an Internet Exchange Provider, you can create an exchange peering request by Creating a Peering.

  1. On the Create a Peering page, on the Basics tab, fill in the boxes as shown here:

    Register Peering Service

  • Select your Azure Subscription.

  • For Resource group, you can either choose an existing resource group from the drop-down list or create a new group by selecting Create new. We'll create a new resource group for this example.

    Note

    Once a subscription and resource group have been selected for the peering resource, it cannot be moved to another subscription or resource group.

  • Name corresponds to the resource name and can be anything you choose.

  • Region is auto-selected if you chose an existing resource group. If you chose to create a new resource group, you also need to choose the Azure region where you want the resource to reside.

Note

The region where a resource group resides is independent of the location where you want to create peering with Microsoft. But it's a best practice to organize your peering resources within resource groups that reside in the closest Azure regions. For example, for peerings in Ashburn, you can create a resource group in East US or East US2.

  • Select your ASN in the PeerASN box.

Important

You can only choose an ASN with ValidationState as Approved before you submit a peering request. If you just submitted your PeerAsn request, wait for 12 hours or so for ASN association to be approved. If the ASN you select is pending validation, you'll see an error message. If you don't see the ASN you need to choose, check that you selected the correct subscription. If so, check if you have already created PeerAsn by using Associate Peer ASN to Azure subscription.

  • Select Next: Configuration to continue.

Configure connections and submit

  1. On the Create a Peering page, on the Configuration tab, fill in the boxes as shown.

    Create a Peering page Exchange peering type

    • For Peering type, select Exchange.

    • Select SKU as Basic Free.

    • Select the Metro location where you want to set up peering.

      Note

      If you already have peering connections with Microsoft in the selected Metro location and you're using the portal for the first time to set up peering in that location, your existing peering connections will be listed in the Peering connections section as shown. Microsoft will automatically convert these peering connections to an Azure resource so that you can manage them all along with the new connections in one place. For more information, see Convert a legacy Exchange peering to an Azure resource by using the portal.

  2. Under Peering connections, select Create new to add a line for each new connection you want to set up.

    • To configure or modify connection settings, select the edit button for a line.

      Edit button

    • To delete a line, select ... > Delete.

      Delete button

    • You're required to provide all the settings for a connection, as shown here.

      Exchange Peering Connection page

      1. Select the Peering facility where the connection needs to be set up.
      2. In the IPv4 address and IPv6 address boxes, enter the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, respectively, that would be configured in Microsoft routers by using the neighbor command.
      3. Enter the number of IPv4 and IPv6 prefixes you'll advertise in the Maximum advertised IPv4 addresses and Maximum advertised IPv6 addresses boxes, respectively.
      4. Select OK to save your connection settings.

  3. Repeat the step to add more connections at any facility where Microsoft is colocated with your network, within the Metro selected previously.

  4. After you add all the required connections, select Review + create.

    Peering Configuration tab

  5. Notice that the portal runs basic validation of the information you entered. A ribbon at the top displays the message Running final validation....

    Peering Validation tab

  6. After the message changes to Validation passed, verify your information. Submit the request by selecting Create. To modify your request, select Previous and repeat the steps.

    Peering submission

  7. After you submit the request, wait for the deployment to finish. If deployment fails, contact Microsoft peering. A successful deployment appears as shown here.

    Peering success

Verify an Exchange peering

After the Peering resource is deployed successfully, you can view it by following these steps.

  1. Go to Resource groups, and select the resource group you selected when you created the Peering resource. Use the Filter box if you have too many resource groups.

    Resource groups

  2. Select the Peering resource you created.

    Screenshot that shows the Peering resource yuo created.

  3. The Overview page shows high-level information, as shown here.

    Peering resource Overview pane

  4. On the left, select ASN information to view the information submitted when you created PeerAsn.

    Peering resource ASN information

  5. On the left, select Connections. At the top of the screen, you see a summary of peering connections between your ASN and Microsoft, across different facilities within the metro. You can also access the connections summary from the Overview page by selecting Connections in the center pane, as shown.

    Peering resource Connections

    • Connection State corresponds to the state of the peering connection setup. The states displayed in this field follow the state diagram shown in the Exchange peering walkthrough.
    • IPv4 Session State and IPv6 Session State correspond to the IPv4 and IPv6 BGP session states, respectively.
    • When you select a row at the top of the screen, the Connection section on the bottom shows details for each connection. Select the arrows to expand Configuration, IPv4 address, and IPv6 address.

    Screenshot that highlights an arrow that expands a section.

Modify an Exchange peering

This section describes how to perform the following modification operations for Direct peering.

Add Exchange peering connections

  1. Select the + Add connections button, and configure a new peering connection.

    Peering resource view

  2. Fill out the Exchange peering Connection form, and select Save. For help with configuring a peering connection, review the steps in the "Create and provision a Direct peering" section.

    Exchange Peering Connection form

Remove Exchange peering connections

  1. Select a peering connection you want to delete, and then select ... > Delete connection.

    Delete connection button

  2. Enter the resource ID in the Confirm Delete box, and select Delete.

    Delete confirmation

Add an IPv4 or IPv6 session on Active connections

  1. Select a peering connection you want to modify, and then select ... > Edit connection.

    Edit connection button

  2. Add IPv4 address or IPv6 address information, and select Save.

    Peering connection modifications

Remove an IPv4 or IPv6 session on Active connections

Removing an IPv4 or IPv6 session from an existing connection isn't currently supported on the portal. For more information, contact Microsoft peering.

Deprovision an Exchange peering

At this time, deprovisioning isn't supported by using the Azure portal or PowerShell. To deprovision, contact Microsoft peering.

Next steps