Route Table

Introduction

Azure Route Table contains a set of rules (routes) that specify how packets should be routed in a virtual network. You can associate a route table with a subnet to override Azure’s default system routes and direct traffic to specific next-hop targets such as virtual appliances, VPN gateways, or other virtual networks. Route tables are commonly used in hub-and-spoke topologies to force traffic through a central network virtual appliance for inspection. For more information, see Virtual network traffic routing.

LocalStack for Azure provides a local environment for building and testing applications that make use of Route Tables. The supported APIs are available on our API Coverage section, which provides information on the extent of Route Table’s integration with LocalStack.

Getting started

This guide is designed for users new to Route Tables and assumes basic knowledge of the Azure CLI and our azlocal wrapper script.

Launch LocalStack using your preferred method. For more information, see Introduction to LocalStack for Azure. Once the container is running, enable Azure CLI interception by running:

azlocal start-interception

This command points the az CLI away from the public Azure management REST API and toward the LocalStack for Azure emulator API. To revert this configuration, run:

azlocal stop-interception

This reconfigures the az CLI to send commands to the official Azure management REST API.

Create a resource group

Create a resource group to hold all resources created in this guide:

az group create \
  --name rg-rt-demo \
  --location westeurope

Output

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo",
  "location": "westeurope",
  "managedBy": null,
  "name": "rg-rt-demo",
  "properties": {
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  },
  "tags": null,
  "type": "Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups"
}

Create a route table

Create an empty route table to hold the custom routing rules:

az network route-table create \
  --name rt-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo \
  --location westeurope

Output

{
  "disableBgpRoutePropagation": false,
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo",
  "location": "westeurope",
  "name": "rt-demo",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "routes": [],
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables"
}

Create a route table with inline routes

Create a route table with a custom route to send all internet traffic via a virtual appliance:

az network route-table create \
  --name rt-with-routes \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo \
  --location westeurope

Output

{
  "disableBgpRoutePropagation": false,
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-with-routes",
  "location": "westeurope",
  "name": "rt-with-routes",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "routes": [],
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables"
}

Add a route that directs internet-bound traffic to a virtual appliance:

az network route-table route create \
  --name route-to-internet \
  --route-table-name rt-with-routes \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo \
  --address-prefix 0.0.0.0/0 \
  --next-hop-type VirtualAppliance \
  --next-hop-ip-address 10.0.2.4

Output

{
  "addressPrefix": "0.0.0.0/0",
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-with-routes/routes/route-to-internet",
  "name": "route-to-internet",
  "nextHopIpAddress": "10.0.2.4",
  "nextHopType": "VirtualAppliance",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables/routes"
}

Manage individual routes

Add, show, and delete individual routes on an existing route table:

Add a route that directs internet-bound traffic through a virtual appliance:

az network route-table route create \
  --name route-to-appliance \
  --route-table-name rt-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo \
  --address-prefix 0.0.0.0/0 \
  --next-hop-type VirtualAppliance \
  --next-hop-ip-address 10.0.1.4

Output

{
  "addressPrefix": "0.0.0.0/0",
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo/routes/route-to-appliance",
  "name": "route-to-appliance",
  "nextHopIpAddress": "10.0.1.4",
  "nextHopType": "VirtualAppliance",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables/routes"
}

Add a second route that keeps spoke traffic local to the virtual network:

az network route-table route create \
  --name route-to-spoke \
  --route-table-name rt-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo \
  --address-prefix 172.16.0.0/16 \
  --next-hop-type VnetLocal

Output

{
  "addressPrefix": "172.16.0.0/16",
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo/routes/route-to-spoke",
  "name": "route-to-spoke",
  "nextHopType": "VnetLocal",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables/routes"
}

Then retrieve the details of the route-to-spoke route within the table:

az network route-table route show \
  --name route-to-spoke \
  --route-table-name rt-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo

Output

{
  "addressPrefix": "172.16.0.0/16",
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo/routes/route-to-spoke",
  "name": "route-to-spoke",
  "nextHopType": "VnetLocal",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables/routes"
}

Delete the route-to-spoke route from the route table:

az network route-table route delete \
  --name route-to-spoke \
  --route-table-name rt-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo

Get and list route tables

Retrieve the details of a route table and list all route tables in the resource group:

az network route-table show \
  --name rt-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo

Output

{
  "disableBgpRoutePropagation": false,
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo",
  "location": "westeurope",
  "name": "rt-demo",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "routes": [
    {
      "addressPrefix": "0.0.0.0/0",
      "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo/routes/route-to-appliance",
      "name": "route-to-appliance",
      "nextHopIpAddress": "10.0.1.4",
      "nextHopType": "VirtualAppliance",
      "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables/routes"
    }
  ],
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables"
}

Then list all route tables in the resource group:

az network route-table list \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo

Output

[
  {
    "disableBgpRoutePropagation": false,
    "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo",
    "location": "westeurope",
    "name": "rt-demo",
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
    "routes": [ { "name": "route-to-appliance", "nextHopType": "VirtualAppliance", "nextHopIpAddress": "10.0.1.4" } ],
    "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables"
  },
  {
    "disableBgpRoutePropagation": false,
    "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-with-routes",
    "location": "westeurope",
    "name": "rt-with-routes",
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
    "routes": [ { "name": "route-to-internet", "nextHopType": "VirtualAppliance", "nextHopIpAddress": "10.0.2.4" } ],
    "type": "Microsoft.Network/routeTables"
  }
]

Associate a route table with a subnet

To apply routing rules, associate the route table with a subnet. First create a virtual network with a subnet:

az network vnet create \
  --name vnet-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo \
  --location westeurope \
  --address-prefix 10.0.0.0/16 \
  --subnet-name subnet-demo \
  --subnet-prefix 10.0.1.0/24

Output

{
  "newVNet": {
    "addressSpace": { "addressPrefixes": [ "10.0.0.0/16" ] },
    "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/vnet-demo",
    "location": "westeurope",
    "name": "vnet-demo",
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
    "subnets": [
      {
        "addressPrefix": "10.0.1.0/24",
        "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/vnet-demo/subnets/subnet-demo",
        "name": "subnet-demo",
        "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
        "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets"
      }
    ],
    "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks"
  }
}

Then associate rt-demo with subnet-demo:

az network vnet subnet update \
  --name subnet-demo \
  --vnet-name vnet-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo \
  --route-table rt-demo

Output

{
  "addressPrefix": "10.0.1.0/24",
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/vnet-demo/subnets/subnet-demo",
  "name": "subnet-demo",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "routeTable": {
    "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo",
    "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo"
  },
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets"
}

Verify the association is reflected on the subnet:

az network vnet subnet show \
  --name subnet-demo \
  --vnet-name vnet-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo

Output

{
  "addressPrefix": "10.0.1.0/24",
  "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/vnet-demo/subnets/subnet-demo",
  "name": "subnet-demo",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo",
  "routeTable": {
    "id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/rg-rt-demo/providers/Microsoft.Network/routeTables/rt-demo",
    "resourceGroup": "rg-rt-demo"
  },
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets"
}

Delete the route table

Delete the route tables and verify it no longer appears in the list:

az network route-table delete \
  --name rt-demo \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo

az network route-table delete \
  --name rt-with-routes \
  --resource-group rg-rt-demo

Then list all route tables to confirm the resource group is now empty:

az network route-table list --resource-group  rg-rt-demo

Output

[]

Features

The Route Table emulator supports the following features:

• Create and manage route tables: Full lifecycle management including create, get, update, list, and delete.
• Sub-resource route management: Create, get, update, list, and delete individual routes within a route table.
• Next-hop types: Support for VirtualAppliance, VnetLocal, VirtualNetworkGateway, Internet, and None.
• Next-hop IP addresses: Store and return the next-hop IP address for VirtualAppliance routes.
• Address prefix ranges: Store and return the address prefix for each route.
• Tags: Apply and update resource tags on route table resources.
• Subscription-scoped listing: List all route tables across a subscription.

Limitations

• No traffic routing: Route Table is a mock implementation. State is persisted in memory and returned faithfully, but no actual network traffic is routed according to the configured routes.
• No subnet association enforcement: Associating a route table with a subnet is accepted but not enforced at the network level.
• No data persistence: Route table resources and their routes are not persisted and are lost when the emulator is stopped or restarted.

Samples

Explore end-to-end examples in the LocalStack for Azure Samples repository.

API Coverage

Operation ▲	Implemented ▼

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