BIRD 3 thread group configuration syntax

[David Petera]

Hello Robert,

you are totally right!

We investigated this for a bit and found that due to our oversight in 
the grammar of the config, it was only possible to write a *single* 
option in the thread group block.

It should be fixed on a branch here: 
https://gitlab.nic.cz/labs/bird/-/tree/dp-fix-thead-group-conf?ref_type=heads

We will try to back-port this patch to v3.1 so hopefully it will land in 
v3.1.3.

Thanks a lot for the bug report!

Have a good rest of the week,
David

David Petera (he/him) | BIRD Tech Support | CZ.NIC, z.s.p.o.

On 8/21/25 21:16, Robert Lister wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> According to the docs for v3.1.2 and v3.1.1:
>
> https://bird.nic.cz/doc/bird-3.1.2.html#global-opts
>
> *Thread setup*
> [..]
>
> Thread groups are configured by writing thread group /name /{} blocks, 
> which contain
> the following options:
>
> threads /number/
> default /bool/
> /[...]/
>
>
> It also notes the following:
>
> There is also a "simple" thread group setting. If you write *threads 
> */number/ on top level, it is equivalent to
> setting the worker group thread count to that number, and the express 
> group thread count to one.
> This setting is deprecated and may disappear in some future version.
>
>
> So.. now I come to setting up a new server, I thought I'd better try 
> to use this
> "new" config style. But whatever I try doesn't seem to work. I've 
> tried various
> iterations of:
>
>
> thread group worker {
>         threads 1;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:55:10 No default thread group configured
>
> thread group worker {
>         default;
>         threads 1;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:43:2 syntax error, unexpected THREADS, 
> expecting '}'
>
> thread group worker {
>         threads 1;
>         default yes;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:43:2 syntax error, unexpected DEFAULT, 
> expecting '}'
>
> thread group worker {
>         threads 1;
>         default;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:43:2 syntax error, unexpected DEFAULT, 
> expecting '}'
>
>
> Weirdly, if I configure only "default;" with no other options, it 
> accepts the config:
>
> thread group worker {
>         default;
> }
>
> root at rc01:/# /usr/local/sbin/bird -c /etc/bird/bird.conf -p
> root at rc01:/#
>
> If I add the (deprecated) top-level "threads", it complains I've got 
> them both configured:
>
> threads 1;
>
> thread group worker {
>         default;
>         threads 1;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:41:14 Mixing of `threads NUM` and 
> `threads worker {}` is not allowed.
>
>
> As soon as I try any other config options, it doesn't accept it:
>
> thread group worker {
>         default;
>         wakeup time 31415 s;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:43:2 syntax error, unexpected WAKEUP, 
> expecting '}'
>
>
> Also tried:
>
>
> thread group {
>         worker {
>                 threads 1;
>                 default;
>         };
> }
>
> ---
>
> - nope.
>
>
> thread group worker {
>         threads 1;
> }
>
> thread group express {
>         threads 1;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:45:14 syntax error, unexpected 
> EXPRESS, expecting CF_SYM_KNOWN or CF_SYM_UNDEFINED
>
> ---
>
> thread group worker {
>         threads 2;
>         default;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:43:2 syntax error, unexpected DEFAULT, 
> expecting '}'
>
> ---
>
> thread worker {
>         threads 2;
>         default;
> }
>
> --> <FATAL> /etc/bird/bird.conf:41:8 syntax error, unexpected 
> CF_SYM_UNDEFINED, expecting GROUP
>
>
> So, it seems the "default" option must be present, but if I add /any 
> /other option,
> it doesn't accept it. Oddly, if I put another option before default, 
> it doesn't complain
> about that, but instead complains about "default" being there.
>
> I tried various 3.x versions 3.1.1, 3.1.2 and a couple of recent 
> branches from git repo.
>
> As for the config - I just have the default bird.conf which ships with 
> the BIRD
> debian package, and I've added the thread group option somewhere near 
> the top.
>
> Any hints on the correct config would be appreciated. Or is this maybe 
> a bug?
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Rob
>
> -- 
> Rob Lister
> rob at lonap.net
> +44 20 3137 8330
>
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