VRRP Preemption and Versions

Discover how VRRP handles recovering routers and how VRRPv3 brings native IPv6 support.
Here is a major difference from HSRP: preemption is enabled by default in VRRP.

Preemption by Default

Suppose R1 boots back up with its priority still at 110.
Will it take the Master role back?

Figure 9 – R1 reclaims the Master role

Yes, immediately, without any extra configuration.
As soon as R2 hears an Advertisement with a higher priority than its own, it steps straight down to Backup.
R1 then moves through its own election and becomes Master again.

R2#
%VRRP-6-STATECHANGE: GigabitEthernet0/0 Grp 1 state Master -> Backup

R1#
%VRRP-6-STATECHANGE: GigabitEthernet0/0 Grp 1 state Init -> Backup
%VRRP-6-STATECHANGE: GigabitEthernet0/0 Grp 1 state Backup -> Master

This instant takeover is built into the base protocol, unlike HSRP where preempt starts disabled and must be turned on.