Commands relating to a peer group found in Cisco IOS Release 12.2 have been removed from Cisco IOS XR software. Instead, the af-group, session-group, and neighbor-group configuration commands are added to support the neighbor in Cisco IOS XR software:

The af-group command is used to group address family-specific neighbor commands within an IPv4 or IPv6 address family. Neighbors that have the same address family configuration are able to use the address family group name for their address family-specific configuration. A neighbor inherits the configuration from an address family group by way of the use command. If a neighbor is configured to use an address family group, the neighbor will (by default) inherit the entire configuration from the address family group. However, a neighbor will not inherit all of the configuration from the address family group if items are explicitly configured for the neighbor.

The session-group command allows you to create a session group from which neighbors can inherit address family-independent configuration. A neighbor inherits the configuration from a session group by way of the use command. If a neighbor is configured to use a session group, the neighbor (by default) inherits the session group's entire configuration. A neighbor does not inherit all the configuration from a session group if a configuration is done directly on that neighbor.

The neighbor-group command helps you apply the same configuration to one or more neighbors. Neighbor groups can include session groups and address family groups. This additional flexibility can create a complete configuration for a neighbor. Once a neighbor group is configured, each neighbor can inherit the configuration through the use command. If a neighbor is configured to use a neighbor group, the neighbor (by default) inherits the neighbor group's entire BGP configuration.

However, a neighbor will not inherit all of the configuration from the neighbor group if items are explicitly configured for the neighbor. In addition, some part of the neighbor group's configuration could be hidden if a session group or address family group was also being used.