Description

This article describes the issue of Apply-groups only acting on the configuration hierarchy which exists within them, regardless of where they are configured.

Symptoms

Consider this configuration, which has a BGP peer in the main instance, and a BGP peer in a routing-instance:

lab@Lesh# show
groups {
    local-pref {
        protocols {
            bgp {
                group <*> {
                    local-preference 50;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
routing-options {
    autonomous-system 65000;
}
protocols {
    bgp {
        apply-groups local-pref;
        group isp {
            peer-as 65042;
            neighbor 192.168.42.1;
        }
    }
}
routing-instances {
    customer {
        instance-type vrf;
        route-distinguisher 192.168.42.2:65000;
        vrf-target target:65000:42;
        protocols {
            bgp {
                apply-groups local-pref;
                group customer {
                    peer-as 65010;
                    neighbor 10.1.1.1;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The apply-group is set in two places, under [edit protocols bgp] and [edit routing-instances customer protocols bgp], but it only takes effect in one place:

lab@Lesh# show | display inheritance
routing-options {
    autonomous-system 65000;
}
protocols {
    bgp {
        group isp {
            ##
            ## '50' was inherited from group 'local-pref'
            ##
            local-preference 50;
            peer-as 65042;
            neighbor 192.168.42.1;
        }
    }
}
routing-instances {
    customer {
        instance-type vrf;
        route-distinguisher 192.168.42.2:65000;
        vrf-target target:65000:42;
        protocols {
            bgp {
                group customer {
                    peer-as 65010;
                    neighbor 10.1.1.1;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Solution

This is due to Junos being lax about where an apply-group is configured. It can be anywhere, up to the place where it should be taking affect, so in this case it can be configured under any of these:
[edit]
[edit protocols]
[edit protocols bgp]
[edit protocols bgp group isp]

It will not have any effect if configured under:
[edit protocols bgp group isp neighbor 192.168.42.1]
... because this is deeper than the group is configured for.

So we need to modify the local-pref apply-group to account for routing-instances, and the value can be different:
lab@Lesh# set groups local-pref routing-instances <*> protocols bgp group <*> local-preference 51

And the part for the main instance will be removed to prove the point about where apply-groups can be configured:
lab@Lesh# delete groups local-pref protocols

This is the new group:
lab@Lesh# show
groups {
    local-pref {
        routing-instances {
            <*> {
                protocols {
                    bgp {
                        group <*> {
                            local-preference 51;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

This is the new configuration, after apply-groups take affect:
lab@Lesh# show | display inheritance
routing-options {
    autonomous-system 65000;
}
protocols {
    bgp {
        group isp {
            ##
            ## '50' was inherited from group 'local-pref'
            ##
            local-preference 50;
            peer-as 65042;
            neighbor 192.168.42.1;
        }
    }
}
routing-instances {
    customer {
        instance-type vrf;
        route-distinguisher 192.168.42.2:65000;
        vrf-target target:65000:42;
        protocols {
            bgp {
                group customer {
                    ##
                    ## '51' was inherited from group 'local-pref'
                    ##
                    local-preference 51;
                    peer-as 65010;
                    neighbor 10.1.1.1;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

So for the apply-group to take effect it can be configured under any of these:
[edit]
[edit routing-instances]
[edit routing-instances customer]
[edit routing-instances customer protocols]
[edit routing-instances customer protocols bgp]
[edit routing-instances customer protocols bgp group isp]

When working with apply-groups, it is wise to check your work with:
lab@Lesh# show | display inheritance

See also KB9299 - How to use configuration groups for logical systems on M, MX and T-series routers? [juniper.net] , which focuses on logical-systems.