MPLS Ping and Traceroute for BGP and IGP Prefix-SID
Feature Name |
Release |
Description |
---|---|---|
MPLS Ping and Traceroute for BGP and IGP Prefix-SID |
Release 7.6.1 |
This feature is supported on Cisco Network Convergence System 5700 Series routers and routers with the Cisco NC57 line cards operating in native mode. The MPLS LSP Ping feature is used to check the connectivity between ingress Label Switch Routers (LSRs) and egress LSRs along an LSP. |
MPLS Ping and Traceroute operations for Prefix SID are supported for various BGP and IGP scenarios, for example:
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Within an IS-IS level or OSPF area
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Across IS-IS levels or OSPF areas
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Route redistribution from IS-IS to OSPF and from OSPF to IS-IS
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Anycast Prefix SID
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Combinations of BGP and LDP signaled LSPs
The MPLS LSP Ping feature is used to check the connectivity between ingress Label Switch Routers (LSRs) and egress LSRs along an LSP. MPLS LSP ping uses MPLS echo request and reply messages, similar to Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request and reply messages, to validate an LSP. The destination IP address of the MPLS echo request packet is different from the address used to select the label stack. The destination IP address is defined as a 127.x.y.z/8 address and it prevents the IP packet from being IP switched to its destination, if the LSP is broken.
The MPLS LSP Traceroute feature is used to isolate the failure point of an LSP. It is used for hop-by-hop fault localization and path tracing. The MPLS LSP Traceroute feature relies on the expiration of the Time to Live (TTL) value of the packet that carries the echo request. When the MPLS echo request message hits a transit node, it checks the TTL value and if it is expired, the packet is passed to the control plane, else the message is forwarded. If the echo message is passed to the control plane, a reply message is generated based on the contents of the request message.
The MPLS LSP Tree Trace (traceroute multipath) operation is also supported for BGP and IGP Prefix SID. MPLS LSP Tree Trace provides the means to discover all possible equal-cost multipath (ECMP) routing paths of an LSP to reach a destination Prefix SID. It uses multipath data encoded in echo request packets to query for the load-balancing information that may allow the originator to exercise each ECMP. When the packet TTL expires at the responding node, the node returns the list of downstream paths, as well as the multipath information that can lead the operator to exercise each path in the MPLS echo reply. This operation is performed repeatedly for each hop of each path with increasing TTL values until all ECMP are discovered and validated.
MPLS echo request packets carry Target FEC Stack sub-TLVs. The Target FEC sub-TLVs are used by the responder for FEC validation. The BGP and IGP IPv4 prefix sub-TLV has been added to the Target FEC Stack sub-TLV. The IGP IPv4 prefix sub-TLV contains the prefix SID, the prefix length, and the protocol (IS-IS or OSPF). The BGP IPv4 prefix sub-TLV contains the prefix SID and the prefix length.