Using Segment Routing OAM

Segment Routing Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) helps service providers to monitor label-switched paths (LSPs) and quickly isolate forwarding problems to assist with fault detection and troubleshooting in the network. The Segment Routing OAM feature provides support for Nil-FEC (forwarding equivalence classes) LSP Ping and Traceroute functionality.

MPLS Ping and Traceroute for BGP and IGP Prefix-SID

MPLS Ping and Traceroute operations for Prefix SID are supported for various IGP scenarios, for example:

  • Within an IS-IS level or OSPF area

  • Across IS-IS levels or OSPF areas

  • Route redistribution from IS-IS to OSPF and from OSPF to IS-IS

  • Anycast Prefix SID

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 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 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).

Examples: MPLS Ping, Traceroute, and Tree Trace for Prefix-SID

These examples use the following topology:

MPLS Ping for Prefix-SID


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router-arizona# ping mpls ipv4 10.1.1.4/32
Thu Dec 17 01:01:42.301 PST

Sending 5, 100-byte MPLS Echos to 10.1.1.4,
      timeout is 2 seconds, send interval is 0 msec:

Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0

Type escape sequence to abort.

!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 2/2/3 ms

MPLS Traceroute for Prefix-SID


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router-arizona# traceroute mpls ipv4 10.1.1.4/32
Thu Dec 17 14:45:05.563 PST

Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0

Type escape sequence to abort.

  0 12.12.12.1 MRU 4470 [Labels: 16004 Exp: 0]
L 1 12.12.12.2 MRU 4470 [Labels: 16004 Exp: 0] 3 ms
L 2 23.23.23.3 MRU 4470 [Labels: implicit-null Exp: 0] 3 ms
! 3 34.34.34.4 11 ms

MPLS Tree Trace for Prefix-SID


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router-arizona# traceroute mpls multipath ipv4 10.1.1.4/32
Thu Dec 17 14:55:46.549 PST

Starting LSP Path Discovery for 10.1.1.4/32

Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface,
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label,
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP,
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0

Type escape sequence to abort.

LL!
Path 0 found,
 output interface TenGigE0/0/0/0 nexthop 12.12.12.2  source 12.12.12.1 destination 127.0.0.0 L!
Path 1 found,
 output interface TenGigE0/0/0/0 nexthop 12.12.12.2  source 12.12.12.1 destination 127.0.0.2 LL!
Path 2 found,
 output interface TenGigE0/0/0/1 nexthop 15.15.15.5  source 15.15.15.1 destination 127.0.0.1 L!
Path 3 found,
 output interface TenGigE0/0/0/1 nexthop 15.15.15.5  source 15.15.15.1 destination 127.0.0.0

Paths (found/broken/unexplored) (4/0/0)
 Echo Request (sent/fail) (10/0)
 Echo Reply (received/timeout) (10/0)
 Total Time Elapsed 53 ms

MPLS LSP Ping and Traceroute Nil FEC Target

The Nil-FEC LSP ping and traceroute operations are extensions of regular MPLS ping and traceroute.

Nil-FEC LSP Ping/Traceroute functionality supports segment routing and MPLS Static. It also acts as an additional diagnostic tool for all other LSP types. This feature allows operators to provide the ability to freely test any label stack by allowing them to specify the following:

  • label stack

  • outgoing interface

  • nexthop address

In the case of segment routing, each segment nodal label and adjacency label along the routing path is put into the label stack of an echo request message from the initiator Label Switch Router (LSR); MPLS data plane forwards this packet to the label stack target, and the label stack target sends the echo message back.

The following table shows the syntax for the ping and traceroute commands.

Table 1. LSP Ping and Traceroute Nil FEC Commands

Command Syntax

ping mpls nil-fec labels {label[,label]} [output {interface tx-interface} [nexthop nexthop-ip-addr]]

traceroute mpls nil-fec labels {label[,label]} [output {interface tx-interface} [nexthop nexthop-ip-addr]]

Examples: LSP Ping and Traceroute for Nil_FEC Target

These examples use the following topology:


Node loopback IP address: 172.18.1.3   172.18.1.4   172.18.1.5   172.18.1.7
Node label:                            16004        16005        16007
Nodes:                    Arizona ---- Utah ------- Wyoming ---- Texas

Interface:            GigabitEthernet0/2/0/1   GigabitEthernet0/2/0/1
Interface IP address:         10.1.1.3              10.1.1.4



RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router-utah# show mpls forwarding

Tue Jul  5 13:44:31.999 EDT
Local  Outgoing    Prefix             Outgoing     Next Hop        Bytes      
Label  Label       or ID              Interface                    Switched   
------ ----------- ------------------ ------------ --------------- ------------
16004  Pop         No ID              Gi0/2/0/1    10.1.1.4        1392       
       Pop         No ID              Gi0/2/0/2    10.1.2.2        0          
16005  16005       No ID              Gi0/2/0/0    10.1.1.4        0          
       16005       No ID              Gi0/2/0/1    10.1.2.2        0          
16007  16007       No ID              Gi0/2/0/0    10.1.1.4        4752       
       16007       No ID              Gi0/2/0/1    10.1.2.2        0          
24000  Pop         SR Adj (idx 0)     Gi0/2/0/0    10.1.1.4        0          
24001  Pop         SR Adj (idx 2)     Gi0/2/0/0    10.1.1.4        0          
24002  Pop         SR Adj (idx 0)     Gi0/2/0/1    10.1.2.2        0          
24003  Pop         SR Adj (idx 2)     Gi0/2/0/1    10.1.2.2        0          
24004  Pop         No ID              tt10         point2point     0          
24005  Pop         No ID              tt11         point2point     0          
24006  Pop         No ID              tt12         point2point     0          
24007  Pop         No ID              tt13         point2point     0          
24008  Pop         No ID              tt30         point2point     0

Ping Nil FEC Target


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router-arizona# ping mpls nil-fec labels 16005,16007 output interface GigabitEthernet 0/2/0/1 nexthop 10.1.1.4 repeat 1
Sending 1, 72-byte MPLS Echos with Nil FEC labels 16005,16007,
     timeout is 2 seconds, send interval is 0 msec:

Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface,
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no label entry,
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP,
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'd' - see DDMAP for return code,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0

Type escape sequence to abort.
!
Success rate is 100 percent (1/1), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/1/1 ms
 Total Time Elapsed 0 ms

Traceroute Nil FEC Target


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router-arizona# traceroute mpls nil-fec labels 16005,16007 output interface GigabitEthernet 0/2/0/1 nexthop 10.1.1.4
Tracing MPLS Label Switched Path with Nil FEC labels 16005,16007, timeout is 2 seconds

Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface,
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no label entry,
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP,
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'd' - see DDMAP for return code,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0

Type escape sequence to abort.
  0 10.1.1.3 MRU 1500 [Labels: 16005/16007/explicit-null Exp: 0/0/0]
L 1 10.1.1.4 MRU 1500 [Labels: implicit-null/16007/explicit-null Exp: 0/0/0] 1 ms
L 2 10.1.1.5 MRU 1500 [Labels: implicit-null/explicit-null Exp: 0/0] 1 ms
! 3 10.1.1.7 1 ms

Segment Routing Ping and Traceroute

Segment Routing Ping

The MPLS LSP ping feature is used to check the connectivity between ingress and egress of 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. Segment routing ping is an extension of the MPLS LSP ping to perform the connectivity verification on the segment routing control plane.


Note
Segment routing ping can only be used when the originating device is running segment routing.

You can initiate the segment routing ping operation only when Segment Routing control plane is available at the originator, even if it is not preferred. This allows you to validate the SR path before directing traffic over the path. Segment Routing ping can use either generic FEC type or SR control-plane FEC type (SR-OSPF, SR-ISIS). In mixed networks, where some devices are running MPLS control plane (for example, LDP) or do not understand SR FEC, generic FEC type allows the device to successfully process and respond to the echo request. By default, generic FEC type is used in the target FEC stack of segment routing ping echo request. Generic FEC is not coupled to a particular control plane; it allows path verification when the advertising protocol is unknown or might change during the path of the echo request. If you need to specify the target FEC, you can select the FEC type as OSPF, IS-IS, or BGP. This ensures that only devices that are running segment routing control plane, and can therefore understand the segment routing IGP FEC, respond to the echo request.

Configuration Examples

These examples show how to use segment routing ping to test the connectivity of a segment routing control plane. In the first example, FEC type is not specified. You can also specify the FEC type as shown in the other examples. 

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# ping sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32
 
Sending 5, 100-byte MPLS Echos to 10.1.1.2/32,
      timeout is 2 seconds, send interval is 0 msec:
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/2/5 ms

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# ping sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32 fec-type generic 
 
Sending 5, 100-byte MPLS Echos to 10.1.1.2/32,
      timeout is 2 seconds, send interval is 0 msec:
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/1/2 ms


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# ping sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32 fec-type igp ospf  
 
Sending 5, 100-byte MPLS Echos to 10.1.1.2/32,
      timeout is 2 seconds, send interval is 0 msec:
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/1/2 ms
 

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# ping sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32 fec-type igp isis 
 
Sending 5, 100-byte MPLS Echos to 10.1.1.2/32,
      timeout is 2 seconds, send interval is 0 msec:
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/1/2 ms


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# ping sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32 fec-type bgp 

Sending 5, 100-byte MPLS Echos to 10.1.1.2/32,
      timeout is 2 seconds, send interval is 0 msec:

Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0

Type escape sequence to abort.

!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/1/2 ms

Segment Routing Traceroute

The MPLS LSP traceroute 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. Segment routing traceroute feature extends the MPLS LSP traceroute functionality to segment routing networks.

Similar to segment routing ping, you can initiate the segment routing traceroute operation only when Segment Routing control plane is available at the originator, even if it is not preferred. Segment Routing traceroute can use either generic FEC type or SR control-plane FEC type (SR-OSPF, SR-ISIS). By default, generic FEC type is used in the target FEC stack of segment routing traceroute echo request. If you need to specify the target FEC, you can select the FEC type as OSPF, IS-IS, or BGP. This ensures that only devices that are running segment routing control plane, and can therefore understand the segment routing IGP FEC, respond to the echo request.

The existence of load balancing at routers in an MPLS network provides alternate paths for carrying MPLS traffic to a target router. The multipath segment routing traceroute feature provides a means to discover all possible paths of an LSP between the ingress and egress routers.

Configuration Examples

These examples show how to use segment routing traceroute to trace the LSP for a specified IPv4 prefix SID address. In the first example, FEC type is not specified. You can also specify the FEC type as shown in the other examples. 

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# traceroute sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32 
 
Tracing MPLS Label Switched Path to 10.1.1.2/32, timeout is 2 seconds
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
  0 10.12.12.1 MRU 1500 [Labels: implicit-null Exp: 0]
! 1 10.12.12.2 3 ms


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# traceroute sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32  fec-type generic 
 
Tracing MPLS Label Switched Path to 10.1.1.2/32, timeout is 2 seconds
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
  0 10.12.12.1 MRU 1500 [Labels: implicit-null Exp: 0]
! 1 10.12.12.2 2 ms
 

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# traceroute sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32  fec-type  igp ospf 
 
Tracing MPLS Label Switched Path to 10.1.1.2/32, timeout is 2 seconds
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
  0 10.12.12.1 MRU 1500 [Labels: implicit-null Exp: 0]
! 1 10.12.12.2 2 ms


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# traceroute sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32  fec-type  igp isis 
 
Tracing MPLS Label Switched Path to 10.1.1.2/32, timeout is 2 seconds
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
  0 10.12.12.1 MRU 1500 [Labels: implicit-null Exp: 0]
! 1 10.12.12.2 2 ms


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router#traceroute sr-mpls 10.1.1.2/32 fec-type bgp                                         
 
Tracing MPLS Label Switched Path to 10.1.1.2/32, timeout is 2 seconds
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
 
  0 10.12.12.1 MRU 1500 [Labels: implicit-null/implicit-null Exp: 0/0]
! 1 10.12.12.2 2 ms

This example shows how to use multipath traceroute to discover all the possible paths for a IPv4 prefix SID. 

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# traceroute sr-mpls multipath 10.1.1.2/32 
 
Starting LSP Path Discovery for 10.1.1.2/32
 
Codes: '!' - success, 'Q' - request not sent, '.' - timeout,
  'L' - labeled output interface, 'B' - unlabeled output interface, 
  'D' - DS Map mismatch, 'F' - no FEC mapping, 'f' - FEC mismatch,
  'M' - malformed request, 'm' - unsupported tlvs, 'N' - no rx label, 
  'P' - no rx intf label prot, 'p' - premature termination of LSP, 
  'R' - transit router, 'I' - unknown upstream index,
  'X' - unknown return code, 'x' - return code 0
 
Type escape sequence to abort.
 
!
Path 0 found, 
 output interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/2 nexthop 10.13.13.2
source 10.13.13.1 destination 127.0.0.0
!
Path 1 found, 
 output interface Bundle-Ether1 nexthop 10.12.12.2
source 10.12.12.1 destination 127.0.0.0
 
Paths (found/broken/unexplored) (2/0/0)
Echo Request (sent/fail) (2/0)
Echo Reply (received/timeout) (2/0)
Total Time Elapsed 14 ms