VPLS MAC Address Withdrawal

The VPLS MAC Address Withdrawal feature provides faster convergence by removing (or unlearning) MAC addresses that have been dynamically learned. A Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)-based MAC address withdrawal message is used for this purpose. A MAC list Type Length Value (TLV) is part of the MAC address withdrawal message. No configuration is needed.

Information About VPLS MAC Address Withdrawal

VPLS MAC Address Withdrawal

The VPLS MAC Address Withdrawal feature provides faster convergence by removing (or unlearning) MAC addresses that have been dynamically learned. A Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)-based MAC address withdrawal message is used for this purpose. A MAC list Type Length Value (TLV) is part of the MAC address withdrawal message.

The debug mpls ldp messages and debug mpls ldp session io commands support monitoring of MAC address withdrawal messages being exchanged between LDP peers. Any Transport over Multiprotocol Label Switching (AToM) might provide other means to display or monitor MAC address withdrawal messages. The Tag Distribution Protocol (TDP) is not supported because AToM uses only LDP for the MAC address withdrawal message.

PE devices learn the remote MAC addresses and directly attached MAC addresses on customer-facing ports by deriving the topology and forwarding information from packets originating at customer sites. To display the number of MAC address withdrawal messages, enter the show mpls l2transport vc detail command, as shown in the following example:


Device# show mpls l2transport vc detail

Local interface: VFI TEST VFI up
  MPLS VC type is VFI, interworking type is Ethernet
  Destination address: 10.1.1.1, VC ID: 1000, VC status: up
    Output interface: Se2/0, imposed label stack {17}
    Preferred path: not configured  
    Default path: active
    Next hop: point2point
  Create time: 00:04:34, last status change time: 00:04:15
  Signaling protocol: LDP, peer 10.1.1.1:0 up
    Targeted Hello: 10.1.1.1(LDP Id) -> 10.1.1.1
    MPLS VC labels: local 16, remote 17 
    Group ID: local 0, remote 0
    MTU: local 1500, remote 1500
    Remote interface description:
    MAC Withdraw: sent 5, received 3
  Sequencing: receive disabled, send disabled
  VC statistics:
    packet totals: receive 0, send 0
    byte totals:   receive 0, send 0
    packet drops:  receive 0, send 0

Note

The MAC Address feature is enabled by default. Some show commands may not display the MAC withdraw counters in the command output. This does not indicate that the feature is disabled.


VPLS MAC Address Withdrawal Using Commands Associated with L2VPN Protocol-Based Feature

The VPLS MAC Address Withdrawal feature provides faster convergence by removing (or unlearning) MAC addresses that have been dynamically learned. A Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)-based MAC address withdrawal message is used for this purpose. A MAC list Type Length Value (TLV) is part of the MAC address withdrawal message.

The debug mpls ldp messages and debug mpls ldp session io commands support monitoring of MAC address withdrawal messages being exchanged between LDP peers. Any Transport over Multiprotocol Label Switching (AToM) might provide other means to display or monitor MAC address withdrawal messages. The Tag Distribution Protocol (TDP) is not supported because AToM uses only LDP for the MAC address withdrawal message.

PE devices learn the remote MAC addresses and directly attached MAC addresses on customer-facing ports by deriving the topology and forwarding information from packets originating at customer sites. To display the number of MAC address withdrawal messages, enter the show l2vpn atom vc detail command, as shown in the following example:


Device# show l2vpn atom vc detail

Local interface: VFI TEST VFI up
  MPLS VC type is VFI, interworking type is Ethernet
  Destination address: 10.1.1.1, VC ID: 1000, VC status: up
    Output interface: Se2/0, imposed label stack {17}
    Preferred path: not configured  
    Default path: active
    Next hop: point2point
  Create time: 00:04:34, last status change time: 00:04:15
  Signaling protocol: LDP, peer 10.1.1.1:0 up
    Targeted Hello: 10.1.1.1(LDP Id) -> 10.1.1.1
    MPLS VC labels: local 16, remote 17 
    Group ID: local 0, remote 0
    MTU: local 1500, remote 1500
    Remote interface description:
    MAC Withdraw: sent 5, received 3
  Sequencing: receive disabled, send disabled
  VC statistics:
    packet totals: receive 0, send 0
    byte totals:   receive 0, send 0
    packet drops:  receive 0, send 0

How MAC Address Withdrawal Works with H-VPLS N-PE Redundancy with MPLS Access

If the pseudowire between the user provider edge (U-PE) device and network provider edge (N-PE) device fails, the L2VPN Pseudowire Redundancy feature on the U-PE device activates the standby pseudowire. In addition, the U-PE device sends a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) MAC address withdrawal request to the new N-PE device, which forwards the message to all pseudowires in the virtual private LAN service (VPLS) core and flushes its MAC address table.

If a switched virtual interface (SVI)bridge domain interface (BDI) on the N-PE device fails, the L2VPN Pseudowire Redundancy feature activates the standby pseudowire and the U-PE device sends a MAC withdrawal message to the newly active N-PE device.

How MAC Address Withdrawal Works with H-VPLS N-PE Redundancy with QinQ Access

If a failure occurs in the customer-switched network, a spanning-tree Topology Change Notification (TCN) is issued to the network provider edge (N-PE) device, which issues a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)-based MAC address withdrawal message to the peer N-PE devices and flushes its MAC address table.

Additional References for Any Transport over MPLS

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