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ERSPAN is supported only with the Network Advantage license level.
Apply the Access control list (ACL) filter before sending the monitored traffic on to the tunnel.
Restrictions for Configuring ERSPAN
The following restrictions apply for this feature:
Truncation is supported only on IPv4 and IPv6 spanned packets and not on Layer 2 packets without an IP header.
An ERSPAN destination interface can be part of only one session. The same destination interface cannot be configured for multiple
ERSPANs/SPANs.
You can configure either a list of ports or a list of VLANs as a source, but cannot configure both for a given session.
Filter IP/IPv6/MAC/VLAN access-group and filter SGT cannot be configured at the same time.
When a session is configured through the ERSPAN CLI, the session ID and the session type cannot be changed. To change them,
you must use the no form of the commands to remove the session and then reconfigure it.
ERSPAN source sessions do not copy locally-sourced RSPAN VLAN traffic from source trunk ports that carry RSPAN VLANs.
ERSPAN source sessions do not copy locally-sourced ERSPAN Generic routing encapsulation (GRE)-encapsulated traffic from source
ports.
Disabling the ip routing command for IPv4 connections and ipv6 unicast-routing command for IPv6 connections stops ERSPAN traffic flow to the destination port.
ERSPAN over MPLS VPN is supported on Layer 3 VPNs, Segment Routing and Seamless MPLS.
ERSPAN over MPLS VPN is not supported for L2VPN, 6PE, 6VPE, MPLS over GRE and InterAS.
You cannot configure an MPLS core switch as an ERSPAN destination. ERSPAN traffic can be transported from one Provider Edge
(PE) to another Provide Edge (PE). It cannot be transported to the core switch between the two Provider Edges.
ERSPAN sessions do not capture DHCP-inject packets. DHCP-inject packets refer to DHCP packets (DISCOVER, OFFER, REQUEST, and
ACK packets) which are modified by the CPU and inserted back into the network.
If a backup configuration having ERSPAN session enabled is restored to the running configuration, ERSPAN sessions are created
automatically in disabled state. You must manually enable these ERSPAN sessions.
Information about Configuring ERSPAN
The following sections provide information about configuring ERSPAN.
ERSPAN Overview
The Cisco ERSPAN feature allows you to monitor traffic on ports or VLANs, and send the monitored traffic to destination ports.
ERSPAN sends traffic to a network analyzer, such as a Switch Probe device or a Remote Monitoring (RMON) probe. ERSPAN supports
source ports, source VLANs, and destination ports on different devices, which help remote monitoring of multiple devices across
a network.
ERSPAN supports encapsulated packets of up to 9180 bytes. ERSPAN consists of an ERSPAN source session, routable ERSPAN GRE-encapsulated
traffic, and an ERSPAN destination session.
You can configure an ERSPAN source session, an ERSPAN destination session, or both on a device. A device on which only an
ERSPAN source session is configured is called an ERSPAN source device. A device on which only an ERSPAN destination session
is configured is called an ERSPAN termination device. A device can act as both; an ERSPAN source device and a termination
device. To avoid over-subscription of traffic, which can lead to drop in management traffic on the destination device, ensure
that the destination session is configured and is working on the destination device, before configuring a source session on
the source device.
For a source port or a source VLAN, the ERSPAN can monitor the ingress, egress, or both ingress and egress traffic. By default,
ERSPAN monitors all traffic, including multicast, and Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) frames.
A device supports up to 66 sessions. A maximum of eight source sessions can be configured and the remaining sessions can be
configured as RSPAN destinations sessions. A source session can be a local SPAN source session or an RSPAN source session
or an ERSPAN source session. The number of source sessions decreases by the number of configured ERSPAN destination sessions.
A device can support a maximum of 50 Security Group Tag (SGT) filter per session.
An ERSPAN source session is defined by the following parameters:
A session ID.
ERSPAN flow ID.
List of source ports or source VLANs that are monitored by the session.
Optional attributes, such as, IP type of service (ToS) and IP Time to Live (TTL), related to the Generic Routing Encapsulation
(GRE) envelope.
The destination and origin IP addresses. These are used as the destination and source IP addresses of the GRE envelope for
the captured traffic, respectively.
Note
ERSPAN source sessions do not copy ERSPAN GRE-encapsulated traffic from source ports. Each ERSPAN source session can have
either ports or VLANs as sources, but not both.
Because encapsulation and decapsulation are performed in the hardware, the CPU performance is not impacted.
IPv4 and IPv6 delivery and transport headers are supported; including Type-II and Type-III headers.
Figure 1. ERSPAN Configuration
ERSPAN Sources
The Cisco ERSPAN feature supports the following sources:
Source ports—A source port that is monitored for traffic analysis. Source ports in any VLAN can be configured and trunk ports
can be configured as source ports along with nontrunk source ports.
Source VLANs—A VLAN that is monitored for traffic analysis.
ERSPAN Destination Ports
A destination port is a Layer 2 or Layer 3 LAN port to which ERSPAN source sends traffic for analysis.
When you configure a port as a destination port, it can no longer receive any traffic. The port is dedicated for use only
by the ERSPAN feature. An ERSPAN destination port does not forward any traffic except that required for the ERSPAN session.
You can configure trunk ports as destination ports, which allows destination trunk ports to transmit encapsulated traffic.
SGT Based ERSPAN
A Security Group Tag (SGT) is a 16-bit value that the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) assigns to the user or endpoint
session upon login. The network infrastructure views the SGT as another attribute to assign to the session and inserts the
Layer 2 tag to all traffic from that session. A platform can support a maximum of 50 SGT policies per session.
On an existing flow-based SPAN (FSPAN) or VLAN filter session, SGT filtering configurations are not allowed.
ERSPAN Timestamp
ERSPAN Timestamp is automatically enabled when the ERSPAN header is set to type III. The timestamp field is used to calculate
packet latency in devices. The ERSPAN source session fills in the timestamp field with local time information when a packet
is received. The destination session can hand over this timestamp to the application. ERSPAN supports all timestamps in 32-bit
format. It supports 100 nanosecond (ns) granularity and the timestamp field wraparound time is around 7 minutes.
ERSPAN over MPLS VPN
Starting with the Cisco IOS XE Bengaluru 17.5.x release, you can transport ERSPAN traffic over a Multiprotocol Label Switching
(MPLS) Virtual Private Network (VPN). To enable ERSPAN over MPLS VPN you will have to enable Multiprotocol Label Switching
(MPLS), Label Distribution Protocol (LDP), and Cisco Express Forwarding in your network.
You can configure the ERSPAN destination to select the source VRF for the ERSPAN traffic over MPLS VPN. You can use the vrf keyword in the ERSPAN destination session source command to configure the source VRF.
How to Configure ERSPAN
The following sections provide information about how to configure ERSPAN.
Configuring an ERSPAN Source Session (IPv4)
The ERSPAN source session defines the session configuration parameters and the ports or VLANs to be monitored. To define an
IPv4 ERSPAN source session, complete the following procedure:
Device(config)# monitor session 1 type erspan-source
Defines an ERSPAN source session using the session ID and the session type, and enters ERSPAN monitor source session configuration
mode.
The span-session-number argument range is from 1 to 66. The same session number cannot be used more than once.
The session IDs for source sessions or destination sessions are in the same global ID space, so each session ID is globally
unique for both session types.
The session ID (configured by the span-session-number argument) and the session type (configured by the erspan-source keyword) cannot be changed once entered. Use the no form of this command to remove the session and then re-create the session, with a new session ID or a new session type.
(Optional) Configures source VLAN filtering when the ERSPAN source is a trunk port. The filter sgt sgt-ID command configures SGT filtering in the ERSPAN source session.
Note
You cannot include source VLANs and filter VLANs in the same session.
Configures the ID used by source and destination sessions to identify the ERSPAN traffic, which must also be entered in the
ERSPAN destination session configuration.
Step 10
ip addressip-address
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# ip address 10.1.0.2
Configures the IP address that is used as the destination of the ERSPAN traffic.
Step 11
ip dscpdscp-value
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# ip dscp 10
(Optional) Enables the use of IP differentiated services code point (DSCP) for packets that originate from a circuit emulation
(CEM) channel.
Step 12
ip ttlttl-value
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# ip ttl 32
(Optional) Configures the IP TTL value of packets in the ERSPAN traffic.
Step 13
mtumtu-size
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# mtu 512
Configures the MTU size for truncation. Any ERSPAN packet that is larger than the configured MTU size is truncated to the
configured size. The MTU size range is 176 to 9000 bytes. The default value is 9000 bytes.
Step 14
originip-addressip-address
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# origin ip address 10.10.0.1
Configures the IP address used as the source of the ERSPAN traffic.
Step 15
vrfvrf-id
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# vrf 1
(Optional) Configures the VRF name to use instead of the global routing table.
Step 16
exit
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# exit
Exits ERSPAN source session destination configuration mode, and returns to ERSPAN source session configuration mode.
Step 17
noshutdown
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# no shutdown
Enables the configured sessions on an interface.
Step 18
end
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# end
Exits ERSPAN source session configuration mode, and returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Configuring an ERSPAN Destination Session (IPv4)
The ERSPAN destination session defines the session configuration parameters and the ports that receive the monitored traffic.
To define an IPv4 ERSPAN destination session, complete the following procedure:
Device(config)# monitor session 1 type erspan-destination
Defines an ERSPAN destination session using the session ID and the session type, and enters ERSPAN monitor destination session
configuration mode.
The session-number argument range is from 1 – 66. The session
number must be unique and cannot be used more than once.
The session IDs for source sessions or destination sessions are in the same global ID space, so each session ID is globally
unique for both session types.
The session ID (configured by the session-number argument) and the session type (configured by the erspan-destination) cannot be changed once entered. Use the no form of this command to remove the session, and then recreate the session with a new session ID or a new session type.
Configures the ID used by source and destination sessions to identify the ERSPAN traffic, which must also be entered in the
ERSPAN source session configuration.
Step 8
ipaddressip-address[force]
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-dst-src)# ip address 10.1.0.2
Configures the IP address that is used as the destination of the ERSPAN traffic.
This IP address must be an address on a local interface or loopback interface, and match the address on the destination switch.
The ipaddressip-addressforce command changes the destination IP address for all ERSPAN destination sessions.
Step 9
vrf vrf-id
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-dst-src)# vrf 1
(Optional) Configures the VRF name to use instead of the global routing table.
Step 10
noshutdown
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-dst-src)# no shutdown
Enables the configured sessions on an interface.
Step 11
end
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-dst-src)# end
Exits ERSPAN destination session source configuration mode, and returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Configuring an ERSPAN Source Session (IPv6)
The ERSPAN source session defines the session configuration parameters and the ports or VLANs to be monitored. To define
an IPv6 ERSPAN source session, complete the following procedure:
Procedure
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
configure terminal
Example:
Device# configure terminal
Enters the global configuration mode.
Step 3
monitorsessionsession-numbertypeerspan-source
Example:
Device(config)# monitor session 1 type erspan-source
Defines an ERSPAN source session using the session ID and the session type, and enters ERSPAN monitor source session configuration
mode.
The span-session-number range is from 1 to 66. The same session number cannot be used more than once.
The session IDs for source sessions or destination sessions are in the same global ID space, so each session ID is globally
unique for both session types.
The session ID (configured by the span-session-number argument) and the session type (configured by the erspan-source keyword) cannot be changed once entered. Use the no form of this command to remove the session and then re-create the session, with a new session ID or a new session type.
(Optional) Configures source VLAN filtering when the ERSPAN source is a trunk port. The filter sgt sgt-ID command configures SGT filtering in the ERSPAN source session.
Note
You cannot include source VLANs and filter VLANs in the same session.
Configures the ID used by source and destination sessions to identify the ERSPAN traffic, which must also be entered in the
ERSPAN destination session configuration.
(Optional) Configures the IPv6 flow label in the ERSPAN traffic.
flow-label-value: The range is from 0 to 1048575.
Step 14
mtumtu-size
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# mtu 512
Configures the MTU size for truncation. Any ERSPAN packet that is larger than the configured MTU size is truncated to the
configured size. The MTU size range is 176 to 9000 bytes. The default value is 9000 bytes.
Configures the IPv6 address used as the source of the ERSPAN traffic.
Step 16
vrfvrf-id
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# vrf 1
(Optional) Configures the VRF name to use instead of the global routing table.
Step 17
exit
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# exit
Exits ERSPAN source session destination configuration mode, and returns to ERSPAN source session configuration mode.
Step 18
noshutdown
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# no shutdown
Enables the configured sessions on an interface.
Step 19
end
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# end
Exits ERSPAN source session configuration mode, and returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Configuring an ERSPAN Destination Session (IPv6)
The ERSPAN destination session defines the session configuration parameters and the ports that receives the monitored traffic.
To define an IPv6 ERSPAN destination session, complete the following procedure:
Device(config)# monitor session 3 type erspan-destination
Defines an ERSPAN destination session using the session ID and the session type, and enters ERSPAN monitor destination session
configuration mode.
The session-number argument range is from 1 to 66. The session number must be unique and cannot be used more than once.
The session IDs for source sessions or destination sessions are in the same global ID space, so each session ID is globally
unique for both session types.
The session ID (configured by the session-number argument) and the session type (configured by the erspan-destination) cannot be changed once entered. Use the no form of this command to remove the session, and then recreate the session with a new session ID or a new session type.
Configures the ID used by source and destination sessions to identify the ERSPAN traffic, which must also be entered in the
ERSPAN source session configuration.
Step 8
ipv6addressipv6-address
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-dst-src)# ip address 2001:DB8::1
Configures the IPv6 address that is used as the destination of the ERSPAN traffic.
This IPv6 address must be an address on a local interface or loopback interface, and match the address on the destination
switch.
Step 9
exit
Example:
Switch(config-mon-erspan-dst-src)#exit
Exits ERSPAN destination session source configuration mode, and returns to ERSPAN destination session configuration mode.
Step 10
noshutdown
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-dst)# no shutdown
Enables the configured sessions on an interface.
Step 11
end
Example:
Device(config-mon-erspan-dst)# end
Exits ERSPAN destination session source configuration mode, and returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Configuration examples for ERSPAN
The following sections provide configuration examples for ERSPAN.
Example: Configuring an ERSPAN Source Session
The following example shows how to configure an ERSPAN source session:
Device> enable
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# monitor session 1 type erspan-source
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# description source1
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# source interface GigabitEthernet 1/0/1 rx
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# source interface GigabitEthernet 1/0/4 - 8 tx
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# source interface GigabitEthernet 1/0/3
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# destination
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# erspan-id 100
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# ip address 10.1.0.2
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# ip dscp 10
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# ip ttl 32
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# mtu 512
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# origin ip address 10.10.0.1
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# vrf monitoring
Device(config-mon-erspan-src-dst)# exit
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# no shutdown
Device(config-mon-erspan-src)# end
Example: Configuring an ERSPAN Destination Session
The following example shows how to configure an ERSPAN destination session:
To verify the ERSPAN configuration, use the following commands:
The following is sample output from the showmonitorsession command:
Device# show monitor session 53
Session 53
----------
Type : ERSPAN Source Session
Status : Admin Enabled
Source Ports :
MTU : Fo1/0/2
The following is sample output from the showplatformsoftwaremonitorsession command:
Device# show platform software monitor session 53
Span Session 53 (FED Session 0):
Type: ERSPAN Source
Prev type: Unknown
Ingress Src Ports:
Egress Src Ports:
Ingress Local Src Ports: (null)
Egress Local Src Ports: (null)
Destination Ports:
Ingress Src Vlans:
Egress Src Vlans:
Ingress Up Src Vlans: (null)
Egress Up Src Vlans: (null)
Src Trunk filter Vlans:
RSPAN dst vlan: 0
RSPAN src vlan: 0
RSPAN src vlan sav: 0
Dest port encap = 0x0000
Dest port ingress encap = 0x0000
Dest port ingress vlan = 0x0
SrcSess: 1 DstSess: 0 DstPortCfgd: 0 RspnDstCfg: 0 RspnSrcVld: 0
DstCliCfg: 0 DstPrtInit: 0 PsLclCfgd: 0
Flags: 0x00000000
Remote dest port: 0 Dest port group: 0
FSPAN disabled
FSPAN not notified
ERSPAN Id : 0
ERSPAN Org Ip: 0.0.0.0
ERSPAN Dst Ip: 0.0.0.0
ERSPAN Ip Ttl: 255
ERSPAN DSCP : 0
ERSPAN MTU : 1500 >>>>
ERSPAN VRFID : 0
ERSPAN State : Disabled
ERSPAN Tun id: 61
ERSPAN header-type: 2
ERSPAN SGT :
The following is sample output from the showmonitorsessionerspan-sourcedetail command:
Device# show monitor session erspan-source detail
Type : ERSPAN Source Session
Status : Admin Enabled
Description : -
Source Ports :
RX Only : None
TX Only : None
Both : None
Source Subinterfaces :
RX Only : None
TX Only : None
Both : None
Source VLANs :
RX Only : None
TX Only : None
Both : None
Source Drop-cause : None
Source EFPs :
RX Only : None
TX Only : None
Both : None
Source RSPAN VLAN : None
Destination Ports : None
Filter VLANs : None
Filter SGT : None
Dest RSPAN VLAN : None
IP Access-group : None
MAC Access-group : None
IPv6 Access-group : None
Filter access-group :None
smac for wan interface : None
dmac for wan interface : None
Destination IP Address : 192.0.2.1
Destination IPv6 Address : None
Destination IP VRF : None
MTU : 1500
Destination ERSPAN ID : 251
Origin IP Address : 10.10.10.216
Origin IPv6 Address : None
IP QOS PREC : 0
IPv6 Flow Label : None
IP TTL : 255
ERSPAN header-type : 3
The following output from theshowcapabilityfeaturemonitor erspan-source command displays information about the configured ERSPAN source sessions:
Device# show capability feature monitor erspan-source
ERSPAN Source Session:ERSPAN Source Session Supported: TRUE
No of Rx ERSPAN source session: 8
No of Tx ERSPAN source session: 8
ERSPAN Header Type supported: II and III
ACL filter Supported: TRUE
SGT filter Supported: TRUE
Fragmentation Supported: TRUE
Truncation Supported: FALSE
Sequence number Supported: FALSE
QOS Supported: TRUE
The following output from the showcapabilityfeaturemonitorerspan-destination command displays all the configured global built-in templates:
Device# show capability feature monitor erspan-destination
ERSPAN Destination Session:ERSPAN Destination Session Supported: TRUE
Maximum No of ERSPAN destination session: 8
ERSPAN Header Type supported: II and III
Additional References
RFCs
Standard/RFC
Title
RFC 2784
Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)
Technical Assistance
Description
Link
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This table provides release and related information for the features explained in this module.
These features are available in all the releases subsequent to the one they were introduced in, unless noted otherwise.
Release
Feature
Feature Information
Cisco IOS XE Everest 16.5.1a
ERSPAN
The Cisco ERSPAN feature allows you to monitor traffic on ports or VLANs, and send the monitored traffic to destination ports.
ERSPAN sends traffic to a network analyzer, such as a Switch Probe device or a Remote Monitoring (RMON) probe.
Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.1
ERSPAN -support for Destination Sessions
The ERSPAN destination session defines the session configuration parameters and the ports that receive the monitored traffic.
Cisco IOS XE Amsterdam 17.1.1
ERSPAN IPv6
IPv6 support was introduced for ERSPAN. This enables configuration of an IPv6 ERSPAN source and destination session.
Cisco IOS XE Bengaluru 17.5.1
ERSPAN over MPLS VPN
MPLS VPN support was introduced for ERSPAN. ERSPAN traffic can be transported over an MPLS VPN. Support for ERSPAN is limited
to L3VPN IPV4 MPLS.
Use the Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform and software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator,
go to https://cfnng.cisco.com/.