Network Working Group K. Kompella (Juniper) Internet Draft P. Pan (Ciena) draft-ietf-mpls-lsp-ping-02.txt N. Sheth (Juniper) Category: Standards Track D. Cooper (Global Crossing) Expires: September 2003 G. Swallow (Cisco) S. Wadhwa (Juniper) R. Bonica (WorldCom) March 2003 Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness *** DRAFT *** Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet- Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.'' The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved. Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 1] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 Abstract This document describes a simple and efficient mechanism that can be used to detect data plane failures in Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Label Switched Paths (LSPs). There are two parts to this document: information carried in an MPLS "echo request" and "echo reply" for the purposes of fault detection and isolation; and mechanisms for reliably sending the echo reply. Sub-IP ID Summary (This section to be removed before publication.) (See Abstract above.) RELATED DOCUMENTS May be found in the "references" section. WHERE DOES IT FIT IN THE PICTURE OF THE SUB-IP WORK Fits in the MPLS box. WHY IS IT TARGETED AT THIS WG MPLS WG is currently looking at MPLS-specific error detection and recovery mechanisms. The mechanisms proposed here are for packet- based MPLS LSPs, which is why the MPLS WG is targeted. JUSTIFICATION The WG should consider this document, as it allows network operators to detect MPLS LSP data plane failures in the network. This type of failures have occurred, and are a source of concern to operators implementing MPLS networks. Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 2] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 1. Introduction This document describes a simple and efficient mechanism that can be used to detect data plane failures in MPLS LSPs. There are two parts to this document: information carried in an MPLS "echo request" and "echo reply"; and mechanisms for transporting the echo reply. The first part aims at providing enough information to check correct operation of the data plane, as well as a mechanism to verify the data plane against the control plane, and thereby localize faults. The second part suggests two methods of reliable reply channels for the echo request message, for more robust fault isolation. An important consideration in this design is that MPLS echo requests follow the same data path that normal MPLS packets would traverse. MPLS echo requests are meant primarily to validate the data plane, and secondarily to verify the data plane against the control plane. Mechanisms to check the control plane are valuable, but are not covered in this document. To avoid potential Denial of Service attacks, it is recommended to regulate the MPLS ping traffic going to the control plane. A rate limiter should be applied to the well-known UDP port defined below. 1.1. Conventions The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [KEYWORDS]. 1.2. Structure of this document The body of this memo contains four main parts: motivation, MPLS echo request/reply packet format, MPLS ping operation, and a reliable return path. It is suggested that first-time readers skip the actual packet formats and read the Theory of Operation first; the document is structured the way it is to avoid forward references. The last section (reliable return path for RSVP LSPs) may be removed in a future revision. 1.3. Changes since last revision (This section to be removed before publication.) - Clarified definition of downstream router/interface. - Added text for multipath (mostly just taken from Curtis) - Mandated the use of Router Alert for sending echo requests - If reply mode says IPv4 with router alert, and the reply is Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 3] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 labeled, the top label MUST be the router alert label - Expanded the Theory of Operation, and added a section on ECMP - Expanded checks on receipt of echo requests, per email on list 1.4. Issues remaining (This section to be removed before publication.) - Monitoring mode - Finalize ECMP format and semantics - Keep or remove replies via control plane? - Normalize error codes 2. Motivation When an LSP fails to deliver user traffic, the failure cannot always be detected by the MPLS control plane. There is a need to provide a tool that would enable users to detect such traffic "black holes" or misrouting within a reasonable period of time; and a mechanism to isolate faults. In this document, we describe a mechanism that accomplishes these goals. This mechanism is modeled after the ping/traceroute paradigm: ping (ICMP echo request [ICMP]) is used for connectivity checks, and traceroute is used for hop-by-hop fault localization as well as path tracing. This document specifies a "ping mode" and a "traceroute" mode for testing MPLS LSPs. The basic idea is to test that packets that belong to a particular Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC) actually end their MPLS path on an LSR that is an egress for that FEC. This document proposes that this test be carried out by sending a packet (called an "MPLS echo request") along the same data path as other packets belonging to this FEC. An MPLS echo request also carries information about the FEC whose MPLS path is being verified. This echo request is forwarded just like any other packet belonging to that FEC. In "ping" mode (basic connectivity check), the packet should reach the end of the path, at which point it is sent to the control plane of the egress LSR, which then verifies that it is indeed an egress for the FEC. In "traceroute" mode (fault isolation), the packet is sent to the control plane of each transit LSR, which performs various checks that it is indeed a transit LSR for this path; this LSR also returns further information that helps check the control plane against the data plane, i.e., that forwarding matches what the routing protocols determined as the path. One way these tools can be used is to periodically ping a FEC to Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 4] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 ensure connectivity. If the ping fails, one can then initiate a traceroute to determine where the fault lies. One can also periodically traceroute FECs to verify that forwarding matches the control plane; however, this places a greater burden on transit LSRs and thus should be used with caution. 3. Packet Format An MPLS echo request is a (possibly labelled) UDP packet; the contents of the UDP packet have the following format: 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version Number | Must Be Zero | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Message Type | Reply mode | Return Code | Return Subcode| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sender's Handle | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sequence Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TimeStamp Sent (seconds) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TimeStamp Sent (microseconds) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TimeStamp Received (seconds) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TimeStamp Received (microseconds) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TLVs ... | . . . . . . | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The Version Number is currently 1. (Note: the Version Number is to be incremented whenever a change is made that affects the ability of an implementation to correctly parse or process an MPLS echo request/reply. These changes include any syntactic or semantic changes made to any of the fixed fields, or to any TLV or sub-TLV assignment or format that is defined at a certain version number. The Version Number may not need to be changed if an optional TLV or sub-TLV is added.) The Message Type is one of the following: Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 5] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 Value Meaning ----- ------- 1 MPLS Echo Request 2 MPLS Echo Reply The Reply Mode can take one of the following values: Value Meaning ----- ------- 1 Do not reply 2 Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet 3 Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet with Router Alert 4 Reply via the control plane An MPLS echo request with "Do not reply" may be used for one-way connectivity tests; the receiving router may log gaps in the sequence numbers and/or maintain delay/jitter statistics. An MPLS echo request would normally have "Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet"; if the normal IPv4 return path is deemed unreliable, one may use "Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet with Router Alert" (note that this requires that all intermediate routers understand and know how to forward MPLS echo replies) or "Reply via the control plane" (this is currently only defined for control plane that uses RSVP). The Return Code is set to zero by the sender. The receiver can set it to one of the following values: Value Meaning ----- ------- 0 The error code is contained in the Error Code TLV 1 Malformed echo request received 2 One or more of the TLVs was not understood 3 Replying router is an egress for the FEC 4 Replying router has no mapping for the FEC 5 Replying router is not one of the "Downstream Routers" 6 Replying router is one of the "Downstream Routers", and its mapping for this FEC on the received interface is the given label 7 Replying router is one of the "Downstream Routers", but its mapping for this FEC is not the given label The Return Subcode is unused at present and SHOULD be set to zero. The Sender's Handle is filled in by the sender, and returned unchanged by the receiver in the echo reply (if any). There are no semantics associated with this handle, although a sender may find this useful for matching up requests with replies. Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 6] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 The Sequence Number is assigned by the sender of the MPLS echo request, and can be (for example) used to detect missed replies. The TimeStamp Sent is the time-of-day (in seconds and microseconds, wrt the sender's clock) when the MPLS echo request is sent. The TimeStamp Received in an echo reply is the time-of-day (wrt the receiver's clock) that the corresponding echo request was received. TLVs (Type-Length-Value tuples) have the following format: 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Type | Length | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Value | . . . . . . | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Types are defined below; Length is the length of the Value field in octets. The Value field depends on the Type; it is zero padded to align to a four-octet boundary. Type # Value Field ------ ----------- 1 Target FEC Stack 2 Downstream Mapping 3 Pad 4 Error Code 3.1. Target FEC Stack A Target FEC Stack is a list of sub-TLVs. The number of elements is determined by the looking at the sub-TLV length fields. Sub-Type # Length Value Field ---------- ------ ----------- 1 5 LDP IPv4 prefix 2 17 LDP IPv6 prefix 3 20 RSVP IPv4 Session Query 4 56 RSVP IPv6 Session Query 5 Reserved; see Appendix 6 13 VPN IPv4 prefix 7 25 VPN IPv6 prefix 8 14 L2 VPN endpoint Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 7] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 9 10 L2 circuit ID Other FEC Types will be defined as needed. Note that this TLV defines a stack of FECs, the first FEC element corresponding to the top of the label stack, etc. An MPLS echo request MUST have a Target FEC Stack that describes the FEC stack being tested. For example, if an LSR X has an LDP mapping for 192.168.1.1 (say label 1001), then to verify that label 1001 does indeed reach an egress LSR that announced this prefix via LDP, X can send an MPLS echo request with a FEC Stack TLV with one FEC in it, namely of type LDP IPv4 prefix, with prefix 192.168.1.1/32, and send the echo request with a label of 1001. If LSR X wanted to verify that a label stack of <1001, 23456> is the right label stack to use to reach an IP VPN prefix of 10/8 in VPN foo on an egress LSR with loopback address 192.168.1.1 (learned via LDP), X has two choices. X can send an MPLS echo request with a FEC Stack TLV with a single FEC of type VPN IPv4 prefix with a prefix of 10/8 with the Route Distinguisher for VPN foo. Alternatively, X can send a FEC Stack TLV with two FECs, the first of type LDP IPv4 with a prefix of 192.168.1.1/32 and the second of type of IP VPN with a prefix 10/8 in VPN foo. In either case, the MPLS echo request would have a label stack of <1001, 23456>. (Note: in this example, 1001 is the "outer" label and 23456 is the "inner" label.) 3.1.1. LDP IPv4 Prefix The value consists of four octets of an IPv4 prefix followed by one octet of prefix length in bits. The IPv4 prefix is in network byte order. See [LDP] for an example of a Mapping for an IPv4 FEC. 3.1.2. LDP IPv6 Prefix The value consists of sixteen octets of an IPv6 prefix followed by one octet of prefix length in bits. The IPv6 prefix is in network byte order. See [LDP] for an example of a Mapping for an IPv6 FEC. 3.1.3. RSVP IPv4 Session The value has the format below. The value fields are taken from [RFC3209, sections 4.6.1.1 and 4.6.2.1]. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | IPv4 tunnel end point address | Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 8] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Must Be Zero | Tunnel ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Extended Tunnel ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | IPv4 tunnel sender address | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Must Be Zero | LSP ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 3.1.4. RSVP IPv6 Session The value has the format below. The value fields are taken from [RFC3209, sections 4.6.1.2 and 4.6.2.2]. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | IPv6 tunnel end point address | | | | | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Must Be Zero | Tunnel ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Extended Tunnel ID | | | | | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | IPv6 tunnel sender address | | | | | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Must Be Zero | LSP ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 3.1.5. VPN IPv4 Prefix The value field consists of a Route Distinguisher, an IPv4 prefix and a prefix length, as follows: 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Route Distinguisher | | (8 octets) | Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 9] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | IPv4 prefix | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Prefix Length | Must Be Zero | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 3.1.6. VPN IPv6 Prefix The value field consists of a Route Distinguisher, an IPv6 prefix and a prefix length, as follows: 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Route Distinguisher | | (8 octets) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | IPv6 prefix | | | | | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Prefix Length | Must Be Zero | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 3.1.7. L2 VPN Endpoint The value field consists of a Route Distinguisher (8 octets), the sender (of the ping)'s CE ID (2 octets), the receiver's CE ID (2 octets), and an encapsulation type (2 octets), formatted as follows: 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Route Distinguisher | | (8 octets) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sender's CE ID | Receiver's CE ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Encapsulation Type | Must Be Zero | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 3.1.8. L2 Circuit ID The value field consists of a remote PE address (the address of the targetted LDP session), a VC ID and an encapsulation type, as follows: Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 10] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Remote PE Address | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | VC ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Encapsulation Type | Must Be Zero | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 3.2. Downstream Mapping The Downstream Mapping is an optional TLV in an echo request. The Length is 12 + 4*N octets, where N is the number of Downstream Labels. The Value of a Downstream Mapping has the following format: 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Downstream IPv4 Router ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | MTU | Address Type | DS Index | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Downstream Interface Address | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Hash Key Type | Depth Limit | Multipath Length | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | IP Address or Next Label | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ . . . (more IP Addresses or Next Labels) . . . +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Downstream Label | Protocol | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ . . . . . . +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Downstream Label | Protocol | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The MTU is the largest MPLS frame (including label stack) that fits on the interface to the Downstream LSR. The Downstream Interface Address Type is one of: Type # Address Type ------ ------------ Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 11] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 1 IPv4 2 Unnumbered 'Protocol' is taken from the following table: Protocol # Signaling Protocol ---------- ------------------ 0 Unknown 1 Static 2 BGP 3 LDP 4 RSVP-TE 5 Reserved; see Appendix The notion of "downstream router" and "downstream interface" should be explained. Consider an LSR X. If a packet that was originated with TTL n>1 arrived with outermost label L at LSR X, X must be able to compute which LSRs could receive the packet if it was originated with TTL=n+1, over which interface the request would arrive and what label stack those LSRs would see. (It is outside the scope of this document to specify how this computation is done.) The set of these LSRs/interfaces are the downstream routers/interfaces (and their corresponding labels) for X with respect to L. Each pair of downstream router and interface requires a separate Downstream Mapping to be added to the reply, and is given a unique DS Index. (Note that there are multiple Downstream Label fields in each TLV as the incoming label L may be swapped with a label stack.) The case where X is the LSR originating the echo request is a special case. X needs to figure out what LSRs would receive the MPLS echo request for a given FEC Stack that X originates with TTL=1. The set of downstream routers at X may be alternative paths (see the discussion below on ECMP) or simultaneous paths (e.g., for MPLS multicast). In the former case, the Multipath sub-field is used as a hint to the sender as to how it may influence the choice of these alternatives. The Multipath Length is the total length of the Multipath field (i.e., 4 + 4*M, where M is the number of IP Address/Next Label fields). The Hash Key Type is taken from the following table: Hash Key Type IP Address or Next Label -------------------- ------------------------ 0 no multipath (nothing; M = 0) 1 label M labels 2 IP address M IP addresses 3 label range M/2 low/high label pairs 4 IP address range M/2 low/high address pairs Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 12] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 5 no more labels (nothing; M = 0) 6 All IP addresses (nothing; M = 0) 7 no match (nothing; M = 0) The Depth Limit is applicable only to a label stack, and is the maximum number of labels considered in the hash; this SHOULD be set to zero if unspecified or unlimited. IP Address or Next Label is an IP address from the range 127/8 or an next label which will exercise this particular path. The semantics of the Hash Key Type and IP Address/Next Label are as follows: type 1 - a list of single labels is provided, any one of which will cause the hash to match this MP path. type 2 - a list of single IP addresses is provided, any one of which will cause the hash to match this MP path. type 3 - a list of label ranges is provided, any one of which will cause the hash to match this MP path. type 4 - a list of IP address ranges is provided, any one of which will cause the hash to match this MP path. type 5 - if no more labels are provided on the stack, this MP path will apply (can only appear once). type 6 - Any IP addresses matches. Undertlying labels may go elsewhere, but all IP takes only one MP path (can only appear once). type 7 - no matches are possible given the set of "Multipath Exercise TLV" provided by prior hops. If prior hops provide a "Downstream Multipath Mapping TLV" the labels and IP addresses should be picked from the set provided in prior "Multipath Exercise TLV" or "Hash Key Type" of 7 used. 3.3. Pad TLV The value part of the Pad TLV contains a variable number (>= 1) of octets. The first octet takes values from the following table; all the other octets (if any) are ignored. The receiver SHOULD verify that the TLV is received in its entirety, but otherwise ignores the contents of this TLV, apart from the first octet. Value Meaning ----- ------- 1 Drop Pad TLV from reply 2 Copy Pad TLV to reply 3-255 Reserved for future use Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 13] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 3.4. Error Code The Error Code TLV is currently not defined; its purpose is to provide a mechanism for a more elaborate error reporting structure, should the reason arise. 4. Theory of Operation An MPLS echo request is used to test a particular LSP. The LSP to be tested is identified by the "FEC Stack"; for example, if the LSP was set up via LDP, and is to an egress IP address of 10.1.1.1, the FEC stack contains a single element, namely, an LDP IPv4 prefix sub-TLV with value 10.1.1.1/32. If the LSP being tested is an RSVP LSP, the FEC stack consists of a single element that captures the RSVP Session and Sender Template which uniquely identifies the LSP. FEC stacks can be more complex. For example, one may wish to test a VPN IPv4 prefix of 10.1/8 that is tunneled over an LDP LSP with egress 10.10.1.1. The FEC stack would then contain two sub-TLVs, the first being a VPN IPv4 prefix, and the second being an LDP IPv4 prefix. If the underlying (LDP) tunnel were not known, or was considered irrelevant, the FEC stack could be a single element with just the VPN IPv4 sub-TLV. When an MPLS echo request is received, the receiver is expected to do a number of tests that verify that the control plane and data plane are both healthy (for the FEC stack being pinged), and that the two planes are in sync. 4.1. Dealing with Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) LSPs need not be simple point-to-point tunnels. Frequently, a single LSP may originate at several ingresses, and terminate at several egresses; this is very common with LDP LSPs. LSPs for a given FEC may also have multiple "next hops" at transit LSRs. At an ingress, there may also be several different LSPs to choose from to get to the desired endpoint. Finally, LSPs may have backup paths, detour paths and other alternative paths to take should the primary LSP go down. To deal with the last two first: it is assumed that the LSR sourcing MPLS echo requests can force the echo request into any desired LSP, so choosing among multiple LSPs at the ingress is not an issue. The problem of probing the various flavors of backup paths that will typically not be used for forwarding data unless the primary LSP is down will not be addressed here. Since the actual LSP and path that a given packet may take may not be Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 14] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 known a priori, it is useful if MPLS echo requests can exercise all possible paths. This, while desirable, may not be practical, because the algorithms that a given LSR uses to distribute packets over alternative paths may be proprietary. To achieve some degree of coverage of alternate paths, there is a certain lattitude in choosing the destination IP address and source UDP port for an MPLS echo request. This is clearly not sufficient; in the case of traceroute, more lattitude is offered by means of the "Multipath Exercise" sub-TLV of the Downstream Mapping TLV. This is used as follows. An ingress LSR periodically sends an MPLS traceroute message to determine whether there are multipaths for a given LSP. If so, each hop will provide some information how each of its downstreams can be exercised. The ingress can then send MPLS echo requests that exercise these paths. If several transit LSRs have ECMP, the ingress may attempt to compose these to exercise all possible paths. However, full coverage may not be possible. 4.2. Sending an MPLS Echo Request An MPLS echo request is a (possibly) labelled UDP packet. The IP header is set as follows: the source IP address is a routable address of the sender; the destination IP address is a (randomly chosen) address from 127/8; the IP TTL is set to 1. The source UDP port is chosen by the sender; the destination UDP port is set to 3503 (assigned by IANA for MPLS echo requests). The Router Alert option is set in the IP header. If the echo request is labelled, the MPLS TTL on all the labels except the outermost should be set to 1. In "ping" mode (end-to-end connectivity check), the TTL in the outermost label is set to 255. In "traceroute" mode (fault isolation mode), the TTL is set successively to 1, 2, .... The sender chooses a Sender's Handle, and a Sequence Number. When sending subsequent MPLS echo requests, the sender SHOULD increment the sequence number by 1. However, a sender MAY choose to send a group of echo requests with the same sequence number to improve the chance of arrival of at least one packet with that sequence number. The TimeStamp Sent is set to the time-of-day (in seconds and microseconds) that the echo request is sent. The TimeStamp Received is set to zero. An MPLS echo request MUST have a FEC Stack TLV. Also, the Reply Mode must be set to the desired reply mode; the Return Code and Subcode are set to zero. In the "traceroute" mode, the echo request SHOULD contain one or more Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 15] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 Downstream Mapping TLVs. For TTL=1, all the downstream routers (and corresponding labels) for the sender with respect to the FEC Stack being pinged SHOULD be sent in the echo request. For n>1, the Downstream Mapping TLVs from the echo reply for TTL=(n-1) are copied to the echo request with TTL=n; the sender MAY choose to reduce the size of a "Downstream Multipath Mapping TLV" when copying into the next echo request as long as the Hash Key Type matching the label or IP address used to exercise the current MP is still present. 4.3. Receiving an MPLS Echo Request An LSR X that receives an MPLS echo request first parses the packet to ensure that it is a well-formed packet, and that the TLVs are understood. If not, X SHOULD send an MPLS echo reply with the Return Code set to "Malformed echo request received" or "TLV not understood" (as appropriate), and the Subcode set to the appropriate value. If the echo request is good, X then checks whether it is a valid transit or egress LSR for the FEC in the echo request. If not, X MAY log this fact. If it is, X notes that interface I over which the echo was received, and the label L with which it came. X checks whether it actually advertised L over interface I for the FEC in the echo request. If the echo request contains a Downstream Mapping TLV, X MUST further check whether its Router ID matches one of the Downstream IPv4 Router IDs; and if so, whether the given Downstream Label is in fact the label that X sent as its mapping for the FEC over the downstream interface. The result of the checks in the previous and this paragraph are captured in the Return Code/Subcode. If the echo request has a Reply Mode that wants a reply, X uses the procedure in the next subsection to send the echo reply. 4.4. Sending an MPLS Echo Reply An MPLS echo reply is a UDP packet. It MUST ONLY be sent in response to an MPLS echo request. The source IP address is a routable address of the replier; the source port is the well-known UDP port for MPLS ping. The destination IP address and UDP port are copied from the source IP address and UDP port of the echo request. The IP TTL is set to 255. If the Reply Mode in the echo request is "Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet with Router Alert", then the IP header MUST contain the Router Alert IP option. If the reply is sent over an LSP, the topmost label MUST in this case be the Router Alert label (1) (see [LABEL-STACK]). The format of the echo reply is the same as the echo request. The Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 16] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 Sender's Handle, the Sequence Number and TimeStamp Sent are copied from the echo request; the TimeStamp Received is set to the time-of- day that the echo request is received (note that this information is most useful if the time-of-day clocks on the requestor and the replier are synchronized). The FEC Stack TLV from the echo request MAY be copied to the reply. The replier MUST fill in the Return Code and Subcode, as determined in the previous subsection. If the echo request contains a Pad TLV, the replier MUST interpret the first octet for instructions regarding how to reply. If the echo request contains a Downstream Mapping TLV, the replier SHOULD compute its downstream routers and corresponding labels for the incoming label, and add Downstream Mapping TLVs for each one to the echo reply it sends back. 4.5. Receiving an MPLS Echo Reply An LSR X should only receive an MPLS Echo Reply in response to an MPLS Echo Request that it sent. Thus, on receipt of an MPLS Echo Reply, X should parse the packet to assure that it is well-formed, then attempt to match up the Echo Reply with an Echo Request that it had previously sent, using the destination UDP port and the Sender's Handle. If no match is found, then X jettisons the Echo Reply; otherwise, it checks the Sequence Number to see if it matches. Gaps in the Sequence Number MAY be logged and SHOULD be counted. Once an Echo Reply is received for a given Sequence Number (for a given UDP port and Handle), the Sequence Number for subsequent Echo Requests for that UDP port and Handle SHOULD be incremented. If the Echo Reply contains Downstream Mappings, and X wishes to traceroute further, it SHOULD copy the Downstream Mappings into its next Echo Request (with TTL incremented by one). 4.6. Non-compliant Routers If the egress for the FEC Stack being pinged does not support MPLS ping, then no reply will be sent, resulting in possible "false negatives". If in "traceroute" mode, a transit LSR does not support MPLS ping, then no reply will be forthcoming from that LSR for some TTL, say n. The LSR originating the echo request SHOULD try sending the echo request with TTL=n+1, n+2, ..., n+k in the hope that some transit LSR further downstream may support MPLS echo requests and reply. In such a case, the echo request for TTL>n MUST NOT have Downstream Mapping TLVs, until a reply is received with a Downstream Mapping. Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 17] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 5. Reliable Reply Path One of the issues that are faced with MPLS ping is to distinguish between a failure in the forward path (the MPLS path being 'pinged') and a failure in the return path. Note that this problem exists with vanilla IP ping as well. In the case of MPLS ping, it is assumed that the IP control and data planes are reliable. However, it could be that the forwarding in the return path is via an MPLS LSP. In this specification, we give two solutions for this problem. One is to set the Router Alert option in the MPLS echo reply. When a router sees this option, it MUST forward the packet as an IP packet. Note that this may not work if some transit LSR does not support MPLS ping. Another option is to send the echo reply via the control plane. At present, this is defined only for RSVP-TE LSPs, and described below. These options are controlled by the ingress LSR, using the Reply Mode in the MPLS echo request packet. 5.1. RSVP-TE Extension To test an LSP's liveliness, an ingress LSR sends MPLS echo requests over the LSP being tested. When an egress LSR receives the message, it needs to acknowledge the ingress LSR by sending an LSP_ECHO object in a RSVP Resv message. The object has the following format: Class = LSP_ECHO (use form 11bbbbbb for compatibility) C-Type = 1 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sequence Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TimeStamp (seconds) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TimeStamp (microseconds) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | UDP Source Port | Return Code | Return Subcode| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The Sequence Number is copied from the Sequence Number of the echo request. The TimeStamp is set to the time the echo request is received. The UDP Source Port is copied from the UDP source port of the MPLS echo request. The FEC is implied by the Session and the Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 18] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 Sender Template Objects. 5.2. Operation For the sake of brevity in the context of this document by "the control plane" we mean "the RSVP-TE component of the control plane". Consider an LSP between an ingress LSR and an egress LSR spanning multiple LSR hops. 5.3. Procedures at the ingress LSR One must ensure before setting the Reply Mode to "reply via the control plane" that the egress LSR supports this feature. The ingress LSR, say X, builds an MPLS echo request as in section "Sending an MPLS Echo Request". The FEC Type must be an RVSP Session Query. X also sets the Reply Mode to "reply via the control plane". If X does not receive an Resv message from the egress LSR that contains an LSP_ECHO object within some period of time, it declares the LSP as "down". At this point, the ingress LSR may apply the necessary procedures to fix the LSP. These may include generating a message to network management, tearing-down and re-building the LSP, and/or rerouting user traffic to a backup LSP. To test an LSP that carries non-IP traffic, before injecting ICMP and MPLS ping messages into the LSP, the IPv4 Explicit NULL label should be prepended to such messages. The ingress and egress LSR's must follow the procedures defined in [LABEL-STACK]. 5.4. Procedures at the egress LSR When the egress LSR receives an MPLS ping message, it follows the procedures given above. If the Reply Mode is set to "Reply via the control plane", the LSR can, based on the RSVP SESSION and SENDER_TEMPLATE objects carried in the MPLS ping message, find the corresponding LSP in its RSVP-TE database. The LSR then checks to see if the Resv message for this LSP contains an LSP_ECHO object with the same source UDP port value. If not, the LSR adds or updates the LSP_ECHO object and refreshes the Resv message. 5.5. Procedures for the intermediate LSR's At intermediate LSRs, normal RSVP processing procedures will cause the LSP_ECHO object to be forwarded as RSVP messages are refreshed. At the LSR's that support MPLS ping the Resv messages that carry the Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 19] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 LSP_ECHO object MUST be delivered upstream immediately. Note that an intermediate LSR using RSVP refresh reduction [RSVP- REFRESH], the new or changed LSP_ECHO object will cause the LSR to classify the RSVP message as a trigger message. 6. Normative References [KEYWORDS] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. [LABEL-STACK] Rosen, E., et al, "MPLS Label Stack Encoding", RFC 3032, January 2001. [RSVP] Braden, R. (Editor), et al, "Resource ReSerVation protocol (RSVP) -- Version 1 Functional Specification," RFC 2205, September 1997. [RSVP-REFRESH] Berger, L., et al, "RSVP Refresh Overhead Reduction Extensions", RFC 2961, April 2001. [RSVP-TE] Awduche, D., et al, "RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP tunnels", RFC 3209, December 2001. 7. Informative References [ICMP] Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol", RFC 792. [LDP] Andersson, L., et al, "LDP Specification", RFC 3036, January 2001. 8. Security Considerations There are at least two approaches to attacking LSRs using the mechanisms defined here. One is a Denial of Service attack, by sending MPLS echo requests/replies to LSRs and thereby increasing their workload. The other is obfuscating the state of the MPLS data plane liveness by spoofing, hijacking, replaying or otherwise tampering with MPLS echo requests and replies. Authentication will help reduce the number of seemingly valid MPLS echo requests, and thus cut down the Denial of Service attacks; beyond that, each LSR must protect itself. Authentication sufficiently addresses spoofing, replay and most Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 20] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 tampering attacks; one hopes to use some mechanism devised or suggested by the RPSec WG. It is not clear how to prevent hijacking (non-delivery) of echo requests or replies; however, if these messages are indeed hijacked, MPLS ping will report that the data plane isn't working as it should. It doesn't seem vital (at this point) to secure the data carried in MPLS echo requests and replies, although knowledge of the state of the MPLS data plane may be considered confidential by some. 9. IANA Considerations (To be filled in a later revision) 10. Acknowledgments This document is the outcome of many discussions among many people, that include Manoj Leelanivas, Paul Traina, Yakov Rekhter, Der-Hwa Gan, Brook Bailey, Eric Rosen and Ina Minei. The Multipath Exercise sub-field of the Downstream Mapping TLV was adapted from text suggested by Curtis Villamizar. 11. Appendix This appendix specifies non-normative aspects of detecting MPLS data plane liveness. 11.1. CR-LDP FEC This section describes how a CR-LDP FEC can be included in an Echo Request using the following FEC subtype: Sub-Type # Length Value Field ---------- ------ ----------- 5 6 CR-LDP LSP ID The value consists of the LSPID of the LSP being pinged. An LSPID is a four octet IPv4 address (a local address on the ingress LSR, for example, the Router ID) plus a two octet identifier that is unique per LSP on a given ingress LSR. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 21] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 | Ingress LSR Router ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Must Be Zero | LSP ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 11.2. Downstream Mapping for CR-LDP If a label in a Downstream Mapping was learned via CR-LDP, the Protocol field in the Mapping TLV can use the following entry: Protocol # Signaling Protocol ---------- ------------------ 5 CR-LDP 12. Authors' Addresses Kireeti Kompella Nischal Sheth Juniper Networks 1194 N.Mathilda Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94089 e-mail: kireeti@juniper.net e-mail: nsheth@juniper.net Ping Pan Ciena 10480 Ridgeview Court Cupertino, CA 95014 e-mail: ppan@ciena.com phone: +1 408.366.4700 Dave Cooper Global Crossing 960 Hamlin Court Sunnyvale, CA 94089 email: dcooper@gblx.net phone: +1 916.415.0437 George Swallow Cisco Systems, Inc. 250 Apollo Drive Chelmsford, MA 01824 e-mail: swallow@cisco.com phone: +1 978.497.8143 Sanjay Wadhwa Juniper Networks Kompella et al Standards Track [Page 22] Internet Draft Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness March 2003 10 Technology Park Drive Westford, MA 01886-3146 email: swadhwa@unispherenetworks.com phone: +1 978.589.0697 Ronald P. Bonica WorldCom 22001 Loudoun County Pkwy Ashburn, Virginia, 20147 email: ronald.p.bonica@wcom.com phone: +1 703.886.1681 13. 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