MPLS LDP Session Protection

The MPLS LDP Session Protection feature provides faster Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) convergence
when a link recovers following an outage. MPLS LDP Session Protection protects an LDP session between
directly connected neighbors or an LDP session established for a traffic engineering (TE) tunnel.

• Finding Feature Information, page 1

• Prerequisites for MPLS LDP Session Protection, page 1
• Restrictions for MPLS LDP Session Protection, page 2
• Information About MPLS LDP Session Protection, page 2
• How to Configure MPLS LDP Session Protection, page 3
• Configuration Examples for MPLS LDP Session Protection, page 7
• Additional References, page 10
• Feature Information for MPLS LDP Session Protection, page 11

Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and
feature information, see Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To
find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each
feature is supported, see the feature information table at the end of this module.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support.
To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Prerequisites for MPLS LDP Session Protection

Label switch routers (LSRs) must be able to respond to Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) targeted hellos.
Otherwise, the LSRs cannot establish a targeted adjacency. All devices that participate in MPLS LDP Session
Protection must be enabled to respond to targeted hellos. Both neighbor devices must be configured for session
protection or one device must be configured for session protection and the other device must be configured
to respond to targeted hellos.

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Restrictions for MPLS LDP Session Protection

Restrictions for MPLS LDP Session Protection

The MPLS LDP Session Protection feature is not supported under the following circumstances:
• With extended access lists
• With LC-ATM devices
• With Tag Distribution Protocol (TDP) sessions

Information About MPLS LDP Session Protection

How MPLS LDP Session Protection Works

MPLS LDP Session Protection maintains Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) bindings when a link fails. MPLS
LDP sessions are protected through the use of LDP hello messages. When you enable Multiprotocol Label
Switching (MPLS) LDP, the label switch routers (LSRs) send messages to find other LSRs with which they
can create LDP sessions.
If the LSR is one hop from its neighbor, it is directly connected to its neighbor. The LSR sends out LDP Hello
messages as User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets to all the devices on the subnet. The hello message is
called an LDP Link Hello. A neighboring LSR responds to the hello message, and the two devices begin to
establish an LDP session.
If the LSR is more than one hop from its neighbor, it is not directly connected to its neighbor. The LSR sends
out a directed hello message as a UDP packet but as a unicast message specifically addressed to that specific
LSR. The hello message is called an LDP Targeted Hello. The nondirectly connected LSR responds to the
Hello message and the two devices establish an LDP session. (If the path between two LSRs has been traffic
engineered and has LDP enabled, the LDP session between them is called a targeted session.)
MPLS LDP Session Protection uses LDP Targeted Hellos to protect LDP sessions. For example, two directly
connected devices have LDP enabled and can reach each other through alternate IP routes in the network. An
LDP session that exists between two devices is called an LDP Link Hello Adjacency. When MPLS LDP
Session Protection is enabled, an LDP Targeted Hello Adjacency is also established for the LDP session. If
the link between the two devices fails, the LDP Link Adjacency also fails. However, if the LDP peer is still
reachable through IP, the LDP session stays up, because the LDP Targeted Hello Adjacency still exists between
the devices. When the directly connected link recovers, the session does not need to be reestablished, and
LDP bindings for prefixes do not need to be relearned.

MPLS LDP Session Protection Customization

You can modify MPLS LDP Session Protection by using keywords in the mpls ldp session protection
command. The following sections explain how to customize the feature:

How Long an LDP Targeted Hello Adjacency Should Be Retained

The default behavior of the mpls ldp session protection command allows a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)
Targeted Hello Adjacency to exist indefinitely following the loss of an LDP Link Hello Adjacency. You can

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How to Configure MPLS LDP Session Protection

issue the duration keyword to specify the number of seconds that the LDP Targeted Hello Adjacency is
retained after the loss of the LDP Link Hello Adjacency. When the link is lost, a timer starts. If the timer
expires, the LDP Targeted Hello Adjacency is removed.

Which Devices Should Have MPLS LDP Session Protection

The default behavior of the mpls ldp session protection command allows MPLS LDP Session Protection for
all neighbor sessions. You can issue either the vrf or for keyword to limit the number of neighbor sessions
that are protected:
• You can use the vrf keyword to select which virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) instance is to be
protected if the device is configured with at least one virtual private network (VPN) VRF instance. You
cannot specify more than one VRF with the mpls ldp session protection command. To specify multiple
VRFs, issue the command multiple times.
• You can create an access list that includes several peer devices. You can specify that access list with the
for keyword to enable LDP Session Protection for the peer devices in the access control list.

How to Configure MPLS LDP Session Protection

Enabling MPLS LDP Session Protection

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable
2. configure terminal
3. ip cef [distributed]
4. interface loopback number
5. ip address prefix mask
6. exit
7. interface type number
8. mpls ip
9. mpls label protocol [ldp | tdp | both]
10. exit
11. mpls ldp session protection [vrf vpn-name] [for acl] [duration {infinite | seconds}]
12. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.

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Enabling MPLS LDP Session Protection

Command or Action Purpose

• Enter your password if prompted.
Example:
Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
Device# configure terminal

Step 3 ip cef [distributed] Configures distributed Cisco Express Forwarding or Cisco Express
Forwarding.
Example:
Device(config)# ip cef distributed

Step 4 interface loopback number Configures a loopback interface and enters interface configuration
mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface Loopback 0

Step 5 ip address prefix mask Assigns an IP address to the loopback interface.

Example:
Device(config-if)# ip address
10.25.0.11 255.255.255.255

Step 6 exit Returns to global configuration mode.

Example:
Device(config-if) exit

Step 7 interface type number Specifies the interface to configure and enters interface configuration
mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface POS 0/3/0

Step 8 mpls ip Configures MPLS hop-by-hop forwarding for the specified interface.

Example:
Device(config-if)# mpls ip

Step 9 mpls label protocol [ldp | tdp | both] Configures the use of LDP on a specific interface or on all interfaces.

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Enabling MPLS LDP Session Protection

Command or Action Purpose

• The keywords that are available depend on the hardware platform.
Example: • If you set all interfaces globally to LDP, you can override specific
Device(config-if)# mpls label protocol interfaces with either the tdp or both keyword by specifying the
ldp command in interface configuration mode.

Step 10 exit Returns to global configuration mode.

Example:
Device(config-if)# exit

Step 11 mpls ldp session protection [vrf vpn-name] Enables MPLS LDP session protection.
[for acl] [duration {infinite | seconds}]
• The vrf vpn-name keyword and argument protects Label
Distribution Protocol (LDP) sessions for a specified virtual routing
Example: and forwarding (VRF) interface.
Device(config)# mpls ldp session
protection • The for acl keyword and argument specifies a standard IP access
control list (ACL) of prefixes to be protected.
• The duration keyword specifies how long the device should
retain the LDP Targeted Hello Adjacency following the loss of
the LDP Link Hello Adjacency.
• The infinite keyword specifies that the LDP Targeted Hello
Adjacency should be retained forever after a link is lost.
• The seconds argument specifies the time in seconds that the LDP
Targeted Hello Adjacency should be retained after a link is lost.
The range is 30 to 2,147,483 seconds.

The mpls ldp session protection command entered without a keyword

protects all LDP sessions.

Step 12 exit Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:
Device(config)# exit

Troubleshooting Tips
Use the clear mpls ldp neighbor command if you need to terminate a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)
session after a link goes down. This is useful for situations where the link needs to be taken out of service or
needs to be connected to a different neighbor.
To enable the display of events related to MPLS LDP Session Protection, use the debug mpls ldp session
protection command.

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 MPLS LDP Session Protection
Verifying MPLS LDP Session Protection

Verifying MPLS LDP Session Protection

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable
2. show mpls ldp discovery
3. show mpls ldp neighbor
4. show mpls ldp neighbor detail
5. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1 enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode. Enter your password, if prompted.

Example:
Device> enable
Device#

Step 2 show mpls ldp discovery

Verifies that the output contains the term xmit/recv for the peer device.

Example:
Device# show mpls ldp discovery

Local LDP Identifier:

10.0.0.5:0
Discovery Sources:
Interfaces:
ATM50/1/0.5 (ldp): xmit/recv
LDP Id: 10.0.0.1:0
Targeted Hellos:
10.0.0.5 -> 10.0.0.3 (ldp): active, xmit/recv
LDP Id: 10.0.0.3:0

Step 3 show mpls ldp neighbor

Verifies that the targeted hellos are active.

Example:
Device# show mpls ldp neighbor

Peer LDP Ident: 10.0.0.3:0; Local LDP Ident 10.0.0.5:0

TCP connection: 10.0.0.3.646 - 10.0.0.5.11005
State: Oper; Msgs sent/rcvd: 1453/1464; Downstream
Up time: 21:09:56
LDP discovery sources:
Targeted Hello 10.0.0.5 -> 10.0.0.3, active
Addresses bound to peer LDP Ident:
10.3.104.3 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.3

Step 4 show mpls ldp neighbor detail

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Configuration Examples for MPLS LDP Session Protection

Verifies that the MPLS LDP Session Protection state is Ready or Protecting. If the second last line of the output shows
Incomplete, the Targeted Hello Adjacency is not up yet.

Example:
Device# show mpls ldp neighbor detail

Peer LDP Ident: 10.16.16.16:0; Local LDP Ident 10.15.15.15:0

TCP connection: 10.16.16.16.11013 - 10.15.15.15.646
State: Oper; Msgs sent/rcvd: 53/51; Downstream; Last TIB rev sent 74
Up time: 00:11:32; UID: 1; Peer Id 0;
LDP discovery sources:
Targeted Hello 10.15.15.15 -> 10.16.16.16, active, passive;
holdtime: infinite, hello interval: 10000 ms
Addresses bound to peer LDP Ident:
10.0.0.2 10.16.16.16 10.101.101.101 11.0.0.1
Peer holdtime: 180000 ms; KA interval: 60000 ms; Peer state: estab
Clients: Dir Adj Client
LDP Session Protection enabled, state: Protecting
duration: infinite

Step 5 exit
Returns to user EXEC mode.

Example:
Device# exit
Device>

Configuration Examples for MPLS LDP Session Protection

Example: Configuring MPLS LDP Session Protection

The figure below shows a sample configuration for MPLS LDP Session Protection.

Figure 1: MPLS LDP Session Protection Example

The following configuration examples for R1, R2, and R3 are based on the figure above.

R1

redundancy
no keepalive-enable

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Example: Configuring MPLS LDP Session Protection

mode hsa
!
ip cef distributed
no ip domain-lookup
multilink bundle-name both
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ldp session protection
no mpls traffic-eng auto-bw timers frequency 0
mpls ldp router-id Loopback0 force
!
interface Loopback0
ip address 10.0.0.1 255.255.255.255
no ip directed-broadcast
no ip mroute-cache
!
interface Multilink4
no ip address
no ip directed-broadcast
no ip mroute-cache
load-interval 30
ppp multilink
multilink-group 4
!
interface FastEthernet1/0/0
ip address 10.3.123.1 255.255.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
!
interface FastEthernet2/0/0
no ip address
no ip directed-broadcast
shutdown
!
interface FastEthernet2/0/1
description -- ip address 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0
no ip address
no ip directed-broadcast
shutdown
!
interface FastEthernet2/0/2
ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ip
!
interface FastEthernet2/1/2
ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ip
!
interface FastEthernet2/2/2
ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ip
!
router ospf 100
log-adjacency-changes
redistribute connected
network 10.0.0.1 0.0.0.0 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
!
ip classless

R2

redundancy
no keepalive-enable

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MPLS LDP Session Protection
Example: Configuring MPLS LDP Session Protection

mode hsa
!
ip subnet-zero
ip cef distributed
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ldp session protection
no mpls traffic-eng auto-bw timers frequency 0
mpls ldp router-id Loopback0 force
!
interface Loopback0
ip address 10.0.0.3 255.255.255.255
no ip directed-broadcast
!
interface FastEthernet0/1/0
no ip address
no ip directed-broadcast
shutdown
full-duplex
!
interface FastEthernet0/1/2
ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
full-duplex
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ip
!
interface FastEthernet0/1/1
ip address 10.0.0.2 255.0.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
ip load-sharing per-packet
full-duplex
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ip
!
interface FastEthernet0/2/0
ip address 10.3.123.112 255.255.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
!
router ospf 100
log-adjacency-changes
redistribute connected
network 10.0.0.3 0.0.0.0 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
!
ip classless

R3

ip cef distributed
no ip domain-lookup
mpls label range 200 100000 static 16 199
mpls label protocol ldp
no mpls traffic-eng auto-bw timers frequency 0
mpls ldp router-id Loopback0 force
!
interface Loopback0
ip address 10.0.0.5 255.255.255.255
no ip directed-broadcast
!
interface FastEthernet1/0/0
no ip address
no ip directed-broadcast
shutdown
half-duplex
!
interface FastEthernet1/2/0
ip address 10.0.0.2 255.0.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
full-duplex
mpls label protocol ldp

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Additional References

mpls ip
!
interface FastEthernet1/3/0
ip address 10.0.0.2 255.0.0.0
no ip directed-broadcast
full-duplex
mpls label protocol ldp
mpls ip
!
router ospf 100
log-adjacency-changes
redistribute connected
network 10.0.0.5 0.0.0.0 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 100
!
ip classless

Additional References
Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

Cisco IOS commands Cisco IOS Master Command List, All Releases

MPLS commands Cisco IOS Multiprotocol Label Switching Command

Reference

MPLS LDP “MPLS Label Distribution Protocol” module in the

MPLS Label Distribution Protocol Configuration
Guide

MPLS LDP IGP synchronization “MPLS LDP IGP Synchronization” module in the
MPLS Label Distribution Protocol Configuration
Guide

MPLS LDP Autoconfiguration “MPLS LDP Autoconfiguration” module in the MPLS

Label Distribution Protocol Configuration Guide

MIBs

MIBs MIBs Link

MPLS LDP MIB To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms,
Cisco software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco
MIB Locator found at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/go/mib

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 MPLS LDP Session Protection
Feature Information for MPLS LDP Session Protection

RFCs

RFCs Title
RFC 3036 LDP Specification

RFC 3037 LDP Applicability

Technical Assistance

Description Link
The Cisco Support and Documentation website http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/support/index.html
provides online resources to download documentation,
software, and tools. Use these resources to install and
configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve
technical issues with Cisco products and technologies.
Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and
Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID
and password.

Feature Information for MPLS LDP Session Protection

The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This
table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release
train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support.
To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

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Feature Information for MPLS LDP Session Protection

Table 1: Feature Information for MPLS LDP Session Protection

Feature Name Releases Feature Information

MPLS LDP Session Protection 12.0(30)S The MPLS LDP Session Protection
feature provides faster Label
12.2(27)SBA
Distribution Protocol (LDP)
12.2(33)SRA convergence when a link recovers
12.2(33)SXH following an outage. MPLS LDP
Session Protection protects an LDP
12.3(14)T session between directly connected
Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1 neighbors or an LDP session
established for a traffic engineering
(TE) tunnel.
In Cisco IOS Release 12.0(30)S,
this feature was introduced on the
Cisco 7200 series routers.
In Cisco IOS Release
12.2(27)SBA, this feature was
implemented on the Cisco 10000
and 7500 series routers.
In Cisco IOS Release
12.2(33)SRA, this feature was
implemented on the Cisco 7600
series routers.
In Cisco IOS Release
12.2(33)SXH, this feature was
implemented on the Cisco 6500
series routers.
In Cisco IOS Release 12.3(14)T,
this feature was integrated.
In Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1, this
feature was introduced on the Cisco
ASR 1000 Series Aggregation
Services Routers.
The following commands were
introduced or modified: debug
mpls ldp session protection, mpls
ldp session protection, show mpls
ldp neighbor.

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