Using LSP Relative Metric with IGP Shortcut

By default, the absolute metric of the LSP is used to compute the contribution of a IGP shortcut to the total cost of a prefix or a node after the SPF is complete. The absolute metric is the operational metric of the LSP populated by MPLS in the Tunnel Table Manager (TTM). This corresponds to the cumulative IGP-metric of the LSP path returned by CSPF or the static admin metric value of the LSP if the user configured one using the config>router>mpls>lsp>metric command. Note that MPLS populates the TTM with the maximum metric value of 16777215 in the case of a CSPF LSP using the TE-metric and a non-CSPF LSP with a loose or strict hop in the path. A non-CSPF LSP with an empty hop in the path definition returns the IGP cost for the destination of the LSP.

The user enables the use of the relative metric for an IGP shortcut with the following CLI command:

config>router>mpls>lsp>igp-shortcut relative-metric [offset]

IGP applies the shortest IGP cost between the endpoints of the LSP plus the value of the offset, instead of the LSP operational metric, when computing the cost of a prefix which is resolved to the LSP.

The offset value is optional and it defaults to zero. An offset value of zero is used when the relative-metric option is enabled without specifying the offset parameter value.

The minimum net cost for a prefix is capped to the value of one (1) after applying the offset:

Prefix cost = max(1, IGP cost + relative metric offset)

Note that the TTM continues the show the LSP operational metric as provided by MPLS. In other words, applications such as LDP-over-RSVP (when IGP shortcut is disabled) and BGP and static route shortcuts continue to use the LSP operational metric.

The relative-metric option, lfa-protect, and the lfa-only options are mutually exclusive. In other words, an LSP with the relative-metric option enabled cannot be included in the LFA SPF and the other way around when the igp-shortcut option is enabled in the IGP.

Finally, it should be noted that the relative-metric option is ignored when forwarding adjacency is enabled in IS-IS or OSPF by configuring the advertise-tunnel-link option. In this case, IGP advertises the LSP as a point-to-point unnumbered link along with the LSP operational metric capped to the maximum link metric allowed in that IGP.