Data-driven PIM snooping for IPv4 synchronization with EVPN multihoming

When single-active multihoming is used, PIM snooping for IPv4 state is learned on the active multihoming object. If a failover occurs, the system with the newly active multihoming object must wait for IPv4 PIM messages to be received to instantiate the PIM snooping for IPv4 state after the ES activation timer expires, which could result in an increased outage.

This outage can be reduced by using MCS synchronization, which is supported for PIM snooping for IPv4 in both EVPN-MPLS and PBB-EVPN services (see Multi-chassis synchronization for Layer 2 snooping states). However, MCS only supports synchronization between two PEs, whereas EVPN multihoming is supported between a maximum of four PEs.

An increased outage would also occur when using all-active EVPN multihoming. The PIM snooping for IPv4 state on an all-active ES LAG SAP or virtual ES to the attached CE must be synchronized between all the ES PEs, as the LAG link used by the DF PE may not be the same as that used by the attached CE. MCS synchronization is not applicable to all-active multihoming as MCS only supports active/standby synchronization.

To eliminate any additional outage on a multihoming failover, snooped IPv4 PIM messages should be synchronized between the PEs on an ES using data-driven PIM snooping for IPv4 state synchronization, which is supported in both EVPN-MPLS and PBB-EVPN services. The IPv4 PIM messages received on an ES SAP or spoke SDP are sent to the peer ES PEs with an ESI label (for EVPN-MPLS) or ES B-MAC (for PBB-EVPN) and are used to synchronize the PIM snooping for IPv4 state on the ES SAP or spoke SDP on the receiving PE.

Data-driven PIM snooping state synchronization is supported for all-active multihoming and single-active with an ESI label multihoming in EVPN-MPLS services. All PEs participating in a multihomed ES must be running an SR OS version supporting this capability with PIM snooping for IPv4 enabled. It is also supported with P2MP mLDP LSPs in the EVPN-MPLS services, in which case all PEs (including the PEs not connected to a multihomed ES) must have PIM snooping for IPv4 enabled and all network interfaces must be configured on FP3 or higher-based line cards.

In addition, data-driven PIM snooping state synchronization is supported for all-active multihoming in PBB-EVPN services and with P2MP mLDP LSPs in PBB-EVPN services. All PEs participating in a multihomed ES, and all PEs using PIM proxy mode (including the PEs not connected to a multihomed ES) in the PBB-EVPN service must be running an SR OS version supporting this capability and must have PIM snooping for IPv4 enabled. PBB-EVPN with PIM snooping for IPv4 using single-active multihoming is not supported.

Figure: Data-driven PIM snooping for IPv4 synchronization with EVPN multihoming shows the processing of an IPv4 PIM message for EVPN-MPLS. In PBB-EVPN services, the ES B-MAC is used instead of the ESI label to synchronize the state.

Figure: Data-driven PIM snooping for IPv4 synchronization with EVPN multihoming

Data-driven synchronization is enabled by default when PIM snooping for IPv4 is enabled within an EVPN-MPLS service using all-active multihoming and single-active with an ESI label multihoming, or in a PBB-EVPN service using all-active multihoming. If PIM snooping for IPv4 MCS synchronization is enabled on an EVPN-MPLS or PBB-EVPN (I-VPLS) multihoming SAP or spoke SDP, then MCS synchronization takes preference over the data-driven synchronization and the MCS information is used. Mixing data-driven and MCS PIM synchronization within the same ES is not supported.

When using EVPN-MPLS, the ES should be configured as non-revertive to avoid an outage when a PE takes over the DF role. The Ethernet A-D per ESI route update is withdrawn when the ES is down, which prevents state synchronization to the PE with the ES down as it does not advertise an ESI label. The lack of state synchronization means that if the ES comes up and that PE becomes DF after the ES activation timer expires, it may not have any PIM snooping for IPv4 state until the next PIM messages are received, potentially resulting in an additional outage. Configuring the ES as non-revertive can avoid this potential outage. Configuring the ES to be non-revertive would also avoid an outage when PBB-EVPN is used, but there is no outage related to the lack of the ESI label as it is not used in PBB-EVPN.

The following steps can be used when enabling PIM snooping for IPv4 (using PIM snooping and PIM proxy modes) in EVPN-MPLS and PBB-EVPN services:

If P2MP mLDP LSPs are also configured, the following steps can be used when enabling PIM snooping or IPv4 (using PIM snooping and PIM proxy modes) in EVPN-MPLS and PBB-EVPN services.

In the above steps, when PIM snooping for IPv4 is enabled, the traffic loss can be reduced or eliminated by configuring a larger hold-time (up to 300 seconds), during which multicast traffic is flooded.

To aid with troubleshooting, the debug packet output displays the PIM packets used for the snooping state synchronization. An example of a join sent on ES esi-1 from one ES PE and the same join received on another ES PE follows:

6 2017/06/16 17:36:37.144 PDT MINOR: DEBUG #2001 Base PIM[vpls 1 ]
"PIM[vpls 1 ]: pimVplsFwdJPToEvpn
Forwarding to remote peer on bgp-evpn ethernet-segment esi-1"
7 2017/06/16 17:36:37.144 PDT MINOR: DEBUG #2001 Base PIM[vpls 1 ]
"PIM[vpls 1 ]: Join/Prune
[000 00:19:37.040] PIM-TX ifId 1071394 ifName EVPN-MPLS-ES:esi-1 10.0.0.10 -> 22
10.0.0.13 Length: 34
PIM Version: 2 Msg Type: Join/Prune Checksum: 0xd2de
Upstream Nbr IP : 10.0.0.1 Resvd: 0x0, Num Groups 1, HoldTime 210
        Group: 239.0.0.10/32 Num Joined Srcs: 1, Num Pruned Srcs: 0
        Joined Srcs:
                10.0.0.1/32 Flag SWR  <*,G>


4 2017/06/16 17:36:37.144 PDT MINOR: DEBUG #2001 Base PIM[vpls 1 ]
"PIM[vpls 1 ]: pimProcessPdu
Received from remote peer on bgp-evpn ethernet-segment esi-1, will be applied on
 lag-1:1
"
5 2017/06/16 17:36:37.144 PDT MINOR: DEBUG #2001 Base PIM[vpls 1 ]
"PIM[vpls 1 ]: Join/Prune
[000 00:19:30.740] PIM-RX ifId 1071394 ifName EVPN-MPLS-ES:esi-1 10.0.0.10 -> 22
10.0.0.13 Length: 34
PIM Version: 2 Msg Type: Join/Prune Checksum: 0xd2de
Upstream Nbr IP : 10.0.0.1 Resvd: 0x0, Num Groups 1, HoldTime 210
        Group: 239.0.0.10/32 Num Joined Srcs: 1, Num Pruned Srcs: 0
        Joined Srcs:
                10.0.0.1/32 Flag SWR  <*,G>
Parent topic: PIM snooping for IPv4 in EVPN-MPLS and PBB-EVPN services