Table Of Contents
TCP Explicit Congestion Notification
TCP Applications Flags Enhancement
Configuring TCP Performance Parameters
Configuring the MSS Value and MTU for Transient TCP SYN Packets
Verifying TCP Performance Parameters
Configuration Examples for TCP
Example: Verifying the Configuration of TCP ECN
Example: Configuring the TCP MSS Adjustment
Example: Configuring the TCP Application Flags Enhancement
Example: Displaying Addresses in IP Format
Configuring TCP
First Published: October 23, 2006Last Updated: September 23, 2010TCP is a protocol that specifies the format of data and acknowledgments used in data transfer. TCP is a connection-oriented protocol because participants must establish a connection before data can be transferred. By performing flow control and error correction, TCP guarantees reliable, in-sequence delivery of packets. It is considered a reliable protocol because if an IP packet is dropped or received out of order, TCP will request the correct packet until it receives it. This module explains the concepts related to TCP and describes how to configure TCP in a network.
Finding Feature Information
Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest feature information and caveats, see 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 for TCP" section.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Contents
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Configuration Examples for TCP
Prerequisites for TCP
TCP Time Stamp, TCP Selective Acknowledgment, and TCP Header Compression
Because TCP time stamps are always sent and echoed in both directions and the time-stamp value in the header is always changing, TCP header compression will not compress the outgoing packet. To allow TCP header compression over a serial link, the TCP time-stamp option is disabled. If you want to use TCP header compression over a serial line, TCP time stamp and TCP selective acknowledgment must be disabled. Both features are disabled by default. Use the no ip tcp selective-ack command to disable TCP selective acknowledgment once it is enabled.
Information About TCP
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TCP Explicit Congestion Notification
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TCP Applications Flags Enhancement
TCP Services
TCP provides reliable transmission of data in an IP environment. TCP corresponds to the transport layer (Layer 4) of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. Among the services TCP provides are stream data transfer, reliability, efficient flow control, full-duplex operation, and multiplexing.
With stream data transfer, TCP delivers an unstructured stream of bytes identified by sequence numbers. This service benefits applications because they do not have to chop data into blocks before handing it off to TCP. Instead, TCP groups bytes into segments and passes them to IP for delivery.
TCP offers reliability by providing connection-oriented, end-to-end reliable packet delivery through an internetwork. It does this by sequencing bytes with a forwarding acknowledgment number that indicates to the destination the next byte the source expects to receive. Bytes not acknowledged within a specified time period are retransmitted. The reliability mechanism of TCP allows devices to handle lost, delayed, duplicate, or misread packets. A timeout mechanism allows devices to detect lost packets and request retransmission.
TCP offers efficient flow control, which means that the receiving TCP process indicates the highest sequence number it can receive without overflowing its internal buffers when sending acknowledgments back to the source.
TCP offers full-duplex operation and TCP processes can both send and receive at the same time.
TCP multiplexing allows numerous simultaneous upper-layer conversations to be multiplexed over a single connection.
TCP Connection Establishment
To use reliable transport services, TCP hosts must establish a connection-oriented session with one another. Connection establishment is performed by using a "three-way handshake" mechanism.
A three-way handshake synchronizes both ends of a connection by allowing both sides to agree upon initial sequence numbers. This mechanism also guarantees that both sides are ready to transmit data and know that the other side also is ready to transmit. The three-way handshake is necessary so that packets are not transmitted or retransmitted during session establishment or after session termination.
Each host randomly chooses a sequence number used to track bytes within the stream it is sending. Then, the three-way handshake proceeds in the following manner:
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The first host (Host A) initiates a connection by sending a packet with the initial sequence number (X) and synchronize/start (SYN) bit set to indicate a connection request.
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The second host (Host B) receives the SYN, records the sequence number X, and replies by acknowledging the SYN (with an ACK = X + 1). Host B includes its own initial sequence number (SEQ = Y). An ACK = 20 means the host has received bytes 0 through 19 and expects byte 20 next. This technique is called forward acknowledgment.
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Host A acknowledges all bytes Host B sent with a forward acknowledgment indicating the next byte Host A expects to receive (ACK = Y + 1). Data transfer then can begin.
TCP Connection Attempt Time
You can set the amount of time the Cisco IOS software will wait to attempt to establish a TCP connection. Because the connection attempt time is a host parameter, it does not pertain to traffic going through the device, just to traffic originated at the device. To set the TCP connection attempt time, use the ip tcp synwait-time command in global configuration mode. The default is 30 seconds.
TCP Selective Acknowledgment
The TCP Selective Acknowledgment feature improves performance in the event that multiple packets are lost from one TCP window of data.
Prior to this feature, with the limited information available from cumulative acknowledgments, a TCP sender could learn about only one lost packet per round-trip time. An aggressive sender could choose to resend packets early, but such re-sent segments might have already been successfully received.
The TCP selective acknowledgment mechanism helps improve performance. The receiving TCP host returns selective acknowledgment packets to the sender, informing the sender of data that have been received. In other words, the receiver can acknowledge packets received out of order. The sender can then resend only the missing data segments (instead of everything since the first missing packet).
Prior to selective acknowledgment, if TCP lost packets 4 and 7 out of an 8-packet window, TCP would receive acknowledgment of only packets 1, 2, and 3. Packets 4 through 8 would need to be re-sent. With selective acknowledgment, TCP receives acknowledgment of packets 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8. Only packets 4 and 7 must be re-sent.
TCP selective acknowledgment is used only when multiple packets are dropped within one TCP window. There is no performance impact when the feature is enabled but not used. Use the ip tcp selective-ack command in global configuration mode to enable TCP selective acknowledgment.
Refer to RFC 2018 for more detailed information about TCP selective acknowledgment.
TCP Time Stamp
The TCP time-stamp option provides improved TCP round-trip time measurements. Because the time stamps are always sent and echoed in both directions and the time-stamp value in the header is always changing, TCP header compression will not compress the outgoing packet. To allow TCP header compression over a serial link, the TCP time-stamp option is disabled. Use the ip tcp timestamp command to enable the TCP time-stamp option.
Refer to RFC 1323 for more detailed information on TCP time stamps. Refer to the "Configuring TCP Header Compression" chapter of the Cisco IOS Quality of Service Solutions Configuration Guide for more information about TCP header compression.
TCP Maximum Read Size
The maximum number of characters that TCP reads from the input queue for Telnet and rlogin at one time is a very large number (the largest possible 32-bit positive number) by default. To change the TCP maximum read size value, use the ip tcp chunk-size command in global configuration mode.
We do not recommend that you change this value.
TCP Path MTU Discovery
Path MTU Discovery is a method for maximizing the use of available bandwidth in the network between the endpoints of a TCP connection, which is described in RFC 1191. IP Path MTU Discovery allows a host to dynamically discover and cope with differences in the maximum allowable maximum transmission unit (MTU) size of the various links along the path. Sometimes a router is unable to forward a datagram because it requires fragmentation (the packet is larger than the MTU you set for the interface with the interface configuration command), but the "don't fragment" (DF) bit is set. The intermediate gateway sends a "Fragmentation needed and DF bit set" Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) message to the sending host, alerting it to the problem. Upon receiving this ICMP message, the host reduces its assumed path MTU and consequently sends a smaller packet that will fit the smallest packet size of all the links along the path.
By default, TCP Path MTU Discovery is disabled. Existing connections are not affected when this feature is enabled or disabled.
Customers using TCP connections to move bulk data between systems on distinct subnets would benefit most by enabling this feature. Customers using remote source-route bridging (RSRB) with TCP encapsulation, serial tunnel (STUN), X.25 Remote Switching (also known as XOT or X.25 over TCP), and some protocol translation configurations might also benefit from enabling this feature.
Use the ip tcp path-mtu-discovery global configuration command to enable Path MTU Discovery for connections initiated by the router when it is acting as a host.
For more information about Path MTU Discovery, refer to the "Configuring IP Services" chapter of the Cisco IOS IP Application Services Configuration Guide.
TCP Window Scaling
The TCP Window Scaling feature adds support for the Window Scaling option in RFC 1323, TCP Extensions for High Performance. A larger window size is recommended to improve TCP performance in network paths with large bandwidth-delay product characteristics that are called Long Fat Networks (LFNs). The TCP Window Scaling enhancement provides that support.
The window scaling extension in Cisco IOS software expands the definition of the TCP window to 32 bits and then uses a scale factor to carry this 32-bit value in the 16-bit window field of the TCP header. The window size can increase to a scale factor of 14. Typical applications use a scale factor of 3 when deployed in LFNs.
The TCP Window Scaling feature complies with RFC 1323. The maximum window size was increased to 1,073,741,823 bytes. The larger scalable window size will allow TCP to perform better over LFNs. Use the ip tcp window-size command in global configuration mode to configure the TCP window size.
TCP Sliding Window
A TCP sliding window provides more efficient use of network bandwidth because it enables hosts to send multiple bytes or packets before waiting for an acknowledgment.
In TCP, the receiver specifies the current window size in every packet. Because TCP provides a byte-stream connection, window sizes are expressed in bytes. A window is the number of data bytes that the sender is allowed to send before waiting for an acknowledgment. Initial window sizes are indicated at connection setup, but might vary throughout the data transfer to provide flow control. A window size of zero means "Send no data." The default TCP window size is 4128 bytes. We recommend you keep the default value unless you know your router is sending large packets (greater than 536 bytes). Use the ip tcp window-size command to change the default window size.
In a TCP sliding-window operation, for example, the sender might have a sequence of bytes to send (numbered 1 to 10) to a receiver who has a window size of five. The sender then places a window around the first five bytes and transmits them together. The sender then waits for an acknowledgment.
The receiver responds with an ACK = 6, indicating that it has received bytes 1 to 5 and is expecting byte 6 next. In the same packet, the receiver indicates that its window size is 5. The sender then moves the sliding window five bytes to the right and transmit bytes 6 to 10. The receiver responds with an ACK = 11, indicating that it is expecting sequenced byte 11 next. In this packet, the receiver might indicate that its window size is 0 (because, for example, its internal buffers are full). At this point, the sender cannot send any more bytes until the receiver sends another packet with a window size greater than 0.
TCP Outgoing Queue Size
The default TCP outgoing queue size per connection is 5 segments if the connection has a TTY associated with it (such as a Telnet connection). If no TTY connection is associated with a connection, the default queue size is 20 segments. Use the ip tcp queuemax command to change the 5-segment default value.
TCP Congestion Avoidance
The TCP Congestion Avoidance feature enables the monitoring of acknowledgment packets to the TCP sender when multiple packets are lost in a single window of data. Previously the sender would exit Fast-Recovery mode, wait for three or more duplicate acknowledgment packets before retransmitting the next unacknowledged packet, or wait for the retransmission timer to slow start. This could lead to performance issues.
Implementation of RFC 2581 and RFC 3782 addresses the modifications to the Fast-Recovery algorithm that incorporates a response to partial acknowledgments received during Fast Recovery, improving performance in situations where multiple packets are lost in a single window of data.
This feature is an enhancement to the existing Fast Recovery algorithm. There are no commands used to enable or disable this feature.
The output of the debug ip tcp transactions command has been enhanced to monitor the acknowledgment packets by showing the following conditions:
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TCP entering Fast Recovery mode.
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Duplicate acknowledgments being received during Fast Recovery mode.
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Partial acknowledgments being received.
TCP Explicit Congestion Notification
The TCP Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) feature provides a method for an intermediate router to notify the end hosts of impending network congestion. It also provides enhanced support for TCP sessions associated with applications that are sensitive to delay or packet loss including Telnet, web browsing, and transfer of audio and video data. The benefit of this feature is the reduction of delay and packet loss in data transmissions. Use the ip tcp ecn command in global configuration mode to enable TCP ECN.
TCP MSS Adjustment
The TCP MSS Adjustment feature enables the configuration of the maximum segment size (MSS) for transient packets that traverse a router, specifically TCP segments with the SYN bit set. Use the ip tcp adjust-mss command in interface configuration mode to specify the MSS value on the intermediate router of the SYN packets to avoid truncation.
When a host (usually a PC) initiates a TCP session with a server, it negotiates the IP segment size by using the MSS option field in the TCP SYN packet. The value of the MSS field is determined by the MTU configuration on the host. The default MSS value for a PC is 1500 bytes.
The PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) standard supports an MTU of only 1492 bytes. The disparity between the host and PPPoE MTU size can cause the router in between the host and the server to drop 1500-byte packets and terminate TCP sessions over the PPPoE network. Even if the path MTU (which detects the correct MTU across the path) is enabled on the host, sessions may be dropped because system administrators sometimes disable the ICMP error messages that must be relayed from the host in order for path MTU to work.
The ip tcp adjust-mss command helps prevent TCP sessions from being dropped by adjusting the MSS value of the TCP SYN packets.
The ip tcp adjust-mss command is effective only for TCP connections passing through the router.
In most cases, the optimum value for the max-segment-size argument of the ip tcp adjust-mss command is 1452 bytes. This value plus the 20-byte IP header, the 20-byte TCP header, and the 8-byte PPPoE header add up to a 1500-byte packet that matches the MTU size for the Ethernet link.
See the "Configuring the MSS Value and MTU for Transient TCP SYN Packets" section for configuration instructions.
TCP Applications Flags Enhancement
The TCP Applications Flags Enhancement feature enables the user to display additional flags with reference to TCP applications. There are two types of flags: status and option. The status flags indicate the status of TCP connections such as retransmission timeouts, application closed, and synchronized (SYNC) handshakes for listen. The additional flags indicate the state of set options such as whether a VPN routing and forwarding instance (VRF) is set, whether a user is idle, and whether a keepalive timer is running. Use the show tcp command to display TCP application flags.
TCP Show Extension
The TCP Show Extension feature introduces the capability to display addresses in IP format instead of hostname format and to display the VRF table associated with the connection. To display the status for all endpoints with the addresses in IP format, use the show tcp brief numeric command.
Zero-Field TCP Packets
Prior to Cisco IOS Release 15.0(1)M, 12.2(33)XNE, 12.2(33)SXI1, and 12.2(33)SRE, and to Cisco IOS XE Release 2.5, when a zero-field TCP packet is received on the router, the TCP packet counter is incremented.
In Cisco IOS Release 15.0(01)M, 12.2(33)XNE, 12.2(33)SXI1, and 12.2(33)SRE, and in Cisco IOS XE Release 2.5 and later releases, when a zero-field TCP packet is received on the router, the TCP packet counter is not incremented.
When a zero-field TCP packet is received, it is displayed as 0 under the TCP statistics field when the show ip traffic command is configured. When the debug ip tcp packet command is configured, and a zero-field TCP packet is received, a debug message similar to the following is displayed:
Jan 19 21:57:28.487: TCP: Alert! Received a segment with cleared flags 10.4.14.49TCP MIB for RFC 4022 Support
The TCP MIB for RFC 4022 Support feature introduces support for RFC 4022, Management Information Base for the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). RFC 4022 is an incremental change of the TCP MIB to improve the manageability of TCP.
To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:
How to Configure TCP
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Configuring TCP Performance Parameters (optional)
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Configuring the MSS Value and MTU for Transient TCP SYN Packets (optional)
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Verifying TCP Performance Parameters (optional)
Configuring TCP Performance Parameters
Prerequisites
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Both sides of the link must be configured to support window scaling or the default of 65,535 bytes will apply as the maximum window size.
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To support ECN, the remote peer must be ECN-enabled because the ECN capability is negotiated during a three-way handshake with the remote peer.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
3.
ip tcp synwait-time seconds
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ip tcp path-mtu-discovery [age-timer {minutes | infinite}]
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ip tcp selective-ack
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ip tcp timestamp
7.
ip tcp chunk-size characters
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ip tcp window-size bytes
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ip tcp ecn
10.
ip tcp queuemax packets
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring the MSS Value and MTU for Transient TCP SYN Packets
Perform this task to configure the MSS for transient packets that traverse a router, specifically TCP segments with the SYN bit set, and to configure the MTU size of IP packets.
If you are configuring the ip mtu command on the same interface as the ip tcp adjust-mss command, we recommend that you use the following commands and values:
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ip tcp adjust-mss 1452
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ip mtu 1492
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
enable
2.
configure terminal
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interface type number
4.
ip tcp adjust-mss max-segment-size
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ip mtu bytes
6.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Verifying TCP Performance Parameters
SUMMARY STEPS
1.
show tcp [line-number] [tcb address]
2.
show tcp brief [all | numeric]
3.
debug ip tcp transactions
4.
debug ip tcp congestion
DETAILED STEPS
Step 1
show tcp [line-number] [tcb address]
Displays the status of TCP connections. The arguments and keyword are as follows:
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line-number—(Optional) Absolute line number of the Telnet connection status.
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tcb—(Optional) Transmission control block (TCB) of the ECN-enabled connection.
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address—(Optional) TCB hexadecimal address. The valid range is from 0x0 to 0xFFFFFFFF.
The following is sample output from the show tcp tcb command that displays detailed information by hexadecimal address about an ECN-enabled connection:
Router# show tcp tcb 0x62CD2BB8Connection state is LISTEN, I/O status: 1, unread input bytes: 0Connection is ECN enabledLocal host: 10.10.10.1, Local port: 179Foreign host: 10.10.10.2, Foreign port: 12000Enqueued packets for retransmit: 0, input: 0 mis-ordered: 0 (0 bytes)Event Timers (current time is 0x4F31940):Timer Starts Wakeups NextRetrans 0 0 0x0TimeWait 0 0 0x0AckHold 0 0 0x0SendWnd 0 0 0x0KeepAlive 0 0 0x0GiveUp 0 0 0x0PmtuAger 0 0 0x0DeadWait 0 0 0x0iss: 0 snduna: 0 sndnxt: 0 sndwnd: 0irs: 0 rcvnxt: 0 rcvwnd: 4128 delrcvwnd: 0SRTT: 0 ms, RTTO: 2000 ms, RTV: 2000 ms, KRTT: 0 msminRTT: 60000 ms, maxRTT: 0 ms, ACK hold: 200 msFlags: passive open, higher precedence, retransmission timeoutTCB is waiting for TCP Process (67)Datagrams (max data segment is 516 bytes):Rcvd: 6 (out of order: 0), with data: 0, total data bytes: 0Sent: 0 (retransmit: 0, fastretransmit: 0), with data: 0, total databytes: 0Cisco IOS Software Modularity
The following is sample output from the show tcp tcb command from a Software Modularity image:
Router# show tcp tcb 0x1059C10Connection state is ESTAB, I/O status: 0, unread input bytes: 0Local host: 10.4.2.32, Local port: 23Foreign host: 10.4.2.39, Foreign port: 11000VRF table id is: 0Current send queue size: 0 (max 65536)Current receive queue size: 0 (max 32768) mis-ordered: 0 bytesEvent Timers (current time is 0xB9ACB9):Timer Starts Wakeups Next(msec)Retrans 6 0 0SendWnd 0 0 0TimeWait 0 0 0AckHold 8 4 0KeepAlive 11 0 7199992PmtuAger 0 0 0GiveUp 0 0 0Throttle 0 0 0irs: 1633857851 rcvnxt: 1633857890 rcvadv: 1633890620 rcvwnd: 32730iss: 4231531315 snduna: 4231531392 sndnxt: 4231531392 sndwnd: 4052sndmax: 4231531392 sndcwnd: 10220SRTT: 84 ms, RTTO: 650 ms, RTV: 69 ms, KRTT: 0 msminRTT: 0 ms, maxRTT: 200 ms, ACK hold: 200 msKeepalive time: 7200 sec, SYN wait time: 75 secGiveup time: 0 ms, Retransmission retries: 0, Retransmit forever: FALSEState flags: noneFeature flags: NagleRequest flags: noneWindow scales: rcv 0, snd 0, request rcv 0, request snd 0Timestamp option: recent 0, recent age 0, last ACK sent 0Datagrams (in bytes): MSS 1460, peer MSS 1460, min MSS 1460, max MSS 1460Rcvd: 14 (out of order: 0), with data: 10, total data bytes: 38Sent: 10 (retransmit: 0, fastretransmit: 0), with data: 5, total data bytes: 76Header prediction hit rate: 72 %Socket states: SS_ISCONNECTED, SS_PRIVRead buffer flags: SB_WAIT, SB_SEL, SB_DEL_WAKEUPRead notifications: 4Write buffer flags: SB_DEL_WAKEUPWrite notifications: 0Socket status: 0Step 2
show tcp brief [all | numeric]
(Optional) Displays addresses in IP format.
Use the show tcp brief command to display a concise description of TCP connection endpoints. Use the optional all keyword to display the status for all endpoints with the addresses in a Domain Name System (DNS) hostname format. If this keyword is not used, endpoints in the LISTEN state are not shown. Use the optional numeric keyword to display the status for all endpoints with the addresses in IP format.
Note
If the ip domain-lookup command is enabled on the router, and you execute the show tcp brief command, the response time of the router to display the output is very slow. To get a faster response, you should disable the ip domain-lookup command.
The following is sample output from the show tcp brief command while a user is connected to the system by using Telnet:
Router# show tcp briefTCB Local Address Foreign Address (state)609789AC Router.cisco.com.23 cider.cisco.com.3733 ESTABThe following example shows the IP activity after the numeric keyword is used to display the addresses in IP format:
Router# show tcp brief numericTCB Local Address Foreign Address (state)6523A4FC 10.1.25.3.11000 10.1.25.3.23 ESTAB65239A84 10.1.25.3.23 10.1.25.3.11000 ESTAB653FCBBC *.1723 *.* LISTENStep 3
debug ip tcp transactions
Use the debug ip tcp transactions command to display information about significant TCP transactions such as state changes, retransmissions, and duplicate packets. This command is particularly useful for debugging a performance problem on a TCP/IP network that you have isolated above the data-link layer.
The following is sample output from the debug ip tcp transactions command:
Router# debug ip tcp transactionsTCP: sending SYN, seq 168108, ack 88655553TCP0: Connection to 10.9.0.13:22530, advertising MSS 966TCP0: state was LISTEN -> SYNRCVD [23 -> 10.9.0.13(22530)]TCP0: state was SYNSENT -> SYNRCVD [23 -> 10.9.0.13(22530)]TCP0: Connection to 10.9.0.13:22530, received MSS 956TCP0: restart retransmission in 5996TCP0: state was SYNRCVD -> ESTAB [23 -> 10.9.0.13(22530)]TCP2: restart retransmission in 10689TCP2: restart retransmission in 10641TCP2: restart retransmission in 10633TCP2: restart retransmission in 13384 -> 10.0.0.13(16151)]TCP0: restart retransmission in 5996 [23 -> 10.0.0.13(16151)]The following line from the debug ip tcp transactions command output shows that TCP has entered Fast Recovery mode:
fast re-transmit - sndcwnd - 512, snd_last - 33884268765The following lines from the debug ip tcp transactions command output show that a duplicate acknowledgment is received when TCP is in Fast Recovery mode (first line) and a partial acknowledgment has been received (second line):
TCP0:ignoring second congestion in same window sndcwn - 512, snd_1st - 33884268765TCP0:partial ACK received sndcwnd:338842495Step 4
debug ip tcp congestion
Use the debug ip tcp congestion command to display information about TCP congestion events. The debug ip tcp congestion command can be used to debug a performance problem on a TCP/IP network that you have isolated above the data-link layer. It also displays information related to variation in TCP's send window, congestion window, and congestion threshold window.
The following is sample output from the debug ip tcp congestion command:
Router# debug ip tcp congestion*May 20 22:49:49.091: Setting New Reno as congestion control algorithm*May 22 05:21:47.281: Advance cwnd by 12*May 22 05:21:47.281: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1472*May 22 05:21:47.285: Advance cwnd by 3*May 22 05:21:47.285: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1475*May 22 05:21:47.285: Advance cwnd by 3*May 22 05:21:47.285: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1478*May 22 05:21:47.285: Advance cwnd by 9*May 22 05:21:47.285: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1487...*May 20 22:50:32.559: [New Reno] sndcwnd: 8388480 ssthresh: 65535 snd_mark: 232322*May 20 22:50:32.559: 10.168.10.10:42416 <---> 10.168.30.11:49100 congestion window changes*May 20 22:50:32.559: cwnd from 8388480 to 2514841, ssthresh from 65535 to 2514841For Cisco IOS TCP, New Reno is the default congestion control algorithm. However, an application can also use Binary Increase Congestion Control (BIC) as the congestion control algorithm. The following is sample output from the debug ip tcp congestion command using the BIC congestion control algorithm:
Router# debug ip tcp congestion*May 22 05:21:42.281: Setting BIC as congestion control algorithm*May 22 05:21:47.281: Advance cwnd by 12*May 22 05:21:47.281: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1472*May 22 05:21:47.285: Advance cwnd by 3*May 22 05:21:47.285: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1475*May 22 05:21:47.285: Advance cwnd by 3*May 22 05:21:47.285: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1478*May 22 05:21:47.285: Advance cwnd by 9*May 22 05:21:47.285: TCP85FD0C10: sndcwnd: 1487......*May 20 22:50:32.559: [BIC] sndcwnd: 8388480 ssthresh: 65535 bic_last_max_cwnd: 0 last_cwnd: 8388480*May 20 22:50:32.559: 10.168.10.10:42416 <---> 10.168.30.11:49100 congestion window changes*May 20 22:50:32.559: cwnd from 8388480 to 2514841, ssthresh from 65535 to 2514841*May 20 22:50:32.559: bic_last_max_cwnd changes from 0 to 8388480Configuration Examples for TCP
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Example: Verifying the Configuration of TCP ECN
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Example: Configuring the TCP MSS Adjustment
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Example: Configuring the TCP Application Flags Enhancement
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Example: Displaying Addresses in IP Format
Example: Verifying the Configuration of TCP ECN
The following example shows how to verify that TCP ECN is configured:
Router# show running-configBuilding configuration......ip tcp ecn ! ECN is configured....The following example shows how to verify that TCP is ECN enabled on a specific connection (local host):
Router# show tcp tcb 123456A!Local host!Connection state is ESTAB, I/O status: 1, unread input bytes: 0Connection is ECN EnabledLocal host: 10.1.25.31, Local port: 11002Foreign host: 10.1.25.34, Foreign port: 23The following example shows how to display concise information about one address:
Router# show tcp brief!TCB Local address Foreign Address (state)609789C Router.cisco.com.23 cider.cisco.com.3733 ESTABThe following example show how to enable IP TCP ECN debugging:
Router# debug ip tcp ecn!TCP ECN debugging is on!Router# telnet 10.1.25.31Trying 10.1.25.31 ...!01:43:19: 10.1.25.35:11000 <---> 10.1.25.31:23 out ECN-setup SYN01:43:21: 10.1.25.35:11000 <---> 10.1.25.31:23 congestion window changes01:43:21: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 65535 to 292001:43:21: 10.1.25.35:11000 <---> 10.1.25.31:23 in non-ECN-setup SYN-ACKBefore a TCP connection can use ECN, a host sends an ECN-setup SYN (synchronization) packet to a remote end that contains an Echo Congestion Experience (ECE) and Congestion window reduced (CWR) bit set in the header. Setting the ECE and CWR bits indicates to the remote end that the sending TCP is ECN capable, rather than an indication of congestion. The remote end sends an ECN-setup SYN-ACK (acknowledgment) packet to the sending host.
In this example the "out ECN-setup SYN" text means that a SYN packet with the ECE and CWR bit set was sent to the remote end. The "in non-ECN-setup SYN-ACK" text means that the remote end did not favorably acknowledge the ECN request and, therefore, the session is not ECN capable.
The following debug output shows that ECN capabilities are enabled at both ends. In response to the ECN-setup SYN, the other end favorably replied with an ECN-setup SYN-ACK message. This connection is now ECN capable for the rest of the session.
Router# telnet 10.10.10.10Trying 10.10.10.10 ... OpenPassword required, but none set!1d20h: 10.1.25.34:11003 <---> 10.1.25.35:23 out ECN-setup SYN1d20h: 10.1.25.34:11003 <---> 10.1.25.35:23 in ECN-setup SYN-ACKThe following example shows how to verify that the hosts are connected:
Router# show debugging!TCP:TCP Packet debugging is onTCP ECN debugging is on!Router# telnet 10.1.25.234!Trying 10.1.25.234 ...!00:02:48: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 out ECN-setup SYN00:02:48: tcp0: O CLOSED 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 ECE CWR SYN WIN 412800:02:50: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 congestion window changes00:02:50: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 65535 to 292000:02:50: tcp0: R SYNSENT 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 ECE CWR SYN WIN 412800:02:54: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 congestion window changes00:02:54: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 2920 to 292000:02:54: tcp0: R SYNSENT 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 ECE CWR SYN WIN 412800:03:02: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 congestion window changes00:03:02: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 2920 to 292000:03:02: tcp0: R SYNSENT 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 ECE CWR SYN WIN 412800:03:18: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 SYN with ECN disabled00:03:18: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 congestion window changes00:03:18: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 2920 to 292000:03:18: tcp0: O SYNSENT 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 SYN WIN 412800:03:20: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 congestion window changes00:03:20: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 2920 to 292000:03:20: tcp0: R SYNSENT 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 SYN WIN 412800:03:24: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 congestion window changes00:03:24: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 2920 to 292000:03:24: tcp0: R SYNSENT 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 SYN WIN 412800:03:32: 10.1.25.31:11001 <---> 10.1.25.234:23 congestion window changes00:03:32: cwnd from 1460 to 1460, ssthresh from 2920 to 292000:03:32: tcp0: R SYNSENT 10.1.25.234:11001 10.1.25.31:23 seq 1922220018OPTS 4 SYN WIN 4128!Connection timed out; remote host not respondingExample: Configuring the TCP MSS Adjustment
Figure 1 Example Topology for TCP MSS Adjustment
The following example shows how to configure and verify the interface adjustment value for the example topology displayed in Figure 1. Configure the interface adjustment value on router B:
Router_B(config)# interface ethernet2/0Router_B(config-if)# ip tcp adjust-mss 500Telnet from router A to router C, with B having the MSS adjustment configured:
Router_A# telnet 192.168.1.1Trying 192.168.1.1... OpenObserve the debug output from router C:
Router_C# debug ip tcp transactionsSep 5 18:42:46.247: TCP0: state was LISTEN -> SYNRCVD [23 -> 10.0.1.1(38437)]Sep 5 18:42:46.247: TCP: tcb 32290C0 connection to 10.0.1.1:38437, peer MSS 500, MSS is 500Sep 5 18:42:46.247: TCP: sending SYN, seq 580539401, ack 6015751Sep 5 18:42:46.247: TCP0: Connection to 10.0.1.1:38437, advertising MSS 500Sep 5 18:42:46.251: TCP0: state was SYNRCVD -> ESTAB [23 -> 10.0.1.1(38437)]The MSS gets adjusted to 500 on Router_B as configured.
The following example shows the configuration of a PPPoE client with the MSS value set to 1452:
Router(config)# vpdn enableRouter(config)# no vpdn loggingRouter(config)# vpdn-group 1Router(config-vpdn)# request-dialinRouter(config-vpdn-req-in)# protocol pppoeRouter(config-vpdn-req-in)# exitRouter(config-vpdn)# exitRouter(config)# interface Ethernet0Router(config-if)# ip address 192.168.100.1.255.255.255.0Router(config-if)# ip tcp adjust-mss 1452Router(config-if)# ip nat insideRouter(config-if)# exitRouter(config)# interface ATM0Router(config-if)# no ip addressRouter(config-if)# exitRouter(config-if)# no atm ilmi-keepaliveRouter(config-if)# pvc 8/35Router(config-if)# pppoe client dial-pool-number 1Router(config-if)# dsl equipment-type CPERouter(config-if)# dsl operating-mode GSHDSL symmetric annex BRouter(config-if)# dsl linerate AUTORouter(config-if)# exitRouter(config)# interface Dialer1Router(config-if)# ip address negotiatedRouter(config-if)# ip mtu 1492Router(config-if)# ip nat outsideRouter(config-if)# encapsulation pppRouter(config-if)# dialer pool 1Router(config-if)# dialer-group 1Router(config-if)# ppp authentication pap callinRouter(config-if)# ppp pap sent-username sohodyn password 7 141B1309000528Router(config-if)# ip nat inside source list 101 Dialer1 overloadRouter(config-if)# exitRouter(config)# ip route 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0 Dialer1Router(config)# access-list permit ip 192.168.100.0.0.0.0.255 anyExample: Configuring the TCP Application Flags Enhancement
The following output shows the flags (status and option) displayed using the show tcp command:
Router# show tcp...Status Flags: passive open, active open, retransmission timeoutApp closedOption Flags: vrf id setIP Precedence value: 6...SRTT: 273 ms, RTTO: 490 ms, RTV: 217 ms, KRTT: 0 msminRTT: 0 ms, maxRTT: 300 ms, ACK hold: 200 msExample: Displaying Addresses in IP Format
The following example shows the IP activity by using the numeric keyword to display the addresses in IP format:
Router# show tcp brief numericTCB Local Address Foreign Address (state)6523A4FC 10.1.25.3.11000 10.1.25.3.23 ESTAB65239A84 10.1.25.3.23 10.1.25.3.11000 ESTAB653FCBBC *.1723 *.* LISTENAdditional References
Related Documents
Related Topic Document TitleIP addressing and services configuration tasks
Cisco IOS IP Addressing and Services Configuration Guide
IP application services commands: complete command syntax, command mode, command history, defaults, usage guidelines, and examples
Path MTU Discovery
TCP security features
•
TCP Out-of-Order Packet Support for Cisco IOS Firewall and Cisco IOS IPS
•
Configuring TCP Intercept (Preventing Denial-of-Service Attacks)
TCP Header Compression,
Class-based TCP Header Compression•
Configuring Class-Based RTP and TCP Header Compression
Troubleshooting TCP
"Troubleshooting TCP/IP" part of the Internetwork Troubleshooting Handbook
Standards
Standard TitleNo new or modified standards are supported, and support for existing standards has not been modified.
—
MIBs
MIB MIBs LinkCISCO-TCP-MIB
To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:
RFCs
RFC TitleRFC 793
RFC 1191
RFC 1323
RFC 2018
RFC 2581
RFC 3168
The Addition of Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) to IP
RFC 3782
RFC 4022
Management Information Base for the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
Technical Assistance
Feature Information for TCP
Table 1 lists the features in this module and provides links to specific configuration information.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and software image support. Cisco Feature Navigator enables you to determine which software images support a specific software release, feature set, or platform. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Note
Table 1 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.
Table 1 Feature Information for TCP
Feature Name Releases Feature InformationTCP Application Flags Enhancement
12.4(2)T
12.2(31)SB2The TCP Applications Flags Enhancement feature enables the user to display additional flags with reference to TCP applications. There are two types of flags: status and option. The status flags indicate the status of TCP connections; for example, retransmission timeouts, application closed, and synchronized (SYNC) handshakes for listen. The additional flags indicate the state of set options; for example, whether VRF identification is set, whether a user is idle, and whether a keepalive timer is running.
The following sections contain information about this feature:
•
TCP Applications Flags Enhancement
•
Verifying TCP Performance Parameters
•
Example: Configuring the TCP Application Flags Enhancement
The following command was modified by this feature: show tcp.
TCP Congestion Avoidance
12.3(7)T
The TCP Congestion Avoidance feature enables the monitoring of acknowledgment packets to the TCP sender when multiple packets are lost in a single window of data. Previously the sender would exit Fast-Recovery mode, wait for three or more duplicate acknowledgment packets before retransmitting the next unacknowledged packet, or wait for the retransmission timer to slow start. This could lead to performance issues.
Implementation of RFC 2581 and RFC 3782 addresses the modifications to the Fast-Recovery algorithm that incorporates a response to partial acknowledgments received during Fast Recovery, improving performance in situations where multiple packets are lost in a single window of data.
This feature is an enhancement to the existing Fast Recovery algorithm. There are no commands used to enable or disable this feature.
The output of the debug ip tcp transactions command has been enhanced to monitor the acknowledgment packets by displaying the following conditions:
•
TCP entering Fast Recovery mode.
•
Duplicate acknowledgments being received during Fast Recovery mode.
•
Partial acknowledgments being received.
The following sections provide information about this feature:
•
Verifying TCP Performance Parameters
The following command was modified by this feature: debug ip tcp transactions.
TCP Explicit Congestion Notification
12.3(7)T
The TCP Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) feature provides a method for an intermediate router to notify the end hosts of impending network congestion. It also provides enhanced support for TCP sessions associated with applications that are sensitive to delay or packet loss including Telnet, web browsing, and transfer of audio and video data. The benefit of this feature is the reduction of delay and packet loss in data transmissions.
The following sections provide information about this feature:
•
TCP Explicit Congestion Notification
•
Configuring TCP Performance Parameters
•
Verifying TCP Performance Parameters
•
Example: Verifying the Configuration of TCP ECN
The following commands were introduced or modified by this feature: debug ip tcp ecn, ip tcp ecn, show debugging, show tcp.
TCP MIB for RFC4022 Support
Cisco IOS XE 3.1.0 SG
12.2(33)XNThe TCP MIB for RFC 4022 Support feature introduces support for RFC 4022, Management Information Base for the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). RFC 4022 is an incremental change of the TCP MIB to improve the manageability of TCP.
There are no new or modified commands for this feature.
TCP MSS Adjust
12.2(4)T
12.2(8)T
12.2(18)ZU2
12.2(28)SB
12.2(33)SRA
12.2(33)SXH
15.0(1)SThe TCP MSS Adjust feature enables the configuration of the maximum segment size (MSS) for transient packets that traverse a router, specifically TCP segments in the SYN bit set.
In 12.2(4)T, this feature was introduced.
In 12.2(8)T, the command that was introduced by this feature was changed from ip adjust-mss to ip tcp adjust-mss.
In 12.2(28)SB and 12.2(33)SRA, this feature was enhanced to be configurable on subinterfaces.
The following sections provide information about this feature:
•
Configuring the MSS Value and MTU for Transient TCP SYN Packets
•
Example: Configuring the TCP MSS Adjustment
The following command was introduced by this feature: ip tcp adjust-mss.
TCP Show Extension
Cisco IOS XE 3.1.0 SG 12.4(2)T
12.2(31)SB2The TCP Show Extension feature introduces the capability to display addresses in IP format instead of hostname format and to display the VRF table associated with the connection.+
The following sections contain information about this feature:
•
Verifying TCP Performance Parameters
•
Example: Displaying Addresses in IP Format
The following command was modified by this feature: show tcp brief.
TCP Window Scaling
12.2(8)T
12.2(31)SB2The TCP Window Scaling feature adds support for the Window Scaling option in RFC 1323. A larger window size is recommended to improve TCP performance in network paths with large bandwidth, long-delay characteristics that are called Long Fat Networks (LFNs). This TCP Window Scaling enhancement provides that support.
The following sections provide information about this feature:
•
Configuring TCP Performance Parameters
•
Verifying TCP Performance Parameters
The following command was introduced or modified by this feature: ip tcp window-size.
Glossary
LFN—Long Fat Networks. Large bandwidth, long-delay networks where the throughput is high and the transmission distance is long. Networks with satellite connections are one example of an LFN. Satellite links always have high propagation delays and typically have high bandwidth.
TCP—Transmission Control Protocol. Connection-oriented transport layer protocol that provides reliable full-duplex data transmission. TCP is part of the TCP/IP protocol stack.
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Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.
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