Cisco IOS IP SLAs Configuration Guide, Release 12.4T - IP SLAs--Analyzing IP Service Levels Using the ICMP Echo Operation [Cisco IOS Software Releases 12.4 T]

Table Of Contents

IP SLAs—Analyzing IP Service Levels Using the ICMP Echo Operation

Finding Feature Information

Contents

Prerequisites for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Restrictions for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Information About the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

ICMP Echo Operation

How to Configure the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Configuring and Scheduling an ICMP Echo Operation

Configuring and Scheduling a Basic ICMP Echo Operation on the Source Device

Configuring and Scheduling an ICMP Echo Operation with Optional Parameters on the Source Device

Configuration Examples for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Configuring an ICMP Echo Operation: Example

Where to Go Next

Additional References

Related Documents

Standards

MIBs

RFCs

Technical Assistance

Feature Information for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

IP SLAs—Analyzing IP Service Levels Using the ICMP Echo Operation

First Published: August 14, 2006

Last Updated: July 16, 2008

This module describes how to use the Cisco IOS IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo operation to monitor end-to-end response time between a Cisco router and devices using IPv4 or IPv6. ICMP Echo is useful for troubleshooting network connectivity issues. IP SLAs is a portfolio of technology embedded in most devices that run Cisco IOS software, which allows Cisco customers to analyze IP service levels for IP applications and services, to increase productivity, to lower operational costs, and to reduce the frequency of network outages. IP SLAs uses active traffic monitoring—the generation of traffic in a continuous, reliable, and predictable manner—for measuring network performance. This module also demonstrates how the results of the ICMP Echo operation can be displayed and analyzed to determine how the network IP connections are performing.

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 the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation" section.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco IOS and Catalyst OS 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

•Prerequisites for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

•Restrictions for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

•Information About the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

•How to Configure the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

•Configuration Examples for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

•Where to Go Next

•Additional References

•Feature Information for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Prerequisites for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Before configuring the IP SLAs ICMP Echo operation you should be familiar with the "Cisco IOS IP SLAs Overview" chapter of the Cisco IOS IP SLAs Configuration Guide.

Restrictions for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

We recommend using a Cisco networking device as the destination device although any networking device that supports RFC 862, Echo protocol, can be used.

Information About the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

To perform the tasks required to analyze ICMP Echo performance using IP SLA, you should understand the following concept:

•ICMP Echo Operation

ICMP Echo Operation

The ICMP Echo operation measures end-to-end response time between a Cisco router and any devices using IP. Response time is computed by measuring the time taken between sending an ICMP Echo request message to the destination and receiving an ICMP Echo reply.

In Figure 1 ping is used by the ICMP Echo operation to measure the response time between the source IP SLAs device and the destination IP device. Many customers use IP SLAs ICMP-based operations, in-house ping testing, or ping-based dedicated probes for response time measurements.

Figure 1 ICMP Echo Operation

The IP SLAs ICMP Echo operation conforms to the same IETF specifications for ICMP ping testing and the two methods result in the same response times.

How to Configure the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

This section contains the following procedure:

•Configuring and Scheduling an ICMP Echo Operation (required)

Configuring and Scheduling an ICMP Echo Operation

To monitor IP connections on a device, use the IP SLAs ICMP Echo operation. An ICMP Echo operation measures end-to-end response times between a Cisco router and devices using IP. ICMP Echo is useful for troubleshooting network connectivity issues. This operation does not require the IP SLAs Responder to be enabled.

Perform one of the following procedures in this section, depending on whether you want to configure and schedule a basic ICMP Echo operation or configure and schedule an ICMP Echo operation with optional parameters:

•Configuring and Scheduling a Basic ICMP Echo Operation on the Source Device

•Configuring and Scheduling an ICMP Echo Operation with Optional Parameters on the Source Device

Configuring and Scheduling a Basic ICMP Echo Operation on the Source Device

Perform this task to enable and schedule an ICMP Echo operation without any optional parameters.

For information on scheduling a group of operations, see the "IP SLAs—Multioperation Scheduling of IP SLAs Operations" chapter of the Cisco IOS IP SLAs Configuration Guide.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip sla operation-number

4. icmp-echo {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} | source-interface interface-name]

5. frequency seconds

6. exit

7. ip sla schedule operation-number [life {forever | seconds}] [start-time {hh:mm[:ss] [month day | day month] | pending | now | after hh:mm:ss}] [ageout seconds] [recurring]

8. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip sla operation-number
Example:

Router(config)# ip sla 10

Begins configuration for an IP SLAs operation and enters IP SLA configuration mode.

Step 4

icmp-echo {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} | source-interface interface-name]
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla)# icmp-echo 172.29.139.134

Defines an ICMP Echo operation and enters IP SLA ICMP Echo configuration mode.

Step 5

frequency seconds
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# frequency 300

(Optional) Sets the rate at which a specified IP SLAs operation repeats.

Step 6

exit
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# exit

Exits IP SLA ICMP Echo configuration mode and returns to global configuration mode.

Step 7

ip sla schedule operation-number [life {forever | seconds}] [start-time {hh:mm[:ss] [month day | day month] | pending | now | after hh:mm:ss}] [ageout seconds] [recurring]
Example:

Router(config)# ip sla schedule 10 start-time now life forever

Configures the scheduling parameters for an individual IP SLAs operation.

Step 8

exit
Example:

Router(config)# exit

(Optional) Exits global configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example

The following example shows the configuration of the IP SLAs ICMP Echo operation number 6 that will start immediately and run indefinitely.
ip sla 6
 icmp-echo 172.29.139.134 source-ip 172.29.139.132
 frequency 300
!
ip sla schedule 6 life forever start-time now
What to Do Next

To view and interpret the results of an IP SLAs operation use the show ip sla statistics command. Checking the output for fields that correspond to criteria in your service level agreement will help you determine whether the service metrics are acceptable.

Configuring and Scheduling an ICMP Echo Operation with Optional Parameters on the Source Device

Perform this task to enable an ICMP Echo operation on the source device and configure some optional IP SLAs parameters.

Note The tos command defines the type of service (ToS) byte in the IPv4 header of an IP SLAs operation and is valid only in IPv4 networks. The traffic-class command defines the traffic class byte in the IPv6 header for a supported IP SLAs operation.

The flow-label command defines the value in the flow label field in the IPv6 header for a supported IP SLAs operation and is valid only in IPv6 networks.

For information on scheduling a group of operations, see the "IP SLAs—Multioperation Scheduling of IP SLAs Operations" chapter of the Cisco IOS IP SLAs Configuration Guide.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip sla operation-number

4. icmp-echo {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} | source-interface interface-name]

5. history buckets-kept size

6. history distributions-of-statistics-kept size

7. history enhanced [interval seconds] [buckets number-of-buckets]

8. history filter {none | all | overThreshold | failures}

9. frequency seconds

10. history hours-of-statistics-kept hours

11. history lives-kept lives

12. owner owner-id

13. request-data-size bytes

14. history statistics-distribution-interval milliseconds

15. tag text

16. threshold milliseconds

17. timeout milliseconds

18. tos number
or
traffic-class number

19. flow-label number

20. verify-data

21. vrf vrf-name

22. exit

23. ip sla schedule operation-number [life {forever | seconds}] [start-time {hh:mm[:ss] [month day | day month] | pending | now | after hh:mm:ss}] [ageout seconds] [recurring]

24. exit

25. show ip sla configuration [operation-number]

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip sla operation-number
Example:

Router(config)# ip sla 10

Begins configuration for an IP SLAs operation and enters IP SLA configuration mode.

Step 4

icmp-echo {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} | source-interface interface-name]
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla)# icmp-echo 172.29.139.134 source-ip 172.29.139.132

Defines an Echo operation and enters IP SLA Echo configuration mode.

Step 5

history buckets-kept size
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# history buckets-kept 25

(Optional) Sets the number of history buckets that are kept during the lifetime of an IP SLAs operation.

Step 6

history distributions-of-statistics-kept size
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# history distributions-of-statistics-kept 5

(Optional) Sets the number of statistics distributions kept per hop during an IP SLAs operation.

Step 7

history enhanced [interval seconds] [buckets number-of-buckets]
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# history enhanced interval 900 buckets 100

(Optional) Enables enhanced history gathering for an IP SLAs operation.

Step 8

history filter {none | all | overThreshold | failures}
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# history filter failures

(Optional) Defines the type of information kept in the history table for an IP SLAs operation.

Step 9

frequency seconds
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# frequency 30

(Optional) Sets the rate at which a specified IP SLAs operation repeats.

Step 10

history hours-of-statistics-kept hours
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# history hours-of-statistics-kept 4

(Optional) Sets the number of hours for which statistics are maintained for an IP SLAs operation.

Step 11

history lives-kept lives
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# history lives-kept 5

(Optional) Sets the number of lives maintained in the history table for an IP SLAs operation.

Step 12

owner owner-id
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# owner admin

(Optional) Configures the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) owner of an IP SLAs operation.

Step 13

request-data-size bytes
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# request-data-size 64

(Optional) Sets the protocol data size in the payload of an IP SLAs operation's request packet.

Step 14

history statistics-distribution-interval milliseconds
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# history statistics-distribution-interval 10

(Optional) Sets the time interval for each statistics distribution kept for an IP SLAs operation.

Step 15

tag text
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# tag TelnetPollServer1

(Optional) Creates a user-specified identifier for an IP SLAs operation.

Step 16

threshold milliseconds
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# threshold 10000

(Optional) Sets the upper threshold value for calculating network monitoring statistics created by an IP SLAs operation.

Step 17

timeout milliseconds
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# timeout 10000

(Optional) Sets the amount of time an IP SLAs operation waits for a response from its request packet.

Step 18

tos number
or

traffic-class number
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-jitter)# tos 160
or

Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-jitter)# traffic-class 160

(Optional) In an IPv4 network only, defines the ToS byte in the IPv4 header of an IP SLAs operation.

or

(Optional) In an IPv6 network only, defines the traffic class byte in the IPv6 header for a supported IP SLAs operation.

Step 19

flow-label number
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# flow-label 112233

(Optional) In an IPv6 network only, defines the flow label field in the IPv6 header for a supported IP SLAs operation.

Step 20

verify-data
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# verify-data

(Optional) Causes an IP SLAs operation to check each reply packet for data corruption.

Step 21

vrf vrf-name
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# vrf vpn-A

(Optional) Allows monitoring within Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using IP SLAs operations.

Step 22

exit
Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-echo)# exit

Exits ICMP Echo configuration submode and returns to global configuration mode.

Step 23

ip sla schedule operation-number [life {forever | seconds}] [start-time {hh:mm[:ss] [month day | day month] | pending | now | after hh:mm:ss}] [ageout seconds] [recurring]
Example:

Router(config)# ip sla schedule 10 start-time now life forever

Configures the scheduling parameters for an individual IP SLAs operation.

Step 24

exit
Example:

Router(config)# exit

(Optional) Exits global configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Step 25

show ip sla configuration [operation-number]
Example:

Router# show ip sla configuration 10

(Optional) Displays configuration values including all defaults for all IP SLAs operations or a specified operation.

Examples

The following sample output shows the configuration of all the IP SLAs parameters (including defaults) for the ICMP Echo operation number 6.
Router# show ip sla configuration 6
Entry number: 6
Owner: jdoe 
Tag: SFO-RO
Type of operation to perform: echo
Target address: 172.29.139.134
Source address: 172.29.139.132
Request size (ARR data portion): 28
Operation timeout (milliseconds): 2000
Type Of Service parameters: 160
Verify data: No
Vrf Name: 
Operation frequency (seconds): 300
Next Scheduled Start Time: Start Time already passed
Group Scheduled: FALSE
Life (seconds): Forever
Entry Ageout (seconds): never
Recurring (Starting Everyday): FALSE
Status of entry (SNMP RowStatus): Active
Threshold (milliseconds): 5000
Number of statistic hours kept: 2
Number of statistic distribution buckets kept: 1
Statistic distribution interval (milliseconds): 20
Number of history Lives kept: 0
Number of history Buckets kept: 15
History Filter Type: None
Enhanced History:
Troubleshooting Tips

•If the IP SLAs operation is not running and generating statistics, add the verify-data command to the configuration of the operation (while configuring in IP SLA configuration mode) to enable data verification. When enabled, each operation response is checked for corruption. Use the verify-data command with caution during normal operations because it generates unnecessary overhead.

•Use the debug ip sla trace and debug ip sla error commands to help troubleshoot issues with an IP SLAs operation.

What to Do Next

To view and interpret the results of an IP SLAs operation use the show ip sla statistics command. Checking the output for fields that correspond to criteria in your service level agreement will help you determine whether the service metrics are acceptable.

Configuration Examples for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

This section contains the following configuration example:

•Configuring an ICMP Echo Operation: Example

Configuring an ICMP Echo Operation: Example

The following example shows how to configure an IP SLAs operation type of ICMP Echo that will start immediately and run indefinitely.
ip sla 6
 icmp-echo 172.29.139.134 source-ip 172.29.139.132
 frequency 300
 request-data-size 28
 tos 160
 timeout 2000
 tag SFO-RO
ip sla schedule 6 life forever start-time now
Where to Go Next

For information about other types of IP SLAs operations and IP SLAs features, see the Cisco IOS IP SLAs Features Roadmap.

Additional References

The following sections provide references related to monitoring IP connections using an IP SLAs ICMP Echo operation.

Related Documents

Related Topic

Document Title

Cisco IOS IP SLAs command-line interface enhancements

Cisco IOS IP Service Level Agreements Command Line Interface, Cisco white paper

Cisco IOS IP SLAs commands

Cisco IOS IP SLAs Command Reference

Standards

Standards

Title

No new or modified standards are supported by this feature, and support for existing standards has not been modified by this feature.

—

MIBs

MIBs

MIBs Link

CISCO-RTTMON-MIB

To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs

RFCs

RFCs

Title

RFC 862

Echo Protocol

Technical Assistance

Description

Link

The Cisco Support website provides extensive online resources, including documentation and tools for troubleshooting and resolving technical issues with Cisco products and technologies.

To receive security and technical information about your products, you can subscribe to various services, such as the Product Alert Tool (accessed from Field Notices), the Cisco Technical Services Newsletter, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds.

Access to most tools on the Cisco Support website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

http://www.cisco.com/techsupport

Feature Information for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Table 1 lists the release history for this feature.

Not all commands may be available in your Cisco IOS software release. For release information about a specific command, see the command reference documentation.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and software image support. Cisco Feature Navigator enables you to determine which Cisco IOS and Catalyst OS 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 Cisco IOS software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given Cisco IOS software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that Cisco IOS software release train also support that feature.

Table 1 Feature Information for the IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Information

IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

12.3(14)T, 12.2(31)SB2, 12.2(33)SRB1, 12.2(33)SXH, Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1

The Cisco IOS IP SLAs Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo operation allows you to measure end-to-end network response time between a Cisco device and other devices using IP.

IP SLAs for IPv6 (UDP Jitter, UDP Echo, ICMP Echo, TCP Connect)

12.2(33)SRC, 12.2(33)SB, 12.4(20)T

Support was added for operability in IPv6 networks.

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All other trademarks mentioned in this document or website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0812R)

Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses. Any examples, command display output, and figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.

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