Why Traffic is not Load Balanced over ECMP Paths From SD-WAN Hub Routers

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Updated:September 9, 2020
Document ID:216012

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Introduction


This document describes a typical issue with Equal-Cost Multipath (ECMP) routing in SD-WAN fabric when traffic from a spoke router is not load balanced over multiple hub routers that advertise the same prefix. It also explains how to solve this problem and how to use various troubleshooting commands including show sdwan policy service-path for troubleshooting of routing issues which was added in 17.2 Cisco IOS®-XE software.

Prerequisites

Requirements

Cisco recommends that you have knowledge of these topics:

  • Basic understanding of Overlay Management Protocol (OMP)
  • SD-WAN components and interaction between them

Components Used

For the purpose of the demonstration, these software routers were used:

  • 4 Cisco IOS-XE CSR1000v routers running 17.2.1v software version running in controller mode (SD-WAN)
  • vSmart controller running 20.1.12 software version

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Background Information

For the purpose of this document, this lab topology is used:

Here you can find a summary of assigned site-id and system-ip parameters to each device in the SD-WAN fabric:

hostname system-ip site-id
cE1 (hub1) 192.168.30.214 214
cE2 (hub2) 192.168.30.215 215
cE3 (spoke1) 192.168.30.216 216
vSmart 192.168.30.113 1

Each hub has 4 TLOCs (Transport location identifier) with colors assigned as per topology diagram and each hub advertises default route 0.0.0.0/0 to spoke (branch router cE3) together with 192.168.2.0/24 subnet. There is no policy configured on vSmart in order to prefer any path/device and all OMP settings are also set to default on all devices. Rest of the configuration is the standard minimal configuration for basic SD-WAN overlay functionality and hence not provided for the sake of brevity. You can expect active-active redundancy and egress traffic toward hub routers load-balanced across all available uplinks from the branch router.

Problem

Branch routers install default route and route to 192.168.2.0/24 subnet only via cE1 router (hub1):

ce3#show ip route vrf 2 | b Gateway
Gateway of last resort is 192.168.30.214 to network 0.0.0.0

m*    0.0.0.0/0 [251/0] via 192.168.30.214, 00:08:30, sdwan_system_ip
m     192.168.2.0/24 [251/0] via 192.168.30.214, 00:10:01, sdwan_system_ip
      192.168.216.0/24 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C        192.168.216.0/24 is directly connected, Loopback2
L        192.168.216.216/32 is directly connected, Loopback2

This is because cE3 receives only 4 routes for default route 0.0.0.0/0 as well as for 192.168.2.0/24.

ce3#show sdwan omp routes vpn 2 | begin PATH
                                            PATH                      ATTRIBUTE
VPN    PREFIX              FROM PEER        ID     LABEL    STATUS    TYPE       TLOC IP          COLOR            ENCAP  PREFERENCE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2      0.0.0.0/0           192.168.30.113   61614  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61615  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61616  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61617  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private2         ipsec  -
2      192.168.2.0/24      192.168.30.113   61610  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61611  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61612  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61613  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private2         ipsec  -
2      192.168.216.0/24    0.0.0.0          68     1003     C,Red,R   installed  192.168.30.216   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           0.0.0.0          81     1003     C,Red,R   installed  192.168.30.216   private1         ipsec  -
                           0.0.0.0          82     1003     C,Red,R   installed  192.168.30.216   private2         ipsec  -

Although on vSmart, you can see that it receives all 8 routes (4 routes for each TLOC color on each hub):

vsmart1# show omp routes vpn 2 | b PATH
                                            PATH                      ATTRIBUTE
VPN    PREFIX              FROM PEER        ID     LABEL    STATUS    TYPE       TLOC IP          COLOR            ENCAP  PREFERENCE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2      0.0.0.0/0           192.168.30.214   66     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.214   68     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.214   81     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.214   82     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   private2         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   66     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   68     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   81     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   82     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private2         ipsec  -
2      192.168.2.0/24      192.168.30.214   66     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.214   68     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.214   81     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.214   82     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.214   private2         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   66     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   68     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   81     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.215   82     1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private2         ipsec  -

If default route from cE1 (hub1) is lost, spoke routers install route from cE2 (hub2). Therefore there is no active-active redundancy and rather active-standby with cE1 acting as a primary router.

You can also check which egress path is taken for specific traffic flow with help of show sdwan policy service-path command as in the example here:

ce3#show sdwan policy service-path vpn 2  interface Loopback2 source-ip 192.168.216.216 dest-ip 192.168.2.1 protocol 6 source-port 53453 dest-port 22 dscp 48 app ssh
Next Hop: IPsec
  Source: 192.168.109.216 12347 Destination: 192.168.110.214 12427 Local Color: biz-internet Remote Color: mpls Remote System IP: 192.168.30.214

In order to see all available paths for specific traffic type, use all keyword:

ce3#show sdwan policy service-path vpn 2  interface Loopback2 source-ip 192.168.216.216 dest-ip 192.168.2.1 protocol 6 source-port 53453 dest-port 22 dscp 48 app ssh all
Number of possible next hops: 4
Next Hop: IPsec
  Source: 192.168.109.216 12347 Destination: 192.168.110.214 12427 Local Color: biz-internet Remote Color: mpls Remote System IP: 192.168.30.214
Next Hop: IPsec
  Source: 192.168.108.216 12367 Destination: 192.168.108.214 12407 Local Color: private2 Remote Color: private2 Remote System IP: 192.168.30.214
Next Hop: IPsec
  Source: 192.168.107.216 12367 Destination: 192.168.107.214 12407 Local Color: private1 Remote Color: private1 Remote System IP: 192.168.30.214
Next Hop: IPsec
  Source: 192.168.109.216 12347 Destination: 192.168.109.214 12387 Local Color: biz-internet Remote Color: biz-internet Remote System IP: 192.168.30.214

So, this also confirms only 4 paths are available instead of 8 for router cE3 (spoke2).

If you check what exactly vSmart advertises, you see only 4 routes advertised toward cE3:

vsmart1# show omp routes vpn 2 0.0.0.0/0 detail | nomore | exclude not\ set | b ADVERTISED\ TO: | b peer\ \ \ \ 192.168.30.216
peer    192.168.30.216
    Attributes:
     originator       192.168.30.214
     label            1003
     path-id          61629
     tloc             192.168.30.214, private2, ipsec
     site-id          214
     overlay-id        1
     origin-proto     static
     origin-metric    0
    Attributes:
     originator       192.168.30.214
     label            1003
     path-id          61626
     tloc             192.168.30.214, mpls, ipsec
     site-id          214
     overlay-id        1
     origin-proto     static
     origin-metric    0
    Attributes:
     originator       192.168.30.214
     label            1003
     path-id          61628
     tloc             192.168.30.214, private1, ipsec
     site-id          214
     overlay-id        1
     origin-proto     static
     origin-metric    0
    Attributes:
     originator       192.168.30.214
     label            1003
     path-id          61627
     tloc             192.168.30.214, biz-internet, ipsec
     site-id          214
     overlay-id        1
     origin-proto     static
     origin-metric    0

Based on this output, you can conclude that the issue is caused by the vSmart controller.

Solution

This behavior is caused by the default configuration of send-path-limit on vSmart controller. send-path-limit defines the maximum number of ECMP routes advertised from Edge router to vSmart controller and from vSmart controller to other Edge routers. The default value is 4 and usually, it is enough for Edge router (like in this topology with 4 uplinks on each hub router), but not enough for vSmart controller to send all available path to the other Edge routers. The maximum value that can be set for send-path-limit is 16 but in some extreme cases, this still can be not enough, though there is enhancement request CSCvs89015 opened to increase maximum value to 128. 

In order to solve this issue, you must reconfigure vSmart settings as in the example here:

vsmart1# conf t
Entering configuration mode terminal
vsmart1(config)# omp
vsmart1(config-omp)# send-path-limit 8
vsmart1(config-omp)# commit
Commit complete.
vsmart1(config-omp)# end
vsmart1# show run omp
omp
 no shutdown
 send-path-limit  8
 graceful-restart
!
vsmart1#

And then, all 8 routes are advertised by vSmart to branch routers and received by them:

ce3#show sdwan omp routes vpn 2 | begin PATH
                                            PATH                      ATTRIBUTE
VPN    PREFIX              FROM PEER        ID     LABEL    STATUS    TYPE       TLOC IP          COLOR            ENCAP  PREFERENCE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2      0.0.0.0/0           192.168.30.113   61626  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61627  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61628  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61629  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private2         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61637  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61638  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61639  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61640  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private2         ipsec  -
2      192.168.2.0/24      192.168.30.113   61610  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61611  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61612  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61613  1003     C,I,R     installed  192.168.30.214   private2         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61633  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   mpls             ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61634  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61635  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private1         ipsec  -
                           192.168.30.113   61636  1003     C,R       installed  192.168.30.215   private2         ipsec  -
2      192.168.216.0/24    0.0.0.0          68     1003     C,Red,R   installed  192.168.30.216   biz-internet     ipsec  -
                           0.0.0.0          81     1003     C,Red,R   installed  192.168.30.216   private1         ipsec  -
                           0.0.0.0          82     1003     C,Red,R   installed  192.168.30.216   private2         ipsec  -

Although the still branch routers install routes only via cE1 (hub1):

ce3#sh ip route vrf 2 0.0.0.0

Routing Table: 2
Routing entry for 0.0.0.0/0, supernet
  Known via "omp", distance 251, metric 0, candidate default path, type omp
  Last update from 192.168.30.214 on sdwan_system_ip, 01:11:26 ago
  Routing Descriptor Blocks:
  * 192.168.30.214 (default), from 192.168.30.214, 01:11:26 ago, via sdwan_system_ip
      Route metric is 0, traffic share count is 1

ce3#sh ip route vrf 2 192.168.2.0

Routing Table: 2
Routing entry for 192.168.2.0/24
  Known via "omp", distance 251, metric 0, type omp
  Last update from 192.168.30.214 on sdwan_system_ip, 01:33:56 ago
  Routing Descriptor Blocks:
  * 192.168.30.214 (default), from 192.168.30.214, 01:33:56 ago, via sdwan_system_ip
      Route metric is 0, traffic share count is 1
ce3#

show sdwan policy service-path will confirm the same and hence the output is not provided for brevity.

The reason for this is also default configuration of another command ecmp-limit value. By default, Edge router installs only first 4 ECMP paths into the routing table, hence to fix this issue, you must reconfigure spoke routers as in the example here:

ce3#config-t

admin connected from 127.0.0.1 using console on ce3
ce3(config)# sdwan
ce3(config-sdwan)# omp
ce3(config-omp)# ecmp-limit 8
ce3(config-omp)# commit
Commit complete.

show ip route confirms both routes via both hubs are installed now:

ce3#sh ip ro vrf 2 | b Gateway
Gateway of last resort is 192.168.30.215 to network 0.0.0.0

m*    0.0.0.0/0 [251/0] via 192.168.30.215, 00:00:37, sdwan_system_ip
                [251/0] via 192.168.30.214, 00:00:37, sdwan_system_ip
m     192.168.2.0/24 [251/0] via 192.168.30.215, 00:00:37, sdwan_system_ip
                     [251/0] via 192.168.30.214, 00:00:37, sdwan_system_ip
      192.168.216.0/24 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C        192.168.216.0/24 is directly connected, Loopback2
L        192.168.216.216/32 is directly connected, Loopback2
ce3#

If you use vManage device templates based on feature templates, in order to achieve the same result you need to adjust your OMP feature template as on this screenshot (ECMP limit for OMP feature template used by routers and Number of Paths Advertised per Prefix for OMP feature template used by vSmart):

Related Information

TAC Authored

Contributed by Cisco Engineers

  • Eugene Khabarov
    Cisco TAC Engineer

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