Cisco APIC Layer 3 Networking Configuration Guide, Release 6.2(x)

Inter-VRF multicast

Updated: April 17, 2026

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Describes a multicast feature that enables sources and receivers to be located in different VRFs within ACI networks.

Inter-VRF multicast is a multicast feature that

enables sources and receivers to be in different VRFs
allows the receiver VRF to perform the reverse path forwarding (RPF) lookup for the multicast route in the source VRF, and
performs inter-VRF forwarding and translation on the leaf switch where the receivers are connected.

Inter-VRF multicast use cases and configuration details

Note

Inter-VRF multicast is not supported for IPv6 multicast.

In typical data center with multicast networks, the multicast sources and receivers are in the same VRF, and all multicast traffic is forwarded within that VRF. There are use cases where the multicast sources and receivers may be located in different VRFs:

Surveillance cameras are in one VRF while the people viewing the camera feeds are on computers in a different VRF.
A multicast content provider is in one VRF while different departments of an organization are receiving the multicast content in different VRFs.

ACI release 4.0 adds support for inter-VRF multicast. When a valid RPF interface is formed in the source VRF, this enables an outgoing interface (OIF) in the receiver VRF. All inter-VRF multicast traffic will be forwarded within the fabric in the source VRF.

Note

For any-source multicast, the RP used must be in the same VRF as the source.

Inter-VRF multicast supports both shared services and share L3Out configurations. Sources and receivers can be connected to EPGs or L3Outs in different VRFs.

For ACI, inter-VRF multicast is configured per receiver VRF. Every NBL/BL that has the receiver VRF will get the same inter-VRF configuration. Each NBL that may have directly connected receivers, and BLs that may have external receivers, need to have the source VRF deployed. Control plane signaling and data plane forwarding will do the necessary translation and forwarding between the VRFs inside the NBL/BL that has receivers. Any packets forwarded in the fabric will be in the source VRF.

Requirements for inter-VRF multicast

All sources for a particular group must be in the same VRF (the source VRF).

Source VRF and source EPGs need to be present on all leafs where there are receiver VRFs.

ASM requirements

For ASM deployments, ensure proper RP configuration and source VRF management.

The RP must be in the same VRF as the sources (the source VRF).
For releases prior to 4.2(4), the source VRF must be using fabric RP. This restriction does not apply for Release 4.2(4) and later.
The same RP address configuration must be applied under the source and all receiver VRFs for the given group-range.

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