Configuring Cisco IOS IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

First Published: August 14, 2006
Last Updated: February 14, 2011

This module describes how to configure a 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. 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 thee "Feature Information for IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations" 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

•Restrictions for IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

•Information About IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

•How to Configure IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

•Configuration Examples for IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

•Additional References

•Feature Information for IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

Restrictions for IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

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 IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

•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 IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

•Configuring an ICMP Echo Operation (required)

•Scheduling IP SLAs Operations

Configuring an ICMP Echo Operation

Note There is no need to configure an IP SLAs responder on the destination device.

Perform one of the following tasks:

•Configuring a Basic ICMP Echo Operation on the Source Device

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

Configuring a Basic ICMP Echo Operation on the Source Device

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. end

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 6

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 

end

Example:

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

Exits to privileged EXEC mode.

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

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. end

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 6

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 

end

Example:

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

Exits to privileged EXEC mode.

Scheduling IP SLAs Operations

Restrictions

•The frequency of all operations scheduled in a multioperation group must be the same.

•Operation ID numbers are limited to a maximum of 125 characters. Do not give large integer values as operation ID numbers.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

For individual IP SLAs operations only:

3. 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]

For multioperation scheduler only:

4. ip sla group schedule group-operation-number operation-id-numbers schedule-period schedule-period-range [ageout seconds] [frequency group-operation-frequency] [life {forever | seconds}] [start-time {hh:mm[:ss] [month day | day month] | pending | now | after hh:mm:ss}]

5. exit

6. show ip sla group schedule

7. show ip sla configuration

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 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 6 start-time now life forever

For individual IP SLAs operations only:

Configures the scheduling parameters for an individual IP SLAs operation.

Step 4  

ip sla group schedule group-operation-number 
operation-id-numbers 
schedule-period schedule-period-range [ageout  
seconds] [frequency group-operation-frequency] 
[life {forever | seconds}] 
[start-time {hh:mm[:ss] 
[month day | day month] | pending | now | 
after hh:mm:ss}]
Example:

Router(config)# ip sla group schedule 1 3,4,6-9

For multioperation scheduler only:

Specifies an IP SLAs operation group number and the range of operation numbers to be scheduled in global configuration mode.

•The frequency of all operations scheduled in the operation group should be the same.

•The operation ID numbers are limited to a maximum of 125 characters. Do not use large integer values as operation ID numbers.

Step 5 

exit

Example:

Router(config)# exit

Exits to privileged EXEC mode.

Step 6 

show ip sla group schedule

Example: 
Router# show ip sla group schedule

(Optional) Displays the IP SLAs group schedule details.

Step 7  

show ip sla configuration
Example: 
Router# show ip sla configuration

(Optional) Displays the IP SLAs configuration details.

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 add proactive threshold conditions and reactive triggering for generating traps, or for starting another operation, to an IP SLAs operation, see Configuring Proactive Threshold Monitoring.

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 IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

•Example: Configuring an ICMP Echo Operation

Example: Configuring an ICMP Echo Operation

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

Additional References

Related Documents

Related Topic
Document Title

Cisco IOS commands

Cisco IOS Master Commands List, All Releases

Cisco IOS IP SLAs commands

Cisco IOS IP SLAs Command Reference

Cisco IOS IP SLAs: general information

"Cisco IOS IP SLAs Overview" chapter of the Cisco IP SLAs Configuration Guide.


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

•IPV6-FLOW-LABEL-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 and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/support/index.html


Feature Information for IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations

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 IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operations 

Feature Name
Releases
Feature Information

IP SLAs ICMP Echo Operation

12.2(31)SB2
12.2(33)SRB1
12.2(33)SXH
12.0(32)SY
12.3(14)T
15.0(1)S
Cisco IOS XE 3.1.0SG

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.

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

12.2(33)SB
12.2(33)SRC
12.4(20)T
Cisco IOS XE 3.1.0SG
12.2(50)SY

Support was added for operability in IPv6 networks.


Cisco and the Cisco Logo are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third party trademarks mentioned 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. (1005R)

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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