Configuring Cisco IOS IP SLAs TCP Connect 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) TCP Connect operation to measure the response time taken to perform a TCP Connect operation between a Cisco router and devices using IPv4 or IPv6. TCP Connect accuracy is enhanced by using the IP SLAs Responder at the destination Cisco router. This module also demonstrates how the results of the TCP Connect operation can be displayed and analyzed to determine how the connection times to servers and hosts within your network can affect IP service levels. The TCP Connect operation is useful for measuring response times for a server used for a particular application or connectivity testing for server availability.

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 TCP Connect 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

•Information About the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

•How to Configure the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

•Configuration Examples for the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

•Additional References

•Feature Information for the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

Information About the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

•TCP Connect Operation

TCP Connect Operation

The IP SLAs TCP Connect operation measures the response time taken to perform a TCP Connect operation between a Cisco router and devices using IP. TCP is a transport layer (Layer 4) Internet protocol that provides reliable full-duplex data transmission. The destination device can be any device using IP or an IP SLAs Responder.

In Figure 1 Router B is configured as the source IP SLAs device and a TCP Connect operation is configured with the destination device as IP Host 1.

Figure 1 TCP Connect Operation

Connection response time is computed by measuring the time taken between sending a TCP request message from Router B to IP Host 1 and receiving a reply from IP Host 1.

TCP Connect accuracy is enhanced by using the IP SLAs Responder at the destination Cisco device. If the destination router is a Cisco router, then IP SLAs makes a TCP connection to any port number that you specified. If the destination is not a Cisco IP host, then you must specify a known destination port number such as 21 for FTP, 23 for Telnet, or 80 for an HTTP server.

Using the IP SLAs Responder is optional for a TCP Connect operation when using Cisco devices. The IP SLAs Responder cannot be configured on non-Cisco devices.

TCP Connect is used to test virtual circuit availability or application availability. Server and application connection performance can be tested by simulating Telnet, SQL, and other types of connection to help you verify your IP service levels.

How to Configure the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

•Configuring the IP SLAs Responder on the Destination Device (optional)

•Configuring and Scheduling a TCP Connect Operation on the Source Device (required)

Configuring the IP SLAs Responder on the Destination Device

Prerequisites

If you are using the IP SLAs Responder, ensure that the networking device to be used as the Responder is a Cisco device and that you have connectivity to that device through the network.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip sla responder
or
ip sla responder tcp-connect ipaddress ip-address port port-number

4. 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 responder

or

ip sla responder tcp-connect ipaddress ip-address port port

Example:

Router(config)# ip sla responder

or

Example:

Router(config)# ip sla responder tcp-connect ipaddress 172.29.139.132 port 5000

(Optional) Temporarily enables IP SLAs Responder functionality on a Cisco device in response to control messages from source.

or

(Optional) Required only if protocol control is disabled on source. Permanently enables IP SLAs Responder functionality on specified IP address and port.

•Control is enabled by default.

Step 4 

exit

Example:

Router(config)# exit

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

Configuring and Scheduling a TCP Connect Operation on the Source Device

Perform only one of the following tasks:

•Configuring and Scheduling a Basic TCP Connect Operation on the Source Device (required)

•Configuring and Scheduling a TCP Connect Operation with Optional Parameters on the Source Device (required)

Prerequisites

If you are using the IP SLAs Responder, complete the "Configuring the IP SLAs Responder on the Destination Device" section before you start this task.

Configuring and Scheduling a Basic TCP Connect Operation on the Source Device

Restrictions

If an IP SLAs Responder is permanently enabled on the destination IP Address and port, use the control disable keywords with the tcp-connect command to disable control messages.

 SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip sla operation-number

4. tcp-connect {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} destination-port [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} source-port port-number] [control {enable | disable}]

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 

tcp-connect {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} destination-port [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} source-port port-number] [control {enable | disable}]

Example:

Router(config-ip-sla)# tcp-connect 172.29.139.132 5000

Defines a TCP Connect operation and enters IP SLA TCP configuration mode.

•Use the control disable keyword combination only if you disable the IP SLAs control protocol on both the source and target routers.

Step 5 

frequency seconds

Example:

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

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

Step 6 

exit

Example:

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

Exits IP SLA TCP 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 the global configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Examples

The following example shows the configuration of an IP SLAs operation type of TCP Connect that will start immediately and run indefinitely. 

ip sla 9

 tcp-connect 172.29.139.132 5000

 frequency 10

!

ip sla schedule 9 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 a TCP Connect Operation with Optional Parameters on the Source Device

Restrictions

If an IP SLAs Responder is permanently enabled on the destination IP Address and port, use the control disable keywords with the tcp-connect command to disable control messages.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip sla operation-number

4. tcp-connect {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} destination-port [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} source-port port-number] [control {enable | disable}]

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. history statistics-distribution-interval milliseconds

14. tag text

15. threshold milliseconds

16. timeout milliseconds

17. tos number
or
traffic-class number

18. flow-label number

19. exit

20. 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]

21. exit

22. 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 

tcp-connect {destination-ip-address | destination-hostname} destination-port [source-ip {ip-address | hostname} source-port port-number] [control {enable | disable}]

Example:

Router(config-ip-sla)# tcp-connect 172.29.139.132 5000

Defines a TCP Connect operation and enters IP SLA TCP configuration mode.

•Use the control disable keyword combination only if you disable the IP SLAs control protocol on both the source and target routers.

Step 5 

history buckets-kept size

Example:

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

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

Step 13 

history statistics-distribution-interval milliseconds

Example:

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

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

Step 14 

tag text

Example:

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

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

Step 15 

threshold milliseconds

Example:

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

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

Step 16 

timeout milliseconds

Example:

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

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

Step 17 

tos number

or

traffic-class number

Example:

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

or

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 18 

flow-label number

Example:

Router(config-ip-sla-tcp)# 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 19 

exit

Example:

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

Exits TCP configuration submode and returns to global configuration mode.

Step 20 

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 21 

exit

Example:

Router(config)# exit

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

Step 22 

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 TCP Connect operation number 9. 

Router# show ip sla configuration 9


Complete Configuration Table (includes defaults)

Entry Number: 9

Owner: 

Tag: SL-SGU 

Type of Operation to Perform: tcpConnect

Reaction and History Threshold (milliseconds): 5000

Operation Frequency (seconds): 20

Operation Timeout (milliseconds): 60000

Verify Data: FALSE

Status of Entry (SNMP RowStatus): active

Protocol Type: ipTcpConn

Target Address: 172.29.139.132

Source Address: 0.0.0.0

Target Port: 5000

Source Port: 0

Request Size (ARR data portion): 1

Response Size (ARR data portion): 1

Control Packets: enabled

Loose Source Routing: disabled

LSR Path: 

Type of Service Parameters: 128

Life (seconds): infinite - runs forever

Next Scheduled Start Time: Start Time already passed

Entry Ageout (seconds): never

Connection Loss Reaction Enabled: FALSE

Timeout Reaction Enabled: FALSE

Threshold Reaction Type: never

Threshold Falling (milliseconds): 3000

Threshold Count: 5

Threshold Count2: 5

Reaction Type: none

Verify Error Reaction Enabled: FALSE

Number of Statistic Hours kept: 2

Number of Statistic Paths kept: 1

Number of Statistic Hops kept: 1

Number of Statistic Distribution Buckets kept: 1

Statistic Distribution Interval (milliseconds): 20

Number of History Lives kept: 0

Number of History Buckets kept: 15

Number of History Samples kept: 1

History Filter Type: none

Troubleshooting Tips

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 TCP Connect Operation

•Example: Configuring a TCP Connect Operation:

Example: Configuring a TCP Connect Operation:

The following example shows how to configure a TCP Connect operation as shown in Figure 1 from Router B to the Telnet port (TCP port 23) of IP Host 1 (IP address 10.0.0.1). The operation is scheduled to start immediately. In this example, the control protocol is disabled on source (Router B). IP SLAs uses the control protocol to notify the IP SLAs Responder to enable the target port temporarily. This action allows the Responder to reply to the TCP Connect operation. In this example, because the target is not a router and a well-known TCP port is used, there is no need to send the control message.

Router A Configuration 

configure terminal

 ip sla responder tcp-connect ipaddress 10.0.0.1 port 23

Router B Configuration 

ip sla 9

 tcp-connect 10.0.0.1 23 control disable

 frequency 30

 tos 128

 timeout 1000

 tag FLL-RO

ip sla schedule 9 start-time now

The following example shows how to configure a TCP Connect operation with a specific port, port 23, and without an IP SLAs Responder. The operation is scheduled to start immediately and run indefinitely. 

ip sla 9

 tcp-connect 173.29.139.132 21 control disable

 frequency 30

ip sla schedule 9 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


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

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

—


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 the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

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 the IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation 

Feature Name
Releases
Feature Information

IP SLAs TCP Connect Operation

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

The Cisco IOS IP SLAs Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connect operation allows you to measure the network response time taken to perform a TCP Connect operation between a Cisco device and other devices using IP.

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

12.2(33)SRC
12.2(33)SB
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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