Explains the transition from legacy VPWS networks to EVPN-based networks, highlighting the process, compatibility, migration flexibility, and key enhancements.
A migration from VPWS to EVPN is a process that
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enables gradual and incremental migration of PE nodes from legacy VPWS to EVPN-VPWS without service disruption
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allows migration of Attachment Circuits (ACs) connected to legacy VPWS pseudowires (PWs) using targeted-LDP or BGP-AD signaling to EVPN-VPWS services, and
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groups VPN instances by EVPN Instance VPN ID (EVI), identified by an Ethernet tag or AC-ID, and associates them with route-targets and route-distinguishers.
| Feature Name |
Release Information |
Feature Description |
|---|---|---|
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 26.2.1 | Introduced in this release on: Modular Systems (8800 [LC ASIC: K100])(select variants only*); *This feature is supported on Cisco 88-LC1-48Y8H-EM line cards. |
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 25.4.1 | Introduced in this release on: Fixed Systems (8010 [ASIC: A100])(select variants only*) *This feature is now supported on:
|
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 25.3.1 |
Introduced in this release on: Fixed Systems (8200 [ASIC: Q200, P100], 8700 [ASIC: P100, K100]); Centralized Systems (8600 [ASIC:Q200]); Modular Systems (8800 [LC ASIC: Q100, Q200, P100]) You can configure local static MPLS labels for EVPN VPWS under the L2VPN cross-connect P2P EVPN EVI configuration, which ensures remote PEs use a consistent, common label for the same EVPN service, improving forwarding consistency and operational control. The feature introduces these changes: CLI: |
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 25.1.1 |
Introduced in this release on: Fixed Systems (8010 [ASIC: A100]) (select variants only*) *This feature is now supported on the Cisco 8011-4G24Y4H-I routers. |
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 24.4.1 |
Introduced in this release on: Fixed Systems (8700) (select variants only*) *The seamless migration of VPWS to EVPN-VPWS services functionality is now extended to the Cisco 8712-MOD-M routers. |
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 24.3.1 |
Introduced in this release on: Modular Systems (8800 [LC ASIC: P100]) (select variants only*) *The seamless migration of VPWS to EVPN-VPWS services functionality is now extended to these fixed systems and line cards:
|
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 24.2.11 |
Introduced in this release on: Modular Systems (8800 [LC ASIC: Q200, P100]) (select variants only*) *The seamless migration of VPWS to EVPN-VPWS services functionality is now extended to routers with the Q200 and 88-LC1-36EH line cards. |
| EVPN Seamless Integration with Legacy VPWS |
Release 7.8.1 |
When expanding an existing L2VPN network, users may want to deploy EVPN-VPWS to provide additional Layer 2 point-to-point Ethernet services, and at the same time some of their customer traffic may still need to be terminated on the existing L2VPN PEs on their network. Users can migrate the PE nodes from L2VPN VPWS to EVPN-VPWS, without disruption in traffic. The seamless migration offers users the option to use either VPWS or EVPN-VPWS services on PE nodes. This allows the coexistence of legacy VPWS and EVPN-VPWS dual-stack in the core for a given L2 Attachment Circuit (AC) over the same MPLS network. This feature introduces the vpws-seamless-integration command. |
Transitioning from VPWS to EVPN
Although VPWS is a widely deployed Layer 2 VPN technology, customers are increasingly transitioning their VPWS networks to EVPN to take advantage of enhanced scalability, operational flexibility, and simplified deployment. To protect existing investments in VPWS infrastructure, service providers are focusing on strategies to ensure smooth integration between their legacy VPWS networks and modern EVPN-based networks.
Key highlights
These are the key highlights of migrating VPWS to EVPN:
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Migration flexibility: Users can migrate PE nodes from VPWS to EVPN incrementally.
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Attachment Circuit (AC) migration: Supports the migration of ACs connected to legacy VPWS pseudowires (PWs) using either targeted-LDP signaling or BGP Auto-Discovery (BGP-AD) signaling to EVPN-VPWS.
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VPN instance grouping: In EVPN-VPWS, VPN instances are grouped by EVPN Instance VPN ID (EVI) and identified using an Ethernet tag or Attachment Circuit ID (AC-ID). The EVI is associated with route targets and route distinguishers.
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Cross-connect functionality: During migration, the EVPN-VPWS PE router can perform either VPWS or EVPN-VPWS Layer 2 cross-connect for a given AC.
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Route advertisement: When both EVPN-VPWS and BGP-AD PWs are configured for the same AC, the EVPN-VPWS PE advertises both the BGP VPWS Auto-Discovery (AD) route and the BGP EVPN Auto-Discovery (EVI/EAD) route, prioritizing EVPN-VPWS pseudowires over BGP-AD VPWS pseudowires.
MPLS static label support for EVPN VPWS
From Release 25.3.1, you can assign a static MPLS label to an EVPN service. This static assignment overrides the default dynamic label allocation by Cisco IOS XR software.
When you configure a static MPLS label on Provider Edge (PE) routers, this ensures that remote PEs receive traffic for the same service with a consistent, common label.
The MPLS static label support for EVPN VPWS provides the same static label functionality as legacy P2P services.
You can configure local static MPLS labels for EVPN VPWS under the L2VPN cross-connect P2P EVPN EVI configuration mode. The range for these static MPLS labels is from 16 to 1,048,575.
Configure static MPLS labels within the range of 16 to 15,000 to avoid conflicts with existing dynamic labels and the default Segment Routing Local Block (SRLB) range of 15,000 to 15,999. For more information, see About the Segment Routing Local Block in the Segment Routing Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers.
