This document describes how to configure an IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Path Jitter operation to monitor hop-by-hop jitter (inter-packet delay variance). This document also demonstrates how the data gathered using the Path Jitter operations can be displayed and analyzed using Cisco commands.
Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and feature information, see
Bug Search Tool and 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 table at the end of this module.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to
www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Prerequisites for ICMP Path Jitter Operations
Before configuring any IP SLAs application, you can use the showipslaapplication command to verify that the operation type is supported on your software image.
In contrast with other IP SLAs operations, the IP SLAs Responder does not have to be enabled on either the target device or intermediate devices for Path Jitter operations. However, the operational efficiency may improve if you enable the IP SLAs Responder.
Restrictions for ICMP Path Jitter Operations
IP SLAs - ICMP Path Jitter is ICMP-based. ICMP-based operations can compensate for source processing delay but cannot compensate for target processing delay. For more robust monitoring and verifying, we recommend that you use the IP SLAs UDP Jitter operation.
The jitter values obtained using IP SLAs - ICMP Path Jitter are approximates because ICMP does not provide the capability to embed processing times on devices in the packet. If the target device does not place ICMP packets as the highest priority, then the device will not respond properly. ICMP performance also can be affected by the configuration of priority queueing on the device and by ping response.
A path jitter operation does not support hourly statistics and hop information.
Unlike other IP SLAs operations, the ICMP Path Jitter operation is not supported in the RTTMON MIB. Path jitter operations can only be configured using Cisco commands and statistics can only be returned using the
showipsla commands.
IP SLAs - Path Jitter does not support the IP SLAs History feature (statistics history buckets) because of the large data volume involved with jitter operations.
The following commands, available in path jitter configuration mode, do not apply to path jitter operations:
historybuckets-kept
historydistributions-of-statistics-kept
historyenhanced
historyfilter
historyhours-of-statistics-kept
historylives-kept
historystatistics-distribution-interval
samples-of-history-kept
lsr-path
tos
threshold
verify-data
Information About IP SLAs ICMP Path Jitter Operations
IP SLAs - ICMP Path Jitter provides hop-by-hop jitter, packet loss, and delay measurement statistics in an IP network. Path jitter operations function differently than the standard UDP Jitter operation, which provides total one-way data and total round-trip data.
An ICMP Path Jitter operation can be used a supplement to the standard UDP Jitter operation. For example, results from a UDP Jitter operation may indicate unexpected delays or high jitter values; an ICMP Path Jitter operation could then be used to troubleshoot the network path and determine if traffic is bottlenecking in a particular segment along the transmission path.
The operation first discovers the hop-by-hop IP route from the source to the destination using a traceroute utility, and then uses ICMP echoes to determine the response times, packet loss and approximate jitter values for each hop along the path. The jitter values obtained using IP SLAs - ICMP Path Jitter are approximates because ICMP only provides round trip times.
ICMP Path Jitter operations function by tracing the IP path from a source device to a specified destination device, then sending
N number of Echo probes to each hop along the traced path, with a time interval of
T milliseconds between each Echo probe. The operation as a whole is repeated at a frequency of once every
F seconds. The attributes are user-configurable, as shown here:
Path Jitter Operation Parameter
Default
Configured Using:
Number of echo probes (N )
10 echos
path-jitter command,
num-packets option
Time between Echo probes, in milliseconds (T )
20 ms
path-jitter command,
interval option
Note
The operation's frequency is different than the operation's interval.
The frequency of how often the operation is repeated (F )
once every 60 seconds
frequency command
How to Configure the IP SLAs ICMP Path Jitter Operation
Configuring the IP SLAs Responder on a Destination Device
Note
An IP SLAs Responder is not required on either the target device or intermediate devices for path jitter operations. However, operational efficiency may improve if you enable the IP SLAs Responder.
Before You Begin
The networking device to be used as the responder must be a Cisco device and you must have connectivity to that device through the network.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.enable
2.configureterminal
3.ipslaresponder
4.exit
DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
configureterminal
Example:
Device# configure terminal
Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3
ipslaresponder
Example:
Example:
Device(config)# ip sla responder
(Optional) Temporarily enables IP SLAs Responder functionality on a Cisco device in response to control messages from source.
Control is enabled by default.
Step 4
exit
Example:
Device(config)# exit
(Optional) Exits global configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Configuring an ICMP Path Jitter Operation on the Source Device
Perform only one of the following procedures in this section:
Enters IP SLA Path Jitter configuration mode for configuring an ICMP Path Jitter operation.
Step 5
frequencyseconds
Example:
Device(config-ip-sla-pathJitter)# frequency 30
(Optional) Sets the rate at which a specified IP SLAs operation repeats.
Step 6
end
Example:
Device(config-ip-sla-pathJitter)# end
Exits to privileged EXEC mode.
Example
In the following example, the
targetOnly keyword is used to bypass the hop-by-hop measurements. With this version of the command, echo probes will be sent to the destination only.
(Optional) Sets the protocol data size in the payload of an IP SLAs operation's request packet.
Step 8
tagtext
Example:
Device(config-ip-sla-pathJitter)# tag TelnetPollServer1
(Optional) Creates a user-specified identifier for an IP SLAs operation.
Step 9
timeoutmilliseconds
Example:
Device(config-ip-sla-pathJitter)# timeout 10000
(Optional) Sets the amount of time an IP SLAs operation waits for a response from its request packet.
Step 10
vrfvrf-name
Example:
Device(config-ip-sla-pathJitter)# vrf vpn-A
(Optional) Allows monitoring within Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using IP SLAs operations.
Step 11
end
Example:
Device(config-ip-sla-pathJitter)# end
Exits to privileged EXEC mode.
Scheduling IP SLAs Operations
Note
All IP SLAs operations to be scheduled must be already configured.
The frequency of all operations scheduled in a multioperation group must be the same.
The list of one or more operation ID numbers to be added to a multioperation group is limited to a maximum of 125 characters in length, including commas (,).
If the IP SLAs operation is not running and not 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 data verification is 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
debugipslatrace and
debugipslaerror 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 the "Configuring Proactive Threshold Monitoring" section.
operation)
To display and interpret the results of an IP SLAs operation, use the
showipslastatistics command. Check the output for fields that correspond to criteria in your service level agreement to determine whether the service metrics are acceptable.
Configuration Examples for IP SLAs ICMP Path Jitter Operations
The following example shows the output when the ICMP Path Jitter operation is configured. Because the path jitter operation does not support hourly statistics and hop information, the output for the
showipslastatistics command for the path jitter operation displays only the statistics for the first hop.
The following example shows the output when the ICMP Path Jitter operation is configured.
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# ip sla 15011
Device(config-sla-monitor)# path-jitter 10.222.1.100 source-ip 10.222.3.100 num-packets 20
Device(config-sla-monitor-pathJitter)# frequency 30
Device(config-sla-monitor-pathJitter)# exit
Device(config)# ip sla schedule 15011 life forever start-time now
Device(config)# exit
Device# show ip sla statistics 15011
Round Trip Time (RTT) for Index 15011
Latest RTT: 1 milliseconds
Latest operation start time: 15:37:35.443 EDT Mon Jun 16 2008
Latest operation return code: OK
---- Path Jitter Statistics ----
Hop IP 10.222.3.252:
Round Trip Time milliseconds:
Latest RTT: 1 ms
Number of RTT: 20
RTT Min/Avg/Max: 1/1/3 ms
Jitter time milliseconds:
Number of jitter: 2
Jitter Min/Avg/Max: 2/2/2 ms
Packet Values:
Packet Loss (Timeouts): 0
Out of Sequence: 0
Discarded Samples: 0
Operation time to live: Forever
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.
Feature Information for IP SLAs ICMP Path Jitter Operations
The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table 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.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to
www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Table 1
Feature Information for IP SLAs ICMP Path Jitter Operations
Feature Name
Releases
Feature Information
IP SLAs Path Jitter Operation
12.2(31)SB2
12.2(33)SRB1
12.2(33)SXH
12.3(14)T
Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1
15.0(1)S
Cisco IOS XE 3.1.0SG
The Cisco IOS IP SLAs Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) path jitter operation allows you to measure hop-by-hop jitter (inter-packet delay variance).
IPSLA 4.0 - IP v6 phase2
15.2(3)T
Cisco IOS XE Release 3.7S
Support was added for operability in IPv6 networks.
The following commands are introduced or modified:
path- jitter,
show ip sla configuration,
show ip sla summary.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL:
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. (1110R)
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.