Cisco IOS XR Fundamentals

by Mobeen Tahir, Mark Ghattas, Dawit Birhanu, Syed Nawaz

Overview

Cisco IOS XR Fundamentals is a systematic, authoritative guide to configuring routers with Cisco IOS® XR, the next-generation flagship Cisco® Internet operating system.

In this book, a team of Cisco experts brings together quick, authoritative, and example-rich reference information for all the commands most frequently used to configure and troubleshoot Cisco IOS XR-based routers in both service provider and enterprise environments.

 

The authors walk you through the details of the Cisco IOS XR architecture and explain commands in the new Cisco IOS XR CLI wherever required. They present concise explanations of service provider requirements and internetwork theory, backed by proven sample configurations for IOS XR services, MPLS, multicast, system management, system security, routing, and interfaces.

 

Cisco IOS XR Fundamentals is an indispensable resource for designing, implementing, troubleshooting, administering, or selling networks containing Cisco IOS XR–supported routers. This is the only Cisco IOS XR book that:

• Clearly explains how Cisco IOS XR meets the emerging requirements of both current and future networks
• Gives network professionals extensive information for simplifying migration and taking full advantage of Cisco IOS XR’s new power
• Presents detailed, tested configuration examples that network professionals can apply in their own networks
• Walks through using new Cisco IOS XR features and the In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) process to minimize downtime and cost
• Use Cisco IOS XR to deliver superior scalability, availability, security, and service flexibility
• Understand the Cisco IOS XR distributed, modular architecture
• Design, implement, and troubleshoot networks containing Cisco IOS XR–supported routers
• Configure Cisco IOS XR routing, including RIP, IS-IS, OSPF, and EIGRP
• Learn BGP implementation details specific to Cisco IOS XR and using RPL to influence policies
• Manage IP addresses and Cisco IOS XR services
• Secure Cisco IOS XR using standard and extended ACLs, prefix lists, and uRPF
• Master all facets of MPLS configuration, including LDP, L3VPN, and TE
• Configure PIM, IGMP, and static RP multicast
• Optimize networks using advanced Cisco IOS XR features, including secure domain routers
• Learn building blocks of Multishelf, and understand configurations and migration techniques

 This book is part of the Cisco Press® Fundamentals Series. Books in this series introduce networking professionals to new networking technologies, covering network topologies, sample deployment concepts, protocols, and management techniques.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587140075
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	06/01/2009
Series:	Fundamentals
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
File size:	27 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mobeen Tahir, CCIE No. 12643 (SP, R&S), is a network consulting engineer with the World Wide Service Provider Practice team in Cisco. Mobeen started his career in the communication industry in 1993 with France-based Alcatel. While working for Alcatel between 1993 and 1998, Mobeen engaged in assignments ranging from manufacturing voice switches to planning large-scale telecommunications projects. He joined Cisco in 1999 and has worked on the development testing of the IOS XR operating system for c12000 and CRS-1 platforms. His current role as a network consulting engineer at Cisco consists of designing and deploying NGN networks in the service provider space. Mobeen specializes in IOS XR—based deployments and provides consulting services to Cisco customers. Mobeen has attained master of engineering and B.S.E.E degrees from institutions in Canada and the United States. He lives with his wife and two children in Cary, North Carolina.

 

Mark Ghattas, CCIE No. 19706 (Service Provider), is a solutions architect focusing on architecture and design. He manages the World Wide Service Provider NGN Core Practice team in Advanced Services. Mark has more than 15 years of experience with data communication technologies. Mark joined Cisco Systems in 1999 and has supported strategic service providers. Mark has supported many of the first CRS-1 customers in Japan and the Asia Pacific theatre, CANSAC, Latin America, and North America. He has presented on various topics at Networkers relating to IOS XR. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and plans to earn his MBA degree.

 

Dawit Birhanu, CCIE No. 5602, is a technical leader with the World Wide Service Provider Practice team in Cisco Systems, where he is responsible for assisting global service providers with the deployment of new NGN products and technologies. He specializes in IOS XR—based platforms, QoS, MPLS, and BGP. Dawit joined Cisco Systems in 2000 and has worked on the deployment of new technologies for Cisco 12000 and CRS-1 in the service provider space. Dawit has a master of telecommunications degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a master of electronics engineering degree from Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands. Before getting into the networking industry, Dawit was a lecturer of electrical engineering at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, between 1992 and 1995. Dawit lives with his wife and two daughters in Raleigh, North Carolina.

 

Syed Natif Nawaz,CCIE No. 8825 (SP, R&S), has more than ten years of experience in providing networking design, deployments, and escalation assistance to various service provider customers. Syed Natif Nawaz is currently the IOS XE software development manager at Cisco Systems, where he works on customer-focused software qualification/certification/deployment, feature integration, release processes, and other software quality initiatives. He has presented on various MPLS-related topics in the Networkers conference (Florida), MPLS Power Sessions (London), NANOG (Dallas), and APRICOT (Perth) and has contributed to articles such as “L2VPN: Changing and Consolidating Networks” in Techworldand “Cell Packing” in Packet Magazine. Formerly, Syed Natif Nawaz worked as a development engineer at Assured Access technologies and Alcatel, where he developed software for access concentrators. In addition to higher education in electrical and electronics from the University of Madras, Syed Natif Nawaz also holds an M.S. in computer science and engineering from State University of New York at Buffalo.

 

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 Introducing Cisco IOS XR

Evolution of Networking

Requirements for Carrier-Grade NOS

    Convergence

    Scalability

    Availability

        Hardware Redundancy

        Failure Recovery and Microkernel-Based NOS

        Process Restartability

        Failure Detection

        Software Upgrades and Patching

    Security

    Service Flexibility

Operating System Concepts

    Basic Functions of an Operating System

        Process Scheduling

        Interrupt Handling

        Memory Management

        Synchronization

        Interprocess Communication

        Dynamic Link Library

        Portable Operating System Interface

High-Level Overview of Cisco IOS XR

Cisco IOS XR Platforms

    Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System

    Cisco XR 12000 Series

    Cisco ASR 9000 Series

Chapter 2 Cisco IOS XR Infrastructure

Cisco IOS XR Kernel

    Threads

    Scheduling Algorithms

    Synchronization Services

Cisco IOS XR System Manager

    Process Attributes

    System Manager and Process Lifecycle

    CLI for Sysmgr and Processes

Interprocess Communication

    Characteristics of IPC Mechanisms

        Synchronous Versus Asynchronous

        Intra-node Versus Inter-node

        Connection-Oriented Versus Rendezvous

        Point-to-Point Versus Point-to-Multipoint

    Light Weight Messaging

    Group Service Protocol

    Atomic Descriptor Ring

    Qnet

Distributed Services

    GSP

    Bulk Content Downloader

Process Placement

Cisco IOS XR System Database

High Availability Architecture

Forwarding Path

Chapter 3 Installing Cisco IOS XR

Introduction to Cisco IOS XR Packages

    Image Naming Conventions

    Cisco IOS XR Bootable Files, PIEs, and SMUs

        Composite Bootable Files

        Composite Upgrade PIE

    Optional PIEs

    Software Maintenance Upgrade

Install System Overview

Preparing to Install Cisco IOS XR

TURBOBOOT

    Setting the TURBOBOOT ROMMON Variable

    Booting the .vm File from ROMMON

    Verifying the Software Installation

    Installing Packages

    TURBOBOOT Considerations for the c12000 Platform

    Booting the Standby RP

Upgrading to a Major Cisco IOS XR Version Using mini.pie

    Install Rollback

    Removing Inactive Packages

    Performing an Install Audit

Disk Backup and Recovery

    Creating a Backup Disk with Golden Disk

    Disk Mirroring

        Creating a Disk Partition

        Turning On Disk Mirroring

Install Health Checks

    Verifying MD5 Signature of a PIE or an SMU

    Anticipating Disk Space Usage

    Testing a PIE or SMU Installation

    Verifying the config-register

    Clearing Configuration Inconsistency

Chapter 4 Configuration Management

Understanding Distributed Configuration Management

    Control Plane Configuration Management

    Data Plane Configuration Management

Understanding Configuration Planes

    Admin Plane

    Shared Plane

    Local Plane

Components of Configuration Management

    Configuration Manager

    Configuration File System

    Role of SysDB in Configuration Management

    Replicated Data Service File System

Understanding the Two-Stage Commit Model

    Building the Target Configuration

    Commit Operation

        Commit Confirmed Option

        Commit Failures

        Configuration Failures During Startup

Configuration Features in Cisco IOS XR

    Deleting Physical Interface

    Configuration Navigation

    Default Running Configuration Behavior

    Troubleshooting Configuration Inconsistencies

    Configuration Session Lock

    Avoiding a Commit Operation and Clearing the Target Configurations

        Option 1: Unlock the Configuration Session

        Option 2: Use the clear Command

        Option 3: Use the abort Command

        Option 4: Use the end or exit Commands

Configuration Management During Hardware and Software Change Events

    Configuration Management During Online Insertion and Removal Events

        Case 1: Insert or Remove a Node

        Case 2: Replace the Node with a Different Node

        Case 3: Replace the Node with a Higher Density Node

        Case 4: Replace the Node with a Lower Density Node

    Configuration Management During Package Activation and Deactivation

    Interface Preconfiguration

    Configuration Template

    Configuration Management During Router Startup

Configuration Rollback

Chapter 5 Cisco IOS XR Monitoring and Operations

Using SNMP

    Configuring SNMP

Cisco IOS XR Syslog

    SNMP in the Context of a VRF

    Logging Destination

    Local Archiving of Logging Messages

Embedded Event Manager

    EEM Event Detectors and Events Processing

    Timer Services Event Detector

        Syslog Event Detector

        None Event Detector

    Watchdog System Monitor Event Detector

    Distributed Event Detectors

    Registering and Using Onboard EEM Policies

    User-Defined EEM Policy

    EEM Reliability Metrics

Monitoring Processes

    WDSYSMON

    Monitoring Memory

    Using the show system verify Command

    Operations and Monitoring Best Practices

Chapter 6 Cisco IOS XR Security

Secure Operating System

Securing Access to the Router

    Admin Plane

    SDR Plane

    User Groups and Task Groups

    User Group and Task Group Inheritance

    External AAA

        Configuring a TACACS+ Server

        Authentication Using RADIUS

    Configuring Secure Shell

    Management Plane Protection

Securing the Forwarding Plane

    Access Control Lists

    Unicast RPF

    Local Packet Transport Service

        Mechanics Behind LPTS: A High-Level Overview

        Configuring LPTS

Chapter 7 Routing IGP

Routing Information Protocol

    Understanding RIP Fundamentals

    RIP Versions

    Configuring RIP in Cisco IOS XR

        Configuring Route Policy Language

        Configuring Passive Interface

        Restarting, Shutting Down, and Blocking RIP

        Verifying and Troubleshooting RIP

Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol

    Understanding EIGRP Fundamentals

        Neighbor Discovery/Recovery

        Reliable Transport Protocol

        Diffusing Update Algorithm

        Protocol-Dependent Modules

    Configuring EIGRP in Cisco IOS XR

        Configuring Routing Policy

        Configuring Router ID

        Configuring and Verifying NSF

        Verifying EIGRP Process Status

        Verifying and Troubleshooting EIGRP

Open Shortest Path First

    Understanding OSPF Fundamentals

    Configuring OSPF in Cisco IOS XR

        Configuring and Verifying OSPFv2

        Hierarchical CLI and Inheritance

        Configuring OSPFv2 Authentication

        Verifying NSF Configuration and Standby RP Status

        Configuring and Verifying Nonstop Routing

        Configuring and Verifying Multiarea Adjacencies

        Configuring and Verifying Bidirectional Forwarding Detection

        Configuring OSPF Timers

        Configuring and Verifying OSPFv3

Intermediate System to Intermediate System

    Understanding IS-IS Fundamentals

    Configuring IS-IS in Cisco IOS XR

        Verifying the Single Topology Model

        Configuring and Verifying the Multitopology Model

        Configuring and Verifying Interface States

        Configuring IS-IS NSF and IS-IS Timers

        Configuring and Verifying BFD in IS-IS

        Configuring and Verifying IP Fast Reroute

        Configuring and Verifying Authentication in IOS XR IS-IS

Chapter 8 Implementing BGP in Cisco IOS XR

Cisco IOS XR BGP Architectural Overview

Cisco IOS XR BGP Hierarchical Configuration

    Address Family Configuration Mode

    Configuration Groups

Implementing BGP Policies

    Routing Policy Language

    Prefix Set

    AS-path Set

    Community Set

    Routing Policies

        Hierarchical Policies and Parameterization

BGP Policy Accounting

BGP Remotely Triggered Black Hole

BGP Graceful Restart

BGP Distributed Speaker

Cisco IOS XR BGP Convergence

Chapter 9 Cisco IOS XR MPLS Architecture

Understanding Cisco IOS XR MPLS Architecture Fundamentals

    TTL Processing

    Cisco IOS XR MPLS Load Balancing

Label Distribution Protocol

    LDP Basic Configuration

    LDP Parameters

    LDP Label Control

    LDP-IGP Sync and LDP Session Protection

MPLS Traffic Engineering

Cisco IOS XR Peer-to-Peer L3VPN

    Virtual Routing Forwarding Tables

    MP-iBGP Between PE Routers

    Routing Between CE and PE

        Static Routing for CE-PE

        eBGP as CE-PE Protocol

        OSPF as CE-PE Protocol

        RIP as CE-PE Protocol

L2VPN

    Virtual Private Wire Service

        VPWS Configuration in IOS XR

        Pseudo Wire Redundancy

    Virtual Private VLAN Service

Chapter 10 Cisco IOS XR Multicast

Understanding Multicast Routing Fundamentals

    Internet Group Management Protocol

        IGMPv2

        IGMPv3

    Protocol Independent Multicast

Understanding Cisco IOS XR Multicast

    Understanding Cisco IOS XR PIM Sparse Mode

    Understanding PIM Source Specific Multicast on IOS XR

Configuring Cisco IOS XR Multicast

    Enabling Multicast Routing

    Configuring IGMP

    Configuring PIM

    Configuring Static RP

        Auto-RP

        BSR

        PIM SSM Configuration

Monitoring and Troubleshooting Cisco IOS XR Multicast

    Debugging Multicast on the CRS Router’s Ingress Path

    Debugging Multicast in Router’s Fabric and Egress Path

    Debugging an RPF Failure Using a Line Card MFIB Command

Chapter 11 Secure Domain Router

Owner and Non-Owner SDR

Understanding SDR Privileges

Creating a Secure Domain Router

DRP

Configuring a Secure Domain Router

    Creating a Named Secure Domain Router

    Assigning Resources to a Named SDR

    Logging In to a Newly Named SDR

Process Placement

Chapter 12 Understanding CRS-1 Multishelf

Multishelf Overview

Line Card Chassis

Fabric Card Chassis

Switch Fabric Cards

    Fabric Data Path

    High Availability

Multishelf Fabric Interconnect

    Fabric Planes

    SEA Links

    Fabric Backpressure

    Optical Array Cables

        Recommended Practices and Considerations

        Single Module Fabric Configuration

        Multimodule Configuration

Multishelf Control Ethernet

Multishelf Configuration

    Viewing the Configuration

    Line Card Chassis to Multishelf Preparation

    Troubleshooting Multishelf Fabric Planes

    Troubleshooting Fabric Links

Appendix A ROMMON and Configuration Register Settings

Appendix B Multishelf 2+1 Array Cable Mapping

Appendix C Switch Fabric Down Flags