Cisco IOS Apollo Domain, Banyan VINES, DECnet, ISO CLNS, and XNS Configuration Guide, Release 12.2
Configuring ISO CLNS

Table Of Contents

Configuring ISO CLNS

Understanding Addresses

ISO IGRP NSAP Address

IS-IS NSAP Address

Addressing Rules

Addressing Examples

Sample Routing Table

Understanding ISO CLNS Routing Processes

Dynamic Routing

Intermediate Systems and End Systems

Static Routing

Routing Decisions

ISO CLNS Configuration Task List

Configuring ISO IGRP Dynamic Routing

Enabling ISO IGRP

Configuring ISO IGRP Parameters

Adjusting ISO IGRP Metrics

Adjusting ISO IGRP Timers

Enabling or Disabling Split Horizon

Configuring IS-IS Dynamic Routing

IS-IS Configuration Task List

Configuring Miscellaneous IS-IS Parameters

Configuring CLNS Static Routing

Enabling Static Routes

Configuring Variations of the Static Route

Mapping NSAP Addresses to Media Addresses

Configuring Miscellaneous Features

Specifying Shortcut NSAP Addresses

Using the IP Domain Name System to Discover ISO CLNS Addresses

Creating Packet-Forwarding Filters and Establishing Adjacencies

Redistributing Routing Information

Specifying Preferred Routes

Configuring ES-IS Hello Packet Parameters

Configuring DECnet OSI or Phase V Cluster Aliases

Configuring Digital-Compatible Mode

Allowing Security Option Packets to Pass

Configuring CLNS over WANs

Enhancing ISO CLNS Performance

Specifying the MTU Size

Disabling Checksums

Disabling Fast Switching Through the Cache

Setting the Congestion Threshold

Sending Error Protocol Data Units

Controlling Redirect Protocol Data Units

Configuring Parameters for Locally Sourced Packets

Monitoring and Maintaining the ISO CLNS Network

Configuring TARP on ISO CLNS

TARP Configuration Task List

Enabling TARP and Configuring a TARP TID

Disabling TARP Caching

Disabling TARP PDU Origination and Propagation

Configuring Multiple NSAP Addresses

Configuring Static TARP Adjacency and Blacklist Adjacency

Determining TIDs and NSAPs

Configuring TARP Timers

Configuring Miscellaneous TARP PDU Information

Monitoring and Maintaining the TARP Protocol

Routing IP over ISO CLNS Networks

Configuring IP over a CLNS Tunnel

Verifying Configuration

Troubleshooting Tips

Monitoring and Maintaining IP over a CLNS Tunnel

ISO CLNS Configuration Examples

Dynamic Routing Within the Same Area Example

Dynamic Routing in More Than One Area Example

Dynamic Routing in Overlapping Areas Example

Dynamic Interdomain Routing Example

IS-IS Routing Configuration Examples

NETs Configuration Examples

Router in Two Areas Example

Basic Static Routing Examples

Static Intradomain Routing Example

Static Interdomain Routing Example

CLNS Filter Examples

Route Map Examples

DECnet Cluster Aliases Example

ISO CLNS over X.25 Example

Performance Parameters Example

TARP Configuration Examples

IP over a CLNS Tunnel Example


Configuring ISO CLNS


The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Connectionless Network Service (CLNS) protocol is a standard for the network layer of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model. Before you can configure this protocol, you must understand addresses and routing processes. This chapter describes addresses, routing processes, and the steps you follow to configure ISO CLNS. For a complete description of the ISO CLNS commands in this chapter, refer to the "ISO CLNS Commands" chapter of the Cisco IOS Apollo Domain, Banyan VINES, DECnet, ISO CLNS, and XNS Command Reference publication. To locate documentation of other commands that appear in this chapter, use the command reference master index or search online.

To identify the hardware platform or software image information associated with a feature, use the Feature Navigator on Cisco.com to search for information about the feature or refer to the software release notes for a specific release. For more information, see the "Identifying Supported Platforms" section in the "Using Cisco IOS Software" chapter.

Understanding Addresses

Addresses in the ISO network architecture are referred to as network service access point (NSAP) addresses and network entity titles (NETs). Each node in an OSI network has one or more NETs. In addition, each node has many NSAP addresses. Each NSAP address differs from one of the NETs for that node in only the last byte. This byte is called the N-selector. Its function is similar to the port number in other protocol suites.

Our implementation supports all NSAP address formats that are defined by ISO 8348/Ad2; however, Cisco provides ISO Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) or Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) dynamic routing only for NSAP addresses that conform to the address constraints defined in the ISO standard for IS-IS (ISO 10589).

An NSAP address consists of the following two major fields, as shown in Figure 15:

The initial domain part (IDP) is made up of 1-byte authority and format identifier (AFI) and a variable-length initial domain identifier (IDI). The length of the IDI and the encoding format for the domain specific part (DSP) are based on the value of the AFI.

The DSP is made up of a High Order DSP (HO-DSP), an area identifier, a system identifier, and a 1-byte N-selector (labeled S).

Figure 15 NSAP Address Fields

Assign addresses or NETs for your domains and areas. The domain address uniquely identifies the routing domain. All routers within a given domain are given the same domain address. Within each routing domain, you can set up one or more areas, as shown in Figure 16. Determine which routers are to be assigned to which areas. The area address uniquely identifies the routing area and the system ID identifies each node.

Figure 16 Sample Domain and Area Addresses

The key difference between the ISO IGRP and IS-IS NSAP addressing schemes is in the definition of area addresses. Both use the system ID for Level 1 routing (routing within an area). However, they differ in the way addresses are specified for area routing. An ISO IGRP NSAP address includes three separate fields for routing: the domain, area, and system ID. An IS-IS address includes two fields: a single continuous area field (comprising the domain and area fields) and the system ID.

ISO IGRP NSAP Address

The ISO IGRP NSAP address is divided into three parts: a domain part, an area address, and a system ID. Domain routing is performed on the domain part of the address. Area routing for a given domain uses the area address. System routing for a given area uses the system ID part. The NSAP address is laid out as follows:

The domain part is of variable length and comes before the area address.

The area address is the 2 bytes before the system ID.

The system ID is the 6 bytes before the N-selector.

The N-selector (S) is the last byte of the NSAP address.

The Cisco ISO IGRP routing implementation interprets the bytes from the AFI up to (but not including) the area field in the DSP as a domain identifier. The area field specifies the area, and the system ID specifies the system.

Figure 17 illustrates the ISO IGRP NSAP addressing structure. The maximum address size is 20 bytes.

Figure 17 ISO IGRP NSAP Addressing Structure

IS-IS NSAP Address

An IS-IS NSAP address is divided into two parts: an area address and a system ID. Level 2 routing (routing between areas) uses the area address. Level 1 routing (routing within an area) uses the system ID address. The NSAP address is defined as follows:

The area address is the NSAP address, not including the system ID and N-selector.

The system ID is found between the area address and the N-selector byte.

The N-selector (S) is the last byte of the NSAP address.

The IS-IS routing protocol interprets the bytes from the AFI up to (but not including) the system ID field in the DSP as an area identifier. The system ID specifies the system.

Figure 18 illustrates the IS-IS NSAP addressing structure. The maximum address size is 20 bytes.

Figure 18 IS-IS NSAP Addressing Structure

Addressing Rules

All NSAP addresses must obey the following constraints:

The NET for a system is normally written as an NSAP address with the N-selector byte set to zero.

No two nodes can have addresses with the same NET; that is, addresses that match all but the N-selector (S) field in the DSP.

No two nodes residing within the same area can have addresses in which the system ID fields are the same.

ISO IGRP requires at least 10 bytes of length: 1 byte for domain, 2 bytes for area, 6 bytes for system ID, and 1 byte for N-selector.

ISO IGRP and IS-IS should not be configured for the same area. Do not specify an NSAP address where all bytes up to (but not including) the system ID are the same when enabling both ISO IGRP and IS-IS routing.

A router can have one or more area addresses. The concept of multiple area addresses is described in the "Assigning Multiple Area Addresses to IS-IS Areas" section later in this chapter.

The Cisco implementation of IS-IS requires at least 8 bytes: one byte for area, 6 bytes for system ID, and 1 byte for N-selector.

Addressing Examples

The following examples show how to configure OSI network and Government OSI Profile (GOSIP) NSAP addresses using the ISO IGRP implementation.

The following example shows an OSI network NSAP address format:

|     Domain|Area|     System ID| S|
47.0004.004D.0003.0000.0C00.62E6.00

The following example shows an GOSIP NSAP address structure. This structure is mandatory for addresses allocated from the International Code Designator (ICD) 0005 addressing domain. Refer to the GOSIP document U.S. Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile (GOSIP), draft version 2.0, April 1989, for more information.

|                    Domain|Area|     System ID| S|
47.0005.80.ffff00.0000.ffff.0004.0000.0c00.62e6.00
 |   |    |    |    |    |
AFI IDI  DFI  AAI  Resv  RD

Sample Routing Table

You enter static routes by specifying NSAP prefix and next hop NET pairs (by using the clns route command). The NSAP prefix can be any portion of the NSAP address. NETs are similar in function to NSAP addresses.

If an incoming packet has a destination NSAP address that does not match any existing NSAP addresses in the routing table, Cisco IOS software will try to match the NSAP address with an NSAP prefix to route the packet. In the routing table, the best match means the longest NSAP prefix entry that matches the beginning of the destination NSAP address.

Table 4 shows a sample static routing table in which the next hop NETs are listed for completeness, but are not necessary to understand the routing algorithm. Table 5 offers examples of how the longest matching NSAP prefix can be matched with routing table entries in Table 4.

Table 4 Sample Routing Table Entries

Entry
NSAP Address Prefix
Next Hop NET

1

47.0005.000c.0001

47.0005.000c.0001.0000.1234.00

2

47.0004

47.0005.000c.0002.0000.0231.00

3

47.0005.0003

47.0005.000c.0001.0000.1234.00

4

47.0005.000c

47.0005.000c.0004.0000.0011.00

5

47.0005

47.0005.000c.0002.0000.0231.00


Table 5 Hierarchical Routing Examples

Datagram Destination NSAP Address
Table Entry Number Used

47.0005.000c.0001.0000.3456.01

1

47.0005.000c.0001.6789.2345.01

1

47.0004.1234.1234.1234.1234.01

2

47.0005.0003.4321.4321.4321.01

3

47.0005.000c.0004.5678.5678.01

4

47.0005.0001.0005.3456.3456.01

5


Octet boundaries must be used for the internal boundaries of NSAP addresses and NETs.

Understanding ISO CLNS Routing Processes

The basic function of a router is to forward packets: receive a packet in one interface and send it out another (or the same) interface to the proper destination. All routers forward packets by looking up the destination address in a table. The tables can be built either dynamically or statically. If you are configuring all the entries in the table yourself, you are using static routing. If you use a routing process to build the tables, you are using dynamic routing. It is possible, and sometimes necessary, to use both static and dynamic routing simultaneously.

When you configure only ISO CLNS and not routing protocols, Cisco IOS software makes only forwarding decisions. It does not perform other routing-related functions. In such a configuration, the software compiles a table of adjacency data, but does not advertise this information. The only information that is inserted into the routing table is the NSAP and NET addresses of this router, static routes, and adjacency information.

You can route ISO CLNS on some interfaces and transparently bridge it on other interfaces simultaneously. To enable this type of routing, you must enable concurrent routing and bridging by using the bridge crb command. For more information on bridging, refer to the "Configuring Transparent Bridging" chapter in the Cisco IOS Bridging and IBM Networking Configuration Guide.

Dynamic Routing

Cisco supports the following two dynamic routing protocols for ISO CLNS networks:  

ISO IGRP

IS-IS

When dynamically routing, you can choose either ISO IGRP or IS-IS, or you can enable both routing protocols at the same time. Both routing protocols support the concept of areas. Within an area, all routers know how to reach all the system IDs. Between areas, routers know how to reach the proper area.

ISO IGRP supports three levels of routing: system routing, area routing, and interdomain routing. Routing across domains (interdomain routing) can be done either statically or dynamically with ISO IGRP. IS-IS supports two levels of routing: station routing (within an area) and area routing (between areas).

Intermediate Systems and End Systems

Some intermediate systems (ISs) keep track of how to communicate with all the end systems (ESs) in their areas and thereby function as Level 1 routers (also referred to as local routers). Other ISs keep track of how to communicate with other areas in the domain, functioning as Level 2 routers (sometimes referred to as area routers). Cisco routers are always Level 1 and Level 2 routers when routing ISO IGRP; they can be configured to be Level 1 only, Level 2 only, or both Level 1 and Level 2 routers when routing IS-IS.

ESs communicate with ISs using the ES-IS protocol. Level 1 and Level 2 ISs communicate with each other using either ISO IS-IS or the Cisco ISO IGRP protocol.

Static Routing

Static routing is used when it is not possible or desirable to use dynamic routing. The following are some instances of when you would use static routing:  

If your network includes WAN links that involve paying for connect time or for per-packet charges, you would use static routing, rather than pay to run a routing protocol and all its routing update packets over that link.

If you want routers to advertise connectivity to external networks, but you are not running an interdomain routing protocol, you must use static routes.

If you must interoperate with equipment from another vendor that does not support any of the dynamic routing protocols that Cisco supports, you must use static routing.

For operation over X.25, Frame Relay, or SMDS networks, static routing is generally preferable.


Note An interface that is configured for static routing cannot reroute around failed links.


Routing Decisions

A Connectionless Network Protocol (CLNP) packet sent to any of the defined NSAP addresses or NETs will be received by the router. Cisco IOS software uses the following algorithm to select which NET to use when it sends a packet:

If no dynamic routing protocol is running, use the NET defined for the outgoing interface, if it exists; otherwise, use the NET defined for the router.

If ISO IGRP is running, use the NET of the ISO IGRP routing process that is running on the interface.

If IS-IS is running, use the NET of the IS-IS routing process that is running on the interface.

ISO CLNS Configuration Task List

To configure ISO CLNS, you must configure the routing processes, associate addresses with the routing processes, and customize the routing processes for your particular network.

To configure the ISO CLNS protocol, you must use some combination of the tasks in the following sections:

Configuring ISO IGRP Dynamic Routing (Optional)

Configuring IS-IS Dynamic Routing (Optional)

Configuring CLNS Static Routing (Optional)

Configuring Miscellaneous Features (Optional)

Configuring CLNS over WANs (Optional)

Enhancing ISO CLNS Performance (Optional)

Monitoring and Maintaining the ISO CLNS Network (Optional)

Configuring TARP on ISO CLNS (Optional)

See the "ISO CLNS Configuration Examples" section at the end of this chapter for configuration examples.

Configuring ISO IGRP Dynamic Routing

The ISO IGRP is a dynamic distance-vector routing protocol designed by Cisco for routing an autonomous system that contains large, arbitrarily complex networks with diverse bandwidth and delay characteristics.

To configure ISO IGRP, perform the tasks in the following sections. The tasks in the "Configuring ISO IGRP Parameters" section are optional, although you might be required to to perform them depending upon your specific application.

Enabling ISO IGRP (Required)

Configuring ISO IGRP Parameters (Optional)

In addition, you can configure the following miscellaneous features described later in this chapter:

Filter routing information—See the "Creating Packet-Forwarding Filters and Establishing Adjacencies" section.

Redistribute routing information from one routing process to another—See the "Redistributing Routing Information" section.

Configure administrative distances—See the "Specifying Preferred Routes" section.

Enabling ISO IGRP

To configure ISO IGRP dynamic routing, you must enable the ISO IGRP routing process, identify the address for the router, and specify the interfaces that are to route ISO IGRP. Optionally, you can set a level for your routing updates when you configure the interfaces. CLNS routing is enabled by default on routers when you configure ISO IGRP. You can specify up to ten ISO IGRP routing processes.

To configure ISO IGRP dynamic routing on the router, use the following commands beginning in global configuration mode:

 
Command
Purpose

Step 1 

Router(config)# router iso-igrp [tag]

Enables the ISO IGRP routing process and enters router configuration mode.

Step 2 

Router(config-router)# net network-entity-title

Configures the NET or address for the routing process.

Although IS-IS allows you to configure multiple NETs, ISO IGRP allows only one NET per routing process.

You can assign a meaningful name for the routing process by using the tag option. You can also specify a name for a NET in addition to an address. For information on how to assign a name, see the "Specifying Shortcut NSAP Addresses" section later in this chapter.

You can configure an interface to advertise Level 2 information only. This option reduces the amount of router-to-router traffic by telling Cisco IOS software to send out only Level 2 routing updates on certain interfaces. Level 1 information is not passed on the interfaces for which the Level 2 option is set.

To configure ISO IGRP dynamic routing on the interface, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# clns router iso-igrp tag [level 2]

Enables ISO IGRP on specified interfaces; also sets the level type for routing updates.


See the sections "Dynamic Routing in Overlapping Areas Example," "Dynamic Interdomain Routing Example," and "ISO CLNS over X.25 Example" at the end of this chapter for examples of configuring dynamic routing.

Configuring ISO IGRP Parameters

The Cisco ISO IGRP implementation allows you to customize certain ISO IGRP parameters. You can perform the optional tasks discussed in the following sections:

Adjusting ISO IGRP Metrics (Optional)

Adjusting ISO IGRP Timers (Optional)

Enabling or Disabling Split Horizon (Optional)

Adjusting ISO IGRP Metrics

You have the option of altering the default behavior of ISO IGRP routing and metric computations. Altering the default behavior enables, for example, the tuning of system behavior to allow for transmissions via satellite. Although ISO IGRP metric defaults were carefully selected to provide excellent operation in most networks, you can adjust the metric.


Note Adjusting the ISO IGRP metric can dramatically affect network performance, so ensure that all metric adjustments are made carefully. Because of the complexity of this task, it is not recommended unless it is done with guidance from an experienced system designer.


You can use different metrics for the ISO IGRP routing protocol on CLNS. To configure the metric constants used in the ISO IGRP composite metric calculation of reliability and load, use the following command in router configuration mode

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# metric weights qos k1 k2 k3 k4 k5

Adjusts the ISO IGRP metric.


Two additional ISO IGRP metrics can be configured: the bandwidth and delay associated with an interface. Refer to the Cisco IOS Interface Command Reference publication for details about the bandwidth (interface) and delay interface configuration commands used to set these metrics.


Note Using the bandwidth (interface) and delay commands to change the values of the ISO IGRP metrics also changes the values of IP IGRP metrics.


Adjusting ISO IGRP Timers

The basic timing parameters for ISO IGRP are adjustable. Because the ISO IGRP routing protocol executes a distributed, asynchronous routing algorithm, it is important that these timers be the same for all routers in the network.

To adjust ISO IGRP timing parameters, use the following command in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# timers basic update-interval holddown-interval invalid-interval

Adjusts the ISO IGRP timers (in seconds).


Enabling or Disabling Split Horizon

Split horizon blocks information about routes from being advertised out the interface from which that information originated. This feature usually optimizes communication among multiple routers, particularly when links are broken.

To either enable or disable split horizon for ISO IGRP updates, use the following commands in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# clns split-horizon

Enables split horizon for ISO IGRP updates.

Router(config-if)# no clns split-horizon

Disables split horizon for ISO IGRP updates.


The default for all LAN interfaces is for split horizon to be enabled; the default for WAN interfaces on X.25, Frame Relay, or Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) networks is for split horizon to be disabled.

Configuring IS-IS Dynamic Routing

IS-IS is an ISO dynamic routing specification. IS-IS is described in ISO 10589. The Cisco implementation of IS-IS allows you to configure IS-IS as an ISO CLNS routing protocol.

IS-IS Configuration Task List

To configure IS-IS, perform the tasks in the following sections. Enabling IS-IS is required; the remainder of the tasks are optional, although you might be required to perform them depending upon your specific application.

Enabling IS-IS (Required)

Enabling Routing for an Area on an Interface (Optional)

Assigning Multiple Area Addresses to IS-IS Areas (Optional)

Configuring IS-IS Interface Parameters (Optional)

Configuring Miscellaneous IS-IS Parameters (Optional)

In addition, you can configure the following miscellaneous features described later in this chapter:

Filter routing information—See the "Creating Packet-Forwarding Filters and Establishing Adjacencies" section.

Redistribute routing information from one routing process to another—See the "Redistributing Routing Information" section.

Configure administrative distances—See the "Specifying Preferred Routes" section.

Enabling IS-IS

Unlike other routing protocols, enabling IS-IS requires that you create an IS-IS routing process and assign it to a specific interface, rather than to a network. You can specify more than one IS-IS routing process per Cisco unit, using the multiarea IS-IS configuration syntax. You then configure the parameters for each instance of the IS-IS routing process.

Small IS-IS networks are built as a single area that includes all the routers in the network. As the network grows larger, it is usually reorganized into a backbone area made up of the connected set of all Level 2 routers from all areas, which is in turn connected to local areas. Within a local area, routers know how to reach all system IDs. Between areas, routers know how to reach the backbone, and the backbone routers know how to reach other areas.

Routers establish Level 1 adjacencies to perform routing within a local area (intra-area routing). Routers establish Level 2 adjacencies to perform routing between Level 1 areas (interarea routing).

Some networks use legacy equipment that supports only Level 1 routing. These devices are typically organized into many small areas that cannot be aggregated due to performance limitations. Cisco routers are used to interconnect each area to the Level 2 backbone.

A single Cisco router can participate in routing in up to 29 areas and can perform Level 2 routing in the backbone. In general, each routing process corresponds to an area. By default, the first instance of the routing process configured performs both Level 1and Level 2 routing. You can configure additional router instances, which are automatically treated as Level 1 areas. You must configure the parameters for each instance of the IS-IS routing process individually.


Note The CPU memory required to run 29 ISIS processes will probably not be present in low-end platforms unless the routing information and area topology are limited.


For IS-IS multiarea routing, you can configure only one process to perform Level 2 routing, although you can define up to 29 Level 1 areas for each Cisco unit. If Level 2 routing is configured on any process, all additional processes are automatically configured as Level 1. You can configure this process to perform Level 1 routing at the same time. If Level 2 routing is not desired for a router instance, remove the Level 2 capability using the is-type command. Use the is-type command also to configure a different router instance as a Level 2 router.

To enable IS-IS, use the following commands beginning in global configuration mode:

 
Command
Purpose

Step 1 

Router(config)# router isis [area-tag]

Enables IS-IS routing for the specified routing process and places you in router configuration mode.

Use the area-tag argument to identify the area to which this IS-IS router instance is assigned. A value for tag is required if you are configuring multiple IS-IS areas.

The first IS-IS instance configured is Level 1-2 by default. Later instances are automatically Level 1. You can change the level of routing to be performed by a particular routing process using the is-type command.

Step 2 

Router(config-router)# net network-entity-title

Configures NETs for the routing process. Specify a NET for each routing process if you are configuring multiarea IS-IS. You can specify a name for a NET and for an address.

You can assign a meaningful name for the routing process by using the tag option. You can also specify a name for a NET in addition to an address. For information on how to assign a name, see the "Specifying Shortcut NSAP Addresses" section later in this chapter.

See the "IS-IS Routing Configuration Examples" section at the end of this chapter for examples of configuring IS-IS routing.

Enabling Routing for an Area on an Interface

To enable CLNS routing and specify the area for each instance of the IS-IS routing process, use the following commands beginning in global configuration mode:

 
Command
Purpose

Step 1 

Router(config)# interface type number

Enters interface configuration mode.

Step 2 

Router(config-if)# clns router isis [area-tag]

Specifies that the interface is actively routing IS-IS when the network protocol is ISO-CLNS, and identifies the area associated with this routing process on this interface.

Step 3 

Router(config-if)# ip address ip-address mask

Defines the IP address for the interface.

An IP address is required on an interface if you want to use the Integrated IS-IS routing protocol over that interface. The Integrated ISIS routing protocol can be used as the routing protocol for IP based networks as well as CLNS based networks.

See the "IS-IS Routing Configuration Examples" section at the end of this chapter for examples of configuring IS-IS routing.

Assigning Multiple Area Addresses to IS-IS Areas

IS-IS routing supports the assignment of multiple area addresses on the same router. This concept is referred to as multihoming. Multihoming provides a mechanism for smoothly migrating network addresses, as follows:

Splitting up an area—Nodes within a given area can accumulate to a point that they are difficult to manage, cause excessive traffic, or threaten to exceed the usable address space for an area. Multiple area addresses can be assigned so that you can smoothly partition a network into separate areas without disrupting service.

Merging areas—Use transitional area addresses to merge as many as three separate areas into a single area that shares a common area address.

Change to a different address—You may need to change an area address for a particular group of nodes. Use multiple area addresses to allow incoming traffic intended for an old area address to continue being routed to associated nodes.

You must statically assign multiple area addresses on a router. Cisco currently supports assignment of up to three area addresses on a router. All the addresses must have the same system ID. For example, you can assign one address (area1 plus system ID), and two additional addresses in different areas (area2 plus system ID and area3 plus system ID) where the system ID is the same. The number of areas allowed in a domain is unlimited.

A router can dynamically learn about any adjacent router. As part of this process, the routers inform each other of their area addresses. If two routers share at least one area address, the set of area addresses of the two routers are merged. A merged set cannot contain more than three addresses. If there are more than three, the three addresses with the lowest numerical values are kept, and all others are dropped.

To configure multiple area addresses in IS-IS areas, use the following commands beginning in global configuration mode:

 
Command
Purpose

Step 1 

Router(config)# router isis [area-tag]

Enables IS-IS routing for the specified routing process and places you in router configuration mode.

Use the area-tag argument to identify the area to which this IS-IS router instance is assigned. A value for area-tag is required if you are configuring multiarea IS-IS. A value for area-tag is optional if you are configuring conventional IS-IS.

The first IS-IS instance configured is Level 1-2 by default. Later instances are automatically Level 1. You can change the level of routing to be performed by a particular routing process using the is-type command.

Step 2 

Router(config-router)# net network-entity-title

Configures NETs for the routing process. Specify a NET for each routing process if you are configuring multiarea IS-IS. You can specify a name for a NET and for an address.

See the "NETs Configuration Examples" section at the end of this chapter for examples of configuring NETs and multiple area addresses.

Configuring IS-IS Interface Parameters

The Cisco IS-IS implementation allows you to customize certain interface-specific IS-IS parameters. You can perform the optional tasks discussed in the following sections:

Adjusting IS-IS Link-State Metrics (Optional)

Setting the Advertised Hello Interval and Hello Multiplier (Optional)

Setting the Advertised Complete Sequence Number PDU Interval (Optional)

Setting the Retransmission Interval (Optional)

Setting the Retransmission Throttle Interval (Optional)

Specifying Designated Router Election (Optional)

Specifying the Interface Circuit Type (Optional)

Configuring IS-IS Authentication Passwords (Optional)

Limiting LSP Flooding (Optional)

You are not required to alter any of these parameters, but some interface parameters must be consistent across all routers in the network. Therefore, be sure that if you do configure any of these parameters, the configurations for all routers on the network have compatible values.

Adjusting IS-IS Link-State Metrics

You can configure a cost for a specified interface. The default metric is used as a value for the IS-IS metric and is assigned when there is no quality of service (QoS) routing performed. The only metric that is supported by Cisco IOS software and that you can configure is the default-metric, which you can configure for Level 1 or Level 2 routing or both. The range for the default-metric is from 0 to 63. The default value is 10.

To configure the link-state metric, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# isis metric default-metric [level-1 | level-2]

Configures the metric (or cost) for the specified interface.


Setting the Advertised Hello Interval and Hello Multiplier

You can specify the length of time (in seconds) between hello packets that Cisco IOS software sends on the interface. You can also change the default hello packet multiplier used on the interface to determine the hold time sent in IS-IS hello packets (the default is 3).

The hold time determines how long a neighbor waits for another hello packet before declaring the neighbor down. This time determines how quickly a failed link or neighbor is detected so that routes can be recalculated.

To set the advertised hello interval and multiplier, use the following commands in interface configuration mode:

 
Command
Purpose

Step 1 

Router(config-if)# isis hello-interval seconds [level-1 | level-2]

Specifies the length of time between hello packets that Cisco IOS software sends.

Step 2 

Router(config-if)# isis hello-multiplier multiplier [level-1 | level-2]

Specifies the number of IS-IS hello packets a neighbor must miss before the router should declare the adjacency as down.

The hello interval can be configured independently for Level 1 and Level 2, except on serial point-to-point interfaces. (Because there is only a single type of hello packet sent on serial links, the hello packet is independent of Level 1 or Level 2.) Specify an optional level for X.25, SMDS, and Frame Relay multiaccess networks.

Use the isis hello-multiplier command in circumstances where hello packets are lost frequently and IS-IS adjacencies are failing unnecessarily. You can raise the hello multiplier and lower the hello interval (the isis hello-interval command) correspondingly to make the hello protocol more reliable without increasing the time required to detect a link failure.

Setting the Advertised Complete Sequence Number PDU Interval

Complete sequence number PDUs (CSNPs) are sent by the designated router to maintain database synchronization.

To configure the IS-IS CSNP interval for the interface, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# isis csnp-interval seconds [level-1 | level-2]

Configures the IS-IS CSNP interval for the specified interface.


The isis csnp-interval command does not apply to serial point-to-point interfaces. It does apply to WAN connections if the WAN is viewed as a multiaccess meshed network.

Setting the Retransmission Interval

You can configure the number of seconds between retransmission of Link-State PDUs (LSPs) for point-to-point links.

To set the retransmission level, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# isis retransmit-interval seconds

Configures the number of seconds between retransmission of IS-IS LSPs for point-to-point links.


The value you specify should be an integer greater than the expected round-trip delay between any two routers on the network. The setting of this parameter should be conservative, or needless retransmission will result. The value you determine should be larger for serial lines and virtual links.

Setting the Retransmission Throttle Interval

You can configure the maximum rate (number of milliseconds between packets) at which IS-IS LSPs will be re-sent on point-to-point links This interval is different from the retransmission interval, the time between successive retransmissions of the same LSP.

To set the retransmission throttle interval, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# isis retransmit-throttle-interval milliseconds

Configures the IS-IS LSP retransmission throttle interval.


This command is usually unnecessary, except when very large networks contain high point-to-point neighbor counts.

Specifying Designated Router Election

You can configure the priority to use for designated router election. Priorities can be configured for Level 1 and Level 2 individually. The designated router enables a reduction in the number of adjacencies required on a multiaccess network, which in turn reduces the amount of routing protocol traffic and the size of the topology database.

To configure the priority to use for designated router election, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# isis priority value [level-1 | level-2]

Configures the priority to use for designated router election.


Specifying the Interface Circuit Type

It is normally not necessary to configure this feature because the IS-IS protocol automatically determines area boundaries and keeps Level 1 and Level 2 routing separate. However, you can specify the adjacency levels on a specified interface.

To configure the adjacency for neighbors on the specified interface, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# isis circuit-type [level-1 | level-1-2 | level-2-only]

Configures the type of adjacency desired for neighbors on the specified interface (specifies the interface circuit type).


If you specify Level 1, a Level 1 adjacency is established if there is at least one area address common to both this node and its neighbors.

If you specify both Level 1 and Level 2 (the default value), a Level 1 and 2 adjacency is established if the neighbor is also configured as both Level 1 and Level 2 and there is at least one area in common. If there is no area in common, a Level 2 adjacency is established.

If you specify Level 2 only, a Level 2 adjacency is established. If the neighbor router is a Level 1 router, no adjacency is established.

Configuring IS-IS Authentication Passwords 

You can assign different authentication passwords for different routing levels. By default, authentication is disabled. Specifying Level 1 or Level 2 enables the password only for Level 1 or Level 2 routing, respectively. If you do not specify a level, the default is Level 1.

To configure an authentication password for an interface, use the following command in interface configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-if)# isis password password [level-1 | level-2]

Configures the authentication password for an interface.


You can assign authentication passwords to areas and domains. An area password is inserted in Level 1 (station router) LSPs, CSNPs, and partial sequence number PDUs (PSNPs). A routing domain authentication password is inserted in Level 2 (area router) LSPs, CSNPs, and PSNPs.

To configure area or domain passwords, use the following commands in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# area-password password

Configures the area authentication password.

Router(config-router)# domain-password password

Configures the routing domain authentication password.


Limiting LSP Flooding

Limiting LSP flooding is important to IS-IS networks in general, and is not limited to configuring multiarea IS-IS networks. In a network with a high degree of redundancy, such as a fully meshed set of point-to-point links over a nonbroadcast multiaccess (NBMA) transport, flooding of LSPs can limit network scalability. You can reduce LSP flooding in two ways:

Blocking Flooding on Specific Interfaces

The advantage of full blocking over mesh groups is that it is easier to configure and understand, and fewer LSPs are flooded. Blocking flooding on all links permits the best scaling performance, but results in a less robust network structure. Permitting flooding on all links results in poor scaling performance.

Configuring Mesh Groups

The advantage of mesh groups over full blocking is that mesh groups allow LSPs to be flooded over one hop to all routers on the mesh, while full blocking allows some routers to receive LSPs over multiple hops. This relatively small delay in flooding can have an impact on convergence times, but the delay is negligible compared to overall convergence times.

Blocking Flooding on Specific Interfaces

You can completely block flooding (full blocking) on specific interfaces, so that new LSPs will not be flooded out over those interfaces. However, if flooding is blocked on a large number of links, and all remaining links go down, routers cannot synchronize their link-state databases even though there is connectivity to the rest of the network. When the link-state database is no longer updated, routing loops usually result.

To use CSNPs on selected point-to-point links to synchronize the link-state database, configure a CSNP interval using the isis csnp-interval command on selected point-to-point links over which normal flooding is blocked. You should use CSNPs for this purpose only as a last resort.

Configuring Mesh Groups

Configuring mesh groups (a set of interfaces on a router) can help to limit redundant flooding. All routers reachable over the interfaces in a particular mesh group are assumed to be densely connected (each router has many links to other routers), where many links can fail without isolating one or more routers from the network.

Normally, when a new LSP is received on an interface, it is flooded out over all other interfaces on the router. When the new LSP is received over an interface that is part of a mesh group, the new LSP will not be flooded out over the other interfaces that are part of that same mesh group.

Mesh groups rely on a full mesh of links between a group of routers. If one or more links in the full mesh goes down, the full mesh is broken, and some routers might miss new LSPs, even though there is connectivity to the rest of the network. When you configure mesh groups to optimize or limit LSP flooding, be sure to select alternative paths over which to flood in case interfaces in the mesh group go down.

To minimize the possibility of incomplete flooding, you should allow unrestricted flooding over at least a minimal set of links in the mesh. Selecting the smallest set of logical links that covers all physical paths results in very low flooding, but less robustness. Ideally you should select only enough links to ensure that LSP flooding is not detrimental to scaling performance, but enough links to ensure that under most failure scenarios no router will be logically disconnected from the rest of the network.

Configuring Miscellaneous IS-IS Parameters

The Cisco IS-IS implementation allows you to customize certain IS-IS parameters. You can perform the optional tasks discussed in the following sections:

Specifying Router-Level Support (Optional)

Ignoring IS-IS LSP Errors (Optional)

Logging Adjacency State Changes (Optional)

Changing IS-IS LSP Maximum Transmission Unit Size (Optional)

Enabling Partitioning Avoidance (Optional)

Changing the Routing Level for an Area (Optional)

Modifying the Output of show Commands (Optional)

Specifying Router-Level Support

It is seldom necessary to configure the IS type because the IS-IS protocol will automatically establish the IS type. However, you can configure the router to act as a Level 1 (intra-area) router, as both a Level 1 router and a Level 2 (interarea) router, or as an interarea router only.

To configure the IS-IS level, use the following command in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# is-type [level-1 | level-1-2 | level-2-only]

Configures the IS-IS level at which the router is to operate.


Ignoring IS-IS LSP Errors 

You can configure the router to ignore IS-IS LSPs that are received with internal checksum errors, rather than purging the LSPs. LSPs are used by the receiving routers to maintain their routing tables.

The IS-IS protocol definition requires that a received LSP with an incorrect data-link checksum be purged by the receiver, which causes the initiator of the LSP to regenerate it. However, if a network has a link that causes data corruption while still delivering LSPs with correct data-link checksums, a continuous cycle of purging and regenerating large numbers of LSPs can occur, rendering the network nonfunctional.

To allow the router to ignore LSPs with an internal checksum error, use the following command in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config)# router isis

Specifies the IS-IS routing protocol, and specifies an IS-IS process.

Router(config-router)# ignore-lsp-errors

Ignores LSPs with internal checksum errors rather than purging the LSPs.



Note By default, the ignore-lsp-errors command is enabled; that is, corrupted LSPs are dropped instead of purged for network stability. If you want to explicitly purge the corrupted LSPs, issue the no ignore-lsp-errors command.


Logging Adjacency State Changes 

You can configure IS-IS to generate a log message when an IS-IS adjacency changes state (up or down). Generating a log message may be useful when monitoring large networks. Messages are logged using the system error message facility. Messages are of the following form:

%CLNS-5-ADJCHANGE: ISIS: Adjacency to 0000.0000.0034 (Serial0) Up, new adjacency
%CLNS-5-ADJCHANGE: ISIS: Adjacency to 0000.0000.0034 (Serial0) Down, hold time expired

To generate log messages when an IS-IS adjacency changes state, use the following command in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# log-adjacency-changes

Logs IS-IS adjacency state changes.


Changing IS-IS LSP Maximum Transmission Unit Size 

Under normal conditions, the default maximum transmission unit (MTU) size should be sufficient. However, if the MTU of a link is lowered to less than 1500 bytes, the LSP MTU must be lowered accordingly on each router in the network. If LSP MTU is not lowered, routing will become unpredictable.

The MTU size must be less than or equal to the smallest MTU of any link in the network. The default size is 1497 bytes.


Caution The CLNS MTU of a link (which is the applicable value for IS-IS, even if it is being used to route IP) may differ from the IP MTU. To be certain about a link MTU as it pertains to IS-IS, use the show clns interface command to display the value.

To change the MTU size of IS-IS LSPs, use the following command in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# lsp-mtu size

Specifies the maximum LSP packet size, in bytes.



Note If any link in the network has a reduced MTU, all routers must be changed, not just the routers directly connected to the link. This rule applies to all routers in a network.


Enabling Partitioning Avoidance

In ISO CLNS networks using a redundant topology, it is possible for an area to become "partitioned" when full connectivity is lost among a Level 1-2 border router, all adjacent Level 1 routers, and end hosts. In such a case, multiple Level 1-2 border routers advertise the Level 1 area prefix into the backbone area, even though any one router can reach only a subset of the end hosts in the Level 1 area.

When enabled, the partition avoidance command prevents this partitioning by causing the border router to stop advertising the Level 1 area prefix into the Level 2 backbone.

Other cases of connectivity loss within the Level 1 area itself are not detected or corrected by the border router, and this command has no effect.

To enable partitioning avoidance, use the following command in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# partition avoidance

Causes an IS-IS Level 1-2 border router to stop advertising the Level 1 area prefix into the Level 2 backbone when full connectivity is lost among the border router, all adjacent Level 1 routers, and end hosts.


Changing the Routing Level for an Area

You can change the routing level configured for an area using the is-type command. If the router instance has been configured for Level 1-2 area (the default for the first instance of the IS-IS routing process in a Cisco unit), you can remove Level 2 (interarea) routing for the area using the is-type command and change the routing level to Level 1 (intra-area). You can also configure Level 2 routing for an area using the is-type command, but the instance of the IS-IS router configured for Level 2 on the Cisco unit must be the only instance configured for Level 2.

To change the routing level for an IS-IS routing process in a given area, use the following command in router configuration mode:

Command
Purpose

Router(config-router)# is-type [level-1 level-1-2 | level-2-only]

Configures the routing level for an instance of the IS-IS routing process.


Modifying the Output of show Commands

To customize display output when the multiarea feature is used, making the display easier to read, use the following command in EXEC mode:

Command
Purpose

Router# isis display delimiter [return cnt |char cnt]

Specifies the delimiter to be used to separate displays of information about individual IS-IS areas.


For example, the following command causes information about individual areas to be separated by 14 hyphens (-) in the display:

isis display delimiter - 14

The output for a configuration with two Level 1 areas and one Level 2 area configured is as follows:

dtp-5# show clns neighbors
--------------
Area L2BB:
System Id      Interface   SNPA                State  Holdtime  Type Protocol
0000.0000.0009 Tu529       172.21.39.9         Up     25        L1L2 IS-IS
--------------
Area A3253-01:
System Id      Interface   SNPA                State  Holdtime  Type Protocol
0000.0000.0053 Et1         0060.3e58.ccdb      Up     22        L1   IS-IS
0000.0000.0003 Et1         0000.0c03.6944      Up     20        L1   IS-IS
--------------
Area A3253-02:
System Id      Interface   SNPA                State  Holdtime  Type Protocol
0000.0000.0002 Et2         0000.0c03.6bc5      Up     27        L1   IS-IS
0000.0000.0053 Et2         0060.3e58.ccde      Up     24        L1   IS-IS

Configuring CLNS Static Routing

You need not explicitly specify a routing process to use static routing facilities. You can enter a specific static route and apply it globally, even if you have configured the router for ISO IGRP or IS-IS dynamic routing.

To configure a static route, perform the tasks in the following sections. Only enabling CLNS is required; the remaining tasks are optional, although you might be required to perform them depending upon your specific application.

Enabling Static Routes (Required)

Configuring Variations of the Static Route (Optional)

Mapping NSAP Addresses to Media Addresses (Optional)

Enabling Static Routes

To configure static routing, you must enable CLNS on the router and on the interface. CLNS routing is enabled on the router by default when you configure ISO IGRP or IS-IS routing protocols. NSAP addresses that start with the NSAP prefix you specify are forwarded to the next hop node.

To configure CLNS on the router, use the following commands beginning in global configuration mode:

 
Command
Purpose

Step 1 

Router(config)# clns routing

Configures CLNS.

Step 2 

Router(config-if)# clns net {net-address | name}

Assigns an NSAP address to the router if the router has not been configured to route CLNS packets dynamically using ISO IGRP or IS-IS.

Step 3 

Router(config)# clns route nsap-prefix {next-hop-net | name}

Enters a specific static route.


Note If you have not configured the router to route CLNS packets dynamically using ISO IGRP or IS-IS, you must assign an address to the router.


You also must enable ISO CLNS for each interface you want to pass ISO CLNS packet traffic to end systems, but for which you do not want to perform any dynamic routing on the interface. ISO CLNS is enabled automatically when you configure IS-IS or ISO IGRP routing on an interface; however, if you do not intend to perform any dynamic routing on an interface, you m