Configuring IP Unicast Routing

• Information About Configuring IP Unicast Routing, on page 1

• Information About IP Routing, on page 1
• How to Configure IP Routing, on page 5
• How to Configure IP Addressing, on page 6
• Monitoring and Maintaining IP Addressing, on page 23
• How to Configure IP Unicast Routing, on page 24
• Monitoring and Maintaining the IP Network, on page 26
• Feature Information for IP Unicast Routing, on page 26

Information About Configuring IP Unicast Routing

This module describes how to configure IP Version 4 (IPv4) unicast routing on the switch.
A switch stack operates and appears as a single router to the rest of the routers in the network. Basic routing
functions like static routing are available with .

Note In addition to IPv4 traffic, you can also enable IP Version 6 (IPv6) unicast routing and configure interfaces
to forward IPv6 traffic .

Information About IP Routing

In some network environments, VLANs are associated with individual networks or subnetworks. In an IP
network, each subnetwork is mapped to an individual VLAN. Configuring VLANs helps control the size of
the broadcast domain and keeps local traffic local. However, network devices in different VLANs cannot
communicate with one another without a Layer 3 device (router) to route traffic between the VLAN, referred
to as inter-VLAN routing. You configure one or more routers to route traffic to the appropriate destination
VLAN.

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Types of Routing

Figure 1: Routing Topology Example

This figure shows a basic routing topology. Switch A is in VLAN 10, and Switch B is in VLAN 20. The router

has an interface in each VLAN.

When Host A in VLAN 10 needs to communicate with Host B in VLAN 10, it sends a packet addressed to
that host. Switch A forwards the packet directly to Host B, without sending it to the router.
When Host A sends a packet to Host C in VLAN 20, Switch A forwards the packet to the router, which
receives the traffic on the VLAN 10 interface. The router checks the routing table, finds the correct outgoing
interface, and forwards the packet on the VLAN 20 interface to Switch B. Switch B receives the packet and
forwards it to Host C.

Types of Routing
Routers and Layer 3 switches can route packets in these ways:
• By using default routing
• By using preprogrammed static routes for the traffic
• By dynamically calculating routes by using a routing protocol

Classless Routing
By default, classless routing behavior is enabled on the Device when it is configured to route. With classless
routing, if a router receives packets for a subnet of a network with no default route, the router forwards the
packet to the best supernet route. A supernet consists of contiguous blocks of Class C address spaces used to
simulate a single, larger address space and is designed to relieve the pressure on the rapidly depleting Class
B address space.
In the figure, classless routing is enabled. When the host sends a packet to 120.20.4.1, instead of discarding
the packet, the router forwards it to the best supernet route. If you disable classless routing and a router receives
packets destined for a subnet of a network with no network default route, the router discards the packet.
Figure 2: IP Classless Routing

In the figure , the router in network 128.20.0.0 is connected to subnets 128.20.1.0, 128.20.2.0, and 128.20.3.0.
If the host sends a packet to 120.20.4.1, because there is no network default route, the router discards the
packet.
Figure 3: No IP Classless Routing

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Address Resolution

To prevent the Device from forwarding packets destined for unrecognized subnets to the best supernet route
possible, you can disable classless routing behavior.

Address Resolution
You can control interface-specific handling of IP by using address resolution. A device using IP can have
both a local address or MAC address, which uniquely defines the device on its local segment or LAN, and a
network address, which identifies the network to which the device belongs.
The local address or MAC address is known as a data link address because it is contained in the data link
layer (Layer 2) section of the packet header and is read by data link (Layer 2) devices. To communicate with
a device on Ethernet, the software must learn the MAC address of the device. The process of learning the
MAC address from an IP address is called address resolution. The process of learning the IP address from
the MAC address is called reverse address resolution.
The Device can use these forms of address resolution:
• Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used to associate IP address with MAC addresses. Taking an IP
address as input, ARP learns the associated MAC address and then stores the IP address/MAC address
association in an ARP cache for rapid retrieval. Then the IP datagram is encapsulated in a link-layer
frame and sent over the network. Encapsulation of IP datagrams and ARP requests or replies on IEEE
802 networks other than Ethernet is specified by the Subnetwork Access Protocol (SNAP).
• Proxy ARP helps hosts with no routing tables learn the MAC addresses of hosts on other networks or
subnets. If the Device (router) receives an ARP request for a host that is not on the same interface as the
ARP request sender, and if the router has all of its routes to the host through other interfaces, it generates
a proxy ARP packet giving its own local data link address. The host that sent the ARP request then sends
its packets to the router, which forwards them to the intended host.

The Device also uses the Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP), which functions the same as ARP
does, except that the RARP packets request an IP address instead of a local MAC address. Using RARP
requires a RARP server on the same network segment as the router interface. Use the ip rarp-server address
interface configuration command to identify the server.

Proxy ARP
Proxy ARP, the most common method for learning about other routes, enables an Ethernet host with no routing
information to communicate with hosts on other networks or subnets. The host assumes that all hosts are on
the same local Ethernet and that they can use ARP to learn their MAC addresses. If a Device receives an ARP
request for a host that is not on the same network as the sender, the Device evaluates whether it has the best
route to that host. If it does, it sends an ARP reply packet with its own Ethernet MAC address, and the host
that sent the request sends the packet to the Device, which forwards it to the intended host. Proxy ARP treats
all networks as if they are local, and performs ARP requests for every IP address.

ICMP Router Discovery Protocol

Router discovery allows the Device to dynamically learn about routes to other networks using ICMP router
discovery protocol (IRDP). IRDP allows hosts to locate routers. When operating as a client, the Device
generates router discovery packets. When operating as a host, the Device receives router discovery packets.
The Device can also listen to Routing Information Protocol (RIP) routing updates and use this information to
infer locations of routers. The Device does not actually store the routing tables sent by routing devices; it

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UDP Broadcast Packets and Protocols

merely keeps track of which systems are sending the data. The advantage of using IRDP is that it allows each
router to specify both a priority and the time after which a device is assumed to be down if no further packets
are received.
Each device discovered becomes a candidate for the default router, and a new highest-priority router is selected
when a higher priority router is discovered, when the current default router is declared down, or when a TCP
connection is about to time out because of excessive retransmissions.

UDP Broadcast Packets and Protocols

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is an IP host-to-host layer protocol, as is TCP. UDP provides a low-overhead,
connectionless session between two end systems and does not provide for acknowledgment of received
datagrams. Network hosts occasionally use UDP broadcasts to find address, configuration, and name
information. If such a host is on a network segment that does not include a server, UDP broadcasts are normally
not forwarded. You can remedy this situation by configuring an interface on a router to forward certain classes
of broadcasts to a helper address. You can use more than one helper address per interface.
You can specify a UDP destination port to control which UDP services are forwarded. You can specify multiple
UDP protocols. You can also specify the Network Disk (ND) protocol, which is used by older diskless Sun
workstations and the network security protocol SDNS.
By default, both UDP and ND forwarding are enabled if a helper address has been defined for an interface.

Broadcast Packet Handling

After configuring an IP interface address, you can enable routing and configure one or more routing protocols,
or you can configure the way the Device responds to network broadcasts. A broadcast is a data packet destined
for all hosts on a physical network. The Device supports two kinds of broadcasting:
• A directed broadcast packet is sent to a specific network or series of networks. A directed broadcast
address includes the network or subnet fields.
• A flooded broadcast packet is sent to every network.

Note You can also limit broadcast, unicast, and multicast traffic on Layer 2 interfaces
by using the storm-control interface configuration command to set traffic
suppression levels.

Routers provide some protection from broadcast storms by limiting their extent to the local cable. Bridges
(including intelligent bridges), because they are Layer 2 devices, forward broadcasts to all network segments,
thus propagating broadcast storms. The best solution to the broadcast storm problem is to use a single broadcast
address scheme on a network. In most modern IP implementations, you can set the address to be used as the
broadcast address. Many implementations, including the one in the Device, support several addressing schemes
for forwarding broadcast messages.

IP Broadcast Flooding
You can allow IP broadcasts to be flooded throughout your internetwork in a controlled fashion by using the
database created by the bridging STP. Using this feature also prevents loops. To support this capability,
bridging must be configured on each interface that is to participate in the flooding. If bridging is not configured

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How to Configure IP Routing

on an interface, it still can receive broadcasts. However, the interface never forwards broadcasts it receives,
and the router never uses that interface to send broadcasts received on a different interface.
Packets that are forwarded to a single network address using the IP helper-address mechanism can be flooded.
Only one copy of the packet is sent on each network segment.
To be considered for flooding, packets must meet these criteria. (Note that these are the same conditions used
to consider packet forwarding using IP helper addresses.)
• The packet must be a MAC-level broadcast.
• The packet must be an IP-level broadcast.
• The packet must be a TFTP, DNS, Time, NetBIOS, ND, or BOOTP packet, or a UDP specified by the
ip forward-protocol udp global configuration command.
• The time-to-live (TTL) value of the packet must be at least two.

A flooded UDP datagram is given the destination address specified with the ip broadcast-address interface
configuration command on the output interface. The destination address can be set to any address. Thus, the
destination address might change as the datagram propagates through the network. The source address is never
changed. The TTL value is decremented.
When a flooded UDP datagram is sent out an interface (and the destination address possibly changed), the
datagram is handed to the normal IP output routines and is, therefore, subject to access lists, if they are present
on the output interface.
In the Device, the majority of packets are forwarded in hardware; most packets do not go through the Device
CPU. For those packets that do go to the CPU, you can speed up spanning tree-based UDP flooding by a
factor of about four to five times by using turbo-flooding. This feature is supported over Ethernet interfaces
configured for ARP encapsulation.

How to Configure IP Routing

By default, IP routing is disabled on the Device, and you must enable it before routing can take place.
In the following procedures, the specified interface must be one of these Layer 3 interfaces:
• A routed port: a physical port configured as a Layer 3 port by using the no switchport interface
configuration command.
• A switch virtual interface (SVI): a VLAN interface created by using the interface vlan vlan_id global
configuration command and by default a Layer 3 interface.
• An EtherChannel port channel in Layer 3 mode: a port-channel logical interface created by using the
interface port-channel port-channel-number global configuration command and binding the Ethernet
interface into the channel group.

Note The switch does not support tunnel interfaces for unicast routed traffic.

All Layer 3 interfaces on which routing will occur must have IP addresses assigned to them.

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How to Configure IP Addressing

Note A Layer 3 switch can have an IP address assigned to each routed port and SVI.

Configuring routing consists of several main procedures:

• To support VLAN interfaces, create and configure VLANs on the Device or switch stack, and assign
VLAN membership to Layer 2 interfaces. For more information, see the "Configuring VLANs” chapter.
• Configure Layer 3 interfaces.
• Enable IP routing on the switch.
• Assign IP addresses to the Layer 3 interfaces.
• Enable selected routing protocols on the switch.
• Configure routing protocol parameters (optional).

How to Configure IP Addressing

A required task for configuring IP routing is to assign IP addresses to Layer 3 network interfaces to enable
the interfaces and allow communication with the hosts on those interfaces that use IP. The following sections
describe how to configure various IP addressing features. Assigning IP addresses to the interface is required;
the other procedures are optional.
• Default Addressing Configuration
• Assigning IP Addresses to Network Interfaces
• Configuring Address Resolution Methods
• Routing Assistance When IP Routing is Disabled
• Configuring Broadcast Packet Handling
• Monitoring and Maintaining IP Addressing

Default IP Addressing Configuration

Table 1: Default Addressing Configuration

Feature Default Setting

IP address None defined.

ARP No permanent entries in the Address Resolution

Protocol (ARP) cache.
Encapsulation: Standard Ethernet-style ARP.
Timeout: 14400 seconds (4 hours).

IP broadcast address 255.255.255.255 (all ones).

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Assigning IP Addresses to Network Interfaces

Feature Default Setting

IP classless routing Enabled.

IP default gateway Disabled.

IP directed broadcast Disabled (all IP directed broadcasts are dropped).

IP domain Domain list: No domain names defined.

Domain lookup: Enabled.
Domain name: Enabled.

IP forward-protocol If a helper address is defined or User Datagram

Protocol (UDP) flooding is configured, UDP
forwarding is enabled on default ports.
Any-local-broadcast: Disabled.
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP): Disabled.
Turbo-flood: Disabled.

IP helper address Disabled.

IP host Disabled.

IRDP Disabled.
Defaults when enabled:
• Broadcast IRDP advertisements.
• Maximum interval between advertisements: 600
seconds.
• Minimum interval between advertisements: 0.75
times max interval
• Preference: 0.

IP proxy ARP Enabled.

IP routing Disabled.

IP subnet-zero Disabled.

Assigning IP Addresses to Network Interfaces

An IP address identifies a location to which IP packets can be sent. Some IP addresses are reserved for special
uses and cannot be used for host, subnet, or network addresses. RFC 1166, “Internet Numbers,” contains the
official description of IP addresses.
An interface can have one primary IP address. A mask identifies the bits that denote the network number in
an IP address. When you use the mask to subnet a network, the mask is referred to as a subnet mask. To
receive an assigned network number, contact your Internet service provider.

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Assigning IP Addresses to Network Interfaces

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the
Layer 3 interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 4 no switchport Removes the interface from Layer 2 configuration mode

(if it is a physical interface).
Example:

Device(config-if)# no switchport

Step 5 ip address ip-address subnet-mask Configures the IP address and IP subnet mask.
Example:

Device(config-if)# ip address 10.1.5.1

255.255.255.0

Step 6 no shutdown Enables the physical interface.

Example:

Device(config-if)# no shutdown

Step 7 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 8 show ip route Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show ip route

Step 9 show ip interface [interface-id] Verifies your entries.

Example:

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Using Subnet Zero

Command or Action Purpose

Device# show ip interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 10 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show running-config

Step 11 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Using Subnet Zero

Subnetting with a subnet address of zero is strongly discouraged because of the problems that can arise if a
network and a subnet have the same addresses. For example, if network 131.108.0.0 is subnetted as
255.255.255.0, subnet zero would be written as 131.108.0.0, which is the same as the network address.
You can use the all ones subnet (131.108.255.0) and even though it is discouraged, you can enable the use of
subnet zero if you need the entire subnet space for your IP address.
Use the no ip subnet-zero global configuration command to restore the default and disable the use of subnet
zero.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 ip subnet-zero Enables the use of subnet zero for interface addresses and
routing updates.
Example:

Device(config)# ip subnet-zero

Step 4 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

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Disabling Classless Routing

Command or Action Purpose

Device(config)# end

Step 5 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show running-config

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Disabling Classless Routing

To prevent the Device from forwarding packets destined for unrecognized subnets to the best supernet route
possible, you can disable classless routing behavior.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 no ip classless Disables classless routing behavior.

Example:

Device(config)#no ip classless

Step 4 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

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Configuring Address Resolution Methods

Command or Action Purpose

Step 5 show running-config Verifies your entries.
Example:

Device# show running-config

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Configuring Address Resolution Methods

You can perform the following tasks to configure address resolution.

Defining a Static ARP Cache

ARP and other address resolution protocols provide dynamic mapping between IP addresses and MAC
addresses. Because most hosts support dynamic address resolution, you usually do not need to specify static
ARP cache entries. If you must define a static ARP cache entry, you can do so globally, which installs a
permanent entry in the ARP cache that the Device uses to translate IP addresses into MAC addresses. Optionally,
you can also specify that the Device respond to ARP requests as if it were the owner of the specified IP address.
If you do not want the ARP entry to be permanent, you can specify a timeout period for the ARP entry.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 arp ip-address hardware-address type Associates an IP address with a MAC (hardware) address
in the ARP cache, and specifies encapsulation type as one
Example:
of these:
Device(config)# ip 10.1.5.1 c2f3.220a.12f4 arpa • arpa—ARP encapsulation for Ethernet interfaces
• snap—Subnetwork Address Protocol encapsulation
for Token Ring and FDDI interfaces

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Defining a Static ARP Cache

Command or Action Purpose

• sap—HP’s ARP type

Step 4 arp ip-address hardware-address type [alias] (Optional) Specifies that the switch respond to ARP
requests as if it were the owner of the specified IP address.
Example:

Device(config)# ip 10.1.5.3 d7f3.220d.12f5 arpa

alias

Step 5 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the
interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 6 arp timeout seconds (Optional) Sets the length of time an ARP cache entry will
stay in the cache. The default is 14400 seconds (4 hours).
Example:
The range is 0 to 2147483 seconds.
Device(config-if)# arp 20000

Step 7 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 8 show interfaces [interface-id] Verifies the type of ARP and the timeout value used on
all interfaces or a specific interface.
Example:

Device# show interfaces gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 9 show arp Views the contents of the ARP cache.

Example:

Device# show arp

Step 10 show ip arp Views the contents of the ARP cache.

Example:

Device# show ip arp

Step 11 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

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Setting ARP Encapsulation

Setting ARP Encapsulation

By default, Ethernet ARP encapsulation (represented by the arpa keyword) is enabled on an IP interface.
You can change the encapsulation methods to SNAP if required by your network.
To disable an encapsulation type, use the no arp arpa or no arp snap interface configuration command.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the Layer
3 interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/2

Step 4 arp {arpa | snap} Specifies the ARP encapsulation method:

Example: • arpa—Address Resolution Protocol

Device(config-if)# arp arpa

• snap—Subnetwork Address Protocol

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 6 show interfaces [interface-id] Verifies ARP encapsulation configuration on all interfaces
or the specified interface.
Example:

Device# show interfaces

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

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Enabling Proxy ARP

Enabling Proxy ARP

By default, the Device uses proxy ARP to help hosts learn MAC addresses of hosts on other networks or
subnets.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the Layer
3 interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/2

Step 4 ip proxy-arp Enables proxy ARP on the interface.

Example:

Device(config-if)# ip proxy-arp

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 6 show ip interface [interface-id] Verifies the configuration on the interface or all interfaces.
Example:

Device# show ip interface gigabitethernet 1/0/2

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

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Routing Assistance When IP Routing is Disabled

Routing Assistance When IP Routing is Disabled

These mechanisms allow the Device to learn about routes to other networks when it does not have IP routing
enabled:
• Proxy ARP
• Default Gateway
• ICMP Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP)

Proxy ARP
Proxy ARP is enabled by default. To enable it after it has been disabled, see the “Enabling Proxy ARP” section.
Proxy ARP works as long as other routers support it.

Default Gateway
Another method for locating routes is to define a default router or default gateway. All non-local packets are
sent to this router, which either routes them appropriately or sends an IP Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
redirect message back, defining which local router the host should use. The Device caches the redirect messages
and forwards each packet as efficiently as possible. A limitation of this method is that there is no means of
detecting when the default router has gone down or is unavailable.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 ip default-gateway ip-address Sets up a default gateway (router).

Example:

Device(config)# ip default gateway 10.1.5.1

Step 4 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

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ICMP Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP)

Command or Action Purpose

Step 5 show ip redirects Displays the address of the default gateway router to verify
the setting.
Example:

Device# show ip redirects

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

ICMP Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP)

The only required task for IRDP routing on an interface is to enable IRDP processing on that interface. When
enabled, the default parameters apply.
You can optionally change any of these parameters. If you change the maxadvertinterval value, the holdtime
and minadvertinterval values also change, so it is important to first change the maxadvertinterval value,
before manually changing either the holdtime or minadvertinterval values.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the
Layer 3 interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 4 ip irdp Enables IRDP processing on the interface.

Example:

Device(config-if)# ip irdp

Step 5 ip irdp multicast (Optional) Sends IRDP advertisements to the multicast

address (224.0.0.1) instead of IP broadcasts.
Example:

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ICMP Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP)

Command or Action Purpose

Note This command allows for compatibility with
Device(config-if)# ip irdp multicast
Sun Microsystems Solaris, which requires IRDP
packets to be sent out as multicasts. Many
implementations cannot receive these
multicasts; ensure end-host ability before using
this command.

Step 6 ip irdp holdtime seconds (Optional) Sets the IRDP period for which advertisements
are valid. The default is three times the maxadvertinterval
Example:
value. It must be greater than maxadvertinterval and
cannot be greater than 9000 seconds. If you change the
Device(config-if)# ip irdp holdtime 1000
maxadvertinterval value, this value also changes.

Step 7 ip irdp maxadvertinterval seconds (Optional) Sets the IRDP maximum interval between
advertisements. The default is 600 seconds.
Example:

Device(config-if)# ip irdp maxadvertinterval 650

Step 8 ip irdp minadvertinterval seconds (Optional) Sets the IRDP minimum interval between
advertisements. The default is 0.75 times the
Example:
maxadvertinterval. If you change the maxadvertinterval,
this value changes to the new default (0.75 of
Device(config-if)# ip irdp minadvertinterval 500
maxadvertinterval).

Step 9 ip irdp preference number (Optional) Sets a device IRDP preference level. The
allowed range is –231 to 231. The default is 0. A higher
Example:
value increases the router preference level.
Device(config-if)# ip irdp preference 2

Step 10 ip irdp address address [number] (Optional) Specifies an IRDP address and preference to
proxy-advertise.
Example:

Device(config-if)# ip irdp address 10.1.10.10

Step 11 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 12 show ip irdp Verifies settings by displaying IRDP values.

Example:

Device# show ip irdp

Step 13 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

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Configuring Broadcast Packet Handling

Command or Action Purpose

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Configuring Broadcast Packet Handling

Perform the tasks in these sections to enable these schemes:
• Enabling Directed Broadcast-to-Physical Broadcast Translation
• Forwarding UDP Broadcast Packets and Protocols
• Establishing an IP Broadcast Address
• Flooding IP Broadcasts

Enabling Directed Broadcast-to-Physical Broadcast Translation

By default, IP directed broadcasts are dropped; they are not forwarded. Dropping IP-directed broadcasts makes
routers less susceptible to denial-of-service attacks.
You can enable forwarding of IP-directed broadcasts on an interface where the broadcast becomes a physical
(MAC-layer) broadcast. Only those protocols configured by using the ip forward-protocol global configuration
command are forwarded.
You can specify an access list to control which broadcasts are forwarded. When an access list is specified,
only those IP packets permitted by the access list are eligible to be translated from directed broadcasts to
physical broadcasts. For more information on access lists, see the “Configuring ACLs" chapter in the Security
section.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the
interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/2

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Forwarding UDP Broadcast Packets and Protocols

Command or Action Purpose

Step 4 ip directed-broadcast [access-list-number] Enables directed broadcast-to-physical broadcast
translation on the interface. You can include an access list
Example:
to control which broadcasts are forwarded. When an access
list, only IP packets permitted by the access list can be
Device(config-if)# ip directed-broadcast 103
translated.

Step 5 exit Returns to global configuration mode.

Example:

Device(config-if)# exit

Step 6 ip forward-protocol {udp [port] | nd | sdns} Specifies which protocols and ports the router forwards
when forwarding broadcast packets.
Example:
• udp—Forward UPD datagrams.
Device(config)# ip forward-protocol nd
port: (Optional) Destination port that controls which
UDP services are forwarded.
• nd—Forward ND datagrams.
• sdns—Forward SDNS datagrams

Step 7 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 8 show ip interface [interface-id] Verifies the configuration on the interface or all interfaces
Example:

Device# show ip interface

Step 9 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show running-config

Step 10 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Forwarding UDP Broadcast Packets and Protocols

If you do not specify any UDP ports when you configure the forwarding of UDP broadcasts, you are configuring
the router to act as a BOOTP forwarding agent. BOOTP packets carry DHCP information.

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Forwarding UDP Broadcast Packets and Protocols

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the
Layer 3 interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 4 ip helper-address address Enables forwarding and specifies the destination address
for forwarding UDP broadcast packets, including BOOTP.
Example:

Device(config-if)# ip helper address 10.1.10.1

Step 5 exit Returns to global configuration mode.

Example:

Device(config-if)# exit

Step 6 ip forward-protocol {udp [port] | nd | sdns} Specifies which protocols the router forwards when
forwarding broadcast packets.
Example:

Device(config)# ip forward-protocol sdns

Step 7 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 8 show ip interface [interface-id] Verifies the configuration on the interface or all interfaces.
Example:

Device# show ip interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 9 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Establishing an IP Broadcast Address

Command or Action Purpose

Device# show running-config

Step 10 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Establishing an IP Broadcast Address

The most popular IP broadcast address (and the default) is an address consisting of all ones (255.255.255.255).
However, the Device can be configured to generate any form of IP broadcast address.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the
interface to configure.
Example:

Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Step 4 ip broadcast-address ip-address Enters a broadcast address different from the default, for
example 128.1.255.255.
Example:

Device(config-if)# ip broadcast-address
128.1.255.255

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Configuring IP Unicast Routing

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Flooding IP Broadcasts

Command or Action Purpose

Step 6 show ip interface [interface-id] Verifies the broadcast address on the interface or all
interfaces.
Example:

Device# show ip interface

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Flooding IP Broadcasts

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 ip forward-protocol spanning-tree Uses the bridging spanning-tree database to flood UDP
datagrams.
Example:

Device(config)# ip forward-protocol spanning-tree

Step 4 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 5 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show running-config

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Monitoring and Maintaining IP Addressing

Command or Action Purpose

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Step 7 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 8 ip forward-protocol turbo-flood Uses the spanning-tree database to speed up flooding of

UDP datagrams.
Example:

Device(config)# ip forward-protocol turbo-flood

Step 9 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 10 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show running-config

Step 11 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Monitoring and Maintaining IP Addressing

When the contents of a particular cache, table, or database have become or are suspected to be invalid, you
can remove all its contents by using the clear privileged EXEC commands. The Table lists the commands
for clearing contents.

Table 2: Commands to Clear Caches, Tables, and Databases

clear arp-cache Clears the IP ARP cache and the fast-switching cache.

clear host {name | *} Removes one or all entries from the hostname and the
address cache.

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
How to Configure IP Unicast Routing

clear ip route {network [mask] | *} Removes one or more routes from the IP routing table.

You can display specific statistics, such as the contents of IP routing tables, caches, and databases; the
reachability of nodes; and the routing path that packets are taking through the network. The Table lists the
privileged EXEC commands for displaying IP statistics.

Table 3: Commands to Display Caches, Tables, and Databases

show arp Displays the entries in the ARP table.

show hosts Displays the default domain name, style of lookup

service, name server hosts, and the cached list of
hostnames and addresses.

show ip aliases Displays IP addresses mapped to TCP ports (aliases).

show ip arp Displays the IP ARP cache.

show ip interface [interface-id] Displays the IP status of interfaces.

show ip irdp Displays IRDP values.

show ip masks address Displays the masks used for network addresses and
the number of subnets using each mask.

show ip redirects Displays the address of a default gateway.

show ip route [address [mask]] | [protocol] Displays the current state of the routing table.

show ip route summary Displays the current state of the routing table in
summary form.

How to Configure IP Unicast Routing

Enabling IP Unicast Routing
By default, the Device is in Layer 2 switching mode and IP routing is disabled. To use the Layer 3 capabilities
of the Device, you must enable IP routing.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Example of Enabling IP Routing

Command or Action Purpose

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 ip routing Enables IP routing.

Example:

Device(config)# ip routing

Step 4 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 5 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show running-config

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config startup-config

Example of Enabling IP Routing

This example shows how to enable IP routing :

Device# configure terminal

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Device(config)# ip routing

Device(config-router)# end

What to Do Next
You can now set up parameters for the selected routing protocols as described in these sections:
• RIP
• OSPF,
• EIGRP

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 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Monitoring and Maintaining the IP Network

• BGP
• Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding
• Protocol-Independent Features (optional)

Monitoring and Maintaining the IP Network

You can remove all contents of a particular cache, table, or database. You can also display specific statistics.

Table 4: Commands to Clear IP Routes or Display Route Status

Command Purpose
show ip route summary Displays the current state of the routing table in
summary form.

Feature Information for IP Unicast Routing

Table 5: Feature Information for IP Unicast Routing

Feature Name Release Feature Information

IP Unicast Routing Cisco IOS XE Everest 16.6.1 This feature was introduced

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