Exploring the Inner Workings

of OSPF

Elvin Arias Soto

High Touch Engineer @Cisco
BRKENT-2088

#CiscoLive
 • Introduction
• Deep Dive into OSPF Mechanics
• Router Roles
• Packet Types
• LSA Types
• Network Types, Adjacencies,
Designated Router

Agenda • LSDB Synchronization

• Inter-Area Routing
• Special Areas
• Path Selection
• Security Hardening
• Optimization Features
• Fun: Stupid Routing Tricks!
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OSPF Routing
Overview
Final Topology
829

809
R7
0
XR2 XR5

XR1 XR4

R3 R6 R8

ISP1 849

ISP2

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What is OSPF? (1) ☺
• The Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is an Interior Gateway
Protocol (IGP) currently defined in RFC 2328. Offers many
benefits such as:
• High scalability
• Extensibility
• Feature Richness
• Operational flexibility
• Security

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What is OSPF? (2) ☺
• Each router sends information about its own directly connected
links to all other routers in the network
• All routers use this information to build a complete map of the
network topology
• Routing decisions are then made based on this complete picture
of the network, considering link speed, cost, and reliability
• Link-state protocols: OSPF, IS-IS

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Areas & Router
Roles
What is an area?
• Areas are a logical partition of an autonomous system (AS)
• Areas are introduced to put a boundary on the explosion of
link-state updates. Floods and calculation of the Dijkstra
algorithm on a router is limited to changes within an area
• All routers within an area have the exact link-state database.
Routers that belong to multiple areas, and connect these areas
to the backbone area are called area border routers (ABR)

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Router Roles
• Internal Router
• Backbone Router
• Area Border Router (ABR)
• Autonomous System Boundary Router (ASBR)
• Designated Router (DR)
• Backup Designated Router (BDR)

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Area Role Verification: IOS-XR
RP/0/0/CPU0:r2#show ospf
Routing Process "ospf 1" with ID 2.2.2.2
Role: Primary Active
NSR (Non-stop routing) is Enabled
Supports only single TOS(TOS0) routes
Supports opaque LSA
It is an area border and autonomous system boundary router
<snip>

RP/0/0/CPU0:r2#show ospf database router self-originate

OSPF Router with ID (2.2.2.2) (Process ID 1)
Router Link States (Area 0)
LS age: 5
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC)
LS Type: Router Links
Link State ID: 2.2.2.2
Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2
LS Seq Number: 80000002
Checksum: 0xad68
Length: 36
Area Border Router
AS Boundary Router

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Area Role Verification: IOS-XE
r1#show ip ospf
Routing Process "ospf 1" with ID 1.1.1.1
Start time: 00:03:52.589, Time elapsed: 3d22h
Supports only single TOS(TOS0) routes
Supports opaque LSA
It is an area border and autonomous system boundary router

r1#show ip ospf database router self-originate

OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 1)
Router Link States (Area 0)
LS age: 28
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC)
LS Type: Router Links
Link State ID: 1.1.1.1
Advertising Router: 1.1.1.1
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0xCF3D
Length: 48
Area Border Router
AS Boundary Router

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What role is it? (1)
829
? ?
809
0 R5
? R2

R1 R4 849

R3
R6
?
ISP

ISP

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What role is it? (2)
829
ABR Backbone
809
0 R5
ASBR R2

R1 R4 849

R3
R6
ABR + ASBR
ISP

ISP

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OSPF Packet
Types
Packet Encapsulation

• OSPF is encapsulated directly into L3 as an IP packet

OSPF L2 IP OSPF

EIGRP L2 IP EIGRP

RIP L2 IP UDP RIP

BGP L2 IP TCP BGP

IS-IS L2 IS-IS

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Packet Communication
• OSPF Packets are sent over media using one of the following
MAC addresses:

Name Destination MAC Destination IP

AllSPFRouters 0100.5e00.0005 224.0.0.5

AllDRouters 0100.5e00.0006 224.0.0.6

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Packet Types (1)
• All packet types have a common 24-bit header that includes fields:
• Version
• Type
• Packet Length
• Router-ID
• Area-ID
• Checksum
• Authentication Type
• Authentication

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Packet Types (2)
• Type 1 – Hello
• Type 2 - Database descriptors (DBD)
• Type 3 - Link-state request (LSR)
• Type 4 - Link-state update (LSU)
• Type 5 - Link-state acknowledgement (LSA)

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Type 1 - Hello Packets
• Contains parameters that allow for discovery of OSPF-capable
routers to form adjacencies (or neighbor relationships!) in the
segment
• Neighbor detection and maintenance
• Used to perform DR/BDR election in multi-access networks
(Broadcast / NBMA)
• Hello periodicity may vary depending the network type configured

Note: Timers must match for adjacency to be established

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Hello Configuration: IOS-XR
router ospf 1
area 809
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/0
dead-interval 33
hello-interval 11
R1 XR2

Must match between R1 and XR2!

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Type 1 – Hello

Broadcast/NBMA only

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Type 2 - Database descriptor
• Exchanged when the adjacency is initialized (ExStart) to describe
the link-state database
• Contains a brief description of the router’s advertisements to allow
for database synchronization by the election of Master/Slave
relationships in the OSPF adjacency process
• Holds the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) of the OSPF-enabled
interface

R1 XR2

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Type 3 - Link-state request (LSR)
• After reviewing database descriptors (DD), the OSPF router may
proceed with launching link-state requests
• Link-state requests allow for querying link-state advertisements
(LSA’s) to keep the most up-to-date version of the database
• The Link State Request packet is used to request the pieces of the
neighbour's database that are more up-to-date. Multiple Link State
Request packets may need to be used.

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Type 4 - Link-state update (LSU)
• Allow for flooding link-state advertisements (LSA) in OSPF
• LSUs contain one or multiple link-state advertisements (LSA’s) and
are sent as a response to link-state requests or due to network
events that grant

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Type 5 - Link-state acknowledgement
• To confirm the receipt of link-state updates (LSU) packets
• Allows to have reliable exchange of LSU during initial link-state
database synchronization and network events
• Link-state acknowledgements contain the LSA headers that have
been received

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Visualizing
Packet Types
LSA Types
Link-state advertisements (LSA)
• LSAs convey network-layer reachability information
alongside with topological information about the routing
domain - Different LSA types exist:
• Type 1- Router-LSA
• Type 2 – Network-LSA
• Type 3 – NetSummary-LSA
• Type 4 - ASBR Summary-LSA
• Type 5 – External-LSA
• Type 7 – NSSA-External-LSA
• Type 9/10/11 – Opaque-LSAs (Link, Area, Domain)

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Type 1 – Router LSA
• As OSPF is enabled in a router will always flood a Router
LSA, network layer reachability information (NLRI) and
topological information (adjacency descriptions)
r1#show ip ospf database router self-originate
OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 1)
Router Link States (Area 809)
LS age: 1150
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC)
LS Type: Router Links
Link State ID: 1.1.1.1
Advertising Router: 1.1.1.1
LS Seq Number: 80000031
Checksum: 0xF2A9
Length: 72
Number of Links: 4
Link connected to: a Stub Network
(Link ID) Network/subnet number: 1.1.1.1
(Link Data) Network Mask: 255.255.255.255
TOS 0 Metrics: 1
<snip>

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Type 2 – Network-LSA
• Network-LSA is originated by the DR and lists the collection
of nodes in the multi-access segment
r2#show ip ospf database network self-originate

OSPF Router with ID (2.2.2.2) (Process ID 1)

Net Link States (Area 809)

LS age: 284
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC)
LS Type: Network Links
Link State ID: 10.1.2.2 (address of Designated Router)
Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0x21F5
Length: 32
Network Mask: /24
Attached Router: 2.2.2.2 < r2
Attached Router: 1.1.1.1 < r1

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Type 3 – NetSummary LSA
• Conveys prefix information as information is sent between areas through area border routers (ABRs)
• Most confusing LSA name is NetSummary LSA ☺ as it does not summarize prefixes, but embodies the
simplification of reachability information between areas

r2#show ip ospf database summary 2.2.2.222 self-originate

OSPF Router with ID (2.2.2.2) (Process ID 1)

Summary Net Link States (Area 809)

LS age: 912
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward)
LS Type: Summary Links(Network)
Link State ID: 2.2.2.222 (summary Network Number)
Advertising Router: 2.2.2.2
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0x5AF4
Length: 28
Network Mask: /32
MTID: 0 Metric: 1

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 Type 4 – ASBR Summary LSA
• Generated by an ABR to signal the areas that it knows how to reach ASBR
• When the E-bit is set in the Router LSA to signal that the local router is an ASBR, the ABR will generate a Type 4
LSA to its attached areas – ASBR Summary LSAs is scoped within an area

ABR Internal + Backbone 829

809

Type 4 LSA received from R4

0
ASBR R2 R5
Redistribution
R1 R4 849

R3
R6
ABR + ASBR
ISP

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Type 5 – External LSA
• External LSAs are originated from an ASBR, they describe stub/IP prefixes as originated from external domains
through redistribution
• The scope of External LSAs are from within the Autonomous System (AS)

r1#show ip ospf database external

OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 1)
Type-5 AS External Link States
LS age: 5
Options: (No TOS-capability, DC, Upward)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 1.1.1.11 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 1.1.1.1
LS Seq Number: 80000002
Checksum: 0xE2B3
Length: 36
Network Mask: /32
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
MTID: 0
Metric: 10
Forward Address: 0.0.0.0
External Route Tag: 1

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Type 7 – NSSA External LSA
• Special use-case LSA for Not-So-Stubby Areas (NSSA) scenarios
• Used to allow redistribution of external routing sources within an NSSA
• The scope of a Type 7 LSA is within the area it was originated

r1#show ip ospf database nssa-external

OSPF Router with ID (1.1.1.1) (Process ID 1)
Type-7 AS External Link States (Area 809)
LS age: 19
Options: (No TOS-capability, Type 7/5 translation, DC, Upward)
LS Type: AS External Link
Link State ID: 1.1.1.11 (External Network Number )
Advertising Router: 1.1.1.1
LS Seq Number: 80000001
Checksum: 0x8207
Length: 36
Network Mask: /32
Metric Type: 2 (Larger than any link state path)
MTID: 0
Metric: 10
Forward Address: 1.1.1.1
External Route Tag: 1

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LSA Verification
Network Types,
Adjacencies,
Designated
Router
Network Types (1)
• Several network types are supported:
• Broadcast
• Point-to-point
• Non-broadcast multiaccess (NBMA)
• Point-to-multipoint
• Point-to-multipoint non-broadcast
• Loopback

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Network Types (2)

IOS-XE
r1(config)#interface gigabitEthernet 0/0
r1(config-if)#ip ospf network ?
broadcast Specify OSPF broadcast multi-access network
non-broadcast Specify OSPF NBMA network
point-to-multipoint Specify OSPF point-to-multipoint network
point-to-point Specify OSPF point-to-point network

IOS-XR
RP/0/0/CPU0:r1(config)#router ospf 1
RP/0/0/CPU0:r1(config-ospf)#area 0
RP/0/0/CPU0:r1(config-ospf-ar)#interface gigabitEthernet 0/0/0/0
RP/0/0/CPU0:r1(config-ospf-ar-if)#network ?
broadcast Specify OSPF broadcast multi-access network
non-broadcast Specify OSPF NBMA network
point-to-multipoint Specify OSPF point-to-multipoint network
point-to-point Specify OSPF point-to-point network

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Configuring
Network Types
Adjacency Requirements (1)
Parameters Must Match Must be Unique
Router-ID - Yes
Area ID Yes -
Subnet Mask Yes – Only in -
Broadcast
Stub area flag Yes -
Hello/Dead Yes -
intervals
MTU [Yes] -
Authentication Yes -

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Adjacency Requirements (2)
Mismatch hello / dead intervals

R1 XR2

r2(config-if)#ip ospf dead-interval 11

r2(config-if)#end
<snip>
*Apr 20 18:30:32.384: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Send hello to 224.0.0.5 area 809
from 10.1.2.2
*Apr 20 18:30:33.743: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by console
*Apr 20 18:30:36.824: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Rcv hello from 1.1.1.1 area 809
10.1.2.1
*Apr 20 18:30:36.824: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Mismatched hello parameters from
10.1.2.1
*Apr 20 18:30:36.824: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Dead R 40 C 11, Hello R 10 C 10

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Adjacency Requirements (3)
Router-ID

R1 XR2

r2(config)#router ospf 1
r2(config-router)#router
r2(config-router)#router-id 1.1.1.1 << Same RID as R1
% OSPF: Reload or use "clear ip ospf process" command, for this to take
effect
r2(config-router)#end
Reset ALL OSPF processes? [no]: yes
<snip>
*Apr 20 18:35:40.180: %OSPF-5-ADJCHG: Process 1, Nbr 1.1.1.1 on
GigabitEthernet0/0 from FULL to DOWN, Neighbor Down: Interface down or d
*Apr 20 18:35:42.306: %OSPF-4-DUP_RTRID_NBR: OSPF detected duplicate router-
id 1.1.1.1 from 10.1.2.1 on interface GigabitEthernet0/0

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Adjacency Requirements (4)
Stub area flag

R1 XR2

router ospf 1
router-id 2.2.2.2
area 809 nssa
<snip>

*Apr 20 18:56:30.544: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Send hello to 224.0.0.5 area 809
from 10.1.2.2
*Apr 20 18:56:36.148: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Rcv hello from 1.1.1.1 area 809
10.1.2.1
*Apr 20 18:56:36.149: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Hello from 10.1.2.1 with mismatched
NSSA option bit

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 Adjacency Requirements (5)
MTU Mismatch

XR2 LSU
LSA1
LSA2
LSAn...
MTU 503 Length > 503 MTU 1500

R1 XR2
r1#show ip interface gigabitEthernet 0/0 | include MTU
MTU is 513 bytes
<snip>

*Apr 21 12:39:56.140: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Rcv DBD from 2.2.2.2 seq 0x71E6 opt 0x52 flag 0x7 len
32 mtu 1500 state EXSTART
*Apr 21 12:39:56.140: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Nbr 2.2.2.2 has larger interface MTU

Note: Fix the MTU issue instead of ignoring the MTU with ip ospf mtu-ignore! ☺

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Adjacency Requirements (6)
Subnet mask (Broadcast-only)

R1 XR2

*Apr 20 19:00:13.619: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Mismatched hello parameters from

10.1.2.2
*Apr 20 19:00:13.620: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Dead R 40 C 40, Hello R 10 C 10
Mask R 255.255.255.0 C 255.255.255.252
*Apr 20 19:00:16.571: OSPF-1 HELLO Gi0/0: Send hello to 224.0.0.5 area 809
from 10.1.2.1

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Adjacency States (1)
• Down – Initial state of a neighbor conversation, it indicates
that there is no recent information received from the
neighbor
• Attempt – Applicable to NBMA networks only. Indicates that
no recent information has been received from the neighbor
• Init – Hello packet has been received from the neighbor, but
no bidirectional communication is established
• 2-Way - Communication is bidirectional, all parameters
match, and a neighbor relationship is established

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Adjacency States (2)
• ExStart – Adjacency formation starts in this state, it allows to
perform the Master election for the exchange of the initial
Database Descriptor sequence number
• Exchange – The neighbor is exchanging its link-state
database by sending the DBD packets.
• Loading – Link state requests (LSR) packets are sent to
neighbors asking for up-to-date LSAs
• Full – The routers are fully adjacent and database
synchronization has finished

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Point-to-Point Adjacency (1)
• Adjacencies are formed in a P2P environment without electing
DR/BDRs
• A single communication channel is used in P2P networks,
224.0.0.5/AllSPFRouters
router ospf 1
area 809
interface gi0/0/0/0
R1
interface gigabitethernet0/0
network point-to-point
ip ospf network point-to-point

R1 XR2

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Point-to-Point Adjacency (2) - Down
hello hello

Down
R1 XR2
Hello!
Hello! I am 2.2.2.2
I am 1.1.1.1 I am in area 809, its a
I am in area 809, its a regular area
regular area I have authentication
I have authentication type: null
type: null Hello interval is: 10s
Hello interval is: 10s Dead interval is: 40s
Dead interval is: 40s <...>
<...>

Initially routers in P2P networks are in Down state

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Point-to-Point Adjacency (3) - Init
hello hello

Init
R1 XR2
Hello!
Hello! I am 2.2.2.2
I am 1.1.1.1 I am in area 809, its a
I am in area 809, its a regular area
regular area I have authentication
I have authentication type: null
type: null Hello interval is: 10s
Hello interval is: 10s Dead interval is: 40s
Dead interval is: 40s <...>
<...>

As soon as hellos are received from a neighbor, these are processed and
routers will put the adjacency state as Init
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 Point-to-Point Adjacency (4) – 2-Way
hello hello

2-Way
Hello!
R1 XR2 Hello!

I am 1.1.1.1 I am 2.2.2.2
I see: 2.2.2.2 in my link I see: 1.1.1.1 in my link
I am in area 809, its a I am in area 809, its a
regular area regular area
I have authentication I have authentication
type: null type: null
Hello interval is: 10s Hello interval is: 10s
Dead interval is: 40s Dead interval is: 40s
<...> <...>

To acknowledge the existence of each-other, and once the adjacency parameters

are validated, routers will add each other in the subsequent Hello packets as a sign
of bidirectional communication establishment, this is 2-Way
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 Point-to-Point Adjacency (5) – ExStart

Slave Master
1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2
ExStart
R1 XR2 Tx: XR2-DBD
Hi! I am 2.2.2.2 and my initial DD
R1 knows Neighbor RID 2.2.2.2 is sequence is 0x22 – I am Master!
higher, we are Slave! – Unset XR2 More-bit set in DD
Master-bit from DD

Master/Slave election in the ExStart state begins, since XR2 has the highest
router-ID, it wins the Master/Slave process.

The initial DD sequence to be used is the one sent by the Master/XR2.

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 Point-to-Point Adjacency (6) – Exchange
Slave Master
1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2
Exchange
R1 XR2
R2
R1
Here is the list of my
Here is the summary list
LSDB: [Router-LSA,
of my LSDB: [Router-LSA,
Network-LSA, NetSummary
Network-LSA, NetSummary
LSA, ...]
LSA, ...]
XR2 More-bit unset in DD –
R1 echo Master’s DD
No further DD packets
initial 0x22

The slave sends summarized list of DBD packets containing the link-state
advertisements headers. This will be used to further request the most recent
LSAs.

No explicit LS Ack, Master/Slave echo the DD sequence as ACK

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 Point-to-Point Adjacency (7) – Loading
Slave Master
1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2
Loading
R1 XR2
R1-Link-state request XR2-Link-state request
I want to know more about your I want to know more about your
LSAs [LSA-list] LSA [LSA-list]

R1-Link-state update XR2-Link-state update

Here are my LSAs Here are my LSAs

In the Loading state the routers will perform LS Requests, LS Updates,

and LS Acknowledgements to reliably exchange the link-state advertisements.

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Point-to-Point Adjacency (8) – Full
1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2
Full
R1 XR2
R1-Link-state acknowledgement XR2-Link-state acknowledgement

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Interface going Up

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Interface state change to UP, new ospf state P2P
OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: 2 Way Communication to 2.2.2.2, state 2WAY

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Nbr 2.2.2.2: Prepare dbase exchange

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Send DBD to 2.2.2.2 seq 0x1B76 opt 0x52 flag 0x7 len 32
OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Rcv DBD from 2.2.2.2 seq 0x7B3D opt 0x52 flag 0x7 len 32 mtu 1500 state EXSTART

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: NBR Negotiation Done. We are the SLAVE

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Nbr 2.2.2.2: Summary list built, size 7
OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Send DBD to 2.2.2.2 seq 0x7B3D opt 0x52 flag 0x2 len 172
OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Rcv DBD from 2.2.2.2 seq 0x7B3E opt 0x52 flag 0x1 len 92 mtu 1500 state EXCHANGE

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Exchange Done with 2.2.2.2

OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Synchronized with 2.2.2.2, state FULL

%OSPF-5-ADJCHG: Process 1, Nbr 2.2.2.2 on GigabitEthernet0/0 from LOADING to FULL, Loading Done

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Neighbor Relationships vs. Adjacencies
• Non-DR/BDR routers (DROHTERS) stay in 2-Way state
between them, this is known as a neighbor relationship as
DROTHERs cannot exchange the link-state database directly
between them.
• All routers become adjacent (FULL) with DR and BDR
2-Way
Hello! Hello!
I am 1.1.1.1 I am 2.2.2.2
I am in area 809 I am in area 809
I have authentication type: null I have authentication type: null
My network mask is My network mask is
255.255.255.0 255.255.255.0
Hello interval is: 10s R1 XR2 Hello interval is: 10s
Dead interval is: 40s Dead interval is: 40s
Designated router is: 10.1.2.1 2-Way Designated router is: 10.1.2.1
Backup designated router: Backup designated router:
10.1.2.2 10.1.2.2

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Adjacency over Broadcast networks
• A DR should be elected to fully exchange the link-state
database within the multi-access network, election is
performed in a per-link-basis
• The DR has two (2) main functions:
1) DR originates the Network-LSA listing all routers attached in
the segment including the DR itself
2) The DR is the only router that can become fully adjacent with all
routers in the segment, making the DR the central point of
reference for LSDB synchronization

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Designated Router (DR) (1)
• Without the DR/Pseudonode, the graph within the multi-
access segment is more complex
R1

R1 R2 R3 R2 R3

R5
R4 R5 R6 R4

Multiaccess segment
R6
XR2
R1
No DR
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Designated Router (DR) (2)
• With the Designated Router (DR) the graph is simplified to a
collection of point-to-point links towards the DR/Pseudonode

R1

R2 R3

PSN

R4 R5

R6
R1
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Designated Router (DR) (3)
• Designated Router (DR) election is non-preemptive, once DR is
selected it cannot be overthrown (hmm... really?)
• During initialization, the router waits for the WaitTimer set in the
interface (defaults to the configured HoldTime)
• The criteria of DR selection is:
• a. Highest interface priority (default 1, range 0 - 65535)
• b. Highest router-ID

• Note: Priority zero (0) has special meaning of non-eligibility,

therefore it sets the router to always be a DROHTER.
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Designated Router (DR) Election (1)
• When the interface is OSPF-enabled, the router waits for a
period known as the WaitTimer to validate the existence of
a DR in the segment

hello! 2-Way / DROTHER hello!

R1 WaitTimer WaitTimer XR2
I am 1.1.1.1
I am in area 809, its a regular area R1 I am 2.2.2.2
I am in area 809, its a regular area
I have authentication type: null I have authentication type: null
Hello interval is: 10s Hello interval is: 10s
Dead interval is: 40s Dead interval is: 40s
Priority: 1 Priority: 1
Active Neighbor: 2.2.2.2 Active Neighbor: 1.1.1.1
DR: 0.0.0.0 DR: 0.0.0.0
BDR: 0.0.0.0 BDR: 0.0.0.0

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Designated Router (DR) Election (2)
• Begin the election process by filling out the DR/BDR fields in
the Hello packet based on criteria (priority, highest RID)
• If there is no DR in the segment, the router elects itself as
the BDR to promote itself as the DR - Yes, algorithmically
BDR is elected first! ☺
hello! hello!
R1 XR2 I am 2.2.2.2
I am 1.1.1.1
I am in area 809, its a regular area R1 I am in area 809, its a regular area
I have authentication type: null
I have authentication type: null Hello interval is: 10s
Hello interval is: 10s Dead interval is: 40s
Dead interval is: 40s Priority: 1
Priority: 1 Active Neighbor: 1.1.1.1
Active Neighbor: 2.2.2.2 DR: 2.2.2.2
DR: 2.2.2.2 BDR: 1.1.1.1
BDR: 1.1.1.1

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Designated Router (DR) Election (3)
• After the DR is selected, the database descriptor (DD) and
LSDB synchronization will happen as usual, during which all
routers will form adjacencies with the DR/BDR and
exchange their LSDB contents using the DR.

BDR / DROTHER DR

hello! Full hello!

R1 LSDB exchange XR2
DBD packets, LS request, LS
DBD packets, LS request, LS R1 update, LS ack
update, LS ack

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Designated Router (DR) (4)
• What happens if routers are DROTHER?

192.0.2.1/32 192.0.2.2/32
2-Way
R1 XR2
DROTHER DROTHER

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Broadcast Adjacency (1) - Down
hello! hello!

Down
R1 XR2

Hello! Hello!

I am 1.1.1.1 I am 2.2.2.2
I am in area 809, its a regular area I am in area 809, its a regular area
I have authentication type: null I have authentication type: null
Hello interval is: 10s Hello interval is: 10s
Dead interval is: 40s Dead interval is: 40s
Priority: 1 Priority: 1
Active Neighbor: 0.0.0.0 Active Neighbor: 0.0.0.0
DR: 0.0.0.0 DR: 0.0.0.0
BDR: 0.0.0.0 BDR: 0.0.0.0

Initially routers in Broadcast networks are in Down state

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Broadcast Adjacency (3) - Init
hello! hello!

Init
R1 XR2
Hello! Hello!

I am 1.1.1.1 I am 2.2.2.2
I am in area 809, its a regular area I am in area 809, its a regular area
I have authentication type: null I have authentication type: null
Hello interval is: 10s Hello interval is: 10s
Dead interval is: 40s Dead interval is: 40s
Priority: 1 Priority: 1
Active Neighbor: 0.0.0.0 Active Neighbor: 0.0.0.0
DR: 0.0.0.0 DR: 0.0.0.0
BDR: 0.0.0.0 BDR: 0.0.0.0

As soon as hellos are received from a neighbor, these

are processed and routers will put the adjacency state as Init
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Broadcast Adjacency (4) – 2-Way (1)
hello hello

2-Way
R1 XR2
Hello! Hello!

I am 1.1.1.1 I am 2.2.2.2
I am in area 809, its a regular area I am in area 809, its a regular area
The DR election begins! ☺ I have authentication type: null
I have authentication type: null
Hello interval is: 10s Hello interval is: 10s
Dead interval is: 40s Dead interval is: 40s
Priority: 1 Priority: 1
Active Neighbor: 2.2.2.2 Active Neighbor: 1.1.1.1
DR: 0.0.0.0 DR: 0.0.0.0
BDR: 0.0.0.0 BDR: 0.0.0.0

Routers will acknowledge each other’s presence and move

to 2-way, additionally the DR election procedure begins here!
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Broadcast Adjacency (4) – 2-Way (2)
hello hello

2-Way
R1 XR2
Hello!
Hello!
XR2 is selected as the DR I am 2.2.2.2
I am 1.1.1.1 I am in area 809, its a regular area
I am in area 809, its a regular area I have authentication type: null
I have authentication type: null Hello interval is: 10s
Hello interval is: 10s Dead interval is: 40s
Dead interval is: 40s Priority: 1
Priority: 1 Active Neighbor: 1.1.1.1
Active Neighbor: 2.2.2.2 DR: 2.2.2.2
DR: 2.2.2.2 BDR: 1.1.1.1
BDR: 1.1.1.1

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 Broadcast Adjacency (5) – ExStart

Slave Master
1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2
ExStart
R1 XR2
Tx: XR2-DBD
R1 knows Neighbor RID 2.2.2.2 is Hi! I am 2.2.2.2 and my initial DD
higher, we are Slave! – Unset sequence is 0x22 – I am Master!
Master-bit from DD
XR2 More-bit set in DD

Master/Slave election in the ExStart state begins,

since XR2 has the highest router-ID, it wins the Master/Slave process.

The initial DD sequence to be used is the one sent by the Master/XR2.

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Broadcast Adjacency (6) – Exchange
Slave Master
192.0.2.1 192.0.2.2
Exchange
R1 XR2
R1 R2
Here is the summary list of my Here is the list of my LSDB:
LSDB: [Router-LSA, Network- [Router-LSA, Network-LSA,
LSA, NetSummary LSA, ...] NetSummary LSA, ...]

R1 echo Master’s DD initial 0x22 XR2 More-bit unset in DD – No

further DD packets

The slave sends summarized list of DBD packets containing the link-state advertisements headers. This
will be used to further request the most recent LSAs.

Note: DD with packets are not explicitly acknowledged using link-state acknowledgement packets, rather,
they use an “echo” mechanism starting from the initial DD sequence during the exchange phase. As the
Master and Slave exchange DD packets, the routers will send each other’s sequence back as acknowledgement.

Note: DR/BDR and Master/Slaves functions are decoupled.

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Broadcast Adjacency (7) – Loading
Slave Master
1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2
Loading
R1 XR2
R1-Link-state request XR2-Link-state request
I want to know more about your I want to know more about your
LSAs [LSA-list] LSA [LSA-list]

R1-Link-state update XR2-Link-state update

Here are my LSAs Here are my LSAs

In the Loading state the routers will perform LS Requests,

LS Updates, and LS Ack to reliably exchange the LSAs

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 Broadcast Adjacency (8) – Full
1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2
Full
R1 XR2
R1-Link-state acknowledgement XR2-Link-state acknowledgement

003252: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Interface state change to UP, new ospf state WAIT
003253: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: 2 Way Communication to 2.2.2.2, state 2WAY
...
003257: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Nbr state is 2WAY
003258: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: end of Wait on interface
...
003259: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: DR/BDR election
003260: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Elect BDR 2.2.2.2
003261: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Elect DR 2.2.2.2
003280: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Rcv DBD from 2.2.2.2 seq 0x5A2A opt 0x52 flag 0x7 len 32 mtu 1500 state EXSTART
003281: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: NBR Negotiation Done. We are the SLAVE
003282: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Nbr 2.2.2.2: Summary list built, size 4
003283: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Send DBD to 2.2.2.2 seq 0x5A2A opt 0x52 flag 0x2 len 112
003284: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Rcv DBD from 2.2.2.2 seq 0x5A2B opt 0x52 flag 0x1 len 92 mtu 1500 state EXCHANGE
003285: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Exchange Done with 2.2.2.2
003286: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Send LS REQ to 2.2.2.2 length 60
003287: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Send DBD to 2.2.2.2 seq 0x5A2B opt 0x52 flag 0x0 len 32
003289: OSPF-1 ADJ Gi0/0: Synchronized with 2.2.2.2, state FULL

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Verifying
Adjacencies
LSDB
Synchronization
Flooding Pre-Checks
• Validate LSA checksum
• Check if LSA type is valid
• Check if External-LSA are received over Stub areas
• LSA received with MaxAge set to maximum, then discard it

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Flooding Events
• Event changes that cause flooding of new information is OSPF
include:
• Adjacency state
• Router ID
• Area ID
• DR re-election
• Transit metric cost

• Note: If changes are triggered, affected LSA must be

reflooded
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Link State Database
• Link-State Database (LSDB) contents draw a detailed map of the network
topology within a particular scope
• OSPF maintains independent LSDBs for each level
• LSDB stores all Link State Advertisements (LSAs) of a particular area

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Link State Database Synchronization
• All routers operating at the same scope (in the same area)
must have identical LSDB contents
• LSDB contents must be always synchronized between
routers
• Synchronizing LSDB contents requires
• Exchanging LSAs during initial synchronization when a new
adjacency comes up, and anytime an LSA is updated
• Acknowledging exchanged LSAs using LS Ack packets
• On broadcast network types, using DR as a synchronization
reference using 224.0.0.6/AllDRRouters

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LSDB Synchronization on point-to-point links (1)
• When a new adjacency comes up between two routers on
a point-to-point link, they synchronize their LSDBs in a simple
way
• Each router schedules database descriptors (DD) packets to
be sent to the neighbor and elect the Master/Slave
relationship, the highest RID wins the Master election
• Master will send the initial DD sequence with the Initial and
More bits set in the DD packet indicating that more packets
are to follow
• As DD packets are exchanged containing the aggregate view
of the participating router’s LSDBs, LS Request packets are
sent to
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LSDB Synchronization on point-to-point links (2)
Cont.
• As DD packets are exchange containing the aggregate view
of the participating router’s LSDBs, LS Request packets are
sent if the received LSAs are:
• New(er): Store it and schedule it for acknowledgment in a
LS Ack
• Identical: Schedule an acknowledgment in a LS Ack
• Older: Schedule our own LSA to be flooded to the neighbor
• LSA stays scheduled for sending to the neighbor only if it is
newer

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LSDB Synchronization on broadcast networks (1)
• On broadcast networks, pairwise synchronization of a new router
with every existing neighbor would be both complex and useless
• Instead, DR becomes the reference point for database
synchronization among all routers on the network
• Relying on transitivity: If I know the same as DR, and if you know
the same as DR, then I and you know the same, too
• Every router’s goal: Make the DR LSDB and own LSDB identical

• As opposed to IS-IS, all OSPF routers on a broadcast network are

not fully adjacent and will only accept LS Updates from the DR
directly - DR is the relay for LS Updates

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LSDB Synchronization on broadcast networks (1)
• Each router on the broadcast network compares uses the DR
to synchronize, If the router knows about a(n)…
• Newer LSA: Just flood it onto the DR/BDR. Other routers will
learn the newest information through the DR relay
downstream to the adjacent routers
• Identical LSA: Acknowledge the received LS Update and no
further processing is performed
• Older LSA: Ask for an updated LSA using a LS Request
directed to the DR

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Inter-Area Routing
Inter-Area Routing (1)
• The inter-area routing in OSPF works as a distance vector
protocol, where all network complexity within an area is hidden
from the backbone and other areas
• As advertisements pass through the area border routers (ABRs),
NetSummary-LSAs are generated with the ABR as the attachment
point to summarize the topological information – Routing by
rumor!
• A start topology is enforced with the backbone area at the center
(hub) that other areas (spokes) must transit

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 Spoke
Inter-Area Routing (2)
NetSummary-LSAs
[list of prefixes],
[...]
829

809 0 R5
R2

R1 R4 849

R3
Hub / Transit R6
ISP
ISP Spoke
NetSummary-LSAs
[list of prefixes],
[...]

Spoke
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 Spoke
Inter-Area Routing (3) All via R4

All via R2 (ABR) 829

All via R3 (ABR)
809
0 R5
R2
Area 809
complexity hidden R4 849

R3
Hub / Transit R6
ISP Spoke
All via R4
Distance vector / Routing by rumor Spoke
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Inter-Area Loop Prevention (1)
• Area border routers (ABRs) are routers that have an interface
attached to the backbone and is not in the DOWN state, only the
ABR is allowed to generate NetSummary-LSAs
• ABR will never use NetSummary-LSAs coming from non-
backbone areas
• As ABRs generate NetSummary-LSAs, they insert their router ID
in the advertisement to prevent LSA feedback

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 Inter-Area Loop Prevention (2)
ABR ASBR

Area 0
R1 Area 12 R2 R3
Area 23

R1 R2 R3
interface Loopback0 interface Loopback0 interface Loopback0
ip address 192.0.2.1 255.255.255.255 ip address 192.0.2.2 255.255.255.255 ip address 192.0.2.3 255.255.255.255
ip ospf 1 area 0 << (ABR!) ! !
! interface GigabitEthernet0/0.12 interface GigabitEthernet0/0.23
interface GigabitEthernet0/0.12 encapsulation dot1q 12 encapsulation dot1q 23
encapsulation dot1q 23 ip address 10.1.2.2 255.255.255.0 ip address 10.2.3.3 255.255.255.0
ip address 10.1.2.1 255.255.255.0 ip ospf network point-to-point ip ospf network point-to-point
ip ospf network point-to-point ip ospf 1 area 12 ip ospf 1 area 23
ip ospf 1 area 12 ! !
interface GigabitEthernet0/0.23 router ospf 1
encapsulation dot1q 23 redistribute connected subnets
ip address 10.2.3.2 255.255.255.0
ip ospf network point-to-point
ip ospf 1 area 23
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Inter-Area Loop Prevention (3)
ABR ASBR

Area 0
R1 Area 12 R2 R3
Area 23

Inter-Area
1. Will R1 receive and install R1’s summary LSA for 192.0.2.1/32?
2. Will R3 receive and install R1’s prefix for 192.0.2.1/32?

External
1. Will R2 receive and install R3’s external prefix for 192.0.2.3/32?
2. Will R1 receive and install R3’s external prefix for 192.0.2.3/32?
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Inter-Area Loop Prevention (4)
ABR ABR ASBR

Area 0
R1 Area 12 R2 R3
Area 0

Inter-Area
1. Will R2 receive and install R1’s summary LSA for 192.0.2.1/32?
2. Will R3 receive and install R1’s prefix for 192.0.2.1/32?

External
1. Will R2 receive and install R3’s external prefix for 192.0.2.3/32?
2. Will R1 receive and install R3’s external prefix for 192.0.2.3/32?
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Inter-Area Loop
Prevention
Special Areas
Special Area Types (1)
• Special areas have characteristics to allow/disallow certain
link-state advertisements (LSA)
• Special Areas are:
• Stub
• Totally-Stubby
• Not-So-Stubby Areas (NSSA)
• Totally Not-So-Stubby Areas (Totally NSSAs)

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Stub (1)
• Only NetSummary-LSAs are allowed through the Stub area
• Any external data structures (i.e., Type-4/5 LSAs) will be
blocked
• Relies on default route generated from ABR for external
routing

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Stub (2)
Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs
Reject
[...]

809 0
R2
IA - 0.0.0.0/0 via [r2,r3]
R4

R3
Hub / Transit
Reject
Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs
[...]

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Totally Stub (1)
• Any Inter-Area and External data structures (i.e., Type-3,
Type-5 LSAs) and will be blocked
• Relies on default route generated from ABR to route towards
inter-area and external sources

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Totally Stub (2)
Type-3 + Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs
Reject
[...]

809 0
R2
0.0.0.0/0 via [r2, r3]
R4

R3
Hub / Transit
Reject
Type-3 + Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs
[...]

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Not-So-Stubby-Area (NSSA) (1)
• Any External data structures (i.e., Type-5 LSAs) and will be
blocked from coming from the backbone into the NSSA
• Relies on default route generated from ABR to route towards
external sources outside the NSSA
• Allows for External routing using Type-7/NSSA-External-LSA
• ABR within the NSSA will perform Type-7 to Type-5
translation, highest RID wins the translator role

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Not-So-Stubby-Area (NSSA) (2)
Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs
Reject

809 0
IA R2
0.0.0.0/0 via [r2, r3]
R4
Type-7
R3
Reject
Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs

ISP R3 is translator and injects

Type-7 to Type-5 LSAs into the backbone
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Totally Not-So-Stubby-Area (Totally NSSA) (1)
• Any Inter-Area and External data structures (i.e., Type-3,
Type-5 LSAs) and will be blocked from coming from the
backbone into the NSSA
• Relies on default route generated from ABR to route towards
inter-area and external sources outside the NSSA
• Allows for inter-area and external routing using Type-
7/NSSA-External-LSA
• ABR within the NSSA will perform Type-7 to Type-5
translation, highest RID wins the translator role

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Totally Not-So-Stubby-Area (Totally NSSA) (2)
Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs
Reject

809 0
R2
0.0.0.0/0 via [r2, r3]
R4
Type-7
R3
Reject
Type-4 + Type-5 LSAs

ISP R3 is translator and injects

Type-7 to Type-5 LSAs into the backbone
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Configuring
Special Areas
Path Selection
Path Selection (1)
• OSPF employs a strict path selection rule, where the order is
applicable as follows:
• Intra-Area (O)
• Inter-Area (O IA)
• External Type 1 (E1)
• External Type 2 (E2)
• NSSA Type 1 (N1)
• NSSA Type 2 (N2)

• Note: There are nuances! ☺

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Scenarios: E1 vs. E2 Path Selection
• R1 and R2 are redistributing the same prefix of 192.0.2.99/32,
R2, verify the different scenarios of External path selection ☺
0

192.0.2.99/32
R1 R2 R3
Area 23

Area 0
R4
192.0.2.99/32

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RFC 1587 vs. RFC 3101
• By default RFC 3101 is enabled in IOS-XR and IOS-XE for
path selection criteria (can be tweaked in the CLI)
• If the cost of the path is same, then the selection is as follows:
• 1. A Type-7 LSA with the P-bit set
• 2. A Type-5 LSA
• 3. The LSA with the higher router ID

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Scenarios: N1 vs. N2
• R1 and R2 are redistributing the same prefix of 192.0.2.99/32,
R2, verify the different scenarios of NSSA path selection ☺

192.0.2.99/32 0 192.0.2.99/32

R1 R2 R3
Area 0 Area 23
NSSA

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Path Selection
Security Hardening
Authentication (1)
• Different authentication types exist:
• Type 0: Null authentication (default)
• Type 1: Simple-text authentication
• Type 2: Cryptographic Authentication (RFC 5709)
• SHA-1
• SHA-256
• SHA-384
• SHA-512

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Type 0: Null Authentication
• Default – no extra configuration is required

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 Type 1: Simple-text Authentication

XR1 Area 12 R2

XR1 R2
router ospf 1 router ospf 1
router-id 1.1.1.1 router-id 2.2.2.2
area 0 !
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/0 interface GigabitEthernet0/0
authentication-key encrypted 060506324F41 ip address 10.1.2.2 255.255.255.0
authentication ip ospf authentication
network point-to-point ip ospf authentication-key cisco
ip ospf network point-to-point
ip ospf 1 area 0
duplex auto
speed auto

Note: Use ‘service password-encryption’ command to

encrypt the passwords in plain-text at config

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 Type 2: Cryptographic Authentication

XR1 Area 12 R2
XR1 R2
router ospf 1 router ospf 1
router-id 1.1.1.1 router-id 2.2.2.2
area 0 !
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/0 interface GigabitEthernet0/0
authentication-key encrypted 060506324F41 ip address 10.1.2.2 255.255.255.0
authentication ip ospf authentication
network point-to-point ip ospf authentication-key cisco
ip ospf network point-to-point
ip ospf 1 area 0
duplex auto
speed auto

Note: Use ‘service password-encryption’ command to

encrypt the passwords in plain-text at config
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Database Protection: Maximum LSA

XR1 R2

XR/XE
router ospf 1
max-metric router-lsa
max-lsa 23

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Redistribution Limit

XR1 R2

XR-only
router ospf 1
maximum redistributed-prefixes [1-4294967295]

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Generalized TTL Security
• Mitigates targeted attacks against OSPF that rely on the TTL
• A receive threshold is configured with the max number of hops
that a packet may have travelled. The value for this hop-count
argument is a number from 1 to 254, with a default of 1.

XR1 R2
• Note: Be careful and avoid causing an outage! ☺

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Security
Hardening
Optimization
Features
Prefix Suppression (1): Point-to-Point
• For each numbered point-to-point network, a router has two
link descriptions in its router-LSA: one Type 1 link (point-to-
point) describing the neighboring router, and one Type 3 link
(stub) describing the assigned IPv4 subnet

XE XR

r2(config)#int gi 0/0 router ospf 1

r2(config-if)#ip ospf prefix-suppression area 0
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/0
prefix-suppression

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Prefix Suppression (2): Broadcast Networks
• A broadcast network joins many (more than two) routers and
supports the capability to address a single physical message
to all of the attached routers
• A special subnet mask value of 255.255.255.255 MUST be
used in the network-LSA to hide a transit-only broadcast
network.

• Food for thought: What if a router not-capable of RFC 6860

receives a Network-LSA with a subnet mask of
255.255.255.255?

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Stub Router
• Used to advertise a system is out-of-service and cannot be
used as transit
• Announces max-metric in the Router-LSA

XR/XE

router ospf 1
max-metric router-lsa

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Flood Reduction
• The OSPF Flooding Reduction feature works by reducing
unnecessary refreshing and flooding of already known and
unchanged information
• To achieve this reduction, the LSAs are now flooded with the
higher bit set, thus making them DoNotAge (DNA) LSAs.

XR XE

router ospf 1 Interface <INT>

interface <INT> ip ospf flood-reduction
flood-reduction

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Loopback as Stub Network
• If a loopback is required to be announced with a subnet mask
other than /32, the loopback-as-stub feature is required

XR XE
router ospf 1
area 0
interface Loopback0 interface Loopback0
loopback stub-network enable ip ospf network point-to-point

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Optimization
Features
Stupid Routing
Tricks!
Final Topology
829

809
R7
0
XR2 XR5

XR1 XR4

R3 R6

ISP1 849

ISP2

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Scenario 1: Aggregate Metrics
• What?: Aggregate the loopback11 and loopback111 on XR1
• Question: What path will XR4 use to route traffic to the
aggregate 172.16.1.0/24?

• RFC 1583: Uses the lowest metric of the components for the
aggregated prefix
• RFC 2328: Uses the largest metric of the components for the
aggregated prefix

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Scenario 2: NSSA Translator
• What?: Make area 809 an NSSA, and force both ABRs to
translate prefixes as they are advertised to the backbone
areas

• Can you … Is it possible? ☺

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Scenario 3: P-bit trick
• What?: Contain the advertisement of 192.0.2.1/32 within the
NSSA only, do not use the nssa-only option in the redistribute
statement.

• Can you … Is it possible? ☺

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Stupid Routing
Tricks!
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 • Visit the Cisco Showcase
for related demos

• Book your one-on-one

Meet the Engineer meeting

Continue • Attend the interactive education

with DevNet, Capture the Flag,
your education and Walk-in Labs

• Visit the On-Demand Library

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Thank you

#CiscoLive