AGENDA

OSPF Graceful Restart

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Graceful Restart

• An OSPF router can stay on the forwarding path even as its OSPF software is
restarted.

• OSPF avoids the restarting router to minimize the possibility of routing loops and/or
black holes caused by lack of database synchronization.

• However, if (a) the network topology remains stable and (b) the restarting router is
able to keep its forwarding table(s) across the restart, it would be safe to keep the
restarting router on the forwarding path.

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• The router attempting a graceful restart originates link-local Opaque-LSAs, called
Grace-LSAs, announcing its intention to perform a graceful restart within a specified
amount of time or "grace period".
• During the grace period, its neighbors continue to announce the restarting router in
their LSAs as if it were fully adjacent (i.e., OSPF neighbor state Full), but only if the
network topology remains static.
• The contents of the LSAs in the link-state database having LS types 1-5,7 remain
unchanged and periodic refreshes are allowed.
• A router enters restart mode when network personnel issue the restart “ospf graceful-
restart” command.

The router’s neighbors must cooperate in order for restart to be successful . During
graceful restart, we say the neighbors are running in “helper mode”.

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Operation of Restarting router
• The time period between the restart/reload and the reestablishment of
adjacencies, is called "graceful restart".

• The restarting router does not originate LSAs with LS types 1- 5,7. Instead, the
restarting router wants the other routers in the OSPF domain to calculate routes
using the LSAs that it originated prior to its restart.

• The restarting router does *not* install OSPF routes into the system's forwarding
table(s) and relies on the forwarding entries that it installed prior to the restart.

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Entering Graceful Restart
• Note that common OSPF shutdown procedures are *not* performed, since we want
the other OSPF routers to act as if Router X remains in continuous service. For
example, Router X does not flush its locally originated LSAs, since we want them to
remain in other routers' link-state databases throughout the restart period.

• Router X must ensure that its forwarding table(s) is/are up- to-date and will remain in
place across the restart.

• Router X then originates the grace-LSAs. These are link-local Opaque-LSAs. Their
LS Age field is set to 0, and the requested grace period (in seconds) is inserted into
the body of the grace-LSA.

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Exiting Graceful Restart:
A Router X exits graceful restart when any of the following occurs:
- Router X has reestablished all its adjacencies.
- Router X receives an LSA that is inconsistent with its pre- restart router-LSA.
- This indicates that either a) Y does not support graceful restart, b) Y never
received the grace-LSA or c) Y has terminated its helper mode for some reason
The grace period expires.

Actions on Exiting Graceful Restart:

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Operation of Helper Neighbor
For a restarting router X, router Y monitors the network for topology changes, and as long
as there are none, continues to advertise its LSAs as if X had remained in continuous
OSPF operation.

This means that Y's LSAs continue to list an adjacency to X over network segment S,
regardless of the adjacency's current synchronization state.

This logic affects the contents of both router-LSAs and network-LSAs, and also depends
on the type of network segment S.

If X was the Designated Router on network segment S when the helping relationship
began, Y maintains X as the Designated Router until the helping relationship is
terminated.

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Entering Helper mode
When a router Y receives a grace-LSA from router X, it enters helper mode for X on the
associated network segment .
Entrance into helper mode is contingent upon several conditions:
• Helper router has full adjacency with the restarting router.
• There are no changes to the link-state database since the initiation of the restart.
• The grace period (given in the Grace LSA) has not expired.
• Local policy is followed. (Examples of prohibitive policies are: never act as a helper;
only at certain times of day; and only for certain routers.)

• Note: Any router can act as a helper for multiple restarting routers. Grace periods can
be updated if subsequent Grace LSAs are received.

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Exiting Helper Mode
Router Y ceases to perform the helper function for its neighbor Router X on a given segment
when one of the following events occurs:
1) The grace-LSA originated by X on the segment is flushed. This indicates the successful
termination of graceful restart.
2) The grace-LSA's grace period expires.
3) A change in link-state database contents indicates a network topology change, which forces
termination of a graceful restart.

When Router Y exits helper mode for X on a given network segment, it reoriginates its LSAs
based on the current state of its adjacency to Router X over the segment.
1) Y recalculates the Designated Router for the segment,
2) Y reoriginates its router-LSA for the segment's OSPF area,
3) If Y is Designated Router for the segment, it reoriginates the network-LSA for the
segment
4) If the segment was a virtual link, Y reoriginates its router- LSA for the virtual link's transit
area.

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• ospf restart grace-period
Use this command to set the grace period for restarting the router.
If graceful restart is enabled, NSM is notified about the grace period. If the OSPF
daemon unexpectedly shuts down,
NSM sends this value to the OSPF daemon when it comes up again which uses this
value to end the graceful state.
Use the no parameter with this command to revert to the default.
• Command Syntax
ospf restart grace-period <1-1800>
no ospf restart grace-period
• Parameters
grace-period Specify the grace period.
<1-1800> Specify the grace period in seconds.

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• ospf restart helper
Use this command to configure the helper behavior for graceful restart.
Use the “no” parameter with this command to revert to default.
• Command Syntax
ospf restart helper {only-reload|only-upgrade|max-grace-period <1-1800>}
ospf restart helper never (router-id A.B.C.D|)
no ospf restart helper (never router-id (A.B.C.D | all) | max-grace-period|)
• Parameters
only-reload - Help only on software reloads.
only-upgrade - Help only on software upgrades.
max-grace-period
Help only if received grace-period is less than this value.
<1-1800>
Help only if received grace-period is less than this value.
never - never act as a helper for specific routers (specified by OSPF Router ID)

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Grace Period LSA

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Multi Area Adjacency
Multi-area adjacency provides support for multiple OSPF areas on a single interface.

This feature allows the link to be considered an intra-area link in multiple areas and be
preferred over other higher-cost intra-area paths.

This creates an intra-area path in each of the corresponding areas sharing the same link.

For example, an interface can be configured to belong to multiple areas with a high-
speed backbone link between two area border routers (ABRs) to allow creation of
multi-area adjacencies that belong to different areas.

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Multi Area Adjacency

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Multi Area Adjacency solution:
• ABRs will simply establish multiple adjacencies belonging to different areas.

• Each multi-area adjacency is announced as a point- to-point link in the configured

• No type 3 link is advertised for multi-area adjacencies.

Multi-Area Adjacency Configuration and Neighbor Discovery:

• For all other network types, the neighbor address of each multi-area adjacency must
be configured or automatically discovered via a mechanism external to OSPF.

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area multi-area-adjacency
Use this command to enable multi-area adjacency on the specified interface. Multi-area adjacency
establishes adjacency between the Area Border Routers (ABRs). The specified interface of the
ABR is associated with multiple areas. Multiple OSPF interfaces must be created for multiple
areas.
Use the no parameter to disable multi-area adjacency.

• Command Syntax
area (A.B.C.D|<0-4294967295>) multi-area-adjacency IFNAME neighbor A.B.C.D
no area (A.B.C.D|<0-4294967295>) multi-area-adjacency IFNAME (neighbor A.B.C.D|)

• Parameters
IFNAME An alphanumeric string that is the interface name.
neighbor Set the neighbor.
A.B.C.D Neighbor’s IP address.

• Command Mode
Router mode

• Examples
ZebOS#configure terminal
ZebOS(config)#router ospf 1
ZebOS(config)#router-id 10.10.10.10
ZebOS(config-router)#area 1 multi-area-adjacency eth1 neighbor 20.20.20.10
ZebOS(config-router)#no area 1 multi-area-adjacency eth1

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OSPF Multiple Instances
• Multiple OSPF instances assist in creating administrative separation in a large
network to segregate customer traffic and associated settings.

• Multiple instances are used to create overlay networks in which separate services are
routed only towards routers participating in that service, such as voice.

• The overlay network isolates routes belonging to one service from another
service, by exporting routes, applying tags, and filters routes based on tags.

• Each protocol instance contains a routing table, applied routing policies, a routing
table group, and interfaces that belong to that instance.

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Multiple OSPF Instances on a Single Interface
• ZebOS supports multiple OSPF instances in a single interface by differentiating
packets for the various instances sent and received on the same interface.

• In the packet header, the authentication type field is divided into an instance ID and
authentication type.

• Before bringing up the adjacency, the instance IDs are compared: Received packets
with an instance ID not equal to one of the configured OSPF instance IDs on the
receiving interface are discarded.

• This feature is disabled by default. It is enabled using the enable ext-ospf-multi-inst

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OSPF Multi Instance Packet Structure

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R1 receives packets from OSPF process 4, 5, and 6 on eth1, but routes packets
only from OSPF 6 to OSPF process1. Similarly, packets from OSPF 5 will be
routed only to OSPF 2, and packets from OSPF 4 will be routed only to OSPF 3.

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