C H A P T E R

33

Configuring Ethernet over MPLS (EoMPLS)

Note

Information about EoMPLS, page 33-1

Prerequisites, page 33-2

EoMPLS Restrictions, page 33-2

Configuring EoMPLS, page 33-3

For complete syntax and usage information for the commands used in this chapter, see these
publications:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9536/prod_command_reference_list.html

Tip

Cisco IOS Release 12.2SY supports only Ethernet interfaces. Cisco IOS Release 12.2SY does not
support any WAN features or commands.

For additional information about Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches (including configuration examples
and troubleshooting information), see the documents listed on this page:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/tsd_products_support_series_home.html

Information about EoMPLS

AToM Overview, page 33-1

EoMPLS Overview, page 33-2

AToM Overview
Any Transport over MPLS (AToM) transports Layer 2 packets over an MPLS backbone. AToM uses a
directed Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) session between edge routers for setting up and maintaining
connections. Forwarding occurs through the use of two level labels that provide switching between the
edge routers. The external label (tunnel label) routes the packet over the MPLS backbone to the egress

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Prerequisites

PE at the ingress PE. The VC label is a demuxing label that determines the connection at the tunnel
endpoint (the particular egress interface on the egress PE as well as the VLAN identifier for an Ethernet
frame).

EoMPLS Overview
EoMPLS is one of the AToM transport types. EoMPLS works by encapsulating Ethernet PDUs in MPLS
packets and forwarding them across the MPLS network. Each PDU is transported as a single packet.
Cisco IOS Release 12.2SY supports two EoMPLS modes:

Note

VLAN modeTransports Ethernet traffic from a source 802.1Q VLAN to a destination 802.1Q
VLAN through a single VC over an MPLS network. VLAN mode uses VC type 5 as default (no
dot1q tag) and VC type 4 (transport dot1 tag) if the remote PE does not support VC type 5 for
subinterface (VLAN) based EoMPLS.

Port modeAllows all traffic on a port to share a single VC across an MPLS network. Port mode
uses VC type 5.

For both VLAN mode and port mode, EoMPLS in Cisco IOS Release 12.2SY does not allow local
switching of packets between interfaces unless you use loopback interfaces.
LAN ports can receive Layer 2 traffic, impose labels, and switch the frames into the MPLS core.

Prerequisites
Before you configure EoMPLS, ensure that the network is configured as follows:

Configure IP routing in the core so that the PE routers can reach each other through IP.

Configure MPLS in the core so that a label switched path (LSP) exists between the PE routers.

EoMPLS Restrictions

EoMPLS in Cisco IOS Release 12.2SY does not support load balancing at the tunnel ingress; only
one Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) path is selected even if multiple IGP paths are available, but
load balancing is available at the MPLS core.

Ensure that the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of all intermediate links between endpoints is
sufficient to carry the largest Layer 2 packet received.

EoMPLS supports VLAN packets that conform to the IEEE 802.1Q standard. The 802.1Q
specification establishes a standard method for inserting VLAN membership information into
Ethernet frames.

When the QoS is enabled on a Layer 2 port, either 802.1q P bits or IP precedence bits can be
preserved with the trusted configuration. However, by default the unpreserved bits are overwritten
by the value of preserved bits. For instance, if you preserve the P bits, the IP precedence bits are
overwritten with the value of the P bits. To preserve the IP precedence bits, use the no platform qos
rewrite ip dscp command.

EoMPLS is not supported with private VLANs.

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Configuring EoMPLS

The following restrictions apply to using trunks with EoMPLS:

To support Ethernet spanning tree bridge protocol data units (BPDUs) across an EoMPLS cloud,

you must disable spanning tree for the Ethernet-over-MPLS VLAN. This ensures that the
EoMPLS VLANs are carried only on the trunk to the customer switch. Otherwise, the BPDUs
are not directed to the EoMPLS cloud.
The native VLAN of a trunk must not be configured as an EoMPLS VLAN.

In Cisco IOS Release 12.2SY, all protocols (for example, CDP, VTP, BPDUs) are tunneled across
the MPLS cloud without conditions.

Unique VLANs are required across interfaces. You cannot use the same VLAN ID on different
interfaces.

EoMPLS tunnel destination route in the routing table and the CEF table must be a /32 address (host
address where the mask is 255.255.255.255) to ensure that there is a label-switched path (LSP) from
PE to PE.

For a particular EoMPLS connection, both the ingress EoMPLS interface on the ingress PE and the
egress EoMPLS interface on the egress PE have to be subinterfaces with dot1Q encapsulation or
neither is a subinterface.

802.1Q in 802.1Q over EoMPLS is supported if the outgoing interface connecting to MPLS network
is a port on an Layer 2 card.

Shaping EoMPLS traffic is not supported if the egress interface connecting to an MPLS network is
a Layer 2 LAN port (a mode known as PFC-based EoMPLS).

EoMPLS based on a PFC does not perform any Layer 2 lookup to determine if the destination MAC
address resides on the local or remote segment and does not perform any Layer 2 address learning
(as traditional LAN bridging does).

The AToM control word is not supported.

Ethernet packets with hardware-level cyclic redundancy check (CRC) errors, framing errors, and
runt packets are discarded on input.

You must configure VLAN-based EoMPLS on subinterfaces.

Port-based EoMPLS and VLAN-based EoMPLS are mutually exclusive. If you enable a main
interface for port-to-port transport, you also cannot enter commands on a subinterface.

EoMPLS is not supported on Layer 3 VLAN interfaces.

Point-to-point EoMPLS works with a physical interface and subinterfaces.

Configuring EoMPLS

Prerequisites, page 33-2

Configuring VLAN-Based EoMPLS, page 33-4

Configuring Port-Based EoMPLS, page 33-6

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Configuring EoMPLS

Configuring VLAN-Based EoMPLS

To configure VLAN-based EoMPLS, perform this task on the provider edge (PE) routers:
Command

Purpose

Step 1 Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2 Router(config)# interface gigabitethernet

Specifies the Gigabit Ethernet subinterface. Make sure

that the subinterface on the adjoining CE router is on the
same VLAN as this PE router.

slot/interface.subinterface

Step 3 Router(config-if)# encapsulation dot1q vlan_id

Step 4 Router(config-if)# xconnect peer_router_id vcid

encapsulation mpls

Enables the subinterface to accept 802.1Q VLAN packets.

The subinterfaces between the CE and PE routers that

are running Ethernet over MPLS must be in the same
subnet.

All other subinterfaces and backbone routers do not

need to be on the same subnet.

Binds the attachment circuit to a pseudowire VC. The

syntax for this command is the same as for all other
Layer 2 transports.

This is a VLAN-based EoMPLS configuration sample:

interface GigabitEthernet7/4.2
encapsulation dot1Q 3
xconnect 13.13.13.13 3 encapsulation mpls
no shut

Note

The IP address is configured on subinterfaces of the CE devices.

To verify and display the configuration of Layer 2 VLAN transport over MPLS tunnels, perform the
following:

To display a single line for each VLAN, naming the VLAN, status, and ports, enter the show vlan
brief command.
Router# show vlan brief
VLAN
---1
2
3
1002
1003
1004
1005

Name
-------------------------------default
VLAN0002
VLAN0003
fddi-default
token-ring-default
fddinet-default
trnet-default

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Status
Ports
--------- ------------------------active
active
active
act/unsup
act/unsup
act/unsup
act/unsup

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Configuring EoMPLS

To verify that the PE router endpoints have discovered each other, enter the show mpls ldp
discovery command. When an PE router receives an LDP hello message from another PE router, it
considers that router and the specified label space to be discovered.
Router# show mpls ldp discovery
Local LDP Identifier:
13.13.13.13:0
Discovery Sources:
Interfaces:
GE-WAN3/3 (ldp): xmit/recv
LDP Id: 12.12.12.12:0
Targeted Hellos:
13.13.13.13 -> 11.11.11.11 (ldp): active/passive, xmit/recv
LDP Id: 11.11.11.11:0

To verify that the label distribution session has been established, enter the show mpls ldp neighbor
command. The third line of the output shows that the state of the LDP session is operational and
shows that messages are being sent and received.
Router# show mpls ldp neighbor
Peer LDP Ident: 12.12.12.12:0; Local LDP Ident 13.13.13.13:0
TCP connection: 12.12.12.12.646 - 13.13.13.13.11010
State: Oper; Msgs sent/rcvd: 1649/1640; Downstream
Up time: 23:42:45
LDP discovery sources:
GE-WAN3/3, Src IP addr: 34.0.0.2
Addresses bound to peer LDP Ident:
23.2.1.14
37.0.0.2
12.12.12.12
34.0.0.2
99.0.0.1
Peer LDP Ident: 11.11.11.11:0; Local LDP Ident 13.13.13.13:0
TCP connection: 11.11.11.11.646 - 13.13.13.13.11013
State: Oper; Msgs sent/rcvd: 1650/1653; Downstream
Up time: 23:42:29
LDP discovery sources:
Targeted Hello 13.13.13.13 -> 11.11.11.11, active, passive
Addresses bound to peer LDP Ident:
11.11.11.11
37.0.0.1
23.2.1.13

To verify that the label forwarding table is built correctly, enter the show mpls forwarding-table
command to verify that a label has been learned for the remote PE and that the label is going from
the correct interface to the correct next-hop.
Router# show mpls forwarding-table
Local Outgoing
Prefix
tag
tag or VC
or Tunnel Id
16
Untagged
223.255.254.254/32
20
21
24
25
26

Untagged
Untagged
Pop tag
17
Pop tag

l2ckt(2)
l2ckt(3)
37.0.0.0/8
11.11.11.11/32
12.12.12.12/32

Bytes tag
switched
\
0
133093
185497
0
0
0

Outgoing
interface
Gi2/1
Vl2
Vl3
GE3/3
GE3/3
GE3/3

Next Hop

23.2.0.1
point2point
point2point
34.0.0.2
34.0.0.2
34.0.0.2

The output shows the following data:

Local tagLabel assigned by this router.
Outgoing tag or VCLabel assigned by next hop.
Prefix or Tunnel IdAddress or tunnel to which packets with this label are going.
Bytes tag switched Number of bytes switched out with this incoming label.
Outgoing interfaceInterface through which packets with this label are sent.
Next HopIP address of neighbor that assigned the outgoing label.

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Configuring EoMPLS

To display the state of the currently routed VCs, enter the show mpls l2transport vc command.
Router# show mpls l2transport vc
Local intf
------------Vl2
Vl3

Local circuit
-------------------Eth VLAN 2
Eth VLAN 3

Dest address
--------------11.11.11.11
11.11.11.11

VC ID
---------2
3

Status
---------UP
UP

To display detailed information about each VC, add the keyword detail.
Router# show mpls l2transport vc detail
Local interface: Vl2 up, line protocol up, Eth VLAN 2 up
Destination address: 11.11.11.11, VC ID: 2, VC status: up
Tunnel label: 17, next hop 34.0.0.2
Output interface: GE3/3, imposed label stack {17 18}
Create time: 01:24:44, last status change time: 00:10:55
Signaling protocol: LDP, peer 11.11.11.11:0 up
MPLS VC labels: local 20, remote 18
Group ID: local 71, remote 89
MTU: local 1500, remote 1500
Remote interface description:
Sequencing: receive disabled, send disabled
VC statistics:
packet totals: receive 1009, send 1019
byte totals:
receive 133093, send 138089
packet drops: receive 0, send 0
Local interface: Vl3 up, line protocol up, Eth VLAN 3 up
Destination address: 11.11.11.11, VC ID: 3, VC status: up
Tunnel label: 17, next hop 34.0.0.2
Output interface: GE3/3, imposed label stack {17 19}
Create time: 01:24:38, last status change time: 00:10:55
Signaling protocol: LDP, peer 11.11.11.11:0 up
MPLS VC labels: local 21, remote 19
Group ID: local 72, remote 90
MTU: local 1500, remote 1500
Remote interface description:
Sequencing: receive disabled, send disabled
VC statistics:
packet totals: receive 1406, send 1414
byte totals:
receive 185497, send 191917
packet drops: receive 0, send 0

Configuring Port-Based EoMPLS

To support 802.1Q-in-802.1Q traffic and Ethernet traffic over EoMPLS in Cisco IOS Release 12.2SY,
configure port-based EoMPLS by performing this task:
Command

Purpose

Step 1 Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2 Router(config)# interface gigabitethernet

slot/interface

Specifies the Gigabit Ethernet interface. Make sure that

the interface on the adjoining CE router is on the same
VLAN as this PE router.

Step 3 Router(config-if)# xconnect peer_router_id vcid

Binds the attachment circuit to a pseudowire VC. The

syntax for this command is the same as for all other
Layer 2 transports.

encapsulation mpls

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Configuring EoMPLS

The following is an example of a port-based configuration:

Router# show mpls l2transport vc
Local intf
------------Gi8/48
Gi7/11.2000

Local circuit
-------------------Ethernet
Eth VLAN 2000

Dest address
--------------75.0.78.1
75.0.78.1

VC ID
---------1
2000

Status
---------UP
UP

Router# show run interface gigabitethernet 8/48

Building configuration...
Current configuration : 86 bytes
!
interface GigabitEthernet8/48
no ip address
xconnect 75.0.78.1 1 encapsulation mpls
end
Router# show run interface gigabitethernet 7/11
Building configuration...
Current configuration : 118 bytes
!
interface GigabitEthernet7/11
description Traffic-Generator
no ip address
logging event link-status
speed nonegotiate
end
Router# show run int gigabitethernet 7/11.2000
Building configuration...
Current configuration : 112 bytes
!
interface GigabitEthernet7/11.2000
encapsulation dot1Q 2000
xconnect 75.0.78.1 2000 encapsulation mpls
end
Router# show mpls l2transport vc 1 detail
Local interface: Gi7/47 up, line protocol up, Ethernet up
Destination address: 75.0.80.1, VC ID: 1, VC status: up
Tunnel label: 5704, next hop 75.0.83.1
Output interface: Te8/3, imposed label stack {5704 10038}
Create time: 00:30:33, last status change time: 00:00:43
Signaling protocol: LDP, peer 75.0.80.1:0 up
MPLS VC labels: local 10579, remote 10038
Group ID: local 155, remote 116
MTU: local 1500, remote 1500
Remote interface description:
Sequencing: receive disabled, send disabled
VC statistics:
packet totals: receive 26, send 0
byte totals:
receive 13546, send 0
packet drops: receive 0, send 0

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To display the VC type:

Router# remote command switch show mpls l2transport vc 1 de
Local interface: GigabitEthernet7/47, Ethernet
Destination address: 75.0.80.1, VC ID: 1
VC status: receive UP, send DOWN
VC type: receive 5, send 5
Tunnel label: not ready, destination not in LFIB
Output interface: unknown, imposed label stack {}
MPLS VC label: local 10579, remote 10038
Linecard VC statistics:
packet totals: receive: 0 send: 0
byte totals: receive: 0 send: 0
packet drops: receive: 0 send: 0
Control flags:
receive 1, send: 31
!

To verify and display the configuration of Layer 2 VLAN transport over MPLS tunnels, perform the
following:

To display a single line for each VLAN, naming the VLAN, status, and ports, enter the show vlan
brief command.
Router# show vlan brief
VLAN
---1
2
1002
1003
1004
1005

Name
-------------------------------default
VLAN0002
fddi-default
token-ring-default
fddinet-default
trnet-default

Status
Ports
--------- ------------------------------active
active
Gi1/4
act/unsup
act/unsup
act/unsup
act/unsup

To verify that the PE router endpoints have discovered each other, enter the show mpls ldp
discovery command. When an PE router receives an LDP Hello message from another PE router, it
considers that router and the specified label space to be discovered.
Router# show mpls ldp discovery
Local LDP Identifier:
13.13.13.13:0
Discovery Sources:
Interfaces:
GE-WAN3/3 (ldp): xmit/recv
LDP Id: 12.12.12.12:0
Targeted Hellos:
13.13.13.13 -> 11.11.11.11 (ldp): active/passive, xmit/recv
LDP Id: 11.11.11.11:0

To verify that the label distribution session has been established, enter the show mpls ldp neighbor
command. The third line of the output shows that the state of the LDP session is operational and
shows that messages are being sent and received.
Router# show mpls ldp neighbor
Peer LDP Ident: 12.12.12.12:0; Local LDP Ident 13.13.13.13:0
TCP connection: 12.12.12.12.646 - 13.13.13.13.11010
State: Oper; Msgs sent/rcvd: 1715/1706; Downstream
Up time: 1d00h
LDP discovery sources:
GE-WAN3/3, Src IP addr: 34.0.0.2
Addresses bound to peer LDP Ident:
23.2.1.14
37.0.0.2
12.12.12.12
34.0.0.2
99.0.0.1

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Peer LDP Ident: 11.11.11.11:0; Local LDP Ident 13.13.13.13:0

TCP connection: 11.11.11.11.646 - 13.13.13.13.11013
State: Oper; Msgs sent/rcvd: 1724/1730; Downstream
Up time: 1d00h
LDP discovery sources:
Targeted Hello 13.13.13.13 -> 11.11.11.11, active, passive
Addresses bound to peer LDP Ident:
11.11.11.11
37.0.0.1
23.2.1.13

To verify that the label forwarding table is built correctly, enter the show mpls forwarding-table
command.
Router# show mpls forwarding-table
Local Outgoing
Prefix
tag
tag or VC
or Tunnel Id
16
Untagged
223.255.254.254/32
20
24
25
26

Untagged
Pop tag
17
Pop tag

l2ckt(2)
37.0.0.0/8
11.11.11.11/32
12.12.12.12/32

Bytes tag
switched
\
0
55146580
0
0
0

Outgoing
interface
Gi2/1
Vl2
GE3/3
GE3/3
GE3/3

Next Hop

23.2.0.1
point2point
34.0.0.2
34.0.0.2
34.0.0.2

The output displays the following data:

Local tagLabel assigned by this router.
Outgoing tag or VCLabel assigned by next hop.
Prefix or Tunnel IdAddress or tunnel to which packets with this label are going.
Bytes tag switched Number of bytes switched out with this incoming label.
Outgoing interfaceInterface through which packets with this label are sent.
Next HopIP address of neighbor that assigned the outgoing label.

To display the state of the currently routed VCs, enter the show mpls l2transport vc command:
Router# show mpls l2transport vc
Local intf
------------Vl2

Tip

Local circuit
Dest address
VC ID
Status
-------------------- --------------- ---------- ---------Eth VLAN 2
11.11.11.11
2
UP

For additional information about Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches (including configuration examples
and troubleshooting information), see the documents listed on this page:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/tsd_products_support_series_home.html

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