Network Working Group                              K. Kompella (Juniper)
Internet Draft                                            P. Pan (Ciena)
draft-ietf-mpls-lsp-ping-01.txt                       N. Sheth (Juniper)
Category: Standards Track                    D. Cooper (Global Crossing)
Expires: April 2003                                   G. Swallow (Cisco)
                                                     S. Wadhwa (Juniper)
                                                    R. Bonica (WorldCom)
                                                            October 2002

                   Detecting MPLS Data Plane Liveness

                             *** DRAFT ***


Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
   Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.''

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.


Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.












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Abstract

   This document describes a simple and efficient mechanism that can be
   used to detect data plane failures in Multi-Protocol Label Switching
   (MPLS) Label Switched Paths (LSPs).  There are two parts to this
   document: information carried in an MPLS "echo request" and "echo
   reply" for the purposes of fault detection and isolation; and
   mechanisms for reliably sending the echo reply.


Sub-IP ID Summary

   (This section to be removed before publication.)

   (See Abstract above.)

   RELATED DOCUMENTS

   May be found in the "references" section.

   WHERE DOES IT FIT IN THE PICTURE OF THE SUB-IP WORK

   Fits in the MPLS box.

   WHY IS IT TARGETED AT THIS WG

   MPLS WG is currently looking at MPLS-specific error detection and
   recovery mechanisms.  The mechanisms proposed here are for packet-
   based MPLS LSPs, which is why the MPLS WG is targeted.

   JUSTIFICATION

   The WG should consider this document, as it allows network operators
   to detect MPLS LSP data plane failures in the network.  This type of
   failures have occurred, and are a source of concern to operators
   implementing MPLS networks.















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1. Introduction

   This document describes a simple and efficient mechanism that can be
   used to detect data plane failures in MPLS LSPs.  There are two parts
   to this document: information carried in an MPLS "echo request" and
   "echo reply"; and mechanisms for transporting the echo reply.  The
   first part aims at providing enough information to check correct
   operation of the data plane, as well as a mechanism to verify the
   data plane against the control plane, and thereby localize faults.
   The second part suggests two methods of reliable reply channels for
   the echo request message, for more robust fault isolation.

   An important consideration in this design is that MPLS echo requests
   follow the same data path that normal MPLS packets would traverse.
   MPLS echo requests are meant primarily to validate the data plane,
   and secondarily to verify the data plane against the control plane.
   Mechanisms to check the control plane are valuable, but are not
   covered in this document.

   To avoid potential Denial of Service attacks, it is recommended to
   regulate the MPLS ping traffic going to the control plane.  A rate
   limiter should be applied to the well-known UDP port defined below.

1.1. Conventions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [KEYWORDS].

1.2. Changes since last revision

   (This section to be removed before publication.)

    - Packet format changed; Version Number field added
    - Reply modes: "don't reply" added
    - Reply flags removed
    - Return codes extended
    - RSVP session formats modified
    - VPN IPv4/v6 formats defined
    - L2 VPN endpoint and L2 circuits defined
    - Downstream mapping format changed
    - Pad and Error Code TLVs introduced
    - Aspects dealing with CR-LDP moved to non-normative appendix
    - IPR notices and Full Copyright Statement (per 2026) added
    - other nits to better conform to 2223bis






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2. Motivation

   When an LSP fails to deliver user traffic, the failure cannot always
   be detected by the MPLS control plane.  There is a need to provide a
   tool that would enable users to detect such traffic "black holes" or
   misrouting within a reasonable period of time; and a mechanism to
   isolate faults.

   In this document, we describe a mechanism that accomplishes these
   goals.  This mechanism is modeled after the ping/traceroute
   philosophy: ping (ICMP echo request [ICMP]) is used for connectivity
   checks, and traceroute is used for hop-by-hop fault localization as
   well as path tracing.  This document specifies a "ping mode" and a
   "traceroute" mode for testing MPLS LSPs.

   The basic idea is to test that packets that belong to a particular
   Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC) actually end their MPLS path on an
   LSR that is an egress for that FEC.  This document proposes that this
   test be carried out by sending a packet (called an "MPLS echo
   request") along the same data path as other packets belonging to this
   FEC.  An MPLS echo request also carries information about the FEC
   whose MPLS path is being verified.  This echo request is forwarded
   just like any other packet belonging to that FEC.  In "ping" mode
   (basic connectivity check), the packet should reach the end of the
   path, at which point it is sent to the control plane of the egress
   LSR, which then verifies that it is indeed an egress for the FEC.  In
   "traceroute" mode (fault isolation), the packet is sent to the
   control plane of each transit LSR, which performs various checks that
   it is indeed a transit LSR for this path; this LSR also returns
   further information that helps check the control plane against the
   data plane, i.e., that forwarding matches what the routing protocols
   determined as the path.

   One way these tools can be used is to periodically ping a FEC to
   ensure connectivity.  If the ping fails, one can then initiate a
   traceroute to determine where the fault lies.  One can also
   periodically traceroute FECs to verify that forwarding matches the
   control plane; however, this places a greater burden on transit LSRs
   and thus should be used with caution.












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3. Packet Format

   An MPLS echo request is a (possibly labelled) UDP packet; the
   contents of the UDP packet have the following format:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Version Number        |         Must Be Zero          |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Message Type |   Reply mode  |  Return Code  | Return Subcode|
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                        Sender's Handle                        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                        Sequence Number                        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    TimeStamp Sent (seconds)                   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                  TimeStamp Sent (microseconds)                |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                  TimeStamp Received (seconds)                 |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                TimeStamp Received (microseconds)              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                            TLVs ...                           |
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   The Version Number is currently 1.  (Note: the Version Number is to
   be incremented whenever a change is made that affects the ability of
   an implementation to correctly parse or process an MPLS echo
   request/reply.  These changes include any syntactic or semantic
   changes made to any of the fixed fields, or to any TLV or sub-TLV
   assignment or format that is defined at a certain version number.
   The Version Number may not need to be changed if a TLV or sub-TLV is
   added.)

   The Message Type is one of the following:

       Value    Meaning
       -----    -------
           1    MPLS Echo Request
           2    MPLS Echo Reply

   The Reply Mode can take one of the following values:



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       Value    Meaning
       -----    -------
           1    Do not reply
           2    Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet
           3    Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet with Router Alert
           4    Reply via the control plane

   An MPLS echo request with "Do not reply" may be used for one-way
   connectivity tests; the receiving router may log gaps in the sequence
   numbers and/or maintain delay/jitter statistics.  An MPLS echo
   request would normally have "Reply via an IPv4 UDP packet"; if the
   normal IPv4 return path is deemed unreliable, one may use "Reply via
   an IPv4 UDP packet with Router Alert" (note that this requires that
   all intermediate routers understand and know how to forward MPLS echo
   replies) or "Reply via the control plane" (this is currently only
   defined for control plane that uses RSVP).

   The Return Code is set to zero by the sender.  The receiver can set
   it to one of the following values:

       Value    Meaning
       -----    -------
           0    The error code is contained in the Error Code TLV
           1    Malformed echo request received
           2    One or more of the TLVs was not understood
           3    Replying router is an egress for the FEC
           4    Replying router has no mapping for the FEC
           5    Replying router is not one of the "Downstream Routers"
           6    Replying router is one of the "Downstream Routers",
                and its mapping for this FEC on the received interface
                is the given label
           7    Replying router is one of the "Downstream Routers",
                but its mapping for this FEC is not the given label

   The Return Subcode is unused at present and SHOULD be set to zero.

   The Sender's Handle is filled in by the sender, and returned
   unchanged by the receiver in the echo reply (if any).  There are no
   semantics associated with this handle, although a sender may find
   this useful for matching up requests with replies.

   The Sequence Number is assigned by the sender of the MPLS echo
   request, and can be (for example) used to detect missed replies.

   The TimeStamp Sent is the time-of-day (in seconds and microseconds,
   wrt the sender's clock) when the MPLS echo request is sent.  The
   TimeStamp Received in an echo reply is the time-of-day (wrt the
   receiver's clock) that the corresponding echo request was received.



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   TLVs (Type-Length-Value tuples) have the following format:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |             Type              |            Length             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                             Value                             |
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Types are defined below; Length is the length of the Value field in
   octets.  The Value field depends on the Type; it is zero padded to
   align to a four-octet boundary.

          Type #                           Value Field
          ------                           -----------
               1                           Target FEC Stack
               2                           Downstream Mapping
               3                           Pad
               4                           Error Code

3.1. Target FEC Stack

   A Target FEC Stack is a list of sub-TLVs.  The number of elements is
   determined by the looking at the sub-TLV length fields.

      Sub-Type #       Length              Value Field
      ----------       ------              -----------
               1            5              LDP IPv4 prefix
               2           17              LDP IPv6 prefix
               3           20              RSVP IPv4 Session Query
               4           56              RSVP IPv6 Session Query
               5                           Reserved; see Appendix
               6           13              VPN IPv4 prefix
               7           25              VPN IPv6 prefix
               8           14              L2 VPN endpoint
               9           10              L2 circuit ID

   Other FEC Types will be defined as needed.

   Note that this TLV defines a stack of FECs, the first FEC element
   corresponding to the top of the label stack, etc.

   An MPLS echo request MUST have a Target FEC Stack that describes the



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   FEC stack being tested.  For example, if an LSR X has an LDP mapping
   for 192.168.1.1 (say label 1001), then to verify that label 1001 does
   indeed reach an egress LSR that announced this prefix via LDP, X can
   send an MPLS echo request with a FEC Stack TLV with one FEC in it,
   namely of type LDP IPv4 prefix, with prefix 192.168.1.1/32, and send
   the echo request with a label of 1001.

   If LSR X wanted to verify that a label stack of <1001, 23456> is the
   right label stack to use to reach an IP VPN prefix of 10/8 in VPN foo
   on an egress LSR with loopback address 192.168.1.1 (learned via LDP),
   X has two choices.  X can send an MPLS echo request with a FEC Stack
   TLV with a single FEC of type VPN IPv4 prefix with a prefix of 10/8
   with the Route Distinguisher for VPN foo.  Alternatively, X can send
   a FEC Stack TLV with two FECs, the first of type LDP IPv4 with a
   prefix of 192.168.1.1/32 and the second of type of IP VPN with a
   prefix 10/8 in VPN foo.  In either case, the MPLS echo request would
   have a label stack of <1001, 23456>.  (Note: in this example, 1001 is
   the "outer" label and 23456 is the "inner" label.)

3.1.1. IPv4 Prefix

   The value consists of four octets of an IPv4 prefix followed by one
   octet of prefix length in bits.  The IPv4 prefix is in network byte
   order.  See [LDP] for an example of a Mapping for an IPv4 FEC.

3.1.2. IPv6 Prefix

   The value consists of sixteen octets of an IPv6 prefix followed by
   one octet of prefix length in bits.  The IPv6 prefix is in network
   byte order.

3.1.3. RSVP IPv4 Session

   The value has the format below.  The value fields are taken from
   [RFC3209, sections 4.6.1.1 and 4.6.2.1].

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                 IPv4 tunnel end point address                 |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |          Must Be Zero         |     Tunnel ID                 |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                       Extended Tunnel ID                      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   IPv4 tunnel sender address                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |          Must Be Zero         |            LSP ID             |



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      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

3.1.4. RSVP IPv6 Session

   The value has the format below.  The value fields are taken from
   [RFC3209, sections 4.6.1.2 and 4.6.2.2].

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                 IPv6 tunnel end point address                 |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |          Must Be Zero         |          Tunnel ID            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                       Extended Tunnel ID                      |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   IPv6 tunnel sender address                  |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |          Must Be Zero         |            LSP ID             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

3.1.5. VPN IPv4 Prefix

   The value field consists of a Route Distinguisher, an IPv4 prefix and
   a prefix length, as follows:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Route Distinguisher                      |
      |                          (8 octets)                           |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                         IPv4 prefix                           |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      | Prefix Length |                 Must Be Zero                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+






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3.1.6. VPN IPv6 Prefix

   The value field consists of a Route Distinguisher, an IPv6 prefix and
   a prefix length, as follows:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Route Distinguisher                      |
      |                          (8 octets)                           |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                         IPv6 prefix                           |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      | Prefix Length |                 Must Be Zero                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

3.1.7. L2 VPN Endpoint

   The value field consists of a Route Distinguisher (8 octets), the
   sender (of the ping)'s CE ID (2 octets), the receiver's CE ID (2
   octets), and an encapsulation type (2 octets), formatted as follows:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Route Distinguisher                      |
      |                          (8 octets)                           |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Sender's CE ID        |       Receiver's CE ID        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |      Encapsulation Type       |         Must Be Zero          |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

3.1.8. L2 Circuit ID

   The value field consists of a remote PE address (the address of the
   targetted LDP session), a VC ID and an encapsulation type, as
   follows:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Remote PE Address                        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                             VC ID                             |



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      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |      Encapsulation Type       |         Must Be Zero          |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

3.2. Downstream Mapping

   The Downstream Mapping is an optional TLV in an echo request.  The
   Length is 12 + 4*N octets, where N is the number of Downstream
   Labels.  The Value of a Downstream Mapping has the following format:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   Downstream IPv4 Router ID                   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |               MTU             | Address Type  |  Reserved     |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   Interface Address                           |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |               Downstream Label                |    Protocol   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |               Downstream Label                |    Protocol   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   The MTU is the largest MPLS frame (including label stack) that fits
   on the interface to the Downstream LSR.  The Address Type is one of:

             Type #        Address Type
             ------        ------------
                  1        IPv4
                  2        Unnumbered

   'Protocol' is taken from the following table:

         Protocol #        Signaling Protocol
         ----------        ------------------
                  0        Unknown
                  1        Static
                  2        BGP
                  3        LDP
                  4        RSVP-TE
                  5        Reserved; see Appendix

   The notion of "downstream router" should be explained.  Consider an



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   LSR X.  If a packet with outermost label L and TTL n>1 arrived at X
   on interface I, X must be able to compute which LSRs could receive
   the packet with TTL=n+1, and what label they would see.  (It is
   outside the scope of this document to specify how this computation
   may be done.)  The set of these LSRs are the downstream routers (and
   their corresponding labels) for X with respect to L.

   The case where X is the LSR originating the echo request is a special
   case.  X needs to figure out what LSRs would receive a labelled
   packet with TTL=1 when X tries to send a packet to the FEC Stack that
   is being pinged.

3.3. Pad TLV

   The value part of the Pad TLV contains a variable number (>= 1) of
   octets.  The first octet takes values from the following table; all
   the other octets (if any) are ignored.  The receiver SHOULD verify
   that the TLV is received in its entirety, but otherwise ignores the
   contents of this TLV, apart from the first octet.

              Value        Meaning
              -----        -------
                  1        Drop Pad TLV from reply
                  2        Copy Pad TLV to reply
              3-255        Reserved for future use

3.4. Error Code

   The Error Code TLV is currently not defined; its purpose is to
   provide a mechanism for a more elaborate error reporting structure,
   should the reason arise.


4. Theory of Operation

4.1. Sending an MPLS Echo Request

   An MPLS echo request is a (possibly) labelled UDP packet.  The IP
   header is set as follows: the source IP address is a routable address
   of the sender; the destination IP address is a (randomly chosen)
   address from 127/8; the IP TTL is set to 1.  The source UDP port is
   chosen by the sender; the destination UDP port is set to 3503
   (assigned by IANA for MPLS echo requests).  If the echo request is
   labelled, the MPLS TTL on all the labels except the outermost should
   be set to 1.

   In "ping" mode (end-to-end connectivity check), the TTL in the
   outermost label is set to 255.  In "traceroute" mode (fault isolation



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   mode), the TTL is set successively to 1, 2, ....

   The sender chooses a Sender's Handle, and a Sequence Number.  When
   sending subsequent MPLS echo requests, the sender SHOULD increment
   the sequence number by 1.  However, a sender MAY choose to send a
   group of echo requests with the same sequence number to improve the
   chance of arrival of at least one packet with that sequence number.

   The TimeStamp Sent is set to the time-of-day (in seconds and
   microseconds) that the echo request is sent.  The TimeStamp Received
   is set to zero.

   An MPLS echo request MUST have a FEC Stack TLV.  Also, the Reply Mode
   must be set to the desired reply mode; the Return Code and Subcode
   are set to zero.

   In the "traceroute" mode, the echo request SHOULD contain one or more
   Downstream Mapping TLVs.  For TTL=1, all the downstream routers (and
   corresponding labels) for the sender with respect to the FEC Stack
   being pinged SHOULD be sent in the echo request.  For n>1, the
   Downstream Mapping TLVs from the echo reply for TTL=(n-1) are copied
   to the echo request with TTL=n.

4.2. Receiving an MPLS Echo Request

   An LSR L that receives an MPLS echo request first parses the packet
   to ensure that it is a well-formed packet, and that the TLVs are
   understood.  If not, L  SHOULD send an MPLS echo reply with the
   Return Code set to "Malformed echo request received" or "TLV not
   understood" (as appropriate), and the Subcode set to the appropriate
   value.

   If the echo request is good, L then checks whether it is a valid
   transit or egress LSR for the FEC in the echo request.  If not, L MAY
   log this fact.

   If the echo request contains a Downstream Mapping TLV, L MUST further
   check whether its Router ID matches one of the Downstream IPv4 Router
   IDs; and if so, whether the given Downstream Label is in fact the
   label that L sent as its mapping for the FEC.  For an RSVP FEC, the
   downstream label is the label that L sent in its Resv message.  The
   result of the checks in the previous and this paragraph are captured
   in the Return Code/Subcode.

   If the echo request has a Reply Mode that wants a reply, L uses the
   procedure in the next subsection to send the echo reply.





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4.3. Sending an MPLS Echo Reply

   An MPLS echo reply is a UDP packet.  It MUST ONLY be sent in response
   to an MPLS echo request.  The source IP address is a routable address
   of the replier; the source port is the well-known UDP port for MPLS
   ping.  The destination IP address and UDP port are copied from the
   source IP address and UDP port of the echo request.  The IP TTL is
   set to 255.  If the Reply Mode in the echo request is "Reply via an
   IPv4 UDP packet with Router Alert", then the IP header MUST contain
   the Router Alert IP option.

   The format of the echo reply is the same as the echo request.  The
   Sender's Handle, the Sequence Number and TimeStamp Sent are copied
   from the echo request; the TimeStamp Received is set to the time-of-
   day that the echo request is received (note that this information is
   most useful if the time-of-day clocks on the requestor and the
   replier are synchronized).  The FEC Stack TLV from the echo request
   MAY be copied to the reply.

   The replier MUST fill in the Return Code and Subcode, as determined
   in the previous subsection.

   If the echo request contains a Pad TLV, the replier MUST interpret
   the first octet for instructions regarding how to reply.

   If the echo request contains a Downstream Mapping TLV, the replier
   SHOULD compute its downstream routers and corresponding labels for
   the incoming label, and add Downstream Mapping TLVs for each one to
   the echo reply it sends back.

4.4. Receiving an MPLS Echo Reply

   An LSR X should only receive an MPLS Echo Reply in response to an
   MPLS Echo Request that it sent.  Thus, on receipt of an MPLS Echo
   Reply, X should parse the packet to assure that it is well-formed,
   then attempt to match up the Echo Reply with an Echo Request that it
   had previously sent, using the destination UDP port and the Sender's
   Handle.  If no match is found, then X jettisons the Echo Reply;
   otherwise, it checks the Sequence Number to see if it matches.  Gaps
   in the Sequence Number MAY be logged and SHOULD be counted.  Once an
   Echo Reply is received for a given Sequence Number (for a given UDP
   port and Handle), the Sequence Number for subsequent Echo Requests
   for that UDP port and Handle SHOULD be incremented.

   If the Echo Reply contains Downstream Mappings, and X wishes to
   traceroute further, it SHOULD copy the Downstream Mappings into its
   next Echo Request (with TTL incremented by one).




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4.5. Non-compliant Routers

   If the egress for the FEC Stack being pinged does not support MPLS
   ping, then no reply will be sent, resulting in possible "false
   negatives".  If in "traceroute" mode, a transit LSR does not support
   MPLS ping, then no reply will be forthcoming from that LSR for some
   TTL, say n.  The LSR originating the echo request SHOULD try sending
   the echo request with TTL=n+1, n+2, ..., n+k in the hope that some
   transit LSR further downstream may support MPLS echo requests and
   reply.  In such a case, the echo request for TTL>n MUST NOT have
   Downstream Mapping TLVs, until a reply is received with a Downstream
   Mapping.


5. Reliable Reply Path

   One of the issues that are faced with MPLS ping is to distinguish
   between a failure in the forward path (the MPLS path being 'pinged')
   and a failure in the return path.  Note that this problem exists with
   vanilla IP ping as well.  In the case of MPLS ping, it is assumed
   that the IP control and data planes are reliable.  However, it could
   be that the forwarding in the return path is via an MPLS LSP.

   In this specification, we give two solutions for this problem.  One
   is to set the Router Alert option in the MPLS echo reply.  When a
   router sees this option, it MUST forward the packet as an IP packet.
   Note that this may not work if some transit LSR does not support MPLS
   ping.

   Another option is to send the echo reply via the control plane.  At
   present, this is defined only for RSVP-TE LSPs, and described below.

   These options are controlled by the ingress LSR, using the Reply Mode
   in the MPLS echo request packet.

5.1. RSVP-TE Extension

   To test an LSP's liveliness, an ingress LSR sends MPLS echo requests
   over the LSP being tested.  When an egress LSR receives the message,
   it needs to acknowledge the ingress LSR by sending an LSP_ECHO object
   in a RSVP Resv message. The object has the following format:

         Class = LSP_ECHO  (use form 11bbbbbb for compatibility)

         C-Type = 1

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1



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      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                        Sequence Number                        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      TimeStamp (seconds)                      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    TimeStamp (microseconds)                   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |        UDP Source Port        |  Return Code  | Return Subcode|
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   The Sequence Number is copied from the Sequence Number of the echo
   request.  The TimeStamp is set to the time the echo request is
   received.  The UDP Source Port is copied from the UDP source port of
   the MPLS echo request.  The FEC is implied by the Session and the
   Sender Template Objects.

5.2. Operation

   For the sake of brevity in the context of this document by "the
   control plane" we mean "the RSVP-TE component of the control plane".

   Consider an LSP between an ingress LSR and an egress LSR spanning
   multiple LSR hops.

5.3. Procedures at the ingress LSR

   One must ensure before setting the Reply Mode to "reply via the
   control plane" that the egress LSR supports this feature.

   The ingress LSR, say X, builds an MPLS echo request as in section
   "Sending an MPLS Echo Request".  The FEC Type must be an RVSP Session
   Query.  X also sets the Reply Mode to "reply via the control plane".

   If X does not receive an Resv message from the egress LSR that
   contains an LSP_ECHO object within some period of time, it declares
   the LSP as "down".  At this point, the ingress LSR may apply the
   necessary procedures to fix the LSP.  These may include generating a
   message to network management, tearing-down and re-building the LSP,
   and/or rerouting user traffic to a backup LSP.

   To test an LSP that carries non-IP traffic, before injecting ICMP and
   MPLS ping messages into the LSP, the IPv4 Explicit NULL label should
   be prepended to such messages. The ingress and egress LSR's must
   follow the procedures defined in [LABEL-STACKING].







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5.4. Procedures at the egress LSR

   When the egress LSR receives an MPLS ping message, it follows the
   procedures given above.  If the Reply Mode is set to "Reply via the
   control plane", the LSR can, based on the RSVP SESSION and
   SENDER_TEMPLATE objects carried in the MPLS ping message, find the
   corresponding LSP in its RSVP-TE database.  The LSR then checks to
   see if the Resv message for this LSP contains an LSP_ECHO object with
   the same source UDP port value.  If not, the LSR adds or updates the
   LSP_ECHO object and refreshes the Resv message.

5.5. Procedures for the intermediate LSR's

   At intermediate LSRs, normal RSVP processing procedures will cause
   the LSP_ECHO object to be forwarded as RSVP messages are refreshed.

   At the LSR's that support MPLS ping the Resv messages that carry the
   LSP_ECHO object MUST be delivered upstream immediately.

   Note that an intermediate LSR using RSVP refresh reduction [RSVP-
   REFRESH], the new or changed LSP_ECHO object will cause the LSR to
   classify the RSVP message as a trigger message.


6. Normative References

   [KEYWORDS]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
       Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [LABEL-STACKING]  Rosen, E., et al, "MPLS Label Stack Encoding", RFC
       3032, January 2001.

   [RSVP]  Braden, R. (Editor), et al, "Resource ReSerVation protocol
       (RSVP) -- Version 1 Functional Specification," RFC 2205,
       September 1997.

   [RSVP-REFRESH]  Berger, L., et al, "RSVP Refresh Overhead Reduction
       Extensions", RFC 2961, April 2001.

   [RSVP-TE]  Awduche, D., et al, "RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP
       tunnels", RFC 3209, December 2001.










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7. Informative References

   [ICMP]  Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol", RFC 792.

   [LDP]  Andersson, L., et al, "LDP Specification", RFC 3036, January
       2001.


8. Security Considerations

   There are at least two approaches to attacking LSRs using the
   mechanisms defined here.  One is a Denial of Service attack, by
   sending MPLS echo requests/replies to LSRs and thereby increasing
   their workload.  The other is obfuscating the state of the MPLS data
   plane liveness by spoofing, hijacking, replaying or otherwise
   tampering with MPLS echo requests and replies.

   Authentication will help reduce the number of seemingly valid MPLS
   echo requests, and thus cut down the Denial of Service attacks;
   beyond that, each LSR must protect itself.

   Authentication sufficiently addresses spoofing, replay and most
   tampering attacks; one hopes to use some mechanism devised or
   suggested by the RPSec WG.  It is not clear how to prevent hijacking
   (non-delivery) of echo requests or replies; however, if these
   messages are indeed hijacked, MPLS ping will report that the data
   plane isn't working as it should.

   It doesn't seem vital (at this point) to secure the data carried in
   MPLS echo requests and replies, although knowledge of the state of
   the MPLS data plane may be considered confidential by some.


9. IANA Considerations

   (To be filled in a later revision)















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10. Acknowledgments

   This document is the outcome of many discussions among many people,
   that include Manoj Leelanivas, Paul Traina, Yakov Rekhter, Der-Hwa
   Gan, Brook Bailey, Eric Rosen and Ina Minei.


11. Appendix

   This appendix specifies non-normative aspects of detecting MPLS data
   plane liveness.

11.1. CR-LDP FEC

   This section describes how a CR-LDP FEC can be included in an Echo
   Request using the following FEC subtype:

      Sub-Type #       Length              Value Field
      ----------       ------              -----------
               5            6              CR-LDP LSP ID

   The value consists of the LSPID of the LSP being pinged.  An LSPID is
   a four octet IPv4 address (a local address on the ingress LSR, for
   example, the Router ID) plus a two octet identifier that is unique
   per LSP on a given ingress LSR.

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                       Ingress LSR Router ID                   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |          Must Be Zero         |            LSP ID             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

11.2. Downstream Mapping for CR-LDP

   If a label in a Downstream Mapping was learned via CR-LDP, the
   Protocol field in the Mapping TLV can use the following entry:

         Protocol #        Signaling Protocol
         ----------        ------------------
                  5        CR-LDP









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12. Authors' Addresses

   Kireeti Kompella
   Nischal Sheth
   Juniper Networks
   1194 N.Mathilda Ave
   Sunnyvale, CA 94089
   e-mail: kireeti@juniper.net
   e-mail: nsheth@juniper.net

   Ping Pan
   Ciena
   10480 Ridgeview Court
   Cupertino, CA 95014
   e-mail: ppan@ciena.com
   phone: +1 408.366.4700

   Dave Cooper
   Global Crossing
   960 Hamlin Court
   Sunnyvale, CA 94089
   email: dcooper@gblx.net
   phone: +1 916.415.0437

   George Swallow
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   250 Apollo Drive
   Chelmsford, MA 01824
   e-mail:  swallow@cisco.com
   phone: +1 978.497.8143

   Sanjay Wadhwa
   Juniper Networks
   10 Technology Park Drive
   Westford, MA 01886-3146
   email: swadhwa@unispherenetworks.com
   phone: +1 978.589.0697

   Ronald P. Bonica
   WorldCom
   22001 Loudoun County Pkwy
   Ashburn, Virginia, 20147
   email: ronald.p.bonica@wcom.com
   phone: +1 703.886.1681







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13. Intellectual Property Rights Notices

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
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   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
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Full Copyright Statement

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   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
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