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Segment Routing

Segment routing is an early access feature in Cumulus Linux and is supported only on switches with Spectrum ASICs.

Cumulus Linux supports segment routing, also known as source routing, where a source node can specify the path a packet should take (traffic engineering). In some more advanced cases, you can use segment routing to have offline multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) controllers program labels into the network for traffic engineering.

Cumulus Linux provides full label-based forwarding, relying on BGP for label exchange. However, Cumulus Linux does not provide LDP interoperability for MPLS and it does not support VRFs for tenant isolation.

Features

Segment routing is MPLS for the data plane only. In this EA release, Cumulus Linux does not impose the labels, the host does. The MTUs should be large enough to accommodate the MPLS shim header and label stack. Segment routing supports the following features:

  • MPLS label edge router (LER) functionality for IPv4 and IPv6 routing with ECMP. An ingress LER first adds an MPLS label to an IP packet. An egress LER removes the outermost MPLS label (also called popping the label).
  • MPLS label switch router (LSR) functionality with ECMP. The LSR receives a packet with a label and forwards it based on that label.
  • FRRouting support for MPLS transit label switched paths (LSPs) and labeled routes (LER), both static routes and routes using BGP labeled-unicast (LU).
  • FRR support for BGP/MPLS segment routing based on draft-ietf-idr-bgp-prefix-sid-06.

Example Configuration

Consider the following topology. Typically, host1 sends traffic to host2 through r1, r2 and r3. However, you can use segment routing to route traffic through a specific path. In the examples below, HTTP traffic is routed from host1 to host2 via r1, r4, r5 then r3. In addition, FTP traffic is routed via r5 without worrying what path it takes to get there.

For HTTP traffic to be routed from host1 to host2 via r1, r4, r5 then r3, the MPLS controller tells host1 to push label stack 103,105,104 on all HTTP traffic destined for host2; 104 is the outside label and 103 is the inside label. Switch r1 sees label 104, then pops that outermost label and forwards the payload towards switch r4. Switch r4 sees label 105, then pops that label and forwards the payload towards switch r5. Switch r5 sees label 103, then pops that label and forwards the payload towards switch r3. Switch r3 sees just an IP packet, and routes it as usual.

For FTP traffic to be routed from host1 to host2 through r5, the MPLS controller tells host1 to push label stack 105 on all FTP traffic destined for host2. Switch r1 sees label 105, then uses ECMP using swap with label 105 and forwards the payload towards switches r4 and r2. Switches r2 and r4 see label 105, then they pop the label and forward the payload towards switches r5 and r3. Switches r5 and r3 both see just an IP packet and route it as usual.

Switches r1 through r5 announce their loopbacks (the 10.1.1.* addresses above) in BGP with a label-index.

The table below contains the configuration for all five nodes.

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
    address 10.1.1.1/32

auto swp2
iface swp2

auto swp4
iface swp4

auto swp10
iface swp10
    address 192.168.11.1/24

auto vagrant
iface vagrant inet dhcp

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
 vrf mgmt

auto mgmt
iface mgmt
  address 127.0.0.1/8
  address ::1/128
  vrf-table auto

/etc/frr/frr.conf

frr version 4.0+cl3u9
frr defaults datacenter
hostname r1
username cumulus nopassword
!
service integrated-vtysh-config
!
log syslog informational
!
router bgp 65111
 bgp router-id 10.1.1.1
 no bgp default ipv4-unicast
 neighbor EBGP peer-group
 neighbor EBGP remote-as external
 neighbor swp2 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp4 interface peer-group EBGP
 !
 address-family ipv4 unicast
  network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
  network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
  network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
  network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
  network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
 exit-address-family
 !
 address-family ipv4 labeled-unicast
  neighbor EBGP activate
 exit-address-family
!
mpls label global-block 100 200
!
line vty
!

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
    address 10.1.1.2/32

auto swp1
iface swp1

auto swp3
iface swp3

auto swp5
iface swp5

auto vagrant
iface vagrant inet dhcp

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
 vrf mgmt

auto mgmt
iface mgmt
  address 127.0.0.1/8
  address ::1/128
  vrf-table auto

/etc/frr/frr.conf

frr version 4.0+cl3u9
frr defaults datacenter
hostname r2
username cumulus nopassword
!
service integrated-vtysh-config
!
log syslog informational
!
router bgp 65222
 bgp router-id 10.1.1.2
 no bgp default ipv4-unicast
 neighbor EBGP peer-group
 neighbor EBGP remote-as external
 neighbor swp1 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp3 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp5 interface peer-group EBGP
 !
 address-family ipv4 unicast
  network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
  network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
  network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
  network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
  network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
 exit-address-family
 !
 address-family ipv4 labeled-unicast
  neighbor EBGP activate
 exit-address-family
!
mpls label global-block 100 200
!
line vty
!

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
    address 10.1.1.3/32

auto swp2
iface swp2

auto swp5
iface swp5

auto swp10
iface swp10
    address 192.168.22.1/24

auto vagrant
iface vagrant inet dhcp

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
 vrf mgmt

auto mgmt
iface mgmt
  address 127.0.0.1/8
  address ::1/128
  vrf-table auto

/etc/frr/frr.conf

frr version 4.0+cl3u9
frr defaults datacenter
hostname r3
username cumulus nopassword
!
service integrated-vtysh-config
!
log syslog informational
!
router bgp 65333
 bgp router-id 10.1.1.3
 no bgp default ipv4-unicast
 neighbor EBGP peer-group
 neighbor EBGP remote-as external
 neighbor swp2 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp5 interface peer-group EBGP
 !
 address-family ipv4 unicast
  network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
  network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
  network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
  network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
  network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
 exit-address-family
 !
 address-family ipv4 labeled-unicast
  neighbor EBGP activate
 exit-address-family
!
mpls label global-block 100 200
!
line vty
!

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
    address 10.1.1.4/32

auto swp1
iface swp1

auto swp5
iface swp5

auto vagrant
iface vagrant inet dhcp

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
 vrf mgmt

auto mgmt
iface mgmt
  address 127.0.0.1/8
  address ::1/128
  vrf-table auto

/etc/frr/frr.conf

frr version 4.0+cl3u9
frr defaults datacenter
hostname r4
username cumulus nopassword
!
service integrated-vtysh-config
!
log syslog informational
!
router bgp 65444
 bgp router-id 10.1.1.4
 no bgp default ipv4-unicast
 neighbor EBGP peer-group
 neighbor EBGP remote-as external
 neighbor swp1 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp5 interface peer-group EBGP
 !
 address-family ipv4 unicast
  network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
  network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
  network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
  network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
  network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
 exit-address-family
 !
 address-family ipv4 labeled-unicast
  neighbor EBGP activate
 exit-address-family
!
mpls label global-block 100 200
!
line vty
!

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
    address 10.1.1.5/32

auto swp2
iface swp2

auto swp5
iface swp5

auto swp10
iface swp10
    address 192.168.22.1/24

auto vagrant
iface vagrant inet dhcp

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
 vrf mgmt

auto mgmt
iface mgmt
  address 127.0.0.1/8
  address ::1/128
  vrf-table auto

/etc/frr/frr.conf

frr version 4.0+cl3u9
frr defaults datacenter
hostname r5
username cumulus nopassword
!
service integrated-vtysh-config
!
log syslog informational
!
router bgp 65555
 bgp router-id 10.1.1.5
 no bgp default ipv4-unicast
 neighbor EBGP peer-group
 neighbor EBGP remote-as external
 neighbor swp2 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp3 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp5 interface peer-group EBGP
 !
 address-family ipv4 unicast
  network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
  network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
  network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
  network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
  network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
 exit-address-family
 !
 !
 address-family ipv4 labeled-unicast
  neighbor EBGP activate
 exit-address-family
!
mpls label global-block 100 200
!
line vty
!

Configure Segment Routing

To configure the segment routing example above:

  1. For each switch in the topology, add the label indexes:

    cumulus@switch:~$ net add bgp network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
cumulus@switch:~$ net add bgp network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
cumulus@switch:~$ net add bgp network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
cumulus@switch:~$ net add bgp network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
cumulus@switch:~$ net add bgp network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5

  2. For each switch in the topology, define the global-block of labels to use for segment routing in FRR. The default global-block is 16000-23999. The example configuration uses global-block 100 200. The local label is the MPLS label global-block plus the label-index.

    cumulus@switch:~$ net add mpls label global-block 100 200
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

  1. For each switch in the topology, add the label indexes:

    cumulus@switch:~$ sudo vtysh

switch# configure terminal
switch(config)# router bgp 65444
switch(config-router)# address-family ipv4 unicast
switch(config-router-if)# network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
switch(config-router-if)# network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
switch(config-router-if)# network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
switch(config-router-if)# network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
switch(config-router-if)# network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
switch(config-router-if)# exit
switch(config-router)# exit
switch(config)#

  2. For each switch in the topology, define the global-block of labels to use for segment routing in FRR. The default global-block is 16000-23999. The example configuration uses global-block 100 200. The local label is the MPLS label global-block plus the label-index.

    switch(config)# mpls label global-block 100 200
switch(config)# exit
switch# write memory
switch# exit
cumulus@switch:~$

The NCLU and vtysh commands save the configuration in the /etc/frr/frr.conf file. For example:

...
router bgp 65444
 bgp router-id 10.1.1.4
 no bgp default ipv4-unicast
 neighbor EBGP peer-group
 neighbor EBGP remote-as external
 neighbor swp1 interface peer-group EBGP
 neighbor swp2 interface peer-group EBGP
 !
 address-family ipv4 unicast
 network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
 network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
 network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
 network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
 network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
exit-address-family
!
address-family ipv4 labeled-unicast
 neighbor EBGP activate
exit-address-family
!
mpls label global-block 100 200
...

View the Configuration

You can see the label-index when you show the BGP configuration on a router. Run the NCLU net show configuration bgp command or the vtysh show running-config bgp command. For example:

cumulus@r4:~$ net show configuration bgp
...
router bgp 65444
 bgp router-id 10.1.1.4

 address-family ipv4 unicast
 network 10.1.1.1/32 label-index 1
 network 10.1.1.2/32 label-index 2
 network 10.1.1.3/32 label-index 3
 network 10.1.1.4/32 label-index 4
 network 10.1.1.5/32 label-index 5
...

From another node in the network, run the NCLU net show bgp <ip-address> command or the vtysh show ip bgp <ip-address> command:

cumulus@r1:~$ net show bgp 10.1.1.4/32
BGP routing table entry for 10.1.1.4/32
Local label: 104
Paths: (1 available, best #1, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)
  Advertised to non peer-group peers:
  h1(swp1) r2(swp2) r4(swp3)
  400
    fe80::202:ff:fe00:c from r4(swp3) (10.1.1.4)
    (fe80::202:ff:fe00:c) (used)
      Origin IGP, metric 0, localpref 100, valid, external, bestpath-from-AS 65444, best
      Remote label: 3
      Label Index: 4
      AddPath ID: RX 0, TX 14
      Last update: Tue Aug 15 13:57:45 2017
cumulus@r1:~$

To show the FRR MPLS table, run the NCLU net show mpls table command or the vtysh show mpls table command. You can see the FRR MPLS table in the output below, where r1 receives a packet with label 104. Its outbound label is 3, which appears as implicit-null below, so it pops then the payload is forwarded out of swp3, the interface to r4:

cumulus@r1:~$ net show mpls table

Inbound                                Outbound
  Label     Type              Nexthop     Label
--------  -------  -------------------  --------
    102      BGP  fe80::202:ff:fe00:6         3
    103      BGP  fe80::202:ff:fe00:6       103
    104      BGP  fe80::202:ff:fe00:c         3
    105      BGP  fe80::202:ff:fe00:c       105
    106      BGP  fe80::202:ff:fe00:1         3
    107      BGP  fe80::202:ff:fe00:6       107

cumulus@r1:~$
cumulus@r1:~$ net show mpls table 104
Local label: 104 (installed)
 type: BGP remote label: implicit-null distance: 150
  via fe80::202:ff:fe00:c dev swp3 (installed)
cumulus@r1:~$

You can see the MPLS routing table that is installed in the kernel as well:

cumulus@r1:~$ ip -f mpls route show
102 via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:6 dev swp2  proto zebra
103 as to 103 via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:6 dev swp2  proto zebra
104 via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:c dev swp3  proto zebra
105  proto zebra
    nexthop as to 105  via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:6  dev swp2
    nexthop as to 105  via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:c  dev swp3
106 via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:1 dev swp1  proto zebra
107 as to 107 via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:6 dev swp2  proto zebra  
cumulus@r1:~$
cumulus@r1:~$ ip -f mpls route show 104
104 via inet6 fe80::202:ff:fe00:c dev swp3  proto zebra
cumulus@r1:~$