Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) K. Raza
Request for Comments: 7506 Cisco Systems, Inc.
Updates: 4379 N. Akiya
Category: Standards Track Big Switch Networks
ISSN: 2070-1721 C. Pignataro
Cisco Systems, Inc.
April 2015
IPv6 Router Alert Option for MPLS Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM)
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RFC 7506 MPLS OAM IPv6 Router Alert April 2015
Copyright Notice
1. Introduction
A commonly deployed MPLS OAM tool is specified in [RFC4379], "Detecting Multi-Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) Data Plane Failures", which is used to diagnose MPLS network data planes. This specification, often referred to as "MPLS LSP Ping/Traceroute" [RFC4379], requires the use of the Router Alert Option (RAO) in the IP header. For example, Section 4.3 of [RFC4379] states that the IP RAO MUST be set in the IP header of an MPLS Echo Request message. Similarly, Section 4.5 of [RFC4379] states that the IP RAO MUST be set in the IP header of an MPLS Echo Reply message if the Reply Mode in the Echo Request is set to "Reply via an IPv4/IPv6 UDP packet with Router Alert".
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RFC 7506 MPLS OAM IPv6 Router Alert April 2015
As vendors are starting to implement MPLS on the IPv6 control plane (e.g., [LDP-IPV6]), there is a need to define and allocate such an Option Value for IPv6 in order to comply with [RFC4379]. This document defines a new IPv6 RAO value that can be used by MPLS OAM tools, including the MPLS Echo Request and MPLS Echo Reply messages for MPLS in IPv6 environments.
2. Specification of Requirements
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 [RFC2119].
3. IPv6 RAO Value for MPLS OAM
This document defines a new Option Value (69) for the IPv6 RAO to alert transit routers to examine the packet more closely for MPLS OAM purposes. This Option Value is used by any MPLS OAM application that requires their packets to be examined by a transit router.
4. Updates to RFC 4379
[RFC4379] specifies the use of the RAO in the IP header. Sections 4.3 and 4.5 of [RFC4379] are updated as follows:
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RFC 7506 MPLS OAM IPv6 Router Alert April 2015 5. IANA ConsiderationsThis document defines a new value (69) for the IPv6 RAO to alert transit routers to examine the packet more closely for MPLS OAM purposes. IANA has assigned a new code point under its "IPv6 Router Alert Option Values" registry defined by [RFC2711], updated by [RFC5350], and maintained in [IANA-IPv6-RAO]. The new code point is as follows:
Value Description Reference
----- ------------------------------- ---------------
69 MPLS OAM RFC 7506
6. Security Considerations
This document introduces no new security concerns in addition to what have already been captured in [RFC4379] and [RFC6398], the latter of which expands the security considerations of [RFC2113] and [RFC2711].7. References 7.1. Normative References[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
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RFC 7506 MPLS OAM IPv6 Router Alert April 2015 7.2. Informative References[IANA-IPv6-RAO]
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RFC 7506 MPLS OAM IPv6 Router Alert April 2015
Authors' Addresses