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Configuring Graceful Restart Options for PIM Sparse Mode

PIM sparse mode continues to forward existing multicast packet streams during a graceful restart, but does not forward new streams until after the restart is complete. After a restart, the routing platform updates the forwarding state with any updates that were received from neighbors and occurred during the restart period. For example, the routing platform relearns the join and prune states of neighbors during the restart, but does not apply the changes to the forwarding table until after the restart.

PIM sparse mode-enabled routing platforms generate a unique 32-bit random number called a generation identifier. Generation identifiers are included by default in PIM hello messages, as specified in the IETF Internet draft Protocol Independent Multicast - Sparse Mode (PIM-SM): Protocol Specification (Revised). When a routing platform receives PIM hellos containing generation identifiers on a point-to-point interface, the JUNOS software activates an algorithm that optimizes graceful restart.

Before PIM sparse mode graceful restart occurs, each routing platform creates a generation identifier and sends it to its multicast neighbors. If a PIM sparse mode-enabled routing platform restarts, it creates a new generation identifier and sends it to its neighbors. When a neighbor receives the new identifier, it resends multicast updates to the restarting router to allow it to exit graceful restart efficiently. The restart phase completes when either the PIM state becomes stable or when the restart interval timer expires.

If a routing platform does not support generation identifiers or if PIM is enabled on multipoint interfaces, the PIM sparse mode graceful restart algorithm does not activate and a default restart timer is used as the restart mechanism.

To configure the duration of the PIM graceful restart period, include the restart-duration statement at the [edit protocols pim graceful-restart] hierarchy level.



[edit]
protocols {


pim {



graceful-restart {

disable;

restart-duration seconds;
}


}


}

To disable PIM sparse mode graceful restart capability, include the disable statement at the [edit protocols pim graceful-restart] hierarchy level.

Note: Multicast forwarding can be interrupted in two ways. First, if the underlying routing protocol is unstable, multicast reverse-path-forwarding (RPF) checks can fail and cause an interruption. Second, because the forwarding table is not updated during the graceful restart period, new multicast streams are not forwarded until graceful restart is complete.

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