Multicast Configuration Overview

You configure a router network to support multicast applications with a related family of protocols. To use multicast, you must understand the basic components of a multicast network and their relationships, and then configure the device to act as a node in the network.

To configure the device as a node in a multicast network:

Determine whether the router is directly attached to any multicast sources. Receivers must be able to locate these sources.
Determine whether the router is directly attached to any multicast group receivers. If receivers are present, IGMP is needed.
Determine whether to use the sparse, dense, or sparse-dense mode of multicast operation. Each mode has different configuration considerations.
Determine the address of the rendezvous point (RP) if sparse or sparse-dense mode is used.
Determine whether to locate the RP with the static configuration, bootstrap router (BSR), or auto-RP method.
Determine whether to configure multicast to use its own reverse-path forwarding (RPF) routing table when configuring PIM in sparse, dense, or sparse-dense modes.
(Optional) Configure the SAP and SDP protocols to listen for multicast session announcements. See Example: Configuring SAP and SDP to Listen for Session Announcements (CLI).
Configure IGMP. See Example: Configuring IGMP for Multicast (CLI).
(Optional) Configure the PIM static RP. See Understanding PIM and Static RPs.
(Optional) Filter PIM register messages from unauthorized groups and sources. See Example: Rejecting Incoming PIM Register Messages on an RP Router (CLI) and Example: Stopping Outgoing PIM Register Messages on a Designated Router (CLI).
(Optional) Configure a PIM RPF routing table. See Example: Configuring a PIM RPF Routing Table (CLI).

Multicast Configuration Overview

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