Create P2MP LSP Tunnels and Generate Corresponding LSP Configlets

NorthStar Planner allows the user to create P2MP LSP tunnels. Navigate to the Tunnels tab on the Network Info table. Then click on the Add button, and select the P2MP Tunnels option to bring up the Add P2MP Tunnels window.

Figure 1: Selecting the P2MP Tunnels Option in the Tunnels Window Dropdown menu titled Add with options: One Tunnel, Multiple Tunnels, Point-to-Multipoint Tunnels, One Hop Tunnels. Point-to-Multipoint Tunnels is highlighted.

Dropdown menu titled Add with options: One Tunnel, Multiple Tunnels, Point-to-Multipoint Tunnels, One Hop Tunnels. Point-to-Multipoint Tunnels is highlighted.

Figure 2: Adding a P2MP LSP tunnel Screenshot of a network configuration interface for adding Point-to-Multipoint tunnels, showing fields for tunnel properties, placement options, and action buttons for network management.

Screenshot of a network configuration interface for adding Point-to-Multipoint tunnels, showing fields for tunnel properties, placement options, and action buttons for network management.

As shown in the above figure, first specify a name for the P2MP LSP instance and then choose the source node (ingress LSR) and the leaf nodes (egress LSRs for the sub-LSPs) for the P2MP tree. Then click on the Add button, and the tool will automatically perform the P2MP LSP path computations necessary to place the sub-LSPs associated with the P2MP LSP.

The user has the option to further specify traffic engineering constraints (such as bandwidth and explicit path) for each sub-LSP, as can be done with any point-to-point LSP. For further information on how to specify tunnel parameters. For more information, see NorthStar Planner LSP Tunnels Overview.

To see the newly-created P2MP LSP, navigate to the Multicast tab on the Network Info table and bring up the Multicast Trees window to see the P2MP LSP tunnels configured in the network.

Figure 3: Newly-Added P2MP LSP Called espntv Table displaying multicast tree information in a network, with columns: Name, Src Node, BW, Destinations, Routed, Ave Hop, Max Hop, Cross, Length. Context menu includes Highlight and P2MP Tunnels.

Table displaying multicast tree information in a network, with columns: Name, Src Node, BW, Destinations, Routed, Ave Hop, Max Hop, Cross, Length. Context menu includes Highlight and P2MP Tunnels.

Figure 4: The Sub-LSPs for the P2MP LSP espntv Table of multicast tree tunnels labeled espntv with columns for ID, NodeA.ID, NodeZ.ID, Type, BW, HopCount, and Current_Route.

Table of multicast tree tunnels labeled espntv with columns for ID, NodeA.ID, NodeZ.ID, Type, BW, HopCount, and Current_Route.

After using the NorthStar Planner to model P2MP LSPs, the P2MP LSPs can be rolled out according to the tool’s P2MP LSP path computation calculations. This allows the P2MP LSPs created during network planning to be translated into a series of actions that can be easily implemented by network operations. NorthStar Planner can be used to easily convert the outputs of the network modeling into LSP configlets.

A configlet is a small section of the router configuration file that describes all the LSP attributes: bandwidth, admin-group, primary path, etc. To generate the configlets, select Design > Confligets/Delta > LSP Configlet to bring up the LSP Configlet window. After the appropriate options have been specified, click on Submit button to generate the configlets for the selected nodes/tunnels.

Figure 5: LSP Configlet Generation Window Graphical user interface of LSP Configlet tool for configuring Label Switched Paths in a network with options to select target directory, file format, node or tunnel, and vendor-specific default statements.

Graphical user interface of LSP Configlet tool for configuring Label Switched Paths in a network with options to select target directory, file format, node or tunnel, and vendor-specific default statements.

The following figure shows the various statements listed in the configlet generated by NorthStar Planner for the P2MP LSP (espntv) that was created above.

Figure 6: Configlet Generated for the P2MP LSP espntv. Configuration file for MPLS protocols showing label-switched paths to BOSTON, MIAMI, and PALOALTO with settings for primary paths, bandwidth, and priority.

Configuration file for MPLS protocols showing label-switched paths to BOSTON, MIAMI, and PALOALTO with settings for primary paths, bandwidth, and priority.