Configuring Dual Router High Availability and VRRP
The release of the 5.4 software includes VRRP as a configuration option, as well as a new service route parameter, enable-failover, to provide failover across multiple service-routes that have this flag set.
The following sample configuration provides context for using vrrp and enabling service route failover to provide failover on a dual router high availability configuration.
Configure the Primary Router
Identify the primary router, and configure the following settings.
- Peer
- VRRP and priority on the interfaces
- Enable failover and set priority on the service routes
The configuration for the secondary router will be similar but not identical.
Assign the Peer
On the primary router, assign the peer router to which the primary will failover.
config
authority
router router-a
name router-a
location "router-a Philadephia"
location-coordinates +39.9526-75.1652/
inter-node-security internal
peer router-b
name router-b
authority-name Authority128
router-name router-b
Configure VRRP
Configure node1 on router-a with the following interfaces:
- lan
- wan
- far (the inter-router communication link)
Activate VRRP on the lan device interface of node1. By configuring router-a with a higher VRRP priority (100), router-a is identified as the primary router. We will configure router-b as the secondary router.
These examples demonstrate the use of VRRP for LAN-side network interfaces connected to a common switch. While uncommon in production deployments, VRRP can also be configured for WAN interfaces.
node node1
name node1
asset-id f1305f6b-44c3-4b1e-b887-7376efc974d7
role combo
asset-validation-enabled false
device-interface lan
name lan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:04.0
vrrp
enabled true
vrid 128
priority 100
exit
network-interface lan
name lan
global-id 1
tenant red
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.1.2
ip-address 172.16.1.2
prefix-length 24
exit
address 172.16.1.111
ip-address 172.16.1.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface wan
name wan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:05.0
network-interface wan
name wan
global-id 3
inter-router-security aes1
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.2.111
ip-address 172.16.2.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface far
name far
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:06.0
network-interface far
name far
global-id 2
neighborhood peer
name peer
peer-connectivity bidirectional
topology mesh
vector peer
exit
inter-router-security aes1
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.3.2
ip-address 172.16.3.2
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
exit
Enable Service Route Failover
Set enable-failover to true. This will enable failover between service routes on router-a.
service-route local-route
name local-route
service-name traffic
vector local-vrrp
enable-failover true
next-hop node1 wan
node-name node1
interface wan
exit
exit
service-route peer-route
name peer-route
service-name traffic
vector peer
enable-failover true
next-peer router-b
exit
Assign a vector to the service route, and then assign a priority to the vector in the service policy. This priority determines service route preference, with the higher priority being the preferred route.
Vector priority is assigned in descending order; the lowest number has the highest priority. To assign vector local-vrrp the highest priority, it is assigned a value of 1. Vector peer has a lower priority of 10.
service-policy poc-policy
name poc-policy
service-class Standard
vector local-vrrp
name local-vrrp
priority 1
exit
vector peer
name peer
priority 10
exit
session-resiliency revertible-failover
peer-path-resiliency true
path-quality-filter true
max-loss 0.5
max-latency 250
max-jitter 100
exit
Configuring session resiliency allows the traffic to fail back to the primary service route once the service-route is operational again. The max-loss, max-latency, and max-jitter settings will determine at what point failover happens.
Configure the Secondary Router
Identify the secondary router, and configure the following settings.
- Peer
- VRRP and priority on the interfaces
- Enable failover and set priority on the service routes
The differences for the secondary router are the priority values.
Assign the Peer
On the secondary router, assign the peer router to which the secondary router will failover when service to the primary router has been restored.
router router-b
name router-b
location "router-b New York"
location-coordinates +40.7128-074.0059/
inter-node-security internal
peer router-a
name router-a
authority-name Authority128
router-name router-a
exit
Configure VRRP
Configure node1 on router-b with the following interfaces:
- lan
- wan
- far (this is the inter-router communication link)
Activate VRRP on the lan device interface of node1. Configuring a lower VRRP priority (97) on the lan interface of router-b identifies router-b as the secondary router. On a dual router HA setup, the VRIDs must be the same on both redundant devices — the lan device interfaces on router-a and router-b must have the same VRID.
node node1
name node1
asset-id 8100f73d-2071-47c3-86cb-07eba002b698
role combo
asset-validation-enabled false
device-interface lan
name lan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:04.0
vrrp
enabled true
vrid 128
priority 97
exit
network-interface lan
name lan
global-id 4
tenant red
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.1.2
ip-address 172.16.1.2
prefix-length 24
exit
address 172.16.1.111
ip-address 172.16.1.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface wan
name wan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:05.0
network-interface wan
name wan
global-id 6
inter-router-security aes1
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.2.111
ip-address 172.16.2.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface far
name far
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:06.0
network-interface far
name far
global-id 5
neighborhood peer
name peer
peer-connectivity bidirectional
topology mesh
vector peer
exit
inter-router-security aes1
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.3.3
ip-address 172.16.3.3
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
exit
Enable Service Route Failover
To preserve session state between routers, configure the following service routes. Set enable-failover to true.
service-route local-route
name local-route
service-name traffic
vector local-vrrp
enable-failover true
next-hop node1 lan
node-name node1
interface lan
exit
exit
service-route peer-route
name peer-route
service-name traffic
vector peer
enable-failover true
next-peer router-a
exit
Assign a vector to the service route, and then assign a priority to the vector in the service policy. This priority determines service route preference, with the higher priority being the preferred route.
Vector priority is assigned in descending order; the lowest number has the highest priority. To assign vector local-vrrp the highest priority, it is assigned a value of 1. Vector peer has a lower priority of 10.
service-policy poc-policy
name poc-policy
service-class Standard
vector local-vrrp
name local-vrrp
priority 1
exit
vector peer
name peer
priority 10
exit
session-resiliency revertible-failover
peer-path-resiliency true
path-quality-filter true
max-loss 0.5
max-latency 250
max-jitter 100
exit
Configuring session resiliency allows the traffic to fail back to the primary service route once the service route is operational again. The max-loss, max-latency, and max-jitter settings will determine at what point failover happens.
Show Command for VRRP Status
VRRP redundancy status (vrrp-active/standby) is displayed in the show device-interface output.
========================================
test1:10
========================================
Type: ethernet
Forwarding: true
PCI Address: 0000:00:04.0
MAC Address: fa:16:3e:96:e3:ef
Admin Status: up
Operational Status: up
Provisional Status: up
Redundancy Status: vrrp-active
Sample VRRP Configuration
The steps above illustrate the differences in a high availability configuration, but do not comprise a full config. The full sample configuration is provided below for your reference.
config
authority
router router-a
name router-a
location "router-a Philadephia"
location-coordinates +39.9526-75.1652/
inter-node-security internal
peer router-b
name router-b
authority-name Authority128
router-name router-b
exit
node node1
name node1
asset-id f1305f6b-44c3-4b1e-b887-7376efc974d7
role combo
asset-validation-enabled false
device-interface lan
name lan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:04.0
vrrp
enabled true
vrid 128
priority 100
exit
network-interface lan
name lan
global-id 1
tenant red
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.1.2
ip-address 172.16.1.2
prefix-length 24
exit
address 172.16.1.111
ip-address 172.16.1.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface wan
name wan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:05.0
network-interface wan
name wan
global-id 3
inter-router-security aes1
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.2.111
ip-address 172.16.2.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface far
name far
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:06.0
network-interface far
name far
global-id 2
neighborhood peer
name peer
peer-connectivity bidirectional
topology mesh
vector peer
exit
inter-router-security aes1
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.3.2
ip-address 172.16.3.2
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
exit
service-route local-route
name local-route
service-name traffic
vector local-vrrp
enable-failover true
next-hop combo lan
node-name combo
interface lan
exit
exit
service-route peer-route
name peer-route
service-name traffic
vector peer
enable-failover true
next-peer router-b
exit
exit
router router-b
name router-b
location "router-b New York"
location-coordinates +40.7128-074.0059/
inter-node-security internal
peer router-a
name router-a
authority-name Authority128
router-name router-a
exit
node node1
name node1
asset-id 8100f73d-2071-47c3-86cb-07eba002b698
role combo
asset-validation-enabled false
device-interface lan
name lan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:04.0
vrrp
enabled true
vrid 128
priority 99
exit
network-interface lan
name lan
global-id 4
tenant red
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.1.2
ip-address 172.16.1.2
prefix-length 24
exit
address 172.16.1.111
ip-address 172.16.1.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface wan
name wan
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:05.0
network-interface wan
name wan
global-id 6
inter-router-security aes1
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.2.111
ip-address 172.16.2.111
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
device-interface far
name far
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:06.0
network-interface far
name far
global-id 5
neighborhood peer
name peer
peer-connectivity bidirectional
topology mesh
vector peer
exit
inter-router-security aes1
rewrite-dscp false
source-nat false
qp-value 30
mtu 1500
address 172.16.3.3
ip-address 172.16.3.3
prefix-length 24
exit
exit
exit
exit
service-route local-route
name local-route
service-name traffic
vector local-vrrp
enable-failover true
next-hop combo lan
node-name combo
interface lan
exit
exit
service-route peer-route
name peer-route
service-name traffic
vector peer
enable-failover true
next-peer router-a
exit
exit
security aes1
name aes1
hmac-cipher sha256
hmac-key (removed)
encryption-cipher aes-cbc-256
encryption-key (removed)
encryption-iv (removed)
encrypt false
hmac false
exit
service traffic
name traffic
service-group all
description "traffic service for all"
enabled true
tenant red
scope private
security aes1
transport udp
protocol udp
port-range 443
start-port 443
exit
exit
address 172.16.2.0/24
access-policy 172.16.1.0/24
source 172.16.1.0/24
permission allow
exit
service-policy poc-policy
exit
service-policy poc-policy
name poc-policy
service-class Standard
vector local-vrrp
name local-vrrp
priority 1
exit
vector peer
name peer
priority 10
exit
session-resiliency revertible-failover
peer-path-resiliency true
path-quality-filter true
max-loss 0.5
max-latency 250
max-jitter 100
exit
session-type ping
name ping
service-class Standard
transport icmp
protocol icmp
exit
exit
exit
exit
The following is a config snippet to support vrrp with vlan. The vrrp network-interface with a vlan tag matching the one in the vrrp config will be used for sending out VRRP advertisements.
The network-interface must have a static IP address.
config
authority
router Fabric128
name Fabric128
node test1
name test1
enabled true
device-interface dev
name dev
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:05.0
vrrp
enabled true
vlan 1
vrid 128
priority 100
advertisement-interval 1000
exit
network-interface intf1
name intf1
vlan 0
type external
dhcp v4
exit
network-interface intf2
name intf2
vlan 1
type external
address 172.16.3.1
ip-address 172.16.3.1
prefix-length 24
gateway 172.16.3.10
exit
exit
exit
exit
node test2
name test2
enabled true
device-interface dev
name dev
type ethernet
pci-address 0000:00:05.0
vrrp
enabled true
vlan 1
vrid 128
priority 99
advertisement-interval 1000
exit
network-interface intf1
name intf1
vlan 0
type external
dhcp v4
exit
network-interface intf2
name intf2
vlan 1
type external
address 172.16.3.1
ip-address 172.16.3.1
prefix-length 24
gateway 172.16.3.10
exit
exit
exit
exit
exit
exit
exit