Relax Address-Family Check for IS-IS Adjacency

eos.arista.com/eos-4-26-0f/relax-address-family-check-for-is-is-adjacency

By Girish Kumar Dasari

Contents [hide]

Description
Incrementally enable IPv6 in an existing IPv4 network
IPv4 Controller Peering IPv4/v6 Dual Stack Router
Configuration
Show Commands
Usage Guidelines
Disabling the Knob
Troubleshooting
Limitations

Description
IS-IS adjacency is not formed between devices with different address families configured.
For example, a router supporting IPv4 and IPv6 connected to a IPv4 only router. Address-
Family match is verified by comparing the NLPID TLV ( Type #129 ) advertised in IIH hellos
exchanged between peers.

This new feature can be configured to create an IS-IS adjacency between such peers .

This will be useful in two scenarios described below.

Incrementally enable IPv6 in an existing IPv4 network

Configuring to relax the Address-Family check will be useful to gradually add IPv6 support in
an IPv4 network, without disturbing the IPv4 connectivity.

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IPv4 Controller Peering IPv4/v6 Dual Stack Router

ln scenarios where a controller is forming an IS-IS adjacency with a router and using the IS-
IS database for Topology discovery. If the controller only supports IPv4 IS-IS or only IPv4
tunnels, we need to relax the Address-Family check on the dual stack IPv4/v6 router for
adjacency to be established.

Configuration
Under the ISIS instance configure the following knob to disable the address-family check
during IIH processing. By default this knob will be disabled.

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ip1(config-router-isis)#?
adjacency Configure parameters for adjacency formation
ip1(config-router-isis)# adjacency?
address-family Configure address-family related parameters for adjacency formation
ip1(config-router-isis)# adjacency address-family?
match Configure address-family match check related parameters for adjacency
formation
ip1(config-router-isis)# adjacency address-family match?
disabled Relax address-family match check for bringing up adjacency
ip1(config-router-isis)# adjacency address-family match disabled?
<cr>

Show Commands
The ‘ show isis neighbor detail ’ displays address family details at each end of the
adjacency.

Instance VRF System Id Type Interface SNPA State

Hold time Circuit Id
inst1 default 1111.1111.1002 L2 Vlan2116 P2P UP
24 06
Area Address(es): 49.0001
SNPA: P2P
Router ID: 1.0.0.2
Advertised Hold Time: 30
State Changed: 00:04:18 ago at 2020-11-01 22:28:35
IPv4 Interface Address: 1.0.0.2
IPv6 Interface Address: none
Interface name: Vlan2116
Graceful Restart: Supported
Segment Routing Enabled
SRGB Base: 900000 Range: 65536
Adjacency Label IPv4: 149152
Supported Address Families: IPv4, IPv6
Neighbor Supported Address Families: IPv4

The ‘ show isis interface detail ‘ shows the details of supported protocols on the
interface and that of neighbors connected to it. Also the state of Address-Family match check
is displayed.

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# show isis interface detail
IS-IS Instance: inst1 VRF: default
Interface Vlan2116:
Index: 35 SNPA: P2P
MTU: 1497 Type: point-to-point
Supported Address Families: IPv4, IPv4
Area Proxy Boundary is Disabled
BFD IPv4 is Disabled
BFD IPv6 is Disabled
Hello Padding is Enabled
Level 2:
Metric: 10, Number of adjacencies: 1
Link-ID: 23
Authentication mode: None
TI-LFA link protection is enabled for the following IPv4 segments: node
segments, adjacency segments
TI-LFA protection is disabled for IPv6
Adjacency 1111.1111.1002:
State: UP, Level: 2 Type: Level 2 IS
Advertised Hold Time: 30
Neighbor Supported Address Families: IPv4
Address Family Match: Disabled
IPv4 Interface Address: 1.0.0.2
Areas:
49.0001

Usage Guidelines

For IPv6 network upgrade, ensure the knob is incrementally configured on a contiguous
section of the graph, at any point the choice of routers for upgrade should not bisect the
upgraded (supporting IPv4/v6) part of the network. All the routers bordering the upgraded
network should always have the knob enabled.

Once a proper choice of set of routers is made, the following steps are carried on each
router.

1. Enable the cli knob.

2. Enable IPv6 address family in the ISIS instance.
3. Configure IPv6 on all the ISIS interfaces.

These steps are carried out at each incremental step.

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For Connecting IPv4 controller, configure to relax the Address-Family check on the router to
which the controller is connected.

Disabling the Knob

It is advisable to remove the knob if it is not required. The Address-Family check serves a
useful purpose of ensuring connectivity and protects against accidental misconfiguration,
which might result in blackholing.

Troubleshooting
If the adjacency is not formed between a IPv4/v6 device and a IPv4 only device. Check the
following on the routers.

1. Ensure ‘ adjacency address-family match disabled ’ is configured under the IS-

IS instance on the IPv4/v6 router.
2. Confirm that the required IP and IPv6 addresses corresponding to enabled address
families on interface are correctly configured on both peers.
3. Check the knob status, node and neighbor supported address family in the output of
‘ show isis neighbor detail ’ and ‘ show isis interface detail ’. Things
should reflect the configuration described above.

Limitations
Ensure that the network upgrade is carried out as per the guidelines provided above. If an
upgrade is carried out at multiple parts of the network that are not directly connected. We
could end up having unconnected islands on the IPv6 network. This could result in
blackholing of IPv6 traffic that is flowing between islands. This is depicted in the figure below.

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