Configuring HSRP Aware PIM

• HSRP Aware PIM, on page 1

HSRP Aware PIM

This module describes how to configure the HSRP Aware PIM feature for enabling multicast traffic to be
forwarded through the Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) active router (AR), allowing Protocol Independent
Multicast (PIM) to leverage HSRP redundancy, avoid potential duplicate traffic, and enable failover.

Restrictions for HSRP Aware PIM

• HSRP IPv6 is not supported.
• Stateful failover is not supported. During PIM stateless failover, the HSRP group's virtual IP address
transfers to the standby router but no mrouting sate information is transferred. PIM listens and responds
to state change events and creates mroute states upon failover.
• The maximum number of HSRP groups that can be tracked by PIM on each interface is 16.
• The redundancy priority for a PIM DR must be greater than the configured or default value (1) of the
PIM DR priority on any device for which the same HSRP group is enabled or the HSRP Active will fail
to win the DR election.
• Dense mode is not supported.
• HSRP address as PIM RP is not supported. HSRP aware PIM is for coordinating PIM DR election and
HSRP master election.

Information About HSRP Aware PIM

HSRP
Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) is a Cisco proprietary redundancy protocol for establishing a fault-tolerant
default gateway.
The protocol establishes a framework between network devices in order to achieve default gateway failover
if the primary gateway becomes inaccessible. By sharing an IP address and a MAC (Layer 2) address, two or
more devices can act as a single virtual router. The members of a virtual router group continually exchange

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HSRP Aware PIM

status messages and one device can assume the routing responsibility of another, should it go out of commission
for either planned or unplanned reasons. Hosts continue to forward IP packets to a consistent IP and MAC
addres,s and the changeover of devices doing the routing is transparent.
HSRP is useful for hosts that do not support a router discovery protocol and cannot switch to a new device
when their selected device reloads or loses power. Because existing TCP sessions can survive the failover,
this protocol also provides a more transparent recovery for hosts that dynamically choose a next hop for
routing IP traffic.
When HSRP is configured on a network segment, it provides a virtual MAC address and an IP address that
is shared among a group of devices running HSRP. The address of this HSRP group is referred to as the virtual
IP address. One of these devices is selected by the protocol to be the active router (AR). The AR receives and
routes packets destined for the MAC address of the group.
HSRP uses a priority mechanism to determine which HSRP configured device is to be the default AR. To
configure a device as the AR, you assign it a priority that is higher than the priority of all the other
HSRP-configured devices. The default priority is 100, so if you configure just one device to have a higher
priority, that device will be the default AR.
Devices that are running HSRP send and receive multicast User Datagram Protocol (UDP)-based hello
messages to detect device failure and to designate active and standby devices. When the AR fails to send a
hello message within a configurable period of time, the standby device with the highest priority becomes the
AR. The transition of packet forwarding functions between devices is completely transparent to all hosts on
the network.
You can configure multiple Hot Standby groups on an interface, thereby making fuller use of redundant
devices and load sharing.
HSRP is not a routing protocol as it does not advertise IP routes or affect the routing table in any way.
HSRP has the ability to trigger a failover if one or more interfaces on the device fail. This can be useful for
dual branch devices each with a single serial link back to the head end. If the serial link of the primary device
goes down, the backup device takes over the primary functionality and thus retains connectivity to the head
end.

HSRP Aware PIM

Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) has no inherent redundancy capabilities and its operation is completely
independent of Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) group states. As a result, IP multicast traffic is forwarded
not necessarily by the same device as is elected by HSRP. The HSRP Aware PIM feature provides consistent
IP multicast forwarding in a redundant network with virtual routing groups enabled.
HSRP Aware PIM enables multicast traffic to be forwarded through the HSRP active router (AR), allowing
PIM to leverage HSRP redundancy, avoid potential duplicate traffic, and enable failover, depending on the
HSRP states in the device. The PIM designated router (DR) runs on the same gateway as the HSRP AR and
maintains mroute states.
In a multiaccess segment (such as LAN), PIM DR election is unaware of the redundancy configuration, and
the elected DR and HSRP AR may not be the same router. In order to ensure that the PIM DR is always able
to forward PIM Join/Prune message towards RP or FHR, the HSRP AR becomes the PIM DR (if there is only
one HSRP group). PIM is responsible for adjusting DR priority based on the group state. When a failover
occurs, multicast states are created on the new AR elected by the HSRP group and the AR assumes responsibility
for the routing and forwarding of all the traffic addressed to the HSRP virtual IP address.
With HSRP Aware PIM enabled, PIM sends an additional PIM Hello message using the HSRP virtual IP
addresses as the source address for each active HSRP group when a device becomes HSRP Active. The PIM

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How to Configure HSRP Aware PIM

Hello will carry a new GenID in order to trigger other routers to respond to the failover. When a downstream
device receives this PIM Hello, it will add the virtual address to its PIM neighbor list. The new GenID carried
in the PIM Hello will trigger downstream routers to resend PIM Join messages towards the virtual address.
Upstream routers will process PIM Join/Prunes (J/P) based on HSRP group state.
If the J/P destination matches the HSRP group virtual address and if the destination device is in HSRP active
state, the new AR processes the PIM Join because it is now the acting PIM DR. This allows all PIM Join/Prunes
to reach the HSRP group virtual address and minimizes changes and configurations at the downstream routers
side.
The IP routing service utilizes the existing virtual routing protocol to provide basic stateless failover services
to client applications, such as PIM. Changes in the local HSRP group state and standby router responsibility
are communicated to interested client applications. Client applications may build on top of IRS to provide
stateful or stateless failover. PIM, as an HSRP client, listens to the state change notifications from HSRP and
automatically adjusts the priority of the PIM DR based on the HSRP state. The PIM client also triggers
communication between upstream and downstream devices upon failover in order to create an mroute state
on the new AR.

How to Configure HSRP Aware PIM

Configuring an HSRP Group on an Interface

Before you begin

• IP multicast must already be configured on the device.
• PIM must already be configured on the interface.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.
Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface type number [name-tag] Specifies an interface to be configured and

enters interface configuration mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface ethernet 0/0

Step 4 ip address ip-address mask Sets a primary or secondary IP address for an

interface.
Example:
Device(config-if)# ip address 10.0.0.2
255.255.255.0

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Configuring PIM Redundancy

Command or Action Purpose

Step 5 standby [group-number] ip [ip-address Activates HSRP and defines an HRSP group.
[secondary]]
Example:
Device(config-if)# standby 1 ip
192.0.2.99

Step 6 standby [group-number] timers [msec] (Optional) Configures the time between hello
hellotime [msec] holdtime packets and the time before other devices
declare an HSRP active or standby router to
Example:
be down.
Device(config-if)# standby 1 timers 5
15

Step 7 standby [group-number] priority priority (Optional) Assigns the HSRP priority to be
used to help select the HSRP active and
Example:
standby routers.
Device(config-if)# standby 1 priority
120

Step 8 standby [group-number] name group-name (Optional) Defines a name for the HSRP
group.
Example:
Device(config-if)# standby 1 name HSRP1 Note We recommend that you always
configure the standby ip name
command when configuring an
HSRP group to be used for HSRP
Aware PIM.

Step 9 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:
Device(config-if)# end

Step 10 show standby [type number [group]] [all | Displays HSRP group information for
brief] verifying the configuration.
Example:
Device# show standby

Configuring PIM Redundancy

Before you begin

The HSRP group must already be configured on the interface. See the “Configuring an HSRP Group on an
Interface” section.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.

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Configuration Examples for HSRP Aware PIM

Command or Action Purpose

Example: • Enter your password if prompted.
Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface type number [name-tag] Specifies an interface to be configured and

enters interface configuration mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface ethernet 0/0

Step 4 ip address ip-address mask Sets a primary or secondary IP address for an

interface.
Example:
Device(config-if)# ip address 10.0.0.2
255.255.255.0

Step 5 ip pim redundancy group dr-priority priority Enables PIM redundancy and assigns a
redundancy priority value to the active PIM
Example:
designated router (DR).
Device(config-if)# ip pim redundancy
HSRP1 dr-priority 60 • Because HSRP group names are case
sensitive, the value of the group argument
must match the group name configured by
using the standby ip name command.
• The redundancy priority for a PIM DR
must be greater than the configured or
default value (1) of the PIM DR priority
on any device for which the same HSRP
group is enabled.

Step 6 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:
Device(config-if)# end

Configuration Examples for HSRP Aware PIM

Example: Configuring an HSRP Group on an Interface

interface ethernet 0/0

ip address 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0
standby 1 ip 192.0.2.99
standby 1 timers 5 15
standby 1 priority 120
standby 1 name HSRP1
!
!

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Example: Configuring PIM Redundancy

Example: Configuring PIM Redundancy

interface ethernet 0/0

ip address 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0
ip pim redundancy HSRP1 dr-priority 60
!
!

Additional References for HSRP Aware PIM

Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

Cisco IOS commands Cisco IOS Master Commands List,

All Releases

IP multicast commands Cisco IOS IP Multicast Command

Reference

HSRP commands First Hop Redundancy Protocol

Command Reference

Standards and RFCs

Standard/RFC Title

RFC 2281 Cisco Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)

MIBs

MIB MIBs Link

No new or modified MIBs are supported by this To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco
feature, and support for existing MIBs has not software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator
been modified by this feature. found at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs

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Technical Assistance

Description Link

The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/support/index.html

online resources to download documentation, software,
and tools. Use these resources to install and configure
the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical
issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to
most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation
website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

Feature Information for HSRP Aware PIM

The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This
table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release
train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support.
To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Table 1: Feature Information for HSRP Aware PIM

Feature Name Releases Feature Information

HSRP Aware PIM 15.2(4)S The HSRP Aware PIM feature

provides consistent IP multicast
15.3(1)T
forwarding in a redundant network
15.3(1)SY1 with virtual routing groups by
enabling multicast traffic to be
15.2(1)E
forwarded through a Hot Standby
Router Protocol (HSRP) active
router, allowing PIM to leverage
HSRP redundancy, avoid potential
duplicate traffic, and enable
failover, depending on the HSRP
states in the device.

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