OSPF Help

Help For OSPF Information

Configurable Data

Router ID - The 32 bit integer in dotted decimal format that uniquely identifies the router within the autonomous system (AS). If you want to change the Router ID you must first disable OSPF. After you set the new Router ID, you must re-enable OSPF to have the change take effect. The default value is 0.0.0.0, although this is not a valid Router ID.
OSPF Admin Mode* - Select enable or disable from the pulldown menu. If you select enable OSPF will be activated for the switch. The default value is disable. You must configure a Router ID before OSPF can become operational. You do this on the IP Configuration page or by issuing the CLI command: config router id.

*NOTE: once OSPF is initialized on the router, it will remain initialized until the router is reset.

RFC 1583 Compatibility - Select enable or disable from the pulldown menu to specify the preference rules that will be used when choosing among multiple AS-external-LSAs advertising the same destination. If you select enable, the preference rules will be those defined by RFC 1583. If you select disable, the preference rules will be those defined in Section 16.4.1 of the OSPF-2 standard (RFC 2328), which will prevent routing loops when AS-external-LSAs for the same destination have been originated from different areas. The default value is 'enable'. To prevent routing loops, you should select 'disable', but only if all OSPF routers in the routing domain are capable of operating according to RFC 2328.
Exit Overflow Interval - Enter the number of seconds that, after entering overflow state, the router should wait before attempting to leave overflow state. This allows the router to again originate non-default AS-external-LSAs. If you enter 0, the router will not leave Overflow State until restarted. The range is 0 to 2147483647 seconds.
Default Metric - Sets a default for the metric of redistributed routes.This field displays the default metric if one has already been set or blank if not configured earlier. The valid values are (1 to 16777215)

Default Route Advertise

Default Information Originate - Enable or Disable Default Route Advertise.
Always - Sets the router advertise 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 when set to "True".
Metric - Specifies the metric of the default route. The valid values are (0 to 16777215)
Metric Type - Sets the metric type of the default route.

Non-Configurable Data

ASBR Mode - Reflects whether the ASBR mode is enabled or disabled. Enable implies that the router is an autonomous system border router. Router automatically becomes an ASBR when it is configured to redistribute routes learnt from other protocol.
ABR Status - The values of this are enabled or disabled. Enabled implies that the router is an area border router. Disabled implies that it is not an area border router.
External LSA Count - The number of external (LS type 5) LSAs (link state advertisements) in the link state database.
External LSA Checksum - The sum of the LS checksums of the external LSAs (link state advertisements) contained in the link-state database. This sum can be used to determine if there has been a change in a router's link state database, and to compare the link-state databases of two routers.
New LSAs Originated - In any given OSPF area, a router will originate several LSAs. Each router originates a router-LSA. If the router is also the Designated Router for any of the area's networks, it will originate network-LSAs for those networks. This value represents the number of LSAs originated by this router.
LSAs Received - The number of LSAs (link state advertisements) received that were determined to be new instantiations. This number does not include newer instantiations of self-originated LSAs.

Command Buttons

Submit - Send the updated configuration to the switch. Configuration changes take effect immediately. These changes will not be retained across a power cycle unless a save is performed.

Help for OSPF Area Configuration

Selection Criteria

Area ID - Select the area to be configured.

Configurable Data

Import Summary LSAs - Select enable or disable from the pulldown menu. If you select enable summary LSAs will be imported into stub areas.
Metric Value - Enter the metric value you want applied for the default route advertised into the stub area. Valid values range from 1 to 16,777,215.
Metric Type - Select the type of metric specified in the Metric Value field.
- OSPF Metric - Regular OSPF metric
- Comparable Cost - External Type 1 metrics that are comparable to the OSPF metric
- Non-comparable Cost - External Type 2 metrics that are assumed to be larger than the cost of the OSPF metric

Non-Configurable Data

Area ID - The OSPF area. An Area ID is a 32 bit integer in dotted decimal format that uniquely identifies the area to which a router interface connects.
Aging Interval - The Link State Advertisement (LSA) aging timer interval.
External Routing - A definition of the router's capabilities for the area, including whether or not AS-external-LSAs are flooded into/throughout the area. If the area is a stub area, then these are the possible options for which you may configure the external routing capability, otherwise the only option is "Import External LSAs".
- Import External LSAs - Import and propagate external LSAs
- Import No LSAs - Do not import and propagate external LSAs
Authentication Type
SPF Runs - The number of times that the intra-area route table has been calculated using this area's link-state database. This is typically done using Dijkstra's algorithm.
Area Border Router Count - The total number of area border routers reachable within this area. This is initially zero, and is calculated in each SPF Pass.
Area LSA Count - The total number of link-state advertisements in this area's link-state database, excluding AS External LSAs.
Area LSA Checksum - The 32-bit unsigned sum of the link-state advertisements' LS checksums contained in this area's link-state database. This sum excludes external (LS type 5) link-state advertisements. The sum can be used to determine if there has been a change in a router's link state database, and to compare the link-state database of two routers.
Mode - This field tells you whether the area is or is not a stub area. If the area may be a stub area, a 'Create Stub Area' button will be displayed. If you have configured the area as a stub area a 'Delete Stub Area' button will be displayed. Otherwise neither button will be displayed.

Command Buttons

Create Stub Area - Configure the area as a stub area.
Delete Stub Area - Delete the stub area designation. The area will be returned to normal state.
Submit - Send the updated configuration to the switch. Configuration changes take effect immediately. These changes will not be retained across a power cycle unless a save is performed.

Help for OSPF Stub Area Summary

Non-Configurable Data

Area ID - The Area ID of the Stub area
Type of Service - The type of service associated with the stub metric. The switch supports Normal only.
Metric Value - Set the metric value you want applied for the default route advertised into the area. Valid values range from 1 to 16,777,215.
Metric Type - The type of metric for the stub area where valid types are:
- OSPF Metric - Regular OSPF metric
- Comparable Cost - External Type 1 metrics that are comparable to the OSPF metric
- Non-comparable Cost - External Type 2 metrics that are assumed to be larger than the cost of the OSPF metric
Import Summary LSAs - Whether the import of Summary LSAs is enabled or disabled.

Command Buttons

Refresh - Refresh the data on the screen to the current values from the switch.

Help for OSPF Area Range Configuration

Selection Criteria

Area ID - Selects the area for which data is to be configured.

Configurable Data

IP address - Enter the IP Address for the address range for the selected area.
Subnet Mask - Enter the Subnet Mask for the address range for the selected area.
LSDB Type - Select the type of Link Advertisement associated with the specified area and address range. The default type is 'Network Summary'.
Advertisement - Select enable or disable from the pulldown menu. If you selected enable the address range will be advertised outside the area via a Network Summary LSA. The default is enable.

Non-Configurable Data

Area ID - The OSPF area.
IP address - The IP Address of an address range for the area.
Subnet Mask - The Subnet Mask of an address range for the area.
LSDB Type - The Link Advertisement type for the address range and area.
Advertisement - The Advertisement mode for the address range and area.

Command Buttons

Create - Send the updated configuration to the switch. Configuration changes take effect immediately. These changes will not be retained across a power cycle unless a save is performed. The new address range will be added to the display in the non-configurable data area.
Delete - Removes the specified address range from the area configuration.

Help for OSPF Interface Statistics

This screen displays statistics for the selected interface. The information will be displayed only if OSPF is enabled.

Selection Criteria

Slot/Port - Select the interface for which data is to be displayed.

Non-Configurable Data

OSPF Area ID - The OSPF area to which the selected router interface belongs. An OSPF Area ID is a 32 bit integer in dotted decimal format that uniquely identifies the area to which the interface connects.
SPF Runs - The number of times that the intra-area route table has been calculated using this area's link-state database.
Area Border Router Count - The total number of area border routers reachable within this area. This is initially zero, and is calculated in each SPF Pass.
AS Border Router Count - The total number of Autonomous System border routers reachable within this area. This is initially zero, and is calculated in each SPF Pass.
Area LSA Count - The total number of link-state advertisements in this area's link-state database, excluding AS External LSAs.
IP Address - The IP address of the interface.
Interface Events - The number of times the specified OSPF interface has changed its state, or an error has occurred.
Virtual Events - The number of state changes or errors that have occurred on this virtual link.
Neighbor Events - The number of times this neighbor relationship has changed state, or an error has occurred.
External LSA Count - The number of external (LS type 5) link-state advertisements in the link-state database.
Originate New LSAs - The number of new link-state advertisements that have been originated. In any given OSPF area, a router will originate several LSAs. Each router originates a router-LSA. If the router is also the Designated Router for any of the area's networks, it will originate network-LSAs for those networks.
LSAs Received - The number of link-state advertisements that have been received that have been determined to be new instantiations. This number does not include newer instantiations of self-originated link-state advertisements.

Command Buttons

Refresh - Refresh the data on the screen with the present state of the data in the switch.

Help for OSPF Interface Configuration

Selection Criteria

Slot/Port - Select the interface for which data is to be displayed or configured.

Configurable Data

OSPF Admin Mode* - You may select enable or disable from the pulldown menu. The default value is 'disable.' You can configure OSPF parameters without enabling OSPF Admin Mode, but they will have no effect until you enable Admin Mode. The following information will be displayed only if the Admin Mode is enabled: State, Designated Router, Backup Designated Router, Number of Link Events, LSA Ack Interval, and Metric Cost. For OSPF to be fully functional, you must enter a valid IP Address and Subnet Mask via the Interface IP Configuration page or through the CLI command: config ip interface network .

*NOTE: once OSPF is initialized on the router, it will remain initialized until the router is reset.

OSPF Area ID - Enter the 32 bit integer in dotted decimal format that uniquely identifies the OSPF area to which the selected router interface connects. If you assign an Area ID which does not exist, the area will be created with default values.
Router Priority - Enter the OSPF priority for the selected interface. The priority of an interface is specified as an integer from 0 to 255. The default is 1, which is the highest router priority. A value of '0' indicates that the router is not eligible to become the designated router on this network
Retransmit Interval - Enter the OSPF retransmit interval for the specified interface. This is the number of seconds between link-state advertisements for adjacencies belonging to this router interface. This value is also used when retransmitting database descriptions and link-state request packets. Valid values range from 1 to 3600 seconds (1 hour). The default is 5 seconds.
Hello Interval - Enter the OSPF hello interval for the specified interface in seconds. This parameter must be the same for all routers attached to a network. Valid values range from 1 to 65,535. The default is 10 seconds.
Dead Interval - Enter the OSPF dead interval for the specified interface in seconds. This specifies how long a router will wait to see a neighbor router's Hello packets before declaring that the router is down. This parameter must be the same for all routers attached to a network. This value should a multiple of the Hello Interval (e.g. 4). Valid values range from 1 to 2147483647. The default is 40.
Iftransit Delay Interval - Enter the OSPF Transit Delay for the specified interface. This specifies the estimated number of seconds it takes to transmit a link state update packet over the selected interface. Valid values range from 1 to 3600 seconds (1 hour). The default value is 1 second.
MTU Ignore - Disables OSPF MTU mismatch detection on receiving packets. Default value is Disable.
Authentication Type - You may select an authentication type other than none by clicking on the 'Configure' button. You will then see a new screen, where you can select the authentication type from the pulldown menu. The choices are:
- None - This is the initial interface state. If you select this option from the pulldown menu on the second screen you will be returned to the first screen and no authentication protocols will be run.
- Simple
- Encrypt - If you select 'Encrypt' you will be prompted to enter both an authentication key and an authentication ID. Encryption uses the MD5 Message-Digest algorithm. All routers on the network must be configured with the same key and ID.
Authentication Key - Enter the OSPF Authentication Key for the specified interface. If you do not choose to use authentication you will not be prompted to enter a key. If you choose 'simple' authentication you cannot use a key of more than 8 octets. If you choose 'encrypt' the key may be up to 16 octets long. The key value will only be displayed if you are logged on with Read/Write privileges, otherwise it will be displayed as asterisks.
Authentication ID - Enter the ID to be used for authentication. You will only be prompted to enter an ID when you select 'Encrypt' as the authentication type. The ID is a number between 0 ad 255, inclusive.
Metric Cost - Enter the value on this interface for the cost TOS (type of service). The range for the metric cost is between 1 and 65,535. Metric Cost is only configurable/displayed if OSPF is initialized on the interface.

Non-Configurable Data

IP Address - The IP address of the interface.
Subnet Mask - The subnet/network mask, that indicates the portion of the IP interface address that identifies the attached network.
LSA Ack Interval - The number of seconds between LSA Acknowledgment packet transmissions, which must be less than the Retransmit Interval.
OSPF Interface Type - The OSPF interface type, which will always be broadcast.
State - The current state of the selected router interface. One of:
- Down - This is the initial interface state. In this state, the lower-level protocols have indicated that the interface is unusable. In this state, interface parameters will be set to their initial values. All interface timers will be disabled, and there will be no adjacencies associated with the interface.
- Loopback - In this state, the router's interface to the network is looped back either in hardware or software. The interface is unavailable for regular data traffic. However, it may still be desirable to gain information on the quality of this interface, either through sending ICMP pings to the interface or through something like a bit error test. For this reason, IP packets may still be addressed to an interface in Loopback state. To facilitate this, such interfaces are advertised in router- LSAs as single host routes, whose destination is the IP interface address.
- Waiting - The router is trying to determine the identity of the (Backup) Designated Router for the network by monitoring received Hello Packets. The router is not allowed to elect a Backup Designated Router or a Designated Router until it transitions out of Waiting state. This prevents unnecessary changes of (Backup) Designated Router.
- Designated Router - This router is itself the Designated Router on the attached network. Adjacencies are established to all other routers attached to the network. The router must also originate a network-LSA for the network node. The network- LSA will contain links to all routers (including the Designated Router itself) attached to the network.
- Backup Designated Router - This router is itself the Backup Designated Router on the attached network. It will be promoted to Designated Router if the present Designated Router fails. The router establishes adjacencies to all other routers attached to the network. The Backup Designated Router performs slightly different functions during the Flooding Procedure, as compared to the Designated Router.
- Other Designated Router - The interface is connected to a broadcast or NBMA network on which other routers have been selected to be the Designated Router and Backup Designated Router either. The router attempts to form adjacencies to both the Designated Router and the Backup Designated Router.
The State is only displayed if the OSPF admin mode is enabled.
Designated Router - The identity of the Designated Router for this network, in the view of the advertising router. The Designated Router is identified here by its router ID. The value 0.0.0.0 means that there is no Designated Router. This field is only displayed if the OSPF admin mode is enabled.
Backup Designated Router - The identity of the Backup Designated Router for this network, in the view of the advertising router. The Backup Designated Router is identified here by its router ID. Set to 0.0.0.0 if there is no Backup Designated Router. This field is only displayed if the OSPF admin mode is enabled.
Number of Link Events - This is the number of times the specified OSPF interface has changed its state. This field is only displayed if the OSPF admin mode is enabled.

Command Buttons

Configure Authentication - Display a new screen where you can select the authentication method for the virtual link.
Submit - Send the updated configuration to the switch. Configuration changes take effect immediately. These changes will not be retained across a power cycle unless a save is performed.

Help for OSPF Link State Database

Non-Configurable Data

Router ID - The 32 bit integer in dotted decimal format that uniquely identifies the router within the autonomous system (AS). The Router ID is set on the IP Configuration page. If you want to change the Router ID you must first disable OSPF. After you set the new Router ID, you must re-enable OSPF to have the change take effect. The default value is 0.0.0.0, although this is not a valid Router ID.
Area ID - The ID of an OSPF area to which one of the router interfaces is connected. An Area ID is a 32 bit integer in dotted decimal format that uniquely identifies the area to which an interface is connected.
LSA Type - The format and function of the link state advertisement. One of the following:
- Router Links
- Network Links
- Network Summary
- ASBR Summary
- AS-external
- LS ID - The Link State ID identifies the piece of the routing domain that is being described by the advertisement. The value of the LS ID depends on the advertisement's LS type.
- Age - The time since the link state advertisement was first originated, in seconds.
- Sequence - The sequence number field is a signed 32-bit integer. It is used to detect old and duplicate link state advertisements. The larger the sequence number, the more recent the advertisement.
- Checksum - The checksum is used to detect data corruption of an advertisement. This corruption can occur while an advertisement is being flooded, or while it is being held in a router's memory. This field is the checksum of the complete contents of the advertisement, except the LS age field.
- Options - The Options field in the link state advertisement header indicates which optional capabilities are associated with the advertisement. The options are:
  - Q - This enables support for QoS Traffic Engineering.
  - E - This describes the way AS-external-LSAs are flooded.
  - MC - This describes the way IP multicast datagrams are forwarded according to the standard specifications.
  - O - This describes whether Opaque-LSAs are supported.
  - V - This describes whether OSPF++ extensions for VPN/COS are supported.

Command Buttons

Refresh - Refresh the data on the screen with the present state of the data in the switch.

Help for OSPF Virtual Link Configuration

Selection Criteria

Create New Virtual Link - Select this option from the dropdown menu to define a new virtual link. The area portion of the virtual link identification is fixed: you will be prompted to enter the Neighbor Router ID on a new screen.
Area ID and Neighbor Router ID - Select the virtual link for which you want to display or configure data. It consists of the Area ID and Neighbor Router ID.

Configurable Data

Neighbor Router ID - Enter the neighbor portion of a Virtual Link specification. Virtual links may be configured between any pair of area border routers having interfaces to a common (non-backbone) area. You only enter this ID when you are creating a new virtual link.
Hello Interval - Enter the OSPF hello interval for the specified interface in seconds. This parameter must be the same for all routers attached to a network. Valid values range from 1 to 65,535. The default is 10 seconds. .
Dead Interval - Enter the OSPF dead interval for the specified interface in seconds. This specifies how long a router will wait to see a neighbor router's Hello packets before declaring that the router is down. This parameter must be the same for all routers attached to a network. This value should a multiple of the Hello Interval (e.g. 4). Valid values range from 1 to 2147483647. The default is 40.
Iftransit Delay Interval - Enter the OSPF Transit Delay for the specified interface. This specifies the estimated number of seconds it takes to transmit a link state update packet over the selected interface. Valid values range from 1 to 3600 seconds (1 hour). The default value is 1 second.
Retransmit Interval - Enter the OSPF retransmit interval for the specified interface. This is the number of seconds between link-state advertisements for adjacencies belonging to this router interface. This value is also used when retransmitting database descriptions and link-state request packets. Valid values range from 1 to 3600 seconds (1 hour). The default is 5 seconds.
Authentication Type - You may select an authentication type other than none by clicking on the 'Configure Authentication' button. You will then see a new screen, where you can select the authentication type from the pulldown menu. The choices are:
- None - This is the initial interface state. If you select this option from the pulldown menu on the second screen you will be returned to the first screen.
- Simple
- Encrypt - If you select 'Encrypt' you will be prompted to enter both an authentication key and an authentication ID. Encryption uses the MD5 Message-Digest algorithm. All routers on the network must be configured with the same key and ID.
Authentication Key - Enter the OSPF Authentication Key for the specified interface. If you do not choose to use authentication you will not be prompted to enter a key. If you choose 'simple' authentication you cannot use a key of more than 8 octets. If you choose 'encrypt' the key may be up to 16 octets long. The key value will only be displayed if you are logged on with Read/Write privileges, otherwise it will be displayed as asterisks.
Authentication ID - Enter the ID to be used for authentication. You will only be prompted to enter an ID when you select 'Encrypt' as the authentication type. The ID is a number between 0 ad 255, inclusive.

Non-Configurable Data

Down - This is the initial interface state. In this state, the lower-level protocols have indicated that the interface is unusable. In this state, interface parameters will be set to their initial values. All interface timers will be disabled, and there will be no adjacencies associated with the interface.
Waiting - The router is trying to determine the identity of the (Backup) Designated Router by monitoring received Hello Packets. The router is not allowed to elect a Backup Designated Router or a Designated Router until it transitions out of Waiting state. This prevents unnecessary changes of (Backup) Designated Router.
Point-to-Point - The interface is operational, and is connected either to the virtual link. On entering this state the router attempts to form an adjacency with the neighboring router. Hello Packets are sent to the neighbor every HelloInterval seconds.
Designated Router - This router is itself the Designated Router on the attached network. Adjacencies are established to all other routers attached to the network. The router must also originate a network-LSA for the network node. The network- LSA will contain links to all routers (including the Designated Router itself) attached to the network.
Backup Designated Router - This router is itself the Backup Designated Router on the attached network. It will be promoted to Designated Router if the present Designated Router fails. The router establishes adjacencies to all other routers attached to the network. The Backup Designated Router performs slightly different functions during the Flooding Procedure, as compared to the Designated Router.
Other Designated Router - The interface is connected to a broadcast or NBMA network on which other routers have been selected to be the Designated Router and Backup Designated Router either. The router attempts to form adjacencies to both the Designated Router and the Backup Designated Router.

Neighbor State - The state of the Virtual Neighbor Relationship.

Command Buttons

Configure Authentication - Display a new screen where you can select the authentication method for the virtual link.
Submit - Send the updated configuration to the switch. Configuration changes take effect immediately. These changes will not be retained across a power cycle unless a save is performed.
Delete - Removes the specified virtual link from the router configuration.

Help for OSPF Virtual Link Summary Table

Non-Configurable Data

Area ID - The Area ID portion of the virtual link identification for which data is to be displayed. The Area ID and Neighbor Router ID together define a virtual link.
Neighbor Router ID - The neighbor portion of the virtual link identification. Virtual links may be configured between any pair of area border routers having interfaces to a common (non-backbone) area.
Hello Interval - The OSPF hello interval for the virtual link in units of seconds. The value for hello interval must be the same for all routers attached to a network.
Dead Interval - The OSPF dead interval for the virtual link in units of seconds. This specifies how long a router will wait to see a neighbor router's Hello packets before declaring that the router is down. This parameter must be the same for all routers attached to a common network, and should be a multiple of the Hello Interval (i.e. 4).
Retransmit Interval - The OSPF retransmit interval for the virtual link in units of seconds. This specifies the time between link-state advertisements for adjacencies belonging to this router interface. This value is also used when retransmitting database descriptions and link-state request packets.
Iftransit Delay Interval - The OSPF Transit Delay for the virtual link in units of seconds. It specifies the estimated number of seconds it takes to transmit a link state update packet over this interface.

Command Buttons

Refresh - Refresh the data on the screen with the present state of the data in the switch.

Help For OSPF Route Redistribution Configuration

This screen can be used to configure the OSPF Route Redistribution parameters. The allowable values for each fields are displayed next to the field. If any invalid values are entered, an alert message will be displayed with the list of all the valid values.

Configurable Data

Configured Source - This select box is a dynamic selector and would be populated by only those Source Routes that have already been configured for redistribute by OSPF. However, the topmost option in the select box would be "Create", and this allows the user to configure another, among the Available Source Routes. The valid values are 'Static', 'Connected', 'RIP' ,'BGP' and 'Create'.
Available Source - This select box is a dynamic selector and would be populated by only those Source Routes that have not previously been configured for redistribution by OSPF. This select box would appear only if the user selects "Create" option as Configured Source. The valid values are 'Static', 'Connected', 'RIP' and 'BGP'.
Metric- Sets the metric value to be used as the metric of redistributed routes. This field displays the metric if the source was pre-configured and can be modified. The valid values are (0 to 16777215)
Metric Type - Sets the OSPF metric type of redistributed routes.
Tag - Sets the tag field in routes redistributed. This field displays the tag if the source was pre-configured, otherwise 0 and can be modified. The valid values are (0 to 4294967295)
Subnets - Sets whether the subnetted routes should be redistributed or not.
Distribute List - Sets the Access List that filters the routes to be redistributed by the destination protocol. Only permitted routes are redistributed. If this command refers to a non-existent access list, all routes are permitted. The valid values for Access List IDs are (1 to 199).

Source IP Address and netmask
Destination IP Address and netmask
Action (permit or deny)

Command Buttons

Submit - Send the updated configuration to the router. Configuration changes take effect immediately.
Delete - Delete the entry of the Source Route selected as Configured Source from the list of Sources configured for OSPF Route Redistribution.

Help For OSPF Route Redistribution Summary

This screen displays the OSPF Route Redistribution Configurations.

Non Configurable Data

Source - The Source Route to be Redistributed by OSPF.
Metric- The Metric of redistributed routes for the given Source Route. Displays "Unconfigured" when not configured.
Metric Type - The OSPF metric type of redistributed routes.
Tag - The tag field in routes redistributed. This field displays the tag if the source was pre-configured, otherwise 0 and can be modified. The valid values are
Subnets - Whether the subnetted routes should be redistributed or not.
Distribute List - The Access List that filters the routes to be redistributed by the Destination Protocol. Displays 0 when not configured.

Command Buttons

Refresh - Displays the latest OSPF Route Redistribution Configuration data.