12

Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub

Network

Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
Multicast Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
IP Multicasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
Multicast Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5
Host Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5
IGMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-6
IGMP Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-7
IGMP Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-7
Multicast Routing Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-8
IGMP Proxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-9
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support . . . . . . . . 12-11
Enabling IP Multicast Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-12
Setting the Multicast Helper Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-12
Determining Which Interfaces are Downstream and Which
Upstream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13
Configuring a Downstream Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-14
Configuring an IGMP Multicast Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-14
Enabling IGMP Proxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-15
Enabling Multicast Forwarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-15
Configuring an Upstream Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-16
Configuring Multicast Routing through a Fixed Interface . . . . . . . . 12-16
Tunneling Multicast Traffic through the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-17
Adding the Router Stack to a Multicast Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-18
Altering IGMP Query Intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-19

12-1
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Contents

Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing and IGMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-21

Strategies and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-21
Procedure for Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing . . . . . . . . . 12-23
Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-26

12-2
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

Overview
This overview describes IP multicasting and Internet Group Management
Protocol (IGMP). The overview then explains how the ProCurve Secure
Router can support multicasting by running either Protocol Independent
Multicast-Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), which is a multicast routing protocol, or
IGMP proxy.

This chapter focuses on configuring IGMP proxy for multicast stub routing. A
router uses multicast stub routing to forward multicast traffic received from
a remote source to directly connected hosts.

Generally, ProCurve Networking recommends that you use PIM-SM as this

protocol is usually as simple to configure as IGMP proxy and it provides more
capabilities. You must configure PIM-SM on you ProCurve Secure Router
instead of IGMP proxy if:
■ the router may receive multicasts through more than one WAN connection
■ the router must transit multicast traffic towards devices running a multi-
cast routing protocol
■ your LAN includes a multicast source, from which your router may need
to forward traffic

For information on configuring PIM-SM, you should see Chapter 11: Config-
uring Multicast Support with PIM-SM. You can refer to this chapter for
information on IGMP, which is automatically enabled when you configure
either IGMP proxy or PIM-SM, and for information on configuring IGMP
parameters.

Multicast Applications
Many emerging applications rely on delivering the same information to many
hosts. LAN TV, video conferencing, collaborative computing, and desktop
conferencing all involve transmitting a great deal of information from a source,
or many sources, to many hosts. Email systems can more efficiently deliver
mail to multiple servers simultaneously rather than one by one. Increasingly,
such technologies are turning from delivering information through multiple
point-to-point sessions to delivering it through multipoint communication.

12-3
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

IP multicasting allows hosts to send messages to multiple hosts simulta-

neously. Hosts join multicast host groups to be become eligible to receive
specific multicasts. The ProCurve Secure Router supports the routing of such
multicasts using either PIM-SM or IGMP proxy.

IP Multicasting
LANs, which are often Ethernet networks, are usually broadcast networks:
hosts can transmit messages to every other host on the network. When a host
sends a broadcast message to all other hosts in the subnet, the destination
address in the packet’s IP header is the subnet’s broadcast address—typically,
the network address with all ones for the host bits. The host can send a
broadcast message to all subnets by sending a broadcast to 255.255.255.255.
(See Figure 12-1.)

Network 1
192.168.1.0/24

Packet destination
192.45.1.255

Switch

Router

Switch

Figure 12-1. Broadcasting

It is not hard to imagine the challenges broadcast messages pose for packet
containment. A malfunctioning or misconfigured device can congest an entire
network. Even properly functioning devices must flood all hosts with unnec-
essary information just to send a message to the hosts that do need it.

IP multicasting addresses these problems by allowing a host to send a message

to a select group.

12-4
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

Network 1
192.168.1.0/24

Packet destination
232.0.0.10

Switch

Router

Switch

Figure 12-2. Multicasting

Multicast Addresses
The destination address in the IP header of a multicast message is the
multicast address. Only hosts that have joined the group for this multicast
address receive the message. (See Figure 12-2.)

Multicast addresses fall between 224.0.0.0 and 239.255.255.255. The addresses

between 224.0.0.0 and 224.0.0.255 are reserved for routing messages and are
intended for groups such as all routers on a subnet, all Open Shortest Path
First (OSPF) routers, or all Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
servers. Private organizations can designate other multicast addresses for
their own purposes. Private multicast addresses for local networks range from
239.255.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. (For a list of multicast addresses, visit http://
www.iana.org/assignments/multicast-addresses.)

Host Groups
Network nodes forward multicast packets to the proper host group. The host
group for a multicast address is the set of hosts who receive messages sent to
that address. Group membership is dynamic. Hosts can join and leave a group.
They can belong to more than one group at once, and groups can contain any
number of hosts at any location in the network.

12-5
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

IGMP
IGMP helps a router to determine which host groups have members in which
networks so that the router can properly forward multicast messages. Some
multicast routing protocols (including the protocol supported on the
ProCurve Secure Router) suppress multicasts unless a router or network
specifically requests them. IGMP also enables a router to determine the groups
for which it needs to request traffic.

Figures 12-3 and 12-4 illustrate how IGMP contains packets by allowing
routers to only forward multicast messages into networks that need them.

Multicast
packet

Group 99 Switch
Multicast
packet

Router

Multicast
packet
Switch

Figure 12-3. Multicasting Without IGMP

An IGMP multicast agent, which is also called a querier, sends queries to

determine which host groups exist in the stub networks to which it directly
connects. The ProCurve Secure Router can act as an IGMP multicast agent.
Each subnet should have only one multicast agent to minimize overhead.
(Devices automatically defer a router to act as the agent and, if a network
includes more than one router, to the router with the lowest IP address.)

12-6
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

Multicast
packet

Group 99 Switch
Multicast
packet

Router

Switch

Figure 12-4. Multicasting with IGMP

IGMP Queries
On the ProCurve Secure Router, you enable an interface to act as a multicast
agent when you do one of the following:
■ configure the interface as a multicast stub downstream interface
■ enable PIM-SM on the interface

The multicast agent broadcasts IGMP queries to all hosts, asking them to
generate a report for each host group to which they belong. The multicast
agent only forwards packets destined to a certain multicast address into the
networks from which it has received a report for that address.

The ProCurve Secure Router stores a list of the group memberships in

connected networks and a timer for each membership. When the membership
expires, the IGMP interface sends a new query.

IGMP Reports
When a host receives an IGMP query, it replies with IGMP reports. Each report
contains the multicast address of a group to which the host belongs. Hosts
minimize IGMP reports, which might otherwise flood the network, in
two ways:
■ Instead of immediately sending a report for every group to which it
belongs, the host staggers them. It sets a random timer for when it should
send each report.

12-7
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

■ Hosts send their IGMP reports to the multicast address rather then simply
to the multicast agent. When the other hosts in the group receive this
report, they cancel the report they would otherwise send out.

In this way, the multicast agent should receive one, and only one, report for
each multicast address for which a host group exists on a stub network.

When a host joins a group, it immediately sends a report in case it is the first
host in the group. Hosts send a leave message to their multicast agent when
they leave a group.

IGMP runs in version 1 and 2. The ProCurve Secure Router supports both.
Version 2 is the default.

Multicast Routing Protocols

A multicast routing protocol enables the router to determine every interface
through which it must forward traffic for a particular group. A router can use
IGMP to determine which directly connected networks need the traffic, but
generally it must run a multicast routing protocol to determine which directly
connected devices need the traffic. In other words, the multicast routing
protocol enables network devices to build trees over which traffic flows end-
to-end, from a source to all receivers.

Multicast routes are different from unicast routes because traffic destined to
a multicast address usually corresponds with many host addresses. Therefore
a router may need to copy a multicast packet and forward it out several
interfaces. Multicast routes also change relatively often as hosts join and leave
a group. In addition, multicast traffic often runs unidirectionally from a source
to receivers rather than bi-directionally as does unicast traffic. Multicast
routes can therefore by source-specific, and a router can use a multicast
routing protocol to determine through which interface traffic destined to a
particular group will arrive.

The ProCurve Secure Router supports Protocol-Independent Multicast-

Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), which relies on a the unidirectional flow of typical
multicast traffic. PIM-SM router uses IGMP to determine for which groups it
needs to receive multicast traffic. The router then joins a unique multicast tree
for each active multicast group. The tree is rooted at a rendezvous point (RP),
to which all sources must send multicasts for that group, and branches out
towards all hosts in the group. PIM-SM also lets routers generate a unidirec-
tional tree from an active source to all receivers.

The ProCurve Secure Router also supports IGMP proxy, which stub routers
can run in lieu of a multicast routing protocol. Like PIM-SM, IGMP proxy
allows a router to generate to receive and forward multicasts along a struc-

12-8
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

tured, unidirectional path. However, a router running IGMP proxy cannot

establish different routes for different multicast groups. It must receive all
multicasts on the same incoming, or upstream, interface. In addition, a router
running IGMP proxy cannot transit multicast traffic. The router can forward
the multicasts through various outgoing, or downstream, interfaces depend-
ing on the memberships for that group in the connecting networks.

Because PIM-SM enables more functions than IGMP proxy and is often as
simple to configure, it is usually recommended that you configure your router
to use PIM-SM rather than IGMP proxy for multicast support. See Chapter 11:
Configuring Multicast Support with PIM-SM.

IGMP Proxy
IGMP proxy allows a stub router to act as a multicast host on behalf of
connected clients to a remote multicast source or to a remote router running
a multicast routing protocol. The stub router receives multicasts from the
source just as a typical host would. The stub router can then forward this
traffic out the necessary interfaces.

Only stub routers should use IGMP proxy for multicast support. A stub router
serves as a gateway to a stub network—that is, a network that originates and
terminates, but does not transit, traffic. Because the router will only receive
multicasts on one interface, the router does not need to determine where to
send joins for a particular group. It can simply forward all IGMP reports to the
default helper address. This address is the address of the multicast source or
any of device that runs a multicast routing protocol and receives traffic from
the source.

The stub router uses IGMP alone to determine outgoing interfaces for multi-
cast traffic. Because it is a stub router, it does not need to receive the PIM-SM
joins that would allow it to pass multicast traffic to other routers in a
multicast tree.

IGMP proxy organizes a router’s interfaces into upstream and downstream

interfaces, providing an ordered flow for multicast messages.

A router connects to stub networks through downstream interfaces. The

downstream interfaces run IGMP, sending queries to and receiving report, join,
and leave messages from multicast hosts.

A router connects to remote multicast sources through an upstream interface.

When downstream interfaces receive IGMP messages, the upstream interface
copies them, inserts its own address as the messages’ source address, and
forwards the messages to the helper address. The multicast router or source

12-9
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Overview

at the helper address considers the upstream interface to be a multicast host

that is a member of every group to which at least one host in the stub networks
belongs.

IGMP report
Group 99
Group 99
IGMP report
Switch Group 98, 99
Network 1 Source 10.1.1.1
Downstream
interfaces

IGMP Multicast
Router
queries Router

Upstream
interface
Switch
10.1.1.1
Network 2
IGMP report
Group 98 Group 98

Figure 12-5. IGMP Proxy

When an upstream interface receives a multicast packet, the router forwards

it through the downstream interfaces on networks for which the relevant
group is active. This function is called multicast forwarding.

Figure 12-5 illustrates how IGMP reports and multicast messages flow.

12-10
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast

Stub Routing Support
You should not use IGMP proxy for multicast support unless your ProCurve
Secure Router acts as a stub router. (Even when your router is a stub router,
it can be a good idea to enable a multicast routing protocol such as PIM-SM.)

A stub router is a router in a stub network. When a WAN router, such as the
ProCurve Secure Router, has a single connection to a remote, central site, it
usually acts as a stub router: it does not receive traffic for any network except
local ones.

A central, non-stub site would provide the multicast routers and sources. The
stub router simply needs to be able to forward multicasts that arrive on the
single WAN interface to stub networks on which the appropriate host network
exists.

As an example, your organization’s headquarters has a streaming video server.

Hosts in the local stub network run the corresponding video client, which join
the correct multicast group. You would configure the Ethernet interface on
the ProCurve Secure Router to be a downstream interface. It would request
IGMP reports from hosts in the local networks. The router would then forward
these reports through the upstream WAN interface to a helper address and
towards the multicast source, which is the streaming video server. This server
would then send video packets towards the local router, which would forward
them on to the LAN.

To configure the ProCurve Secure Router to receive multicasts, you must

configure IGMP proxy. Complete these steps:
1. Enable IP multicast routing.
2. Set the global multicast helper address.
3. Determine which interfaces are downstream interfaces and which are
upstream interfaces.
4. Configure one or more downstream interfaces:
a. Enable and configure the IGMP agent.
b. Enable multicast forwarding.
5. Configure an upstream interface:
a. Enable multicast forwarding.
b. Enable IGMP proxy.

12-11
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

You can also:

■ have the router stack join an IGMP group
■ alter IGMP intervals (for experienced administrators only)

Enabling IP Multicast Routing

The ProCurve Secure Router must implement multicast routing to keep track
of which interfaces forward packets destined to certain multicast addresses.
By default, multicast routing is disabled.

From the global configuration mode context, enter:

ProCurve(config)# ip multicast-routing

When multicast routing is enabled, the router stores a list of multicast routes.
The router creates an entry for each multicast address for which a host group
exists on a downstream network. All entries include a single incoming inter-
face, which is the upstream interface. An active entry also includes one or
more outgoing interfaces, which are the downstream interfaces through
which multicasts received on the incoming interface should be forwarded.

Setting the Multicast Helper Address

The helper address is the address to which all downstream interfaces forward
the IGMP reports and leave messages that they receive from connected hosts.
The helper address can be any upstream interface between the downstream
interface and the multicast source. It is often a router at an organization’s
headquarters that runs a multicast routing protocol.

To the helper address, the local router sends one report and one leave message
for each active multicast group. As far as the device at the helper address is
concerned, the local router is a multicast host, and the helper device routes
the appropriate multicasts to it.

Set the global helper address by entering:

Syntax: ip mcast-stub helper-address <A.B.C.D>

The router can only have one multicast helper address. (This is why you can
only configure IGMP proxy for multicast support if all multicasts will be
received from the same next-hop router.)

12-12
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

For example, to set the helper address for the router in Figure 12-6, you would
enter:

ProCurve(config)# ip mcast-stub helper-address 10.1.1.2

Note The router must know a route to the helper address.

IGMP
queries

IGMP report IGMP report

IGMP query

Switch Router Multicast

Router

IGMP report
Helper
IGMP report address
Downstream Upstream
10.1.1.2
Group 99 interfaces interface
10.1.1.1

Figure 12-6. Identifying Upstream and Downstream Interfaces and Helper Address

Determining Which Interfaces are Downstream and

Which Upstream
Downstream interfaces connect to the stub networks with multicast hosts.
Generally, these are Ethernet interfaces. Downstream interfaces run IGMP as
a multicast agent and receive IGMP reports from local hosts. Downstream
interfaces also forward multicast messages into networks for which a host
group exists.

The upstream interface is the interface through which the router connects to
remote multicast sources. The upstream interface acts as the IGMP host on
behalf of hosts connected to the downstream interfaces. The router only uses
one upstream interface to forward IGMP joins received on downstream
interfaces towards the multicast source.

Figure 12-6 displays downstream and upstream interfaces on a stub router in

a simplified example network.

12-13
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

Configuring a Downstream Interface

First, move to the configuration mode context for the interface:

Syntax: interface <interface ID>

For example:

ProCurve(config)# int eth 0/1

A downstream interface typically should perform three functions:

■ IGMP multicast agent—send IGMP queries and listen for IGMP messages
■ IGMP proxy—forward IGMP messages to a remote multicast server
■ multicast forwarding—forward multicast messages if the corresponding
host group exists on the connecting network

Configuring an IGMP Multicast Agent

This command both enables the interface to run IGMP and to forward multi-
cast messages:

ProCurve(config-eth 0/1)# ip mcast-stub downstream

The interface will send IGMP queries and listen for reports and leave messages
to determine which host groups are active on its network.

By default, downstream interfaces run IGMP version 2. You can change the
version an interface uses with this command, entered from a logical interface
configuration mode context:

Syntax: ip igmp version [1 | 2]

For example, if your network used version 1, you could configure an Ethernet
interface to run IGMP version 1:

ProCurve(config-eth 0/1)# ip igmp version 1

You can also alter settings such as how often the interface issues IGMP queries
and how long it waits after a group membership expires to remove that group
from its IGMP table. These configuration tasks are aimed at containing
packets and are not necessary. (See “Altering IGMP Query Intervals” on
page 12-19.)

12-14
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

Enabling IGMP Proxy

If you want a stub network to receive multicast messages from a remote
network, you must enable IGMP proxy on the interface connecting to the stub
network.

The following command enables the downstream interface to forward IGMP

reports to the multicast server at the helper address:

ProCurve(config-eth 0/1)# ip mcast-stub helper-enable

You must set the actual helper address globally. (See “Setting the Multicast
Helper Address” on page 12-12.)

If you do not enter this command, the upstream interface send joins towards
the multicast source; the router will not forward multicasts to local hosts
because it will not itself receive the multicast traffic.

Note Even though you have enabled the router to act as a multicast host to a remote
router, the downstream interface still acts as a multicast agent for directly
connected local hosts.

Enabling Multicast Forwarding

Entering ip mcast-stub downstream automatically enables multicast for-
warding through the interface. When the interface, acting as a multicast agent,
determines that the connected network contains hosts for a specific multicast
address, the router adds that address to its multicast routing table. The entry
includes the downstream interface as the “outgoing” interface. When the
router receives a packet destined to the multicast address, it forwards it out
the outgoing interfaces listed in the multicast table.

Note You must enable IP multicast routing globally in order for an interface to
forward multicast messages. (See “Enabling IP Multicast Routing” on page
12-12. Multicast routing is disabled by default.) If IP multicast routing is
disabled, the interface will only run IGMP.

12-15
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

Configuring an Upstream Interface

An upstream interface is a forwarding helper interface: an interface through
which the router reaches the helper address. The multicast server considers
the upstream interface to be the multicast host. Although you can configure
more than one upstream interface, the router only uses one (the interface that
is the least number of hops from the helper address). Otherwise, the router
would receive multicast source on more than one interface and would not know
how to set the incoming interface for entries in its multicast routing table.

Upstream interfaces on a stub router should fulfill two functions:

■ Multicast forwarding—The interface receives multicast messages from
the multicast source at a remote site.
■ IGMP proxy—The interface acts as a multicast host to the multicast server
and forwards IGMP reports, joins, and leaves with its own source address.
The interface also runs an IGMP agent.

To configure an upstream interface (typically, the WAN interface), move to the

logical interface configuration mode context. (You can configure any Layer 2
interface as an upstream interface.)

You enable both IGMP proxy and multicast forwarding functions with the
following command:

ProCurve(config-ppp 1)# ip mcast-stub upstream

You should not enter the ip mcast-stub helper-enable command. Down-

stream interfaces enabled for IGMP proxy will automatically forward IGMP
messages through the upstream interface closest to their helper address.

Configuring Multicast Routing through a Fixed

Interface
Instead of, or in addition to, specifying downstream interfaces, you can specify
fixed interfaces. A fixed interface is an interface on which traffic for a specific
multicast group or groups is always forwarded. Because static multicast
settings take precedence over dynamic settings, the router will always for-
ward the specified multicast traffic through the fixed interface, no matter what
IGMP activity occurs in the LAN.

12-16
 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

Because the fixed interface is an alternative to a downstream interface, you

should remember to configure these settings before configuring a fixed
interface:
■ enable multicast routing
■ specify the helper address
■ configure the upstream interface

Then, move to the configuration mode context for the interface that you want
to forward the multicast traffic. For example, if you want the Ethernet 0/1
interface to act as a fixed interface, enter:

ProCurve(config)# interface ethernet 0/1

Then, enter this command:

Syntax: ip mcast-stub fixed

Next, configure the interface as a static member of one or more multicast

groups. This allows the interface to receive and forward multicast packets
associated with that group, regardless of whether any receivers join the group
using IGMP.

To make an interface a member of a static multicast group, enter the following

command from the interface configuration mode context:

Syntax: ip igmp static-group <A.B.C.D>

Replace <A.B.C.D> with the IP address of the static multicast group.

The interface has now joined the group. You must now enable it to forward
the join to the multicast helper address. Enter this command from the inter-
face configuration mode context:

Syntax: ip mcast-stub helper-enable

Tunneling Multicast Traffic through the Internet

In a WAN, multicast packets may travel through networks, such as the Inter-
net, that do not support multicasting. In this case, you must establish a tunnel
through which the router can send the multicasts.

The ProCurve Secure Router supports Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)

tunneling. When a packet arrives on one tunnel endpoint, the router
encapsulates it with a new IP header, which includes the IP address of the

12-17
Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

remote tunnel endpoint, and a GRE header. The router then forwards the
packet. Routers in the non-multicast network can read the delivery header to
forward the multicast packet to the tunnel endpoint.

The router at the remote endpoint removes the GRE header from the packet
and forwards the multicast packet through the correct interfaces to members
of the multicast host group.

You can configure the tunnel interface as an upstream interface. The tunnel
will then receive multicasts from the multicast source for clients connected
to the router.

You should enable PIM-SM on the tunnel interface on the remote multicast
router.

See Chapter 11: Configuring a Tunnel with Generic Routing Encapsulation

to learn more about configuring a GRE tunnel.

Adding the Router Stack to a Multicast Group

The ProCurve Secure Router typically distinguishes between multicast packets
delivering actual data and IGMP packets, which are also destined for multicast
addresses. To save processing power, the router processes IGMP packets only,
simply forwarding the multicast packets without processing them.

When troubleshooting, you can have the router itself join a multicast host
group. The router becomes a host in the multicast group and begins to process
all multicast packets. It can then answer Internet Control Message Protocol
(ICMP) echo requests and respond to pings sent to the multicast address. To
have the router join a multicast group, enter this command from the global
configuration mode context:

Syntax: ip igmp join <A.B.C.D>

Replace <A.B.C.D> with the IP address of the multicast group. For example:

ProCurve(config)# ip igmp join 239.255.0.234

Having the router join a multicast host group can be useful for troubleshoot-
ing. You can use the ping and debug commands to determine the node that
fails to forward multicast messages.

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 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

Altering IGMP Query Intervals

IGMP involves trade-offs. The protocol contains packets by giving multicast
routers up-to-date information on which networks actually need specific
multicasts. On the other hand, the IGMP queries that maintain this information
also consume bandwidth.

Although the default settings are usually adequate, you can alter IGMP inter-
vals. For example, in a network with relatively stable group memberships, you
may determine that routers are sending too many IGMP messages. In that case,
you could raise the IGMP query interval. Or, you may determine that hosts are
not receiving multicasts quickly enough after joining a group. In this case, you
could lower the IGMP query interval so that the router receives an updated
IGMP report more quickly.

You can also reduce overhead by enabling the immediate leave option when
an interface connects to a single host. When this host leaves a group, the router
assumes the group has expired without sending any query messages. You can
also enable this option when the router connects to a switch that uses IGMP
snooping. Such a switch forwards all multicasts until it specifically receives a
leaves from all connected hosts. Therefore, if an IGMP snooping switch does
sends a leave for a group, the router does not need to check whether other
hosts still need the multicasts.

Table 12-1 explains how to alter IGMP intervals. You enter these commands
from the logical interface configuration context.

Caution You should not alter intervals unless you have experience working with IGMP.
Whenever you adjust these intervals, you risk making a router’s list of group
memberships and multicast routes less accurate. The timers on interfaces in
the same subnet need to be consistent. For example, if you raise one interface’s
query interval, you need to ensure that other interfaces running IGMP have a
correspondingly greater query timeout. Otherwise, they will periodically flood
the network with unnecessary messages, believing that the designated multi-
cast agent has gone down.

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Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Configuring IGMP Proxy for Multicast Stub Routing Support

Table 12-1. IGMP Intervals

Interval Function Default Range Command Syntax

query interval The query interval is how often 60 seconds 0 to 65,535 seconds ip igmp query-interval
the interface broadcasts <seconds>
queries to hosts on the
connected network.

query timeout Only one router on a subnet 2 times the query 60 to 300 seconds ip igmp querier-
acts as the designated interval timeout <seconds>
querier. However, other
interfaces still listen for IGMP
queries. The query timeout is
the time an interface waits for
a query before it assumes the
querier is down and begins
sending its own queries.
The query timeout should be at
least twice the query interval
so that a router can miss one
message without being timed
out.
query maximum The interface includes a 10 seconds 0 to 25 seconds ip igmp query-max-
response time maximum response time in its response-time
queries. Multicast hosts must <seconds>
stagger their reports
somewhere within this limit.

last member query When an interface receives a 1000 milliseconds 100 to 65,535 ip igmp last-member-
interval leave message from a milliseconds query-interval
multicast host, it sends out a <milliseconds>
query for that group to
determine whether it still has
any members on the network.
The last member query
interval specifies how often
the interface sends such
queries. Usually, this interval
is more rapid than that for
routine queries. After sending
two such queries, the
interface waits up to a second
longer for a response. If it does
not receive one, the router
removes the interface from
the multicast list entry for that
group’s address.

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 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing and IGMP

Interval Function Default Range Command Syntax

immediate-leave This command is used when — ip igmp immediate-

an interface connects to a leave
single host or to an IGMP
snooping switch. It minimizes
last member queries by
allowing the router to remove
the interface from a group
immediately after the
interface receives a leave
message for that group.

Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing

and IGMP
This section gives strategies for troubleshooting multicast support on the stub
router only. If you determine that a problem originates on one of the remote
routers running the multicast routing protocol, then you must troubleshoot
that router and protocol. (See Chapter 11: Configuring Multicast Support
with PIM-SM.)

This section also describes how to troubleshoot IGMP, which is used both by
routers that run PIM-SM and those that run IGMP proxy.

Strategies and Tools

When hosts are not receiving multicast messages as they should, you need to
ascertain where the multicast messages are being lost.

Is the router receiving messages, but not forwarding them? In this case, the
router may not believe that the group exists on a network on which it does
exist, and IGMP functions might be at fault.

Is the router not receiving multicast messages at all? In this case, IGMP proxy
may be to blame; the helper device is not receiving reports from the router
telling it to send those multicast messages.

If you cannot locate the problem on the local router, you should, if possible,
troubleshoot the next-hop upstream router. See Chapter 11: Configuring
Multicast Support with PIM-SM for tips on troubleshooting PIM-SM.

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Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing and IGMP

When troubleshooting multicast stub routing, you should follow the general
procedure described below. You will use the show and debug commands
summarized in Table 12-2.

Note You enter show and debug commands from the enable mode context. You
can also add do to the commands to enter them from any configuration mode
context.

Table 12-2. Multicast and IGMP Troubleshooting Commands

View Command Syntax Displays Function

group memberships show ip igmp groups • multicast address verify that the router knows that a
stored on the router • connecting (downstream) group exists on a network
interface
• uptime and expiration time
• host that last reported on the
group

multicast routing table show ip mroute for each route: verify that:
• uptime and expiration time • the router can forward
• incoming interface multicasts
• list of outgoing interfaces • the router will forward
multicasts out the correct
downstream interfaces

IGMP interfaces show ip igmp for each downstream interface: • verify that the interface can run
interface • IP address IGMP in the version used on the
• whether IGMP is enabled network
• IGMP version number • check for problems with IGMP
intervals
• IGMP intervals
• view the helper address
• helper address

real-time IGMP debug ip igmp • IGMP reports from hosts verify that the router is receiving
messages • IGMP queries IGMP messages

real-time IGMP debug ip igmp • IGMP reports from hosts verify that the router is receiving
messages for a <A.B.C.D> • IGMP queries IGMP messages for a specific
specific group group

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 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing and IGMP

Procedure for Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing

1. Identify the multicast address and network in question.
2. Verify that the router believes a host group exists for that address on that
network. You do so by viewing IGMP group memberships:
ProCurve# show ip igmp groups
The resulting display lists groups by their multicast address. Check that
an entry exists for the multicast address. The entry should also include
the interface that connects to the network in question.
3. If the interface in question does not have the group membership, the
router will not forward the multicasts into the network. The lack of the
entry could stem from several sources:
• The Ethernet (or WAN) interface connecting to the network has not
been configured as a downstream interface, so it is not listening for
IGMP messages. Enter the following command to view the interfaces
configured as IGMP interfaces:
ProCurve# show ip igmp interface
Figure 12-7 illustrates an example of the output from this command.

ProCurve# show ip igmp interface

eth 0/1 is UP
Ip Address is 10.22.120.47, netmask is 255.255.255.0
IGMP is enabled on interface
Current IGMP version is 2 IGMP version
IGMP query interval is 60 seconds
IGMP querier timeout is 120 seconds
IGMP max query response time is 10 seconds
Last member query count is 2
Last member query response interval is 1000 ms
IGMP activity: 548 joins, 0 leaves
IGMP querying router is 0.0.0.0 Interface is not running
IGMP helper address is disabled IGMP proxy or is an
upstream interface

Figure 12-7. Viewing IGMP Interfaces

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Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing and IGMP

• The downstream interface is running a version of IGMP incompatible

with that used on the network. Enter show ip igmp interface and
view the IGMP version. You can change the version for a particular
interface by entering this command from the logical interface config-
uration mode context:
Syntax: ip igmp version [1 | 2]
For example:
ProCurve(config-eth 0/1)# ip igmp version 1
• The downstream interface is not waiting long enough for reports from
hosts. Try returning IGMP query intervals to their defaults. (See
“Altering IGMP Query Intervals” on page 12-19 for a discussion of
these intervals.)
• The host that you believe should be receiving messages has not
actually joined the correct multicast group. In this case, you would
need to troubleshoot the host.
4. If the correct group membership exists, then the router should know to
forward multicast messages into the host’s network. You should verify
that the router is receiving the multicast messages. View the status of the
upstream interface with the show interfaces command and check that
it is receiving multicast packets.
5. If the router is not receiving messages, you may have a problem with IGMP
proxy. Hosts in a stub network can only receive multicasts from remote
networks if the stub router runs IGMP proxy. IGMP proxy problems
include:
• The downstream interface is not running IGMP proxy. Enter show ip
igmp interface and look for the helper address. (See Figure 12-7.)
• If the helper address is “disabled,” move to the configuration mode
context for the interface and enter:
ProCurve(config-eth 0/1)# ip mcast-stub helper-enable
If you have not done so, you must also configure the helper address
from the global configuration mode context:
ProCurve(config)# ip mcast-stub helper-address 10.10.10.1

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 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Troubleshooting Multicast Stub Routing and IGMP

• If the helper address is “enabled,” the interface is running IGMP proxy.

Verify that the helper address is correct in the running config. Also
check connectivity using the ping command. The router must, of
course, be able to reach the multicast device at the central site. If
necessary, troubleshoot a connection. (See the Basic Management
and Configuration Guide, Chapter 6: Configuring the Data Link
Layer Protocol for E1, T1, and Serial Interfaces, Chapter 7: ADSL
WAN Connections, and Chapter 8: Configuring Demand Routing for
Primary ISDN Modules.)
• In an inactive network, you can add the router stack to the multicast
group (ip igmp join <A.B.C.D>) and use the ping, debug, and
traceroute commands to determine whether the multicast source is
receiving joins from the router.
6. If the router is receiving messages but is not forwarding them, try viewing
the multicast routing table. Enter:
ProCurve# show ip mroute
It should include the interface that directly connects to the network in
question as an outgoing interface and the upstream interface as the
incoming interface.
If the table does not exist, multicast routing may not be enabled. You must
enable multicast routing in order for downstream interfaces to forward
multicast messages. Enter:
ProCurve(config)# ip multicast-routing
Make sure that you have configured an upstream interface. View the
portion of the running config for the upstream interface (for example,
enter show run int ppp 1) and look for ip mcast-stub upstream.

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Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Quick Start

Quick Start
This section provides the commands you must enter to quickly configure
support for multicasting.

Only a minimal explanation is provided. If you need additional information

about any of these options, check “Contents” on page 12-1 to locate the section
that contains the explanation you need.

If you so choose, you can print and fill out Table 12-3 with information for your
network. You can then use this worksheet to complete the quick start com-
mands.

Table 12-3. Multicast Settings

Information Required Setting Your Setting

multicast router (helper IP address

address)

downstream interfaces interface ID:

• Ethernet interface
– <slot>
– <port>
• WAN interface:
– <interface type>
– <interface number>

upstream interfaces interface ID:

• Ethernet interface
– <slot>
– <port>
• WAN interface:
– <interface type>
– <interface number>

IGMP version 1 or 2

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 Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Quick Start

Group 1
Multicast 1 Multicast 1

Switch Multicast
Router
Router
Helper
address

Multicast 2

Multicast 2 Downstream Upstream

Group 2 interface interface

Figure 12-8. Sample Multicast Configuration

1. Enable multicast routing:

ProCurve(config)# ip multicast-routing
2. Set the helper address, which is the address of the multicast router. (See
Figure 12-8.)
Syntax: ip mcast-stub helper-address <A.B.C.D>
For example:
ProCurve(config)# ip mcast-stub helper-address 10.1.1.2

Note The local router must, of course, know a route to this address.

3. Move to the configuration mode context of the downstream interface.

(See Figure 12-8.)
Syntax: interface <interface ID>
4. Enable IGMP and multicast forwarding.
ProCurve(config-eth 0/1)# ip mcast-stub downstream
5. Enable IGMP proxy to the helper address.
ProCurve(config-eth 0/1)# ip mcast-stub helper-enable
6. If so desired, configure another downstream interface. Repeat steps 3
through 5.

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Configuring Multicast Support for a Stub Network
Quick Start

7. Move to the configuration mode context of the upstream interface. (See

Figure 12-8.)
Syntax: interface <interface ID>
8. Enable IGMP proxy and multicast forwarding.
Syntax: ip mcast-stub upstream

12-28