Michael McNamara

technology, networking, virtualization and IP telephony

It’s the networks fault #5

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network_cable_by_tootallEthernet Routing Switch 8800 Software Release v7.1.5.0

Avaya has released software v7.1.5.0 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800.

The following issues have been addressed in this software release;

  • VRRP transitions are observed when the port state of SLT/SMLT links changes [ wi00965416 / wi01021008 ]
  • CPU MGMT Port locks up occasionally and requires reboot while under high traffic loads [ wi00996256 / wi01021014]
  • Retina Scan causes FTP sessions to hang in CLOSE_WAIT state [wi01010232 / wi01020995 ]
  • TCP/IP Instability during and after a DOS like network scan [wi00999478 / wi01020994 ]
  • Egress queue draining improvements for 8683XLR [ wi01030286 / wi01030289 ]
  • “configure add bgp network” causes software license violation to be seen [wi01014784]
  • ACLI: Access-policy-SNMPv3 configuration disappears after re-boot [wi01018223]
  • Inconsistent ACL/ACE behaviour is observed on 8648GTRS module [wi01014728]
  • ACLI: Set a port to forced speed & duplex, enable the verify-config boot flag, save the config and reboot the box. After the reboot, error occurs at the time of loading config.cfg and all the cards are taken offline [wi01020972]
  • show fulltech can be disallowed if SSH session is stranded during execution [wi01020662]
  • 8692 with rev54 OOB Management port shows up as up/active with nothing connected [ wi00908274 / wi00976833 ]
  • A buffer memory leak accompanied by ‘rcIpBootPReply failed to send broadcast DHCP response. No circuit for src IP 0.0.0.0, VLAN 0, IFINDEX 641’ is seen [ wi00999447 / wi01023659 ]
  • Connectivity issues occur when OSPF External Routes are learnt [wi01002839 / wi01013382]
  • Non ICMP routed traffic is discarded if destination is actually on ingress VLAN [wi00973648 / wi00990346 ]
  • Incorrect XFP type shown sometimes in logs when XFP was unplugged / plugged [ wi00995034 ]
  • RSMLT IP/MAC addresses are not always correctly spoofed. [ wi00936870 / wi00990309 ]
  • MSDP INFO messages filling up the logs. [ wi00928703 / wi00990311 ]
  • V5 to V7x Upgrade: V5 ACLI route-map definitions cause partial config loss after upgrade. [wi00985414 / wi00991133]
  • ERS 8600 5.1.7.0: Arp entries not getting aged out but keep getting refreshed. [ wi00989668 / wi01013379 ]. As part of this fix, also added support for Port/ VLAN->IP>ARP->ForcedRearp [ wi01030298 ]
  • ACLI: IP Static Multicast ARP entries defined on an MLT are lost after a reboot [ wi01023009 ]
  • IPVPN-Lite: BGP Redistribution Propagates Default Route with incorrect next-hop Address [ wi01024321 ]
  • Missing “show spanning-tree config” support on ERS platform [ wi01004049 ]
  • Error messages are seen with AA1419049-E6 on 8634 [ wi00908211 / wi00991546 ]
  • Request to hide unknown community string names from syslog [ wi01029822 ]
  • Syslog message are sent using LAST created CLIP Interface IP address instead of the first configured CLIP address [ wi01026441 ]
  • Constant GBIC inserted message scrolling on 8630 with “49” part. [ wi01001887 / wi01030252 ]
  • ERS8800 Radius CLI Profile is not working with SSH but its working fine via Telnet [ wi00945536 / wi01030176 ]
  • L3VSN connectivity issue at customer site after migrating OSPF to SPBM [wi01018732 / wi01033808 ]
  • ERS8800 with CP card 8895SF registered 3 consecutive core dump. Device running on s/w 7.1.3.0. SOP init problem [ wi01011887 ]
  • 8648 line card gets rebooted when AA1419043 inserted [ wi01014221 / wi01035891 ]
  • Need to have the MLT-id included in the “show LACP interface MLT” command [ wi01032546 ]
  • ERS 8600: 5.1.4: 8683 XLR ingress Lane lockup [ wi01000004 ]
  • ERS 8600: 5.1.x/7.1..x; High CPU/High buffer utilization caused by Dual AC-input Power Supply [wi01002565 ]
  • 8600:v7.1.3 or higher: ACL problem: NextHopReachableRedirect – Redirection works ok for the case when the redirection dest is reachable but when the redirection dest is not reachable the filter does not stop redirecting [wi01013834 ]
  • A core may result when running the command “show isis spbm multicast-fib” when using the filter i-sid or nick-name [ wi1033200 ]
  • CFM : LBM packet with Spbm Ethertype 88a8 as well as 8100 being generated if the default “spbm ethertype” is changed to 88a8 [ wi01035918 ]
  • ERS8600 7.1.3.x: Links may not come up between 8648GBRS with Copper pluggables to 8648GTRS [ wi01027175 / wi01029009 ]
  • ERS8600: 1GB SX pluggables in 8630GBR may not report proper type and Vendor [ wi01027179 / wi01029009 ]
  • RSMLT holdup timer not counting in edge support scenario and peer mac is made local permanently [ wi01028907 ]
  • 8895 could reset when LACP is globally disabled on adjacent node [ wi01026059 ]
  • Enhancement request to reset SF when FAB Memory Full detected [ wi01004464 ]
  • Egress queue draining for R modules [ wi01011220 ]
  • R module code could accidentally drop into the RS module mirroring code [ wi01011222 ]
  • The R modules do not treat PAUSE frames in their default configuration but rather pass them on to the CPU with QoS 7 [ wi01011225 ]
  • Routes rejected after deleting/re-adding BGP in VRF route-policy. [ wi00564356 / wi00990365 ]
  • ERS8600 / acli mode / “show ip ipfix flows” parameters do not work in ACLI mode [ wi00891540 / wi00938144 ]

I took note of the reference to a possible data loss condition to a LANE if a single port within that LANE changes speed/duplex;

When we are running multiple ports configured in the same lane, we see momentary traffic loss on other ports in the lane, when the operating speed/duplex changes on one of the ports. If the operating speed/duplex remains same as before, there is no traffic loss. For example, if we pull a SFP and plug it back in, and the speed/duplex remains same as before, we will not see traffic loss. The reason for this is that every time a port speed changes, we need to re-configure lane specific shapers. This is the case if we are re-configuring Egress Queue Sets and configuring port shapers also.

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 Software Release v5.1.8.3

Avaya has released software v5.1.8.3 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800.

The following issues have been addressed in this software release;

  • VRRP transitions are observed when the port state of SLT/SMLT links changes [ wi00965416 / wi01021010 ]
  • CPU MGMT Port locks up occasionally and requires reboot while under high traffic loads [ wi00996256 / wi01012500 ]
  • Retina Scan causes FTP sessions to hang in CLOSE_WAIT state [wi01010232 / wi01013377 ]
  • TCP/IP Instability during and after a DOS like network scan [wi00999478 / wi01008869 ]
  • ERS 8600/8800: OSPF getting stuck in INIT state after CPU-switchover in HA-mode for Legacy 1G modules [ wi01034553 ]
  • ERS 8600-5.1.8.1: Fiber ports on the Legacy cards do not come UP after a CPU-switchover in HA-mode [ wi01038139 ]
  • Egress queue draining improvements for 8683XLR [ wi01030289 ]
  • ssh logging is improved to more clearly indicate the session login and logout info [wi01021847 ]

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Cheers!

It’s the networks fault #4

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network_cable_by_tootallThere are quite a few items to report today, even if they are about a week or two behind the times.

Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 Software Release v7.1.3.3

Avaya has released software v7.1.3.3 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800.

There have been a flurry of software releases recently from Avaya in both the 5.x and 7.x code branches. The following notation in the 7.1.3.3 release notes gives me pause;

When we are running multiple ports configured in the same lane, we see momentary traffic loss on other ports in the lane, when the operating speed/duplex changes on one of the ports. If the operating speed/duplex remains same as before, there is no traffic loss. For example, if we pull a SFP and plug it back in, and the speed/duplex remains same as before, we will not see traffic loss. The reason for this is that every time a port speed changes, we need to re-configure lane specific shapers. This is the case if we are re-configuring Egress Queue Sets and configuring port shapers also.

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 Software Release v5.1.8.1

Avaya has released software v5.1.8.1 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800.

There are a number of different bug fixes and there’s a reference to a potential issue when using the out-of-band network (management) port on the CPU/SF itself.

The out-of-band (OOB) management port of an ERS8600 switch does not have STP, SLPP or other loop prevention mechanism integrated as a line card port does. In the event of line rate broadcast traffic coming into the OOB management port due to a network loop that involves the OOB management port, users may see high CPU utilization that affects switch‟s functionality.

I don’t personally use the out-of-band network ports on the CPU/SF. Although I do cable all the serial/console ports on the CPU/SF to an MRV terminal server which I can either dial into remotely or connect to over the network via SSH/telnet.

I’m curious how many people are using the OOB Ethernet network port on the CPU/SF itself?

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Ethernet Routing Switch 4000 Software Release v5.6.1

Avaya has released software v5.6.1 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 4000 Series.

There are a number of new features along with quite a few bug fixes. In particular this problem was reported in the discussion forums by one or our members;

  • (wi00961451, wi00964606, wi00998809, wi00958930) MAC Security, Access Violation Trap: When MAC Security Access Violation traps are enabled on the port, the trap is now correctly generated as a result of a MAC security violation and it now displays the correct port index (s5SbsViolationPortIndx) is contained in the message.

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

You’ll find more details from @Telair over on the discussion forums.

Ethernet Routing Switch 2500 Software Release v4.4.1

Avaya has released software v4.4.1 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 2500 Series.

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Cheers!

untagAll vs tagAll on Avaya Ethernet Routing Switches

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This is probably the most often referred to topic both on the forums and here on my blog. After finding it in the top 10 keyword searches to my blog this morning I decided to try and write up a new post that would conclusively answer the question with respect to Avaya (formerly Nortel) Ethernet Routing Switches.

Definitions

Now before I get started lets define some basic terms;

  • Access port is defined as a port belonging to a single VLAN
  • Trunk port as defined in Wikipedia is a port designed to carry multiple VLANs through a single network link through the use of a “trunking protocol”. To allow for multiple VLANs on one link, frames from individual VLANs must be identified. The most common and preferred method, IEEE 802.1Q adds a tag to the Ethernet frame header, labeling it as belonging to a certain VLAN. Since 802.1Q is an open standard, it is the only option in an environment with multiple-vendor equipment.

So by it’s definition an access port can only belong to one VLAN while a trunk port can belong to multiple VLANs.

It’s important to distinguish that we’re talking about single ports. A trunk group or trunk port group is made up of multiple ports which are combined into a single virtual port. Protocols such as MultiLink Trunking (Avaya), EtherChannel (Cisco) and LACP provide the ability to combine multiple trunk ports into a single virtual interface providing redundancy and additional bandwidth.

Basic Examples

In general the majority of edge switch ports will be configured as access ports. Any port used to connect a personal computer, laptop, server, printer, etc will be configured as an access port. Any port that connects to another switch will be configured as a trunk port.

Complex Examples

With the advent of virtualization VMware servers are often configured and connected to trunk ports. Where as servers would have traditionally been connected to access ports they can also be connected to trunk ports depending on their configurations. The advent of Voice Over IP (VoIP) to the desktop has also had an impact on how edge switches are configured when the desktop or laptop is connected to the IP phone which is in turn connected to the edge switch. I’ll cover that topic in more detail later on.

Avaya Ethernet Routing Switches

Ethernet Routing Switch 2500, 4000, 5000 Series

The Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch 2500, 4000 and 5000 series switches currently offer the following options.

  • tagAll – sets the port as a trunk port tagging all frames with an 802.1Q header as they egress the port.
  • untagAll – sets the port as an access port stripping all 802.1Q headers as they egress the port.
  • tagPvidOnly – sets the port as a trunk port but only adds 802.1Q headers for the PVID VLAN as they egress the port.
  • untagPvidOnly – sets the port as a trunk port but only adds 802.1Q headers for every VLAN other than the PVID VLAN as they egress the port.

What is the PVID? The PVID is the Default VLAN ID configured for that specific port. In a typical configuration where the port is an access (untagAll) port the PVID will be set to that VLAN automatically by the switch. In a trunk port configuration the PVID will be used to determine which VLAN to bridge any received untagged frames to if DiscardUntaggedFrames is not enabled. It’s recommended to enable DiscardUntaggedFrames on any port configured as a trunk (tagAll) port to avoid any potential configuration issues which might lead to a loop and a network outage. It’s also a best practice to configure the PVID on all trunk (tagAll) ports with the VLAN ID of your management VLAN.

Ethernet Routing Switch 1600, 8600, 8800 Series

You’ll notice on the Ethernet Routing Switch 1600, 8600 and 8800 series that the options are slightly different but achieve the same outcome.

  • PerformTagging (Checked) – sets the port as a trunk port tagging all frames with an 802.1Q header as they egress the port.
  • PerformTagging (Unchecked) – sets the port as an access port stripping all 802.1Q headers as they egress the port.

Additional options include DiscardTaggedFrames, DiscardUntaggedFrames and UntagDefaultVlan. These options can be used to achieve the same results as with the Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch 2500, 4000 and 5000 series switches with the exception of tagPvidOnly.

Is the PVID equivalent to the native vlan command in Cisco switches? It is if untagPvidOnly/UntagDefaultVlan is enabled. The PVID (DefaultVlanId) by itself only acts on untagged received frames. The untagPvidOnly/UntagDefaultVlan option acts on transmitted frames and so the combination of the two equates to the “switchport trunk native vlan #” on a Cisco switch.

It’s also important to point out that Avaya only supports 802.1Q tagging. So while Cisco supports ISL and 802.1Q there is no Avaya command similar to “switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q” since this is the default behavior with Avaya switches.

IP Telephony

There are some special considerations when desktops and laptops are physically connected to the PC port on back of an IP phone and then the IP phone is cabled to the edge switch.  In this scenario the common approach is to tag the voice VLAN while leaving the data VLAN untagged. Why? It’s important that we separate the voice traffic from the data traffic so we utilize two different VLANs, one VLAN will carry the voice traffic while one VLAN will carry the data traffic destined to the desktop or laptop. The desktop or laptop probably won’t be configured for 802.1Q tagging so it won’t understand an 802.1Q tagged frame. We need to guarantee that any frames being delivered to the PC port on the back of the IP phone are untagged, if they aren’t the laptop or desktop will just discard the frame. The IP phone will tag the voice frames with an 802.1Q header so the switch will properly bridge those frames to the voice VLAN. In this scenario we need to utilize the untagPvidOnly option in combination with configuring the PVID (DefaultVlanId) as the data VLAN. This way the voice VLAN will be tagged with an 802.1Q header so the phone understands it and the data VLAN will be untagged so the desktop or laptop understands it. The IP phone will be configured with the Voice VLAN ID so it knows which ID to use when communicating with the Call Server and Media Gateways.

Cheers!

Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800 Software Release v7.1.3.0

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Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch 8600Avaya has released software v7.1.3.0 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800. This release has a few new features and resolves a significant number of  software bugs.

New Features;

  • 8812XL SPF+ I/O Module
  • SPBM IEEE 802.1aq standards compliance
  • VLACP flag detection and damping
  • 8895 SF/CPU compact flash compatibility with Windows PC
  • Fabric Memory Full Handling
  • HTTPS configurable port
  • CFM enhancements
  • Dynamic VLAN addition to LACP-enabled MLT (LAG)
  • EDM enhancements
  • EDM support for tri-speed copper SPF

Resolved Issues;

  • wi00564787 Packets processed by the CP egress through modules with an IP checksum of 0xffff instead of 0x0000.
  • wi00853466 Cannot enable the VLACP hold timer with EDM.
  • wi00876718 No backtraces in SMP log file after the switch crashed.
  • wi00936425 Remote Fault Indication (RFI) is not reporting the correct operational status on 8634XGRS 10 Gbps ports.
  • wi00937554 RSMLT peer IP is not reachable when one leg of the SMLT is down in a square configuration.
  • wi00940800 OSPF Hello traffic sourced from the CPU should be marked as qos=7.
  • wi00940805 OSPF traffic sourced from CPU should be marked as qos=7.
  • wi00940810 IPFIX traffic sourced from CPU should be marked as qos=3.
  • wi00940880 Disabling Autonegotiation on Gigabit-only capable ports result in a boot loop.
  • wi00941200 Static BFD sessions do not come up after HA failover.
  • wi00941202 ACLI allows you to configure a BGP redistribution from one VRF to another VRF.
  • wi00941225 Gig ports on 8634XGRS module are not sending Remote Line Fault (RLF) clear signal when the ERS is powered down and then powered back up.
  • wi00941227 Gig ports on 8648GBRS module are not sending Remote Line Fault (RLF) clear signal when the ERS is powered down and then powered back up.
  • wi00944334 When a link flaps, there is no log message to indicate which side is causing the link to flap or why.
  • wi00946689 After configuration and a reboot, LACP interfaces come up operationally different than administratively configured.
  • wi00947146 Entering configure ip more-specific-non-local-route enable on a PIM router prevents multicast flow from reaching the receiver.
  • wi00949429 After disabling and enabling SMLT links, duplicate packets appearing in the LACP diamond SMLT.
  • wi00950141 ICMP, DHCP, Telnet, SNMP, ARP Reply traffic sourced from the CPU should not be marked as qos=7.
  • wi00950143 SSH traffic sourced from CPU should be marked as qos=3.
  • wi00950871 CPU to take I/O modules offline when certain error thresholds are met.
  • wi00951489 IPv6 DiffServ packets have corrupt flow label and payload length fields.
  • wi00952222 Port speed (HighSpeed Value) is reported for the next port instead of the current port.
  • wi00957781 IST drops when an R or RS module containing a designated port for the IST MLT is removed from the switch.
  • wi00958033 Unable to create IPX protocol based VLANs.
  • wi00959042 Access policy configuration is lost during upgrade from 5.x to 7.1.1.0 when running ACLI.
  • wi00959365 CFM fails when SPB IP is enabled and an incorrect CLIP address is incorrectly entered.
  • wi00959844 L2 Trace route for CFM – CMAC does not work when one of the SPBM core switches is restarted and the adjacency is down.
  • wi00962669 8648GTRS modules displaying the following error message: CPU5 [07/30/11 17:10:05] KHI WARNING Slot 1 Right Lane is experiencing Ingress RSP Errors – CIF Parity Error, CIF Protocol Error
  • wi00962958 OSPF MD5 authentication key not saved in Ospf_md5key.txt file for VLAN 3993.
  • wi00968188 EDM allows you to copy the clilog.txt file.
  • wi00974401 IS-IS IP redistribution to aggregate IP routes into a summarized network does not work.
  • wi00974403 When there are two networks with the same network address but with different masks, the network address with least specific mask is not redistributed.

If you utilize a lot of LACP/LAGs you’ll be happy that you can finally add/remove VLANs without disabling LACP, Dynamic VLAN addition to LACP-enabled MLT (LAG).

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Cheers!

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