Users Guide

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10.16.0.0/16 ManagementEthernet 1/1 Connected Connected
172.16.1.0/24 10.16.151.4 Active Static
IPv4 Path MTU Discovery Overview
This functionality is supported on the S4820T platform.
The size of the packet that can be sent across each hop in the network path without being fragmented is called the path maximum
transmission unit (PMTU). This value might vary for the same route between two devices, mainly over a public network, depending
on the network load and speed, and it is not a consistent value. The MTU size can also be dierent for various types of trac sent
from one host to the same endpoint.
Path MTU discovery (PMTD) identies the path MTU value between the sender and the receiver, and uses the determined value to
transmit packets across the network. PMTD, as described in RFC 1191, denotes that the default byte size of an IP packet is 576. This
packet size is called the maximum transmission unit (MTU) for IPv4 frames. PMTD operates by containing the do not fragment (DF)
bit set in the IP headers of outgoing packets. When any device along the network path contains an MTU that is smaller than the size
of the packet that it receives, the device drops the packet and sends an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Fragmentation
Needed (Type 3, Code 4) message with its MTU value to the source or the sending device. This message enables the source to
identify that the transmitted packet size must be reduced. The packet is retransmitted with a lower size than the previous value. This
process is repeated in an interactive way until the MTU of the transmitted packet is lower or equal to the MTU of the receiving
device for it to obtain the packet without fragmentation. If the ICMP message from the receiving device, which is sent to the
originating device, contains the next-hop MTU, then the sending device lowers the packet size accordingly and resends the packet.
Otherwise, the iterative method is followed until the packet can traverse without being fragmented.
PMTD is enabled by default on the switches that support this capability. To enable PMTD to function correctly, you must enter the
ip unreachables command on a VLAN interface to enable the generation of ICMP unreachable messages. PMTD is supported
on all the layer 3 VLAN interfaces. Because all of the Layer 3 interfaces are mapped to the VLAN ID of 4095 when VLAN sub-
interfaces are congured on it, it is not possible to congure unique layer 3 MTU values for each of the layer 3 interfaces. If a VLAN
interface contains both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses congured on it, both the IPv4 and IPv6 trac are applied the same MTU size; you
cannot specify dierent MTU values for IPv4 and IPv6 packets.
Using the Congured Source IP Address in ICMP Messages
This feature is supported on the S4820T platform.
ICMP error or unreachable messages are now sent with the congured IP address of the source interface instead of the front-end
port IP address as the source IP address. Enable the generation of ICMP unreachable messages through the ip unreachable
command in Interface mode. When a ping or traceroute packet from an endpoint or a device arrives at the null 0 interface congured
with a static route, it is discarded. In such cases, you can congure Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) unreachable
messages to be sent to the transmitting device.
Conguring the ICMP Source Interface
You can enable the ICMP error and unreachable messages to contain the congured IP address of the source device instead of the
previous hop's IP address. This conguration helps identify the devices along the path because the DNS server maps the loopback IP
address to the host name, and does not translate the IP address of every interface of the switch to the host name.
Congure the source to send the congured source interface IP address instead of using its front-end IP address in the ICMP
unreachable messages and in the traceroute command output. Use the ip icmp source-interface interface or the
ipv6 icmp source-interface interface commands in Conguration mode to enable the ICMP error messages to be
sent with the source interface IP address. This functionality is supported on loopback, VLAN, port channel, and physical interfaces
for IPv4 and IPv6 messages. feature is not supported on tunnel interfaces. ICMP error relay, PATH MTU transmission, and
fragmented packets are not supported for tunnel interfaces. The traceroute utilities for IPv4 and IPv6 list the IP addresses of the
devices in the hops of the path for which ICMP source interface is congured.
IPv4 Routing
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