Configuring an RP

An RP can be manually configured (static RP) or dynamically elected through the Bootstrap Router (BSR) mechanism (Candidate RP or C-RP).

Prerequisites

You must be in the PIM configuration context, as indicated by the switch(config-pim)# prompt for IPv4 or the switch(config-pim6)# prompt for IPv6.

  • A Rendezvous Point (RP) can provide services for multiple or all multicast groups. However, only one RP can forward multicast traffic for a multicast group at a time.
  • For a large-scaled PIM network, configuring static RPs is a tedious job. Generally, static RPs are backups for dynamic RPs to enhance the robustness and operational manageability on a multicast network.
  • When configuring a static RP, you must configure the same static RP on all routers in the PIM-SM domain.
  • When you configure a Candidate RP (C-RP), reserve a relatively large bandwidth between the C-RP and other devices in the PIM-SM domain.

Procedure

  1. Configure a static RP using the following command.

    2. rp-address <IP-ADDR> [<GRP-ADDR/GRP-MASK>] [override]

    For example, the following command configures a static RP of 40.0.0.8 for the multicast group:

    For IPv4 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim switch(config-pim)# rp-address 40.0.0.8 226.0.0.4/24

    For IPv6 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim6 switch(config-pim6)# rp-address 2002::02 ff08::1:4/64
  2. Configure a C-RP using the following command.

    3. rp-candidate source-ip-interface <INTERFACE-NAME> [group-prefix <GRP-ADDR/GRP-MASK>]

    For example, the following command configures a C-RP using loopback1 as the source for the C-RP router IP address and associates the multicast group with the C-RP router:

    For IPv4 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim switch(config-pim)# rp-candidate source-ip-interface loopback1 group-prefix 230.0.0.4/24

    For IPv6 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim6 switch(config-pim6)# rp-candidate source-ip-interface loopback1 group-prefix ff08::1:3/64

    For a C-RP, you can configure various options as shown in the following steps. C-RP can be configured on an SVI or ROP interface also.

  3. Add or remove multicast groups for the C-RP, as needed, using the following command.

    4. rp-candidate group-prefix <GRP-ADDR/GRP-MASK>

    For example, the following commands configure a C-RP using VLAN 40 as the source for the C-RP router IP address and then adds the multicast group to the C-RP:

    For IPv4 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim switch(config-pim)# rp-candidate source-ip-interface vlan40 switch(config-pim)# rp-candidate group-prefix 230.0.0.4/24

    For IPv6 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim6 switch(config-pim6)# rp-candidate source-ip-interface vlan40 switch(config-pim6)# rp-candidate group-prefix ff08::1:3/64
  4. Configure the hold-time a C-RP includes in its advertisements to the BSR using the following command.

    5. rp-candidate hold-time <TIME-VALUE>

    For example, the following command sets the hold-time to 250 seconds:

    For IPv4 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim switch(config-pim)# rp-candidate hold-time 250

    For IPv6 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim6 switch(config-pim6)# rp-candidate hold-time 250
  5. Set the priority for a C-RP using the following command.

    6. rp-candidate priority <PRIORITY-VALUE>

    For example, the following command sets the priority to 250:

    For IPv4 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim switch(config-pim)# rp-candidate priority 250

    For IPv6 configurations:

    switch(config)# router pim6 switch(config-pim6)# rp-candidate priority 250