Create Tunnels

MPLS service/pseudowire is always created over tunnel. Hence, creation of tunnel between two switches is must before configuring any MPLS-TP service over it.

Perform the following steps to create a new tunnel in MPLS-TP domain:

1. Go to Configuration > Layer 2 > Tunnels and click on Complete Tunnels. The Complete Tunnels page is displayed.
2. Click (Create Tunnel). A series of new windows will now be displayed for step by step creation of the tunnel.

• Step 1: General Attributes
  1. Enter a name for the tunnel.
  2. Do one of the following:

     > To create the tunnel in unprotected mode, select the Protection Mode as 'None'. Select Support Adding Protection check box to add protection later, if desired.

     > To create the tunnel in protected mode, select the Protection Mode as '1:1'.

  3. Do one of the following:

     > To create the tunnel in Non Qos Domain, select the Domain as 'Non Qos Domain'.

     > To create the tunnel in Qos Domain, select the Domain as 'Qos Domain' and the Per Hop Behavior Profile from the drop down list.

     > To create the tunnel in any of the two domains, select the Domain as 'All Domain'.

  4. Enter rest other details as desired and click Next.

     

General Attributes parameters

• Step 2: Adding End Points
  1. Click Add on End Points page to choose the end points for the tunnel.
  2. Under Network element column, select two nodes/ switches as endpoints for tunnel formation. Switches can be selected either one at a time or together by using CTRL button.

     There are two ways of searching the desired node as follows:

     > Enter the IP address/user label of the node in the text box provided and click (Search Node by IP Address or UserLabel). Or,

     > Click (Add switches using map view). Select desired NEs from the Topology selection window launched. Click Done.

     

  3. Click Ok. The selected nodes/switches are added as two end points of the tunnel.

     

  4. Click Next. The Topology Selection window is launched.

End Points parameters

• Step 3: Topology Selection
  1. There are two ways in which the tunnel path can be added, which is explained as follows:

     (i) Direct Path Selection: This option is used for direct path selection between two end points with no intermediate nodes in path.

     If the 'Protection Mode' is selected as None in the General Attributes page, select a direct path/link between the two selected end points (highlighted in black) and click Add Work. The tunnel path is added and the link color changes from pink to blue. Click Done.

     If the 'Protection Mode' is selected as 1:1 in the General Attributes page, select a direct path/link and click Add Work. Select another direct path/link between same two end points and click Add Protect. The protect path is added and represented in blue dashed line. Click Done.

     The following diagram shows work path selected by direct path selection method:

     

     (ii) Partial Link Selection: This option is used when the user has to add more than one link to create a tunnel path between the two end points. Select the Partial Link Selection check box.

     If the 'Protection Mode' is selected as None in the General Attributes page, select the paths/links between the two highlighted end points connecting the intermediate nodes and click Add Links. The path/link gets highlighted in cyan color. Click Add Work. The work tunnel path is added and the link color changes from cyan to blue. Click Done.

     If the 'Protection Mode' is selected as 1:1 in the General Attributes page, select the paths/links and click Add Links > Add Work. Select Partial Link Selection check box again. Select the paths/links between the two highlighted end points connecting the intermediate nodes and click Add Links > Add Protect. The protect path is added and represented in blue dashed line. Click Done.

     The following diagram shows protect path selected by partial link selection method:

     

  The path/link between two end points can also be selected by both direct path method and partial link selection i.e. work by direct and protect by partial and vice versa.

  The Reset Path button allows the user to reset the selected path and restart the path addition again.

• Exclude Data

  Exclude Data window is displayed instead of Topology Selection only when Path Selection is set as 'Auto Discover' in the General Attributes page.

  

  1. To add restrictions for auto path finding, click Add. The topology view is displayed.
  2. Select the desired nodes/switches and click Exclude Nodes. Select the desired links and click Exclude Links. The selected nodes and links will not appear in tunnel path.
  3. Click Done. The Exclude Data window is displayed with the excluded Switches and Links under the respective tabs as shown in the following figure:

     

  4. Click Next.
• Step 4: Path Details

The Path Details window in tunnel creation procedure is displayed when Protection Mode is selected as 1:1 on General Attributes page.

The Path Details window illustrates the details of the tunnel paths added in the Topology Selection step. Under Tunnel Path, select either Work Path or Protect Path to view its graphical representation under Path View tab and the details of selected tunnel path in tabular form under Tunnel Path tab. Click Next.

Path Details parameter

• Step 5: MA Configuration

The MA Configuration window in tunnel creation procedure is displayed only when Protection Mode is selected as '1:1' and/or Enable OAM check box is selected on General Attributes page.

1. Select the values as desired. For more information, refer the MA Configuration parameters table.
2. Click Next.

MA Configuration parameters

• Step 6: Summary

On Summary page of Create Tunnel, the end points with the connecting tunnel is displayed. The work path is represented in solid line and protect path in dashed line.

The following figure shows summary of a unprotected tunnel:

The following figure shows summary of a protected tunnel with one work (direct path) and one protect (partial link) path.

1. From the drop down menu, select Create to create the tunnel or Create and Activate to create and activate the tunnel, as desired.
2. Click Finish. A success message is displayed. Tunnel creation command is sent successfully.
3. Click OK. The status of the tunnel can be checked in Manage Tunnels page.