IP SLA

IP Service Level Agreements (IP SLA) actively measure network performance on NX-OS by sending synthetic probes and collecting statistics such as round-trip time, jitter, packet loss and reachability. Each operation is identified by a numeric ID and runs exactly one probe type: ICMP echo, UDP echo, UDP jitter (optionally with VoIP codec emulation), TCP connect, DNS or HTTP GET. Operations are started by a schedule (or a group schedule that starts several operations spread over a period), can raise traps or trigger other operations through reaction configurations, and can be referenced by track objects to drive HSRP or static route failover. A switch can also act as an IP SLA responder (including permanent UDP echo / TCP connect responders and a TWAMP responder) or as a TWAMP server. Each role requires its feature to be enabled: sla_sender, sla_responder or sla_twamp_server.

Diagram

Classes

nxos

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
devices	List	devices	No
device_groups	List	device_groups	No
global	Class	global	No
templates	List	templates	No

devices (nxos)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
configuration	Class	configuration	No

device_groups (nxos)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
configuration	Class	configuration	No

global (nxos)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
configuration	Class	configuration	No

templates (nxos)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
configuration	Class	configuration	No

configuration (nxos.devices)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
ip_sla	Class	ip_sla	No

ip_sla (nxos.devices.configuration)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
logging_traps	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
logging_level_sender	Integer	min: `0`, max: `7`	No
logging_level_responder	Integer	min: `0`, max: `7`	No
logging_level_twamp_server	Integer	min: `0`, max: `7`	No
responder	Class	responder	No
server_twamp	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
server_twamp_timer_inactivity	Integer	min: `1`, max: `6000`	No
server_twamp_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	No
operations	List	operations	No
group_schedules	List	group_schedules	No

responder (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
enable	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
twamp	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
twamp_timeout	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
udp_echos	List	udp_echos	No
tcp_connects	List	tcp_connects	No

operations (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
id	Integer	min: `1`, max: `2147483647`	Yes
icmp_echo	Class	icmp_echo	No
udp_echo	Class	udp_echo	No
udp_jitter	Class	udp_jitter	No
tcp_connect	Class	tcp_connect	No
dns	Class	dns	No
http	Class	http	No
schedule	Class	schedule	No
reaction_configurations	List	reaction_configurations	No
reaction_triggers	List	Integer[min: `1`, max: `2147483647`]	No

group_schedules (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
id	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	Yes
operation_ids	String		No
schedule_period	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
ageout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2073600`	No
frequency	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
frequency_range	String		No
life	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2147483647`	No
life_forever	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
start_time	String		No
start_time_month	Choice	`January`, `February`, `March`, `April`, `May`, `June`, `July`, `August`, `September`, `October`, `November`, `December`	No
start_time_day	Integer	min: `1`, max: `31`	No
start_time_now	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
start_time_pending	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
start_time_after	String		No

udp_echos (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.responder)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	Yes
ipaddress	IP		No

tcp_connects (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.responder)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	Yes
ipaddress	IP		No

icmp_echo (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
destination	String		Yes
source_ip	String		No
source_interface_type	Choice	`ethernet`, `loopback`, `mgmt`, `port-channel`, `vlan`, `vni`	No
source_interface_id	Any	String or Integer[min: `0`]	No
request_data_size	Integer	min: `0`, max: `16384`	No
verify_data	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
tos	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
traffic_class	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
vrf	String		No
threshold	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
timeout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `604800000`	No
tag	String		No
owner	String		No
frequency	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
frequency_milliseconds	Integer	min: `100`, max: `604800000`	No
history_buckets_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60`	No
history_distributions_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `20`	No
history_enhanced_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `3600`	No
history_enhanced_buckets	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100`	No
history_filter	Choice	`all`, `failures`, `none`, `overThreshold`	No
history_hours_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `25`	No
history_lives_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2`	No
history_statistics_distribution_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100000`	No

udp_echo (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
destination	String		Yes
destination_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	Yes
control	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
source_ip	String		No
source_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	No
request_data_size	Integer	min: `4`, max: `1500`	No
verify_data	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
data_pattern	String		No
tos	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
traffic_class	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
vrf	String		No
threshold	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
timeout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `604800000`	No
tag	String		No
owner	String		No
frequency	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
frequency_milliseconds	Integer	min: `100`, max: `604800000`	No
history_buckets_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60`	No
history_distributions_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `20`	No
history_enhanced_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `3600`	No
history_enhanced_buckets	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100`	No
history_filter	Choice	`all`, `failures`, `none`, `overThreshold`	No
history_hours_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `25`	No
history_lives_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2`	No
history_statistics_distribution_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100000`	No

udp_jitter (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
destination	String		Yes
destination_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	Yes
codec	Choice	`g711alaw`, `g711ulaw`, `g729a`	No
advantage_factor	Integer	min: `0`, max: `20`	No
codec_interval	Integer	min: `4`, max: `60000`	No
codec_numpackets	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
codec_size	Integer	min: `16`, max: `16384`	No
interval	Integer	min: `4`, max: `60000`	No
num_packets	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
control	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
source_ip	String		No
source_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	No
request_data_size	Integer	min: `16`, max: `17512`	No
verify_data	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
tos	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
traffic_class	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
vrf	String		No
threshold	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
timeout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `604800000`	No
tag	String		No
owner	String		No
frequency	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
operation_packet_priority	Choice	`normal`, `high`	No
precision	Choice	`milliseconds`, `microseconds`	No
clock_tolerance_ntp_oneway_absolute	Integer	min: `0`, max: `100000`	No
clock_tolerance_ntp_oneway_percent	Integer	min: `0`, max: `100`	No
history_distributions_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `20`	No
history_hours_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `25`	No
history_statistics_distribution_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100000`	No

tcp_connect (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
destination	String		Yes
destination_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	Yes
control	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
source_ip	String		No
source_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	No
close_connection_fin	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
tos	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
traffic_class	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
vrf	String		No
threshold	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
timeout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `604800000`	No
tag	String		No
owner	String		No
frequency	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
frequency_milliseconds	Integer	min: `100`, max: `604800000`	No
history_buckets_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60`	No
history_distributions_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `20`	No
history_enhanced_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `3600`	No
history_enhanced_buckets	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100`	No
history_filter	Choice	`all`, `failures`, `none`, `overThreshold`	No
history_hours_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `25`	No
history_lives_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2`	No
history_statistics_distribution_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100000`	No

dns (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
target	String		Yes
name_server	String		Yes
source_ip	String		No
source_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	No
vrf	String		No
threshold	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
timeout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `604800000`	No
tag	String		No
owner	String		No
frequency	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
history_buckets_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60`	No
history_distributions_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `20`	No
history_filter	Choice	`all`, `failures`, `none`, `overThreshold`	No
history_hours_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `25`	No
history_lives_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2`	No
history_statistics_distribution_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100000`	No

http (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
url	String		Yes
cache	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
proxy	String		No
source_ip	String		No
source_port	Integer	min: `1`, max: `65535`	No
version	String		No
tos	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
traffic_class	Integer	min: `1`, max: `255`	No
vrf	String		No
threshold	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
timeout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `604800000`	No
tag	String		No
owner	String		No
frequency	Integer	min: `1`, max: `604800`	No
history_buckets_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60`	No
history_distributions_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `1`, max: `20`	No
history_filter	Choice	`all`, `failures`, `none`, `overThreshold`	No
history_hours_of_statistics_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `25`	No
history_lives_kept	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2`	No
history_statistics_distribution_interval	Integer	min: `1`, max: `100000`	No

schedule (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
life	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2147483647`	No
life_forever	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
start_time	String		No
start_time_month	Choice	`January`, `February`, `March`, `April`, `May`, `June`, `July`, `August`, `September`, `October`, `November`, `December`	No
start_time_day	Integer	min: `1`, max: `31`	No
start_time_now	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
start_time_pending	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No
start_time_after	String		No
ageout	Integer	min: `0`, max: `2073600`	No
recurring	Boolean	`true`, `false`	No

reaction_configurations (nxos.devices.configuration.ip_sla.operations)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory
react	Choice	`rtt`, `jitterSDAvg`, `jitterDSAvg`, `packetLossSD`, `packetLossDS`, `mos`, `timeout`, `connectionLoss`, `verifyError`, `jitterAvg`, `icpif`, `packetLateArrival`, `packetOutOfSequence`, `maxOfPositiveSD`, `maxOfNegativeSD`, `maxOfPositiveDS`, `maxOfNegativeDS`	Yes
action_type	Choice	`none`, `trapOnly`, `triggerOnly`, `trapAndTrigger`	No
threshold_type	Choice	`never`, `immediate`, `consecutive`, `xOfy`, `average`	No
threshold_type_x	Integer	min: `1`, max: `16`	No
threshold_type_y	Integer	min: `1`, max: `16`	No
threshold_value_upper	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No
threshold_value_lower	Integer	min: `1`, max: `60000`	No

Examples

Example 1: ICMP echo operation tracked for reachability, started immediately and running forever

nxos:
  devices:
    - name: BORDER1
      configuration:
        feature:
          sla_sender: true
        ip_sla:
          logging_traps: true
          operations:
            - id: 1
              icmp_echo:
                destination: 192.0.2.1
                source_interface_type: loopback
                source_interface_id: 0
                vrf: TENANT-A
                frequency: 10
                threshold: 500
                timeout: 1000
                tag: WAN-UPLINK
              schedule:
                life_forever: true
                start_time_now: true
        tracks:
          - id: 30
            ip_sla: 1
            ip_sla_reachability: true

Example 2: UDP jitter operation with G.711 codec emulation, a jitter reaction that triggers a second operation, and a daily recurring schedule

nxos:
  devices:
    - name: LEAF1
      configuration:
        feature:
          sla_sender: true
        ip_sla:
          operations:
            - id: 10
              udp_jitter:
                destination: 10.10.10.2
                destination_port: 16384
                codec: g711alaw
                advantage_factor: 5
                codec_interval: 20
                codec_numpackets: 1000
                codec_size: 172
                source_ip: 10.10.10.1
                tos: 184
                frequency: 60
                precision: microseconds
                operation_packet_priority: high
              schedule:
                life: 3600
                start_time: "08:00:00"
                recurring: true
              reaction_configurations:
                - react: jitterAvg
                  action_type: trapAndTrigger
                  threshold_type: xOfy
                  threshold_type_x: 3
                  threshold_type_y: 5
                  threshold_value_upper: 30
                  threshold_value_lower: 10
              reaction_triggers:
                - 11
            - id: 11
              tcp_connect:
                destination: 10.10.10.2
                destination_port: 443
                control: false
                close_connection_fin: true
              schedule:
                start_time_pending: true

Example 3: DNS and HTTP operations started together by a group schedule

nxos:
  devices:
    - name: LEAF1
      configuration:
        feature:
          sla_sender: true
        ip_sla:
          operations:
            - id: 20
              dns:
                target: www.example.com
                name_server: 10.0.0.53
                vrf: management
            - id: 21
              http:
                url: http://10.0.0.80/index.html
                version: "1.1"
                cache: false
                vrf: management
                frequency: 120
          group_schedules:
            - id: 1
              operation_ids: 20-21
              schedule_period: 60
              frequency: 120
              life_forever: true
              start_time_now: true

Example 4: IP SLA responder with permanent UDP echo and TCP connect responders, TWAMP responder and TWAMP server

nxos:
  devices:
    - name: SPINE1
      configuration:
        feature:
          sla_responder: true
          sla_twamp_server: true
        ip_sla:
          logging_level_responder: 5
          responder:
            enable: true
            twamp: true
            twamp_timeout: 600
            udp_echos:
              - port: 5000
                ipaddress: 10.10.10.2
            tcp_connects:
              - port: 5001
          server_twamp: true
          server_twamp_port: 862
          server_twamp_timer_inactivity: 600