4.2 Global parameters

4.2.1 global.agg_ipv4_max #

Defines the maximum IPv4 aggregate mask for the improved prefixes advertised by Bgpd. If global.aggregate is enabled, IRP will not announce any prefix with the mask that’s less than the mask defined in global.agg_ipv4_max.

Possible values: 8-24
Default value: 16

4.2.2 global.agg_ipv6_max #

Defines the maximum IPv6 aggregate mask for the improved prefixes advertised by Bgpd. If global.aggregate i is enabled, IRP will not announce any prefix with the mask that’s less than the mask defined in global.agg_ipv6_max.

Possible values: 32-56
Default value: 32

4.2.3 global.aggregate #

If this parameter is enabled IRP analyzes entire aggregates. When one can be improved the aggregate will be announced by Bgpd (refer to bgpd.updates.split, bgpd.peer.X.updates.limit.max). Largest possible prefixes are used when aggregates exceed global.agg_ipv4_max & global.agg_ipv6_max parameters for IPv4 and IPv6 accordingly. An aggregate dictionary is maintained by IRP in order to support this capability. The aggregate dictionary is periodically populated by refresh_asn or Bgpd (if Bgpd has sufficient information, by means of at least one full-view BGP peering session).

Disabling this parameter instructs IRP to operate with the smallest possible disaggregated prefixes (/24 for IPv4 and /48 IPv6).

Switching this parameter ON/OFF might leave a large number of small prefixes in the aggregate dictionary with undesirable side effects. The contents of the dictionary should be reviewed and refreshed in case it lists undesirable prefixes. To prevent issues IRP improvements should be cleared before applying this change. Clearing improvements ensures that disaggregated prefixes announced by IRP are not present on the network.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 1

4.2.4 global.bw_overusage #

Enables or disables automatic Flowspec throttling policies for prefixes with excessive bandwidth spikes.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 0

4.2.5 global.exchanges #

Defines the path to the Exchanges configuration file.

Default value: /etc/noction/exchanges.conf
Recommended value: /etc/noction/exchanges.conf

4.2.6 global.exchanges.auto_config_interval #

Defines the Internet Exchanges auto re-configuration interval in seconds. Auto re-configuration is applied to providers of type Internet Exchange with enabled auto re-configuration. Refer peer.X.auto_config.

Possible values: 3600-2678400
Default value: 86400

4.2.7 global.failover #

Enables and disables failover feature.

Enabling failover requires extensive preparatory activities. Refer IRP Failover, Failover Configuration, Setup Failover wizard for details.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 0

4.2.8 global.failover.log #

Path to failover log file.

Default value: /var/log/irp/failover.log

4.2.9 global.failover.use_communities #

This parameter allows monitoring presence of improvements from master instance by using communities specified in bgpd.peer.X.master_communities (refer bgpd.peer.X.slave_communities).

Master and slave communities in a BGP peering should be unique if the parameter is enabled.

If a network setup requires the same community to be used on both master and slave instances then the parameter should be disabled and failover shall use bgpd.peer.X.master_localpref only.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 1

4.2.10 global.failover_identity_file #

Defines the path to failover master identity file. Set this parameter only when a SSH key file other than ~/.ssh/id_rsa is used. Refer global.failover.

Possible values: Path to identity file

4.2.11 global.failover_role #

Defines the role of the IRP instance in a failover configuration. Known roles are Master and Slave. Used only when failover is enabled. Refer global.failover.

Possible values: 0 (Master), 1 (Slave)
Default value: 0

4.2.12 global.failover_slave.ip #

Defines the IPv4 address of the slave IRP instance used for configuration sync in a failover configuration. Used only when failover is enabled. Refer global.failover.

Possible values: Valid IPv4 address
Example value: 10.10.0.2

4.2.13 global.failover_slave.ipv6 #

Defines the IPv6 address of the slave IRP instance used for configuration sync in a failover configuration. Used only when failover is enabled. Refer global.failover.

Possible values: Valid IPv6 address
Example value: 2001:db8::ff00:42:8329

4.2.14 global.failover_slave.port #

Defines the SSH port of the slave node in a failover configuration. Used only when failover is enabled.

4.2.15 global.failover_timer_fail #

Defines the period of time in seconds during which master is considered alive before the slave becomes active in a failover configuration. Used only when failover is enabled.

4.2.16 global.failover_timer_failback #

Defines the period of time in seconds for slave to switch back to standby after it detects master became alive in a failover configuration. Used only when failover is enabled.

4.2.17 global.flowspec #

Enables/disables Flowspec capability globally.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 0

4.2.18 global.flowspec.pbr #

Enables/disables use of Flowspec policies instead of Policy Based Routing. This is available only when Flowspec is enabled. Refer global.flowspec.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled in intrusive), 2 (Enabled always)
Default value: 0

4.2.19 global.frontend_acl #

Defines whether access to the IRP Frontend must be restricted and controlled by an ACL. See also global.frontend_acl_ips.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 0

4.2.20 global.frontend_acl_ips #

Defines the IPs or networks that should be allowed to access the IRP Frontend.

Possible values: Valid IPv4, IPv6 address or subnet definition in CIDR format
Default value: 0.0.0.0/0 ::/0

4.2.21 global.ignored.asn #

Defines the list of ASNs to be ignored by IRP.

Format:

Space-separated list of AS numbers that must be ignored by IRP.
Absolute path to a newline-separated file containing a list of AS numbers that must be ignored by IRP.

This parameter should list all AS numbers that must be ignored by Irpspand, Irpflowd, Explorer and the Core. No improvements will be performed by the Core for prefixes that are announced by ASNs listed within this parameter. No data will be gathered by Irpspand/Irpflowd for any source or destination IPv4/IPv6 address that are announced by ASNs that are listed within this parameter. No probes will be sent by Explorer to any destination IPv4/IPv6 address that are announced by ASNs listed within this parameter.

Refer also global.ignored_communities, global.ignorednets.

Possible values: 1 – 4294967295.

4.2.22 global.ignored.unannounced #

Prefixes which aren’t present in a BGP routing table wouldn’t be analyzed nor optimized by Outbound optimization algorithms.

As example, spoofed IP addresses may not belong to advertized prefixes but the traffic itself may have significant volume and be optimized by IRP.

Therefore, in such a case the recommendation is to enable the parameter to do not optimize traffic from unknown origins.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 0

4.2.23 global.ignored_communities #

Defines the list of BGP Community attributes the network uses to mark prefixes that IRP must ignore. IRP monitors routes marked with at least one of these BGP Community attributes and dynamically updates a list of prefixes to ignore. The decision what prefixes to mark with one of these attributes is applied on the network and network operators do not need to be explicitly set in IRP too.

This (dynamic) list of prefixes will be ignored by Irpspand, Irpflowd, Explorer and the Core. No improvements will be performed by the Core for such prefixes. No data will be gathered by Irpspand/Irpflowd for any source or destination IPv4/IPv6 address within such prefixes. No probes will be sent by Explorer to any destination IPv4/IPv6 address within such prefixes.

Refer also global.ignored.asn, global.ignorednets.

Possible values: valid BGP community attribute list.

4.2.24 global.ignorednets #

Defines the list of networks to be ignored by IRP.

Format:

Space-separated list of local IPv4/IPv6 prefixes that should be ignored by IRP.
Absolute path to a newline-separated file containing a list of IPv4/IPv6 prefixes that should be ignored by IRP.

If netmask is not clearly specified, the system assumes /32 for IPv4 addresses, and /128 for IPv6 addresses.

224.0.0.0/3 is always ignored.
– IPv6 probing is performed only to 2000::/3 address range (see: IPV6 Address Space)
– All IPv4/IPv6 addresses assigned to IRP server are automatically added to ignored networks

This parameter lists all IPv4/IPv6 addresses that should be ignored by Irpspand, Irpflowd, Explorer and the Core. No improvements will be performed by the Core for /24 subnets listed within this parameter as /24 or a less specific network. No data will be gathered by Irpspand/Irpflowd for any source or destination IPv4/IPv6 address listed within this parameter. No probes will be sent by the Explorer to any destination IPv4/IPv6 address listed within this parameter.

Refer also global.ignored.asn, global.ignored_communities.

Possible values: See above.
Default value: 127.0.0.0/8 10.0.0.0/8 169.254.0.0/16 172.16.0.0/12 192.168.0.0/16 100.64.0.0/10 203.0.113.0/24 198.18.0.0/15 192.0.0.0/24 192.0.2.0/24 2001:db8::/32
Recommended value: See default value.

Recommended networks to ignore are:
– networks from: Section 3 of RFC5735, as listed in the default value above
– networks from: Section 2 of RFC3849

4.2.25 global.improve_mode #

Defines the IRP operating mode (see IRP Performance optimization and IRP Cost optimization).

This parameter adjusts the priorities and rules for prefix improvements. Prefixes can be improved in three different ways:

Performance optimization: Decrease loss, then decrease latency;
Cost optimization : Decrease loss, then decrease cost while keeping the latency within the preconfigured level;

Loss, cost and latency are improved in strict order, depending on the selected operating mode.

Possible values: 1 (Performance), 2 (Cost) (see above).
Default value: 1

4.2.26 global.inbound.injection #

Defines how IRP is used to inject Inbound improvements.

In “Pull” mode an external script is used to pull Inbound improvements from IRP API and re-configure routers’ access lists.

Example script /usr/bin/irpTransitPull.pl could be used to work in the Pull mode.

Possible values: 0 (PULL), 1 (BGP)
Default value: 1

4.2.27 global.inbound_conf #

Defines path to file with configured inbound prefixes.

Possible values: path to file
Default value: /etc/noction/inbound.conf
Recommended value: /etc/noction/inbound.conf

4.2.28 global.inbound_transit #

Enables or disables inbound optimization of transiting traffic. Refer Optimization of transiting traffic, Optimization of transiting traffic.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 0

4.2.29 global.ipv6_enabled #

Defines whether IPv6 is enabled in the system. Currently used for the Frontend only. Even if IPv6 is enabled via this parameter, other components configuration must be adjusted for IPv6 as well.

IRP prior to 3.3-2 allows configuration of both IPv4 and IPv6 sessions on a single router, while IRP 3.3-2 requires definition of two separate BGP sessions. It is recommended to split BGP sessions in the form of two different routers before upgrading to 3.3-2, otherwise IRP configuration will not be valid. Make sure the newly added router is linked to corresponding providers to ensure IPv6 optimization works properly. InternalMon for IPv6 session monitoring requires correct configuration of BGP MIB (IPv6) mode (see peer.X.mon.ipv6.internal.mode parameter). Currently support for Brocade, Cisco and Juniper MIBs is available.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 1

4.2.30 global.master_management_interface #

Defines the management network interface. In most cases it is the same as the probing interface. When failover is enabled (global.failover) slave’s management interface (global.slave_management_interface) must be configured too.

Possible values: any valid system network interface name
Default value: eth0

4.2.31 global.master_probing_interface #

Defines the probing network interface. In most cases it is the same as the management interface. When failover is enabled (global.failover) slave’s probing interface (global.slave_probing_interface) must be configured too.

This parameter is used only for displaying operating system interface(s) status in Frontend. It does not actually configure Explorer behavior, which depends on Provider.

Possible values: any valid system network interface name
Default value: eth0

4.2.32 global.master_rd #

Specifies the Routing Domain that hosts the master node of IRP in a failover configuration. By default RD=1 hosts IRP nodes.

It is recommended that master node of IRP is hosted in RD=1 at all times.

Possible values: 1-100
Default value: 1
Recommended value: 1

4.2.33 global.nonintrusive_bgp #

Instructs the system to run in a non-intrusive BGP mode (see IRP Operating modes).

All improvements made in a non-intrusive mode, will not be automatically injected into the routers.

Possible values: 0 (Intrusive), 1 (Nonintrusive)
Default value: 1
Recommended value: 1 at first start, 0 after manual tests are performed and the system is ready to go into intrusive mode

4.2.34 global.offpeak_hour #

Defines customer’s network usual off-peak hour of the day.

Possible values: 0-23
Default value: 3

4.2.35 global.outbound #

Enables or disables outbound optimisation.

Outbound optimization is disabled only for standalone Inbound optimization is used.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 1
Recommended value: 1

4.2.36 global.outbound.performance #

Enables or disables Outbound Performance optimisations.

Possible values: 0 (Disabled), 1 (Enabled)
Default value: 1
Recommended value: 1

4.2.37 global.png.datadir #

Defines the file-system directory path for storing image files (Graphs).

Default value: /usr/share/irp/web/RRD
Recommended value: /usr/share/irp/web/RRD

4.2.38 global.policies #

Defines the path to the Routing Policies (Routing Policies) configuration file.

Default value: /etc/noction/policies.conf
Recommended value: /etc/noction/policies.conf

4.2.39 global.policy.unpack_max #

Limits the amount of unpacked prefixes per policy.

The parameter protects against specifying filters that are too broad.

Possible values: 1-100000
Default value: 5000

4.2.40 global.private_key #

Public/Private key pair used to interoperate between IRP instances for purposes such as Global Commit Control.

Default value: generated once during installation/upgrade

4.2.41 global.public_key #

Public/Private key pair used to interoperate between IRP instances for purposes such as Global Commit Control.

Default value: generated once during installation/upgrade

4.2.42 global.rd_rtt #

Defines the latency distances between routing domains in the format rda:rdb:rtt where rda is the id assigned to one routing domain, rdb is the id assigned to the second routing domain and rtt represents the round trip time in miliseconds between them. rda and rdb must be different and assigned to providers. IRP assumes that distance from rda to rdb is equal to distance from rdb to rda.

The parameter takes a collection of such triplets that will define all the available inter-datacenter links between routing domains.

It is important that the RTT value between routing domains is accurate. In case the value differs significantly from the correct value IRP will make improvement decision based on incorrect information and it will make unnecessary global improvements that will reroute more traffic via inter-datacenter links.

Refer peer.X.rd, peer.X.flow_agents, bgpd.rd_local_mark

4.2.43 global.rrd.age_max #

Defines the maximum trusted interface load data age (seconds)

Data older than this interval will not be trusted by IRP. If interface rate for each provider link has not been updated for a specified amount of time, then IRP behavior will be changed as follows:

If provider’s limit_load is set, no further Cost/Performance improvements will be performed to that provider
Commit Control will not perform further in/out improvements for this provider

Possible values: 120-240
Default value: 120
Recommended value: 120. Should be increased only if frequent SNMP timeouts occur.

4.2.44 global.rrd.datadir #

Defines the file system directory path for storing RRD database files.

Possible values: valid directory
Default value: /var/spool/irp
Recommended value: /var/spool/irp

4.2.45 global.slave_management_interface #

Defines the management network interface for slave node in a failover configuration. In most cases it is the same as the probing interface. When failover is disabled (global.failover) the parameter is not used.

Possible values: any valid system network interface name
Default value: eth0

4.2.46 global.slave_probing_interface #

Defines the probing network interface for the slave node in a failover configuration. In most cases it is the same as the management interface. When failover is disabled (global.failover) the parameter is not used.

Possible values: any valid system network interface name
Default value: eth0

4.2.47 global.slave_rd #

Specifies the Routing Domain that hosts the slave node of IRP in a failover configuration. By default RD=1 hosts IRP nodes.

Possible values: 1-100
Default value: 1
Recommended value: 1