Ospf Analysis
by @vahagn-madatyan
OSPF protocol analysis with adjacency diagnosis, area design validation, LSA interpretation, and SPF convergence assessment. Multi-vendor coverage for Cisco...
MTU Mismatch (ExStart Stuck)
The most common OSPF adjacency failure. Neighbors reach ExStart but cannot
proceed because DBD packets exceed the smaller MTU and are dropped. Fix by
matching MTU on both sides. Workaround: ip ospf mtu-ignore (Cisco/EOS) skips
the check but may cause fragmentation issues. On JunOS, set matching MTU values
at the interface level.
Duplicate Router IDs
Two routers with the same Router ID cause LSA conflicts β each router's Type 1 LSA overwrites the other's in the LSDB. Symptoms: routes flapping, intermittent reachability. Fix: assign unique router IDs explicitly. Detect by checking for Type 1 LSAs with the same Link State ID but different advertising routers.
Area 0 Discontinuity
If area 0 is split, inter-area routing breaks β ABRs cannot flood Type 3 LSAs across the gap. Fix: restore physical backbone connectivity or configure virtual links through a transit area. Virtual links are temporary solutions β long-term design should maintain contiguous backbone.
Excessive Redistribution
Redistributing too many external routes into OSPF floods the LSDB with Type 5 LSAs, increasing SPF computation time and memory usage. Use route-maps with prefix-lists to limit redistribution scope. Consider stub or NSSA areas to shield non-edge routers from external LSAs.
Type 7 to Type 5 Translation
In NSSA areas, the ABR with the highest Router ID translates Type 7 LSAs to Type 5 for flooding into area 0. If translation fails, external routes from the NSSA are invisible to the rest of the OSPF domain. Verify the translator ABR is healthy and the forwarding address in the Type 7 LSA is reachable.
clawhub install ospf-analysis