IPFIX¶

IPFIX is a technology for monitoring traffic in data networks containing switches and routers. It consists of several IPFIX Probes running on the router, and a distant IPFIX Collectors.

The IPFIX probe collects flow information from processed traffic from the device it is monitoring. IPFIX probes are used to periodically forward the flow information to an IPFIX Collector for analysis.

More information is available in RFC 7011.

To configure IPFIX you need to specify the collector endpoint and which interfaces will be polled.

For each collector, you can tune scan interval, active/idle/expired life times.

Configuration example:

vsr running config# vrf main ipfix
vsr running ipfix# ipfix-collector c1 address 10.0.0.3 port 6343
vsr running ipfix# ipfix-probe eth1 collector c1
vsr running ipfix# commit

To display the IPFIX state:

vsr running config# show state vrf main ipfix
ipfix
 ipfix-collector c1
     address 10.0.0.3
     port 4937
     protocol tcp
     scan-interval-seconds 5
     frag-flow-lifetime-seconds 5
     active-flow-lifetime-interval-seconds 5
     idle-flow-lifetime-interval-seconds 5
     ..
 ipfix-probe ntfp1
     enabled true
     collector c1
     ..
 ..

Same configuration can be made using this NETCONF XML configuration:

vsr> show config xml absolute vrf main ipfix
<config xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter">
  <vrf>
    <name>main</name>
    <ipfix xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter/ipfix">
      <enabled>true</enabled>
      <ipfix-collector>
        <name>c1</name>
        <address>10.0.0.3</address>
        <port>4937</port>
        <protocol>tcp</protocol>
        <scan-interval-seconds>5</scan-interval-seconds>
        <frag-flow-lifetime-seconds>5</frag-flow-lifetime-seconds>
        <active-flow-lifetime-interval-seconds>5</active-flow-lifetime-interval-seconds>
        <idle-flow-lifetime-interval-seconds>5</idle-flow-lifetime-interval-seconds>
      </ipfix-collector>
      <ipfix-probe>
        <ifname>ntfp1</ifname>
        <collector>c1</collector>
        <enabled>true</enabled>
      </ipfix-probe>
    </ipfix>
  </vrf>
</config>