VPLS Configuration Overview

To configure VPLS functionality, you must enable VPLS support on the provider edge (PE) routers. You must also configure PE routers to distribute routing information to the other PE routers in the VPLS and configure the circuits between the PE routers and the customer edge (CE) devices, as explained in the steps that follow.

1. Determine which uPIM and ePIM ports correspond to the interfaces that will carry the VPLS traffic and enable routing mode on those ports.
2. Configure the interfaces that will carry the VPLS traffic between the PE router and CE devices. On the PE router interfaces that are facing the CE devices, specify a VPLS encapsulation type. The type of encapsulation depends on the interface type. SeeExample: Configuring Routing Interfaces on the VPLS PE Router and Example: Configuring the Interface to the VPLS CE Device.
3. Create a VPLS routing instance on each PE router that is participating in the VPLS. For each VPLS routing instance, specify which interfaces will carry the VPLS traffic between the PE and CE devices. On the CE device interface that faces the PE router, you must specify inet (for IPv4), and include the IP address. Additionally, each routing instance must have a unique route distinguisher associated with it. (VPN routing instances need a route distinguisher to help BGP identify overlapping network layer reachability information (NLRI) messages from different VPNs.) See Example: Configuring the VPLS Routing Instance.
4. Configure routing options on the PE router. See Example: Configuring Routing Options on the VPLS PE Router.
5. Configure MPLS LSPs between the PE routers. See Example: Configuring MPLS on the VPLS PE Router.
6. Configure RSVP on the PE routers. Enable RSVP for all connections that participate in the MPLS LSP. See Example: Configuring RSVP on the VPLS PE Router.
7. Configure an IBGP session between PE routers so that the routers can exchange information about routes originating and terminating in the VPLS. See Example: Configuring BGP on the VPLS PE Router.
8. Configure an IGP on the PE routers to exchange routing information. See Example: Configuring OSPF on the VPLS PE Router.
9. Configure VLAN encapsulation. See Example: Configuring VPLS VLAN Encapsulation on Gigabit Ethernet Interfaces,Example: Configuring VPLS VLAN Encapsulation, and Example: Configuring Extended VLAN VPLS Encapsulation.