708 CHAPTER 49: MULTICAST ROUTING AND FORWARDING CONFIGURATION
Configuring the
Multicast Forwarding
Table Size
Too many multicast routing entries can exhaust the router’s memory and thus 
result in lower router performance. Therefore, the number of multicast routing 
entries should be limited. You can set a limit on the number of entries in the 
multicast routing table based on the actual networking situation and the 
performance requirements. In any case, the number of route entries must not 
exceed the maximum number allowed by the system. This maximum value varies 
with different device models.
If the configured maximum number of downstream nodes (namely, the maximum 
number of outgoing interfaces) for a routing entry in the multicast forwarding 
table is smaller than the current number, the downstream nodes in excess of the 
configured limit will not be deleted immediately; instead they must be deleted by 
the multicast routing protocol. In addition, newly added downstream nodes 
cannot be installed to the routing entry into the forwarding table.
If the configured maximum number of routing entries in the multicast forwarding 
table is smaller than the current number, the routes in excess of the configured 
limit will not be deleted immediately; instead they must be deleted by the 
multicast routing protocol. In addition, newly added route entries cannot be 
installed to the forwarding table.
Follow these steps to configure the multicast forwarding table size:
Tracing a Multicast Path You can run the mtracert command to trace the path down which the multicast 
traffic flows from a given multicast source to the last-hop router for 
troubleshooting purposes.
To do…  Use the command…  Remarks 
Enter system view  system-view - 
Enter interface view  interface interface-type 
interface-number 
- 
Configure a multicast 
forwarding boundary 
multicast boundary 
group-address { mask | 
mask-length } 
Required
No forwarding boundary by 
default
To do…  Use the command…  Remarks 
Enter system view  system-view - 
Configure the maximum number 
of downstream nodes for a single 
route in the multicast forwarding 
table 
multicast forwarding-table 
downstream-limit limit 
Optional
The default is 128. 
Configure the maximum number 
of routing entries in the multicast 
forwarding table 
multicast forwarding-table 
route-limit limit 
Optional
The default is 1024.
To do…  Use the command…  Remarks 
Trace a multicast path  mtracert source-address 
[[last-hop-router-address ] 
group-address ] 
Required
Available in any view