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Cisco 10000 Series Router Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 13      Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding
Monitoring and Maintaining uRPF
Note You can use default route to configure a default path for all addresses that are not in the regular routing 
table. When configuring uRPF, you can use the allow-default option to allow ip packets with the source 
address resolved to a valid default path, depending on the uRPF modes. In strict mode uRPF, the packets 
are allowed from the same interface that has been pointed by the default route. In loose mode uRPF, 
packets with the source address resolved to the default route are allowed. However, if there is no default 
route provisioned in the router, the allow-default option on or off would not make any difference 
regardless of the uRPF mode as there is no valid default path.
Monitoring and Maintaining uRPF
Unicast RPF counts the number of packets dropped or suppressed because of malformed or forged source 
addresses. Unicast RPF counts dropped or forwarded packets that include the following global and 
per-interface information:
  • Global Unicast RPF drops
  • Per-interface Unicast RPF drops
After you enable uRPF on a router, you can monitor the number of packets getting dropped by the router 
using the following commands.
Caution Because debugging output is assigned high priority in the CPU process, it can render the system 
unusable. For this reason, use debug commands only to troubleshoot specific problems or during 
troubleshooting sessions with Cisco Systems technical support personnel. Moreover, it is best to use 
debug commands during periods of lower network traffic and fewer users. Debugging during these 
periods decreases the likelihood that increased debug command processing overhead will affect system 
use.
Example 13-1 shows the total number (global count) of dropped packets for all interfaces on the router 
using the show ip traffic command. The Unicast RPF drop count is included in the IP statistics section.
Example 13-1 show ip traffic Command
Router# show ip traffic
IP statistics:
  Rcvd:  1753234 total, 1163482 local destination
         0 format errors, 0 checksum errors, 0 bad hop count
         1162010 unknown protocol, 523362 not a gateway
Command Description
Router# show ip traffic Displays global router statistics about Unicast RPF drops and 
suppressed drops.
Router# show ip interface type Displays per-interface statistics about Unicast RPF drops and 
suppressed drops.
Router# show pxf cpu statistics 
drop interface
Displays drop counters by pxf for a given interface, even without 
uRPF provision and if the interface is not up or does not have an 
IP address.