Multicast
MLD Snooping
Cisco 500 Series Stackable Managed Switch Administration Guide Release 1.3 278
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In an approach similar to IGMP snooping, MLD frames are snooped as they are 
forwarded by the device from stations to an upstream Multicast router and vice 
versa. This facility enables a device to conclude the following:
• On which ports stations interested in joining a specific Multicast group are 
located
• On which ports Multicast routers sending Multicast frames are located
This knowledge is used to exclude irrelevant ports (ports on which no stations 
have registered to receive a specific Multicast group) from the forwarding set of an 
incoming Multicast frame.
If you enable MLD snooping in addition to the manually-configured Multicast 
groups, the result is a union of the Multicast groups and port memberships derived 
from the manual setup and the dynamic discovery by MLD snooping. Only static 
definitions are preserved when the system is rebooted.
To  e n a b l e  M L D  S n o o p i n g :
STEP 1 Click Multicast > MLD Snooping.
STEP  2 Enable or disable MLD Snooping Status. When MLD Snooping is globally 
enabled, the device monitoring network traffic can determine which hosts have 
requested to receive Multicast traffic. The device performs MLD Snooping only if 
both MLD snooping and Bridge Multicast filtering are enabled. 
STEP  3 Select a VLAN, and click Edit.
STEP  4 Enter the parameters.
• VLAN ID—Select the VLAN ID.
• MLD Snooping Status—Enable or disable MLD snooping on the VLAN. The 
device monitors network traffic to determine which hosts have asked to be 
sent Multicast traffic. The device performs MLD snooping only when MLD 
snooping and Bridge Multicast filtering are both enabled
• Operational MLD Snooping Status—Displays the current status of MLD 
Snooping for the selected VLAN.
• MRouter Ports Auto-Learn—Enable or disable Auto Learn for the Multicast 
router. 
• Query Robustness—Enter the Robustness Variable value to be used if the 
device cannot read this value from messages sent by the elected querier.