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Step Command  Remarks 
2.  Enable sending ICMP 
error messages. 
•  Enable sending ICMP redirect messages:
ip redirects enable 
•  Enable sending ICMP time exceeded 
messages: 
ip ttl-expires enable 
•  Enable sending ICMP destination 
unreachable messages: 
ip unreachables enable 
The default settings are 
disabled. 
 
Sending ICMP error messages facilitates network management, but sending excessive ICMP 
messages increases network traffic. The device performance degrades if it receives a lot of 
malicious ICMP messages that cause it to respond with ICMP error messages. 
To prevent such problems, you can disable the device from sending ICMP error messages. A device 
that is disabled from sending ICMP time exceeded messages does not send ICMP TTL exceeded in 
transit messages. However, it can still send ICMP fragment reassembly time exceeded messages. 
Configuring rate limit for ICMP error messages 
To avoid sending excessive ICMP error messages within a short period that might cause network 
congestion, you can limit the rate at which ICMP error messages are sent. A token bucket algorithm 
is used with one token representing one ICMP error message. 
A token is placed in the bucket at intervals until the maximum number of tokens that the bucket can 
hold is reached. 
A token is removed from the bucket when an ICMP error message is sent. When the bucket is empty, 
ICMP error messages are not sent until a new token is placed in the bucket. 
To configure rate limit for ICMP error messages: 
 
Step Command Remarks 
1.  Enter system view. 
system-view 
N/A 
2.  Set the bucket size and 
the interval for tokens to 
arrive in the bucket for 
ICMP error messages. 
ip icmp error-interval 
interval 
[ bucketsize ]
 
By default, the bucket allows a 
maximum of 10 tokens. A token is 
placed in the bucket at an interval of 100 
milliseconds. 
To disable the ICMP rate limit, set the 
interval to 0 milliseconds. 
 
Specifying the source address for ICMP packets 
Perform this task to specify the source IP address for outgoing ping echo request and ICMP error 
messages. As a best practice, specify the IP address of the loopback interface as the source IP 
address. This feature helps users to locate the sending device easily. 
If you specify an IP address in the ping command, ping echo requests use the specified address as 
the source IP address rather than the IP address specified by the ip icmp source command. 
To specify the source IP address for ICMP packets: