What is the default OSPF Hello interval?

Configures the hello interval, which is the length of time between the transmission of hello packets that this interface sends to neighbor routers.

Syntax

ip ospf hello-interval interval

no ip ospf hello-interval

Command Default

The default value is 10 seconds.

Parameters

intervalHello interval in seconds. Valid values range from 1 through 65535.

Modes

Interface subtype configuration mode

Usage Guidelines

If you change the hello interval, the dead interval is automatically changed to a value that is four times that of the new hello interval, unless the dead interval is also explicitly configured using the ip ospf dead-interval command.

The recommended setting is that:

  • The dead interval is four times that of the hello interval.
  • The hello interval is ¼ times that of the dead interval.
  • If the OSPF hello interval and dead interval are set to more aggressive levels than 1:4 seconds respectively, the OSPF protocol might flap when the write memory command is used or in the case of any high CPU.

The running-config command displays only explicitly configured values of the dead interval, which means that a value that was automatically changed as the result of a hello-interval change is not displayed.

The no form of the command restores the default value.

Examples

The following example sets the hello interval to 50 on a specific OSPFv2 virtual Ethernet (VE) interface.

To specify the interval between hello packets that the Cisco IOS software sends on the interface, use the “ip ospf hello-interval” command in interface configuration mode. To return to the default time, use the no form of this command.

Ip ospf hello-interval seconds 
no ip ospf hello-interval

Examples
The following example sets the interval between hello packets to 20 seconds:
interface ethernet 0
ip ospf hello-interval 20

Related- OSPF Interview Questions

Dead Interval

If an OSPF Layer 3 device does not receive a hello packet from a neighbor within a fixed time, the routing device understands that the neighbor is non-operational. The dead interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, that the routing device waits before declaring that a neighbor is unavailable. This is an interval during which the routing device receives no hello packets from the neighbor. This interval must be the same on all routing devices on a shared network. By default, this interval is four times the default hello interval, which is 40 seconds (broadcast and point-to-point networks) and 120 seconds (NBMA networks).

Related- OSPF Neighbor States

To set the interval at which hello packets must not be seen before neighbors declare the router down, use the “ip ospf dead-interval” command in interface configuration mode. To return to the default time, use the no form of this command.

ip ospf dead-interval seconds
no ip ospf dead-interval

Examples

The following example sets the OSPF dead interval to 90 seconds:
Interface ethernet 1
ip ospf dead-interval 90

 

Retransmit Interval

When OSPF sends an advertisement to an adjacent router, it expects to receive an acknowledgment from that neighbor. If no acknowledgment is received, the router will retransmit the advertisement to its neighbor. The retransmit-interval timer controls the number of seconds between retransmissions.

To specify the time between link-state advertisement (LSA) retransmissions for adjacencies belonging to the interface, use the “ip ospf retransmit-interval” command in interface configuration mode. To return to the default value, use the no form of this command.

ip ospf retransmit-interval seconds 
no ip ospf retransmit-interval

Examples

The following example sets the retransmit interval value to 8 seconds:

interface ethernet 2
ip ospf retransmit-interval 8

OSPF Timers Types

Below table enumerates the OSPF timers types and corresponding value in seconds on various Network types –

OSPF routing devices constantly track the status of their neighbors, sending and receiving hello packets that indicate whether each neighbor still is functioning, and sending and receiving link-state advertisement (LSA) and acknowledgment packets. OSPF sends packets and expects to receive packets at specified intervals.

You configure OSPF timers on the interface of the routing device participating in OSPF. Depending on the timer, the configured interval must be the same on all routing devices on a shared network (area).

You can configure the following OSPF timers:

  • Hello interval—Routing devices send hello packets at a fixed interval on all interfaces, including virtual links, to establish and maintain neighbor relationships. The hello interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, before the routing device sends a hello packet out of an interface. This interval must be the same on all routing devices on a shared network. By default, the routing device sends hello packets every 10 seconds (broadcast and point-to-point networks) and 30 seconds (nonbroadcast multiple access (NBMA) networks).

    Note:

    For EX Series and QFX Series switches, the hello interval is 10 seconds or longer.

  • Poll interval—(OSPFv2, Nonbroadcast networks only) Routing devices send hello packets for a longer interval on nonbroadcast networks to minimize the bandwidth required on slow WAN links. The poll interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, before the routing device sends hello packets out of the interface before establishing adjacency with a neighbor. By default, the routing device sends hello packets every 120 seconds until active neighbors are detected.

    Once the routing device detects an active neighbor, the hello packet interval changes from the time specified in the poll interval to the time specified in the hello interval.

  • LSA retransmission interval—When a routing device sends LSAs to its neighbors, the routing device expects to receive an acknowledgment packet from each neighbor within a certain amount of time. The LSA retransmission interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, that the routing device waits to receive an LSA packet before retransmitting the LSA to an interface’s neighbors. By default, the routing device waits 5 seconds for an acknowledgment before retransmitting the LSA.

  • Dead interval—If a routing device does not receive a hello packet from a neighbor within a fixed amount of time, the routing device modifies its topology database to indicate that the neighbor is nonoperational. The dead interval specifies the length of time, in seconds, that the routing device waits before declaring that a neighboring routing device is unavailable. This is an interval during which the routing device receives no hello packets from the neighbor. This interval must be the same on all routing devices on a shared network. By default, this interval is four times the default hello interval, which is 40 seconds (broadcast and point-to-point networks) and 120 seconds (NBMA networks).

  • Transit delay—Before a link-state update packet is propagated out of an interface, the routing device must increase the age of the packet. The transit delay sets the estimated time required to transmit a link-state update on the interface. By default, the transit delay is 1 second. You should never have to modify the transit delay time.

The default OSPF timer settings are optimal for most networks. However, depending on your network requirements, you might need to modify the timer settings. This example explains why you might need to modify the following timers:

  • Hello interval

  • Dead interval

  • LSA retransmission interval

  • Transit delay

Hello Interval and Dead Interval

The hello interval and the dead interval optimize convergence times by efficiently tracking neighbor status. By lowering the values of the hello interval and the dead interval, you can increase the convergence of OSPF routes if a path fails. These intervals must be the same on all routing devices on a shared network. Otherwise, OSPF cannot establish the appropriate adjacencies.

In the first example, you lower the hello interval to 2 seconds and the dead interval to 8 seconds on point-to-point OSPF interfaces fe-0/0/1 and fe-1/0/1 in area 0.0.0.0 by configuring the following settings:

  • hello-interval—Specifies the length of time, in seconds, before the routing device sends a hello packet out of an interface. By default, the routing device sends hello packets every 10 seconds. The range is from 1 through 255 seconds.

    Note:

    For EX Series and QFX Series switches, the hello interval is 10 seconds or longer.

  • dead-interval—Specifies the length of time, in seconds, that the routing device waits before declaring that a neighboring routing device is unavailable. This is an interval during which the routing device receives no hello packets from the neighbor. By default, the routing device waits 40 seconds (four times the hello interval). The range is 1 through 65,535 seconds.

LSA Retransmission Interval

The link-state advertisement (LSA) retransmission interval optimizes the sending and receiving of LSA and acknowledgement packets. You must configure the LSA retransmission interval to be equal to or greater than 3 seconds to avoid triggering a retransmit trap because the Junos OS delays LSA acknowledgments by up to 2 seconds. If you have a virtual link, you might find increased performance by increasing the value of the LSA retransmission interval.

In the second example, you increase the LSA retransmission timer to 8 seconds on OSPF interface fe-0/0/1 in area 0.0.0.1 by configuring the following setting:

  • retransmit-interval—Specifies the length of time, in seconds, that the routing device waits to receive an LSA packet before retransmitting LSA to an interface’s neighbors. By default, the routing device retransmits LSAs to its neighbors every 5 seconds. The range is from 1 through 65,535 seconds.

Transit Delay

The transit delay sets the time the routing device uses to age a link-state update packet. If you have a slow link (for example, one with an average propagation delay of multiple seconds), you should increase the age of the packet by a similar amount. Doing this ensures that you do not receive a packet back that is younger than the original copy.

In the final example, you increase the transit delay to 2 seconds on OSPF interface fe-1/0/1 in area 0.0.0.1. By configuring the following setting, this causes the routing device to age the link-state update packet by 2 seconds:

  • transit-delay—Sets the estimated time required to transmit a link-state update on the interface. You should never have to modify the transit delay time. By default, the routing device ages the packet by 1 second. The range is from 1 through 65,535 seconds.

  • Configuring the Hello Interval and the Dead Interval
  • Controlling the LSA Retransmission Interval
  • Specifying the Transit Delay

Configuring the Hello Interval and the Dead Interval

  • CLI Quick Configuration
  • Step-by-Step Procedure
  • Results

CLI Quick Configuration

To quickly configure the hello and dead intervals, paste them into a text file, remove any line breaks, change any details necessary to match your network configuration, copy and paste the commands into the CLI at the [edit] hierarchy level, and then enter

[edit]
user@host# edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 
9 from configuration mode.

[edit]
set protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 interface fe-0/0/1 hello-interval 2
set protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 interface fe-0/0/1 dead-interval 8
set protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 interface fe-1/0/1 hello-interval 2
set protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 interface fe-1/0/1 dead-interval 8

Step-by-Step Procedure

To configure the hello and dead intervals:

  1. Create an OSPF area.

    Note:

    To specify OSPFv3, include the

    [edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0]
    user@host# set interface fe-0/0/1
    user@host# set interface fe-1/0/1
    
    0 statement at the
    [edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0]
    user@host# set interface fe-0/0/1
    user@host# set interface fe-1/0/1
    
    1 hierarchy level.

    [edit]
    user@host# edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 
    
  2. Specify the interfaces.

    [edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0]
    user@host# set interface fe-0/0/1
    user@host# set interface fe-1/0/1
    
  3. Configure the hello interval.

    [edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 ]
    user@host# set interface fe-0/0/1 hello-interval 2
    user@host# set interface fe-1/0/1 hello-interval 2
    
  4. Configure the dead interval.

    [edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 ]
    user@host# set interface fe-0/0/1 dead-interval 8
    user@host# set interface fe-1/0/1 dead-interval 8
    
  5. If you are done configuring the device, commit the configuration.

    [edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0 ]
    user@host# commit
    

    Note:

    Repeat this entire configuration on all routing devices in a shared network.

Results

Confirm your configuration by entering the

[edit protocols ospf area 0.0.0.0]
user@host# set interface fe-0/0/1
user@host# set interface fe-1/0/1
2 command. If the output does not display the intended configuration, repeat the instructions in this example to correct the configuration.

What are OSPF default hello and dead timers?

The default values are 10 seconds for the hello time, and 40 seconds for the dead time. The usual rule of thumb with OSPF is to keep the dead time value four times the hello interval. However, this is not a strict rule.

What is the default value for the OSPF dead interval?

The default value is 40 seconds (generally 4 times the hello packet interval). Specifies the time interval for the dead interval, in seconds.

What is hello interval and dead interval?

Hello interval: this defines how often we send the hello packet. Dead interval: this defines how long we should wait for hello packets before we declare the neighbor dead.

How often are OSPF Hello packets sent by default on a broadcast network?

By default, the routing device sends hello packets every 10 seconds (broadcast and point-to-point networks) and 30 seconds (nonbroadcast multiple access (NBMA) networks).