1-5
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If the source uses “strict source routing" to send packets, but the intermediate device finds that the
next hop specified by the source is not directly connected, the device will send the source a “source
routing failure” ICMP error packet.
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When forwarding a packet, if the MTU of the sending interface is smaller than the packet but the
packet has been set “Don’t Fragment”, the device will send the source a “fragmentation needed
and Don’t Fragment (DF)-set” ICMP error packet.
Disadvantages of sending ICMP error packets
Although sending ICMP error packets facilitates network control and management, it still has the
following disadvantages:
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Sending a lot of ICMP packets will increase network traffic.
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If a device receives a lot of malicious packets that cause it to send ICMP error packets, its
performance will be reduced.
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As the redirection function increases the routing table size of a host, the host’s performance will be
reduced if its routing table becomes very large.
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If a host sends malicious ICMP destination unreachable packets, end users may be affected.
To prevent such problems, you can disable the device from sending ICMP error packets.
Follow these steps to disable sending of ICMP error packets:
To do…
Use the command…
Remarks
Enter system view
system-view
—
Enable sending of ICMP
redirect packets
ip redirects enable
Required
Disabled by default.
Disable sending of ICMP
timeout packets
undo ip ttl-expires
Required
Enabled by default.
Enable sending of ICMP
destination unreachable
packets
ip unreachables enable
Required
Disabled by default.
The device stops sending “TTL timeout” ICMP error packets after sending ICMP timeout packets is
disabled. However, “reassembly timeout” error packets will be sent normally.
