I’m actually experiencing some difficulties to move multicast traffic…
Here is my problem :
I actually have multicast traffic going from the customer network to my receiver using Router 1 & 3. The equipments are using PIM Sparse Mode and have the RP (located in the customer network) configured.
Now I need to move the line between Router1 and customer network to Router2.
But before shutting the line between Router1 and customer network, I need to test and validate at the same time that Router2 and customer network are having multicast traffic too.
Also, the customer cannot set a second RP to test, so I need to get to the RP from both router simultaneously…
Is Bidirectional PIM the answer to my problem ? I’m afraid to impact the actual service by doing this…
I understand that the continued operation of your production network is paramount in this case, and you want to verify multicast routing without disrupting normal service. In order to do so, R2 and the links shown by the dotted lines, must be in place and functioning simultaneously with R1. Just make sure that both R1 and R2 have routing to the customer networks configured so that they prefer the direct link to the customer, and traffic from the customer prefers R1 for unicast traffic.
Once that is confirmed, you can configure PIM spares-mode on the interfaces that connect R2 and the customer. You can then try an IGMP join on R2 for a multicast group and send pings from the customer to that address.
This way your link via R1 for unicast will not be disrupted, and when R2 prefers the direct link, you won’t run into any RPF errors with multicast.
Keep in mind that even with every precaution, any such testing is prone to errors, and could result in downtime, so it is best to perform it during a scheduled maintenance window to minimize its impact on users.
