OSPF Timer Configuration
The following OSPF timers can be configured
Hello interval
OSPF enabled devices send hello packets at a fixed interval on all OSPF enabled interfaces to establish and maintain neighbor relationships. The hello interval is 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).
Related- OSPF LSA type
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 –
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