Restrictions for IP SLAs FTP Operations
The IP SLAs FTP operation only supports FTP GET (download) requests.
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This module describes how to configure an IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs) File Transfer Protocol (FTP) operation to measure the response time between a Cisco device and an FTP server to retrieve a file. The IP SLAs FTP operation supports an FTP GET request only. This module also demonstrates how the results of the FTP operation can be displayed and analyzed to determine the capacity of your network. The FTP operation can be used also for troubleshooting FTP server performance.
The IP SLAs FTP operation only supports FTP GET (download) requests.
The FTP operation measures the round-trip time (RTT) between a Cisco device and an FTP server to retrieve a file. FTP is an application protocol, part of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP protocol stack, used for transferring files between network nodes.
In the figure below Device B is configured as the source IP SLAs device and an FTP operation is configured with the FTP server as the destination device.
Connection response time is computed by measuring the time taken to download a file to Device B from the remote FTP server using FTP over TCP. This operation does not use the IP SLAs Responder.
![]() Note |
To test the response time to connect to an FTP port (Port 21), use the IP SLAs TCP Connect operation. |
Both active and passive FTP transfer modes are supported. The passive mode is enabled by default. Only the FTP GET (download) operation type is supported. The URL specified for the FTP GET operation must be in one of the following formats:
ftp://username:password@host/filename
ftp://host/filename
If the username and password are not specified, the defaults are anonymous and test, respectively.
FTP carries a significant amount of data traffic and can affect the performance of your network. The results of an IP SLAs FTP operation to retrieve a large file can be used to determine the capacity of the network but retrieve large files with caution because the FTP operation will consume more bandwidth. The FTP operation also measures your FTP server performance levels by determining the RTT taken to retrieve a file.
![]() Note |
There is no need to configure an IP SLAs responder on the destination device. |
Perform one of the following tasks:
Command or Action | Purpose | |
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Step 1 |
enable Example:
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Enables privileged EXEC mode.
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Step 2 |
configure terminal Example:
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Enters global configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
ip sla operation-number Example:
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Begins configuration for an IP SLAs operation and enters IP SLA configuration mode. |
Step 4 |
ftp get url [source-ip {ip-address | hostname }] [mode {passive | active } Example:
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Defines an FTP operation and enters IP SLA FTP configuration mode. |
Step 5 |
frequency seconds Example:
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(Optional) Sets the rate at which a specified IP SLAs operation repeats. |
Step 6 |
end Example:
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Exits to privileged EXEC mode. |
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 |
enable Example:
|
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
|
Step 2 |
configure terminal Example:
|
Enters global configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
ip sla operation-number Example:
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Begins configuration for an IP SLAs operation and enters IP SLA configuration mode. |
Step 4 |
ftp get url [source-ip {ip-address | hostname }] [mode {passive | active } Example:
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Defines an FTP operation and enters IP SLA FTP configuration mode. |
Step 5 |
history buckets-kept size Example:
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(Optional) Sets the number of history buckets that are kept during the lifetime of an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 6 |
history distributions-of-statistics-kept size Example:
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(Optional) Sets the number of statistics distributions kept per hop during an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 7 |
history enhanced [interval seconds ] [buckets number-of-buckets ] Example:
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(Optional) Enables enhanced history gathering for an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 8 |
history filter {none | all | overThreshold | failures } Example:
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(Optional) Defines the type of information kept in the history table for an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 9 |
frequency seconds Example:
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(Optional) Sets the rate at which a specified IP SLAs operation repeats. |
Step 10 |
history hours-of-statistics-kept hours Example:
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(Optional) Sets the number of hours for which statistics are maintained for an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 11 |
history lives-kept lives Example:
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(Optional) Sets the number of lives maintained in the history table for an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 12 |
owner owner-id Example:
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(Optional) Configures the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) owner of an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 13 |
history statistics-distribution-interval milliseconds Example:
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(Optional) Sets the time interval for each statistics distribution kept for an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 14 |
tag text Example:
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(Optional) Creates a user-specified identifier for an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 15 |
threshold milliseconds Example:
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(Optional) Sets the upper threshold value for calculating network monitoring statistics created by an IP SLAs operation. |
Step 16 |
timeout milliseconds Example:
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(Optional) Sets the amount of time an IP SLAs operation waits for a response from its request packet. |
Step 17 |
end Example:
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Exits to privileged EXEC mode. |
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 |
enable Example:
|
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
|
Step 2 |
configure terminal Example:
|
Enters global configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
Enter one of the following commands:
Example:
|
|
Step 4 |
end Example:
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Exits global configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode. |
Step 5 |
show ip sla group schedule Example:
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(Optional) Displays IP SLAs group schedule details. |
Step 6 |
show ip sla configuration Example:
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(Optional) Displays IP SLAs configuration details. |
If the IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs) operation is not running and not generating statistics, add the verify-data command to the configuration (while configuring in IP SLA configuration mode) to enable data verification. When data verification is enabled, each operation response is checked for corruption. Use the verify-data command with caution during normal operations because it generates unnecessary overhead.
Use the debug ip sla trace and debug ip sla error commands to help troubleshoot issues with an IP SLAs operation.
To add proactive threshold conditions and reactive triggering for generating traps (or for starting another operation) to an IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs) operation, see the “Configuring Proactive Threshold Monitoring” section.
The following example shows how to configure an FTP operation from Device B to the FTP server as shown in the "FTP Operation" figure in the "Information About IP SLAs FTP Operation" section. The operation is scheduled to start every day at 1:30 a.m. In this example, the file named test.cap is to be retrieved from the host, cisco.com, with a password of abc using FTP in active mode.
ip sla 10
ftp get ftp://user1:abc@test.cisco.com/test.cap mode active
frequency 20
tos 128
timeout 40000
tag FLL-FTP
ip sla schedule 10 start-time 01:30:00 recurring
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Cisco ACNS software configuration information |
|
IP access list overview, configuration tasks, and commands |
Cisco IOS Security Command Reference |
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WCCP commands: complete command syntax, command mode, command history, defaults, usage guidelines, and examples |
Cisco IOS IP Application Services Command Reference |
Standard |
Title |
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No new or modified standards are supported, and support for existing standards has not been modified. |
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MIB |
MIBs Link |
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No new or modified MIBs are supported, and support for existing MIBs has not been modified. |
To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL: |
RFC |
Title |
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No new or modified RFCs are supported, and support for existing RFCs has not been modified. |
— |
Description |
Link |
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The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password. |
The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Feature Name |
Releases |
Feature Information |
---|---|---|
IP SLAs - FTP Operation |
12.2(31)SB2 12.2(33)SRB1 12.2(33)SXH 12.3(14)T Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1 15.0(1)S Cisco IOS XE Release 3.1.0SG |
The IP SLAs File Transfer Protocol (FTP) operation allows you to measure the network response time between a Cisco device and an FTP server to retrieve a file. |
IPSLA 4.0 - IP v6 phase2 |
15.2(3)T 15.2(4)S Cisco IOS XE release XE 3.7S 15.1(2)SG Cisco IOS XE Release 3.4SG |
Support was added for operability in IPv6 networks. The following commands are introduced or modified: ftp get (IP SLA), show ip sla configuration , show ip sla summary . |
IP SLAs VRF Aware 2.0 |
12.4(2)T 15.1(1)S 15.1(1)SY Cisco IOS XE Release 3.8S |
Support was added for IP SLAs VRF-aware capabilities for TCP connect, FTP, HTTP and DNS client operation types. |