I have setup an MPLS lab as shown here http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/MPLS_Lab_Setup .

I would like to know whether MPLS is working. When I ping from one router to another or across routers I don't see any traffic showing up on the MPLS "Forwarding Table". However, when I do a traceroute I do see mpls labels.

What would be the best way to test this MPLS setup so I can see and understand the features. I have been through the wiki and while there is lots of explanation on MPLS there aren't many real world examples or testing strategies.

Thanks for any help,
Ken

Attention: Possible long post here
MikroTik's MPLS implementation is still quite new, so there isn't a lot of documentation available for it. If you want to get started using MPLS there is a number of questions you should ask yourself:
First of all, why do you need MPLS?
There are quite a number of good answers here. Some like it for it's (slightly) increased forwarding speed, others prefer it for because they want to run a number of services on their backbone; services which are only possible using MPLS. VPLS is a good example of such services. Another one is VRF's that allow independent routing instances for VPN services where many customers can use the same addressing space without overlapping.
The biggest advantage of MPLS applies for large networks, where you are able to have a routed core network where the edge services are transparent. If you have a network where you run BGP with a full internet feed, MPLS will allow you to turn off BGP in your core network and only run BGP in the edge. That way, your core network becomes a pure transport mechanism that has one job only: To move packets as fast as possible. Technologies such as MPLS-TE help create paths within the MPLS backbone for optimal path selection.

When it comes to documentation about MPLS, you should consult Cisco and Juniper's excellent documentation. They provide excellent guidelines on MPLS best practice.

When building an MPLS-enabled network, you should first create a solid routed network. Configure OSPF and BGP between your routers and have everything working. Then enable MPLS and consider what possibilities you have gained from this.

Regarding your question about forwarding-table:
MPLS uses the LDP, Label Distribution Protocol, to allocate labels to each FEC (which translates to entries in your routing table as well as anything else that needs to have labels allocated). Each label is stored locally and communicated to it's downstream neighbours on demand. That means, you will not be seeing any entries in your forwarding table until they are actually required.

I hope this clarifies some of the questions you have about MPLS.

what do you mean there isn't enough documentation? it's one of the most documented features we have!

http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/MPLS

its wiki
is that official mikrotik document?

its wiki
is that official mikrotik document?

yes

official manual is inside the wiki for some time already

http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Contents

link to the right

it can't be edited by normal users, only by mikrotik

sincerely,

there are some examples with strange ip addresses like , 9.9.9.1 or 5.5.5.5 etc..
there is no explained about ospf where to run , on infrastructure and on client routers ? or not
there are few things that missing about mpls etc

god bless there is a cisco documentation , bacause ( dont get me wrong ) but mikrotik docs looks like kids playing routing .

sincerely,
god bless there is a cisco documentation , bacause ( dont get me wrong ) but mikrotik docs looks like kids playing routing .

+1

what is strange in IP address 5.5.5.5 ?

tell me the exact location in the manual where something is missing, and we will fix it.

Normis, there is nothing per se missing from your documentation. It's a concise guide to the configuration interface around MPLS. What is missing is general usage guidelines, best practice recommendations and so on. Such information is available in cisco and juniper's documentation. I'm not saying you should submit such documentation. Actually, we who do use MPLS should submit it. I have done a little so far, and will contribute more in the future.

Actually, we who do use MPLS should submit it.

Done quite agree with that. I certainly don't know of anyone publicly submitting documentation to Cisco??

What I don't know, I research, read up on, and learn. 99% of what I don't know how to do on a manufacturers product, is supplied through documentation by the manufacturer. This is not specific to MPLS, there are entire applications in ROS that is not documented at all AFAIK.

If I have to be a rocket science to find the documentation, then I'm sorry, but MT is doing something very wrong. IMHO, the wiki is the wrong place to put manuals and the like, but that's just me.

I don't think it's quite fair to compare cisco and MikroTik. Cisco has tons of experts who do nothing but consulting and best practice documentation, while MikroTik has a strong community.
While I agree with you that there are parts of RouterOS that is sparsely documented, the topic for this discussion is MPLS, and considering how MPLS is a new technology for MikroTik (it only came out of beta a few weeks ago), I am impressed with the amount of work MikroTik has put in it so far.

there are entire applications in ROS that is not documented at all AFAIK.

Please be more specific what exactly is missing and we will add it.

And what is the difference where the manual is located? You will still get the same information even we put it somewhere else.

Thanks, Eising, community members like you, are always most welcome

Agree with Normis. I always read carefully what Eising says. He's always helpfull

there are entire applications in ROS that is not documented at all AFAIK.

Please be more specific what exactly is missing and we will add it.

And what is the difference where the manual is located? You will still get the same information even we put it somewhere else.

http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29851 Just one example.

Wireless MESH is another good one?

Not really in the mood to run through winbox and list everything that's not documented.... It shouldn't be needed to begin with.