Fast recovery of multicast router ports on spanning tree protocol (stp) topology change in a layer 2 (l2) network

A method, comprising:

• handling, using a switch in a network, Internet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) messages received from other devices in the network;
• and
• creating, using the switch, a general query solicit (GQS) message configured to solicit a general query (GQ) from a multicast snooping querier coupled with the switch,
• wherein the GQS message causes the multicast snooping querier to send out a general query (GQ) message on all ports in response to receiving the GQS message, the GQ message being configured to solicit port information and group membership information from each IGMP switch in the network.

A computer program product, comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions being executable by a processor of a switch to cause the processor to:

• handle, by the processor, Internet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) messages received from other devices in a network;
• create, by the processor, a general query solicit (GQS) message configured to solicit a general query (GQ) from a multicast snooping querier coupled with the switch;
• receive, by the processor, a GQ message;
• and
• respond, by the processor, to the GQ message with a response that includes port information and group membership information to enable the multicast snooping querier to build a multicast routing tree.