A network device includes a multi-chassis system in which each chassis includes a RSVP-TE protocol stack that may provide RSVP-TE services for LSP tunnels associated with each chassis. The multi-chassis system may include an administrative chassis. The administrative chassis may forward RSVP messages to other chassis of the network device. The administrative chassis may encapsulate the RSVP messages with a chassis address. The other chassis may de-encapsulate the RSVP messages and process the RSVP messages according to the RSVP-TE protocol. The administrative chassis may obtain session information associated with other chassis based on RSVP messages received. The administrative chassis may manage adjacency mechanisms and failure and recovery mechanisms. The multi-chassis system including the distributed RSVP-TE protocol stacks may minimize scalability issues and improve performance when high-capacity routing and/or switching services are needed.