Configuring Port Channels

This chapter describes how to configure port channels and to apply and configure the Link Aggregation
Control Protocol (LACP) for more efficient use of port channels in the Cisco NX-OS devices.
On a single switch, the port-channel compatibility parameters must be the same among all the port-channel
members on the physical switch.

• About Port Channels, page 1

• Port Channels, page 2
• Port-Channel Interfaces, page 3
• Basic Settings, page 3
• Compatibility Requirements, page 4
• Load Balancing Using Port Channels, page 6
• Symmetric Hashing, page 7
• LACP, page 7
• Licensing Requirements for Port Channeling, page 13
• Prerequisites for Port Channeling, page 13
• Guidelines and Limitations, page 13
• Default Settings, page 14
• Configuring Port Channels, page 15

About Port Channels

A port channel is an aggregation of multiple physical interfaces that creates a logical interface. You can bundle
up to 32 individual active links into a port channel to provide increased bandwidth and redundancy. Port
channeling also load balances traffic across these physical interfaces. The port channel stays operational as
long as at least one physical interface within the port channel is operational.
You can create a Layer 2 port channel by bundling compatible Layer 2 interfaces, or you can create Layer 3
port channels by bundling compatible Layer 3 interfaces. You cannot combine Layer 2 and Layer 3 interfaces
in the same port channel.

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Port Channels

You can apply port security to port channels. See the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration
Guide for information about port security.
You can also change the port channel from Layer 3 to Layer 2. See the Configuring Layer 2 Interfaces chapter
for information about creating Layer 2 interfaces.
Any configuration changes that you apply to the port channel are applied to each member interface of that
port channel. For example, if you configure Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) parameters on the port channel,
the Cisco NX-OS software applies those parameters to each interface in the port channel.

Note After a Layer 2 port becomes part of a port channel, all switchport configurations must be done on the
port channel; you can no longer apply switchport configurations to individual port-channel members. You
cannot apply Layer 3 configurations to an individual port-channel member either; you must apply the
configuration to the entire port channel.

You can use static port channels, with no associated aggregation protocol, for a simplified configuration.
For more flexibility, you can use the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), which is defined in IEEE
802.3ad. When you use LACP, the link passes protocol packets. You cannot configure LACP on shared
interfaces.
See the LACP Overview section for information about LACP.

Port Channels
A port channel bundles physical links into a channel group to create a single logical link that provides the
aggregate bandwidth of up to 32 physical links. If a member port within a port channel fails, the traffic
previously carried over the failed link switches to the remaining member ports within the port channel.
However, you can enable the LACP to use port channels more flexibly. Configuring port channels with LACP
and static port channels require a slightly different procedure (see the “Configuring Port Channels” section).

Note The device does not support Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) for port channels.

Each port can be in only one port channel. All the ports in a port channel must be compatible; they must use
the same speed and duplex mode (see the “Compatibility Requirements” section). When you run static port
channels with no aggregation protocol, the physical links are all in the on channel mode; you cannot change
this mode without enabling LACP (see the “Port-Channel Modes” section).
You can create port channels directly by creating the port-channel interface, or you can create a channel group
that acts to aggregate individual ports into a bundle. When you associate an interface with a channel group,
the software creates a matching port channel automatically if the port channel does not already exist. In this
instance, the port channel assumes the Layer 2 or Layer 3 configuration of the first interface. You can also
create the port channel first. In this instance, the Cisco NX-OS software creates an empty channel group with
the same channel number as the port channel and takes the default Layer 2 or Layer 3 configuration, as well
as the compatibility configuration (see the “Compatibility Requirements” section).

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Port-Channel Interfaces

Note The port channel is operationally up when at least one of the member ports is up and that port’s status is
channeling. The port channel is operationally down when all member ports are operationally down.

Port-Channel Interfaces
The following shows port-channel interfaces.

Figure 1: Port-Channel Interfaces

You can classify port-channel interfaces as Layer 2 or Layer 3 interfaces. In addition, you can configure Layer
2 port channels in either access or trunk mode. Layer 3 port-channel interfaces have routed ports as channel
members.
You can configure a Layer 3 port channel with a static MAC address. If you do not configure this value, the
Layer 3 port channel uses the router MAC of the first channel member to come up. See the Cisco Nexus 9000
Series NX-OS Layer 2 Switching Configuration Guide for information about configuring static MAC addresses
on Layer 3 port channels.
See the "Configuring Layer 2 Interfaces" chapter for information about configuring Layer 2 ports in access
or trunk mode and the "Configuring Layer 3 Interfaces" chapter for information about configuring Layer 3
interfaces and subinterfaces.

Basic Settings
You can configure the following basic settings for the port-channel interface:

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Compatibility Requirements

• Bandwidth—Use this setting for informational purposes only; this setting is to be used by higher-level
protocols.
• Delay—Use this setting for informational purposes only; this setting is to be used by higher-level
protocols.
• Description
• Duplex
• IP addresses
• Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU)
• Shutdown
• Speed

Compatibility Requirements
When you add an interface to a channel group, the software checks certain interface attributes to ensure that
the interface is compatible with the channel group. For example, you cannot add a Layer 3 interface to a Layer
2 channel group. The Cisco NX-OS software also checks a number of operational attributes for an interface
before allowing that interface to participate in the port-channel aggregation.
The compatibility check includes the following operational attributes:
• Network layer
• (Link) speed capability
• Speed configuration
• Duplex capability
• Duplex configuration
• Port mode
• Access VLAN
• Trunk native VLAN
• Tagged or untagged
• Allowed VLAN list
• MTU size
• SPAN—Cannot be a SPAN source or a destination port
• Storm control
• Flow-control capability
• Flow-control configuration
• Media type, either copper or fiber

Use the show port-channel compatibility-parameters command to see the full list of compatibility checks
that the Cisco NX-OS uses.

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Compatibility Requirements

You can only add interfaces configured with the channel mode set to on to static port channels, and you can
only add interfaces configured with the channel mode as active or passive to port channels that are running
LACP. You can configure these attributes on an individual member port. If you configure a member port with
an incompatible attribute, the software suspends that port in the port channel.
Alternatively, you can force ports with incompatible parameters to join the port channel if the following
parameters are the same:
• (Link) speed capability
• Speed configuration
• Duplex capability
• Duplex configuration
• Flow-control capability
• Flow-control configuration

When the interface joins a port channel, some of its individual parameters are removed and replaced with the
values on the port channel as follows:
• Bandwidth
• Delay
• Extended Authentication Protocol over UDP
• VRF
• IP address
• MAC address
• Spanning Tree Protocol
• NAC
• Service policy
• Access control lists (ACLs)

Many interface parameters remain unaffected when the interface joins or leaves a port channel as follows:
• Beacon
• Description
• CDP
• LACP port priority
• Debounce
• UDLD
• MDIX
• Rate mode
• Shutdown
• SNMP trap

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Load Balancing Using Port Channels

Note When you delete the port channel, the software sets all member interfaces as if they were removed from
the port channel.

See the “LACP Marker Responders” section for information about port-channel modes.

Load Balancing Using Port Channels

The Cisco NX-OS software load balances traffic across all operational interfaces in a port channel by hashing
the addresses in the frame to a numerical value that selects one of the links in the channel. Port channels
provide load balancing by default. Port-channel load balancing uses MAC addresses, IP addresses, or Layer
4 port numbers to select the link. Port-channel load balancing uses either source or destination addresses or
ports, or both source and destination addresses or ports.
You can configure the load- balancing mode to apply to all port channels that are configured on the entire
device or on specified modules. The per-module configuration takes precedence over the load-balancing
configuration for the entire device. You can configure one load-balancing mode for the entire device, a different
mode for specified modules, and another mode for the other specified modules. You cannot configure the
load-balancing method per port channel.
You can configure the type of load-balancing algorithm used. You can choose the load-balancing algorithm
that determines which member port to select for egress traffic by looking at the fields in the frame.
The default load-balancing mode for Layer 3 interfaces is the source and destination IP address, and the default
load-balancing mode for non-IP traffic is the source and destination MAC address. Use the port-channel
load-balance command to set the load-balancing method among the interfaces in the channel-group bundle.
The default method for Layer 2 packets is src-dst-mac. The default method for Layer 3 packets is src-dst-ip.
You can configure the device to use one of the following methods to load balance across the port channel:
• Destination MAC address
• Source MAC address
• Source and destination MAC address
• Destination IP address
• Source IP address
• Source and destination IP address
• Source TCP/UDP port number
• Destination TCP/UDP port number
• Source and destination TCP/UDP port number

Non-IP and Layer 3 port channels both follow the configured load-balancing method, using the source,
destination, or source and destination parameters. For example, when you configure load balancing to use the
source IP address, all non-IP traffic uses the source MAC address to load balance the traffic while the Layer
3 traffic load balances the traffic using the source IP address. Similarly, when you configure the destination
MAC address as the load-balancing method, all Layer 3 traffic uses the destination IP address while the non-IP
traffic load balances using the destination MAC address.
You can configure load balancing either by the entire system or by specific modules.

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Symmetric Hashing

The load-balancing algorithms that use port channels do not apply to multicast traffic. Regardless of the
load-balancing algorithm you have configured, multicast traffic uses the following methods for load balancing
with port channels:
• Multicast traffic with Layer 4 information—Source IP address, source port, destination IP address,
destination port
• Multicast traffic without Layer 4 information—Source IP address, destination IP address
• Non-IP multicast traffic—Source MAC address, destination MAC address

Note Devices that run Cisco IOS can optimize the behavior of the member ports ASICs if a failure of a single
member occurred by running the port-channel hash-distribution command. The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series
device performs this optimization by default and does not require or support this command. Cisco NX-OS
does support the customization of the load-balancing criteria on port channels through the port-channel
load-balance command, either for the entire device or on a per-module basis.

Symmetric Hashing
To be able to effectively monitor traffic on a port channel, it is essential that each interface connected to a
port channel receives both forward and reverse traffic flows. Normally, there is no guarantee that the forward
and reverse traffic flows will use the same physical interface. However, when you enable symmetric hashing
on the port channel, bidirectional traffic is forced to use the same physical interface and each physical interface
in the port channel is effectively mapped to a set of flows.
When symmetric hashing is enabled, the parameters used for hashing, such as the source and destination IP
address, are normalized before they are entered into the hashing algorithm. This process ensures that when
the parameters are reversed (the source on the forward traffic becomes the destination on the reverse traffic),
the hash output is the same. Therefore, the same interface is chosen.
Only the following load-balancing algorithms support symmetric hashing:
• src-dst ip
• src-dst ip-l4port

LACP
LACP allows you to configure up to 16 interfaces into a port channel.

LACP Overview

Note You must enable LACP before you can use LACP. By default, LACP is disabled.

See the “Enabling LACP” section for information about enabling LACP.

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Port-Channel Modes

The system automatically takes a checkpoint before disabling the feature, and you can roll back to this
checkpoint. See the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide for information
about rollbacks and checkpoints.
The following figure shows how individual links can be combined into LACP port channels and channel
groups as well as function as individual links.

Figure 2: Individual Links Combined into a Port Channel

With LACP, you can bundle up to 16 interfaces in a channel group.

Note When you delete the port channel, the software automatically deletes the associated channel group. All
member interfaces revert to their original configuration.

You cannot disable LACP while any LACP configurations are present.

Port-Channel Modes
Individual interfaces in port channels are configured with channel modes. When you run static port channels
with no aggregation protocol, the channel mode is always set to on.
After you enable LACP globally on the device, you enable LACP for each channel by setting the channel
mode for each interface to active or passive. You can configure either channel mode for individual links in
the LACP channel group when you are adding the links to the channel group.

Note You must enable LACP globally before you can configure an interface in either the active or passive
channel mode.

The following table describes the channel modes.

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LACP ID Parameters

Table 1: Channel Modes for Individual Links in a Port Channel

Channel Mode Description

passive LACP mode that places a port into a passive
negotiating state in which the port responds to LACP
packets that it receives but does not initiate LACP
negotiation.

active LACP mode that places a port into an active

negotiating state in which the port initiates
negotiations with other ports by sending LACP
packets.

on All static port channels (that are not running LACP)

remain in this mode. If you attempt to change the
channel mode to active or passive before enabling
LACP, the device displays an error message.
You enable LACP on each channel by configuring
the interface in that channel for the channel mode as
either active or passive. When an LACP attempts to
negotiate with an interface in the on state, it does not
receive any LACP packets and becomes an individual
link with that interface; it does not join the LACP
channel group.
The default port-channel mode is on.

Both the passive and active modes allow LACP to negotiate between ports to determine if they can form a
port channel based on criteria such as the port speed and the trunking state.The passive mode is useful when
you do not know whether the remote system, or partner, supports LACP.
Ports can form an LACP port channel when they are in different LACP modes if the modes are compatible
as in the following examples:
• A port in active mode can form a port channel successfully with another port that is in active mode.
• A port in active mode can form a port channel with another port in passive mode.
• A port in passive mode cannot form a port channel with another port that is also in passive mode, because
neither port will initiate negotiation.
• A port in on mode is not running LACP and cannot form a port channel with another port that is in
active or passive mode.

LACP ID Parameters
This section describes the LACP parameters.

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LACP Marker Responders

LACP System Priority

Each system that runs LACP has an LACP system priority value. You can accept the default value of 32768
for this parameter, or you can configure a value between 1 and 65535. LACP uses the system priority with
the MAC address to form the system ID and also uses the system priority during negotiation with other devices.
A higher system priority value means a lower priority.

Note The LACP system ID is the combination of the LACP system priority value and the MAC address.

LACP Port Priority

Each port that is configured to use LACP has an LACP port priority. You can accept the default value of
32768 for the LACP port priority, or you can configure a value between 1 and 65535. LACP uses the port
priority with the port number to form the port identifier.
LACP uses the port priority to decide which ports should be put in standby mode when there is a limitation
that prevents all compatible ports from aggregating and which ports should be put into active mode. A higher
port priority value means a lower priority for LACP. You can configure the port priority so that specified
ports have a lower priority for LACP and are most likely to be chosen as active links, rather than hot-standby
links.

LACP Administrative Key

LACP automatically configures an administrative key value equal to the channel-group number on each port
configured to use LACP. The administrative key defines the ability of a port to aggregate with other ports. A
port’s ability to aggregate with other ports is determined by these factors:
• Port physical characteristics, such as the data rate and the duplex capability
• Configuration restrictions that you establish

LACP Marker Responders

You can dynamically redistribute the data traffic by using port channels. This redistribution might result from
a removed or added link or a change in the load-balancing scheme. Traffic redistribution that occurs in the
middle of a traffic flow can cause misordered frames.
LACP uses the Marker Protocol to ensure that frames are not duplicated or reordered due to this redistribution.
The Marker Protocol detects when all the frames of a given traffic flow are successfully received at the remote
end. LACP sends Marker PDUs on each of the port-channel links. The remote system responds to the Marker
PDU once it receives all the frames received on this link prior to the Marker PDU. The remote system then
sends a Marker Responder. Once the Marker Responders are received by the local system on all member links
of the port channel, the local system can redistribute the frames in the traffic flow with no chance of misordering.
The software supports only Marker Responders.

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LACP-Enabled and Static Port Channels Differences

LACP-Enabled and Static Port Channels Differences

The following table summarizes the major differences between port channels with LACP enabled and static
port channels.

Table 2: Port Channels with LACP Enabled and Static Port Channels

Configurations Port Channels with LACP Enabled Static Port Channels

Protocol applied Enable globally Not applicable

Channel mode of links Can be either: Can only be On

• Active
• Passive

Maximum number of links in 32 32

channel

LACP Compatibility Enhancements

When a Cisco Nexus 9000 Series device is connected to a non-Nexus peer, its graceful failover defaults may
delay the time taken for a disabled port to be brought down or cause traffic from the peer to be lost. To address
these conditions, the lacp graceful-convergence command was added.
By default, LACP sets a port to the suspended state if it does not receive an LACP PDU from the peer. In
some cases, although this feature helps in preventing loops created due to misconfigurations, it can cause
servers to fail to boot up because they require LACP to logically bring up the port. You can put a port into an
individual state by using the lacp suspend-individual command.

Delayed LACP
LACP port-channels exchange LACP PDUs for quick bundling of links when connecting a server and a switch.
However, the links go into suspended state when the PDUs are not received.
The delayed LACP feature enables one port-channel member, the delayed-LACP port, to come up first as a
member of a regular port-channel before LACP PDUs are received. After it is connected in LACP mode,
other members, the auxiliary LACP ports, are brought up. This avoids having the links becoming suspended
when PDUs are not received.

LACP Port-Channel Minimum Links and MaxBundle

A port channel aggregates similar ports to provide increased bandwidth in a single manageable interface.
The introduction of the minimum links and maxbundle feature further refines LACP port-channel operation
and provides increased bandwidth in one manageable interface.

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LACP Fast Timers

The LACP port-channel minimum links feature does the following:

• Configures the minimum number of ports that must be linked up and bundled in the LACP port channel.
• Prevents the low-bandwidth LACP port channel from becoming active.
• Causes the LACP port channel to become inactive if there are few active members ports to supply the
required minimum bandwidth.

The LACP MaxBundle defines the maximum number of bundled ports allowed in a LACP port channel.
The LACP MaxBundle feature does the following:
• Defines an upper limit on the number of bundled ports in an LACP port channel.
• Allows hot-standby ports with fewer bundled ports. (For example, in an LACP port channel with five
ports, you can designate two of those ports as hot-standby ports.)

Note The minimum links and maxbundle feature works only with LACP port channels. However, the device
allows you to configure this feature in non-LACP port channels, but the feature is not operational.

LACP Fast Timers

You can change the LACP timer rate to modify the duration of the LACP timeout. Use the lacp rate command
to set the rate at which LACP control packets are sent to an LACP-supported interface. You can change the
timeout rate from the default rate (30 seconds) to the fast rate (1 second). This command is supported only
on LACP-enabled interfaces. To configure the LACP fast time rate, see the “Configuring the LACP Fast Timer
Rate” section.
ISSU and stateful switchover cannot be guaranteed with LACP fast timers.

Virtualization Support
You must configure the member ports and other port channel-related configuration from the virtual device
context (VDC) that contains the port channel and member ports. You can use the numbers from 1 to 4096 in
each VDC to number the port channels.
All ports in one port channel must be in the same VDC. When you are using LACP, all possible 8 active ports
and all possible 8 standby ports must be in the same VDC.

Note The port-channeling load-balancing mode works either for a single module or across the entire device.
You must configure load balancing using port channels in the default VDC. See the “Load Balancing
Using Port Channels” section on page 6-6 for more information about load balancing.

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High Availability

High Availability
Port channels provide high availability by load balancing traffic across multiple ports. If a physical port fails,
the port channel is still operational if there is an active member in the port channel. You can bundle ports
from different modules and create a port channel that remains operational even if a module fails because the
settings are common across the module.
Port channels support stateful and stateless restarts. A stateful restart occurs on a supervisor switchover. After
the switchover, the Cisco NX-OS software applies the runtime configuration after the switchover.
The port channel goes down if the operational ports fall below the configured minimum links number.

Note See the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS High Availability and Redundancy Guide for complete information
about high-availability features.

Licensing Requirements for Port Channeling

The following table shows the licensing requirements for this feature:

Product License Requirement

Cisco NX-OS Port channeling requires no license. Any feature not included in
a license package is bundled with the Cisco NX-OS image and is
provided at no extra charge to you.

Prerequisites for Port Channeling

Port channeling has the following prerequisites:
• You must be logged onto the device.
• All ports for a single port channel must be either Layer 2 or Layer 3 ports.
• All ports for a single port channel must meet the compatibility requirements. See the “Compatibility
Requirements” section for more information about the compatibility requirements.
• You must configure load balancing from the default VDC.

Guidelines and Limitations

Port channeling has the following configuration guidelines and limitations:
• The LACP port-channel minimum links and maxbundle feature is not supported for host interface port
channels.
• You must enable LACP before you can use that feature.

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Default Settings

• You can configure multiple port channels on a device.

• Do not put shared and dedicated ports into the same port channel. (See the “Configuring Basic Interface
Parameters” chapter for information about shared and dedicated ports.)
• For Layer 2 port channels, ports with different STP port path costs can form a port channel if they are
compatibly configured with each other. See the “Compatibility Requirements” section for more information
about the compatibility requirements.
• In STP, the port-channel cost is based on the aggregated bandwidth of the port members.
• After you configure a port channel, the configuration that you apply to the port channel interface affects
the port channel member ports. The configuration that you apply to the member ports affects only the
member port where you apply the configuration.
• LACP does not support half-duplex mode. Half-duplex ports in LACP port channels are put in the
suspended state.
• You must remove the port-security information from a port before you can add that port to a port channel.
Similarly, you cannot apply the port-security configuration to a port that is a member of a channel group.
• Do not configure ports that belong to a port channel group as private VLAN ports. While a port is part
of the private VLAN configuration, the port channel configuration becomes inactive.
• Channel member ports cannot be a source or destination SPAN port.
• Port-channels are not supported on devices with 100G ports.

Default Settings
The following table lists the default settings for port-channel parameters.

Table 3: Default Port-Channel Parameters

Parameters Default
Port channel Admin up

Load balancing method for Layer 3 interfaces Source and destination IP address

Load balancing method for Layer 2 interfaces Source and destination MAC address

Load balancing per module Disabled

LACP Disabled

Channel mode on

LACP system priority 32768

LACP port priority 32768

Minimum links for LACP 1

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Configuring Port Channels

Parameters Default
Maxbundle 32

Minimum links for FEX fabric port channel 1

Configuring Port Channels

Note See the "Configuring Basic Interface Parameters” chapter for information about configuring the maximum
transmission unit (MTU) for the port-channel interface. See the “Configuring Layer 3 Interfaces” chapter
for information about configuring IPv4 and IPv6 addresses on the port-channel interface.

Note If you are familiar with the Cisco IOS CLI, be aware that the Cisco NX-OS commands for this feature
might differ from the Cisco IOS commands that you would use.

Creating a Port Channel

You can create a port channel before you create a channel group. The software automatically creates the
associated channel group.

Note When the port channel is created before the channel group, the port channel should be configured with
all of the interface attributes that the member interfaces are configured with. Use the switchport mode
trunk {allowed vlan vlan-id | native vlan-id} command to configure the members.

This is required only when the channel group members are Layer 2 ports (switchport) and trunks (switchport
mode trunk).

Note Use the no interface port-channel command to remove the port channel and delete the associated channel
group.

Command Purpose
no interface port-channel channel-number Removes the port channel and deletes the
associated channel group.
Example:
switch(config)# no interface port-channel 1

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Creating a Port Channel

Before You Begin

Enable LACP if you want LACP-based port channels.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel channel-number
3. show port-channel summary
4. show interface status error policy [detail]
5. no shutdown
6. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel channel-number Specifies the port-channel interface to configure, and enters the
interface configuration mode. The range is from 1 to 4096. The
Example: Cisco NX-OS software automatically creates the channel group if
switch(config)# interface port-channel 1 it does not already exist.
switch(config-if)

Step 3 show port-channel summary (Optional) Displays information about the port channel.

Example:
switch(config-router)# show port-channel
summary

Step 4 show interface status error policy [detail] (Optional) Displays the interfaces and VLANs that produce an
error during policy programming to ensure that policies are
Example: consistent with hardware policies.
switch# show interface status error policy
detail
Use the detail command to display the details of the interfaces that
produce an error.

Step 5 no shutdown (Optional) Clears the errors on the interfaces and VLANs where
policies correspond with hardware policies. This command allows
Example: policy programming to continue and the port to come up. If policies
switch# configure terminal do not correspond, the errors are placed in an error-disabled policy
switch(config)# int e3/1 state.
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

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Adding a Layer 2 Port to a Port Channel

This example shows how to create a port channel:

switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 1
See the “Compatibility Requirements” section for details on how the interface configuration changes when
you delete the port channel.

Adding a Layer 2 Port to a Port Channel

You can add a Layer 2 port to a new channel group or to a channel group that already contains Layer 2 ports.
The software creates the port channel associated with this channel group if the port channel does not already
exist.

Note Use the no channel-group command to remove the port from the channel group.

Command Purpose
no channel-group Removes the port from the channel group.
Example:
switch(config)# no channel-group

Before You Begin

Enable LACP if you want LACP-based port channels.
All Layer 2 member ports must run in full-duplex mode and at the same speed

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface type slot/port
3. switchport
4. switchport mode trunk
5. switchport trunk {allowed vlan vlan-id | native vlan-id}
6. channel-group channel-number [force] [mode {on | active | passive}]
7. show interface type slot/port
8. show interface status error policy [detail]
9. no shutdown
10. copy running-config startup-config

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Adding a Layer 2 Port to a Port Channel

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface type slot/port Specifies the interface that you want to add to a channel group, and
enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 switchport Configures the interface as a Layer 2 access port.

Example:
switch(config)# switchport

Step 4 switchport mode trunk (Optional) Configures the interface as a Layer 2 trunk port.

Example:
switch(config)# switchport mode trunk

Step 5 switchport trunk {allowed vlan vlan-id | native (Optional) Configures necessary parameters for a Layer 2 trunk port.
vlan-id}

Example:
switch(config)# switchport trunk native 3
switch(config-if)#

Step 6 channel-group channel-number [force] [mode Configures the port in a channel group and sets the mode. The
{on | active | passive}] channel-number range is from 1 to 4096. This command creates the
port channel associated with this channel group if the port channel
Example: does not already exist. All static port-channel interfaces are set to
mode on. You must set all LACP-enabled port-channel interfaces
• switch(config-if)# channel-group 5
to active or passive. The default mode is on.
• switch(config-if)# channel-group 5
force (Optional) Forces an interface with some incompatible configurations
to join the channel. The forced interface must have the same speed,
duplex, and flow control settings as the channel group.
Note The force option fails if the port has a QoS policy mismatch
with the other members of the port channel.
Step 7 show interface type slot/port (Optional) Displays interface information.

Example:
switch# show interface port channel 5

Step 8 show interface status error policy [detail] (Optional) Displays the interfaces and VLANs that produce an error
during policy programming to ensure that policies are consistent
Example: with hardware policies.
switch# show interface status error policy
detail

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 Configuring Port Channels
Adding a Layer 3 Port to a Port Channel

Command or Action Purpose

Use the detail command to display the details of the interfaces that
produce an error.

Step 9 no shutdown (Optional) Clears the errors on the interfaces and VLANs where
policies correspond with hardware policies. This command allows
Example: policy programming to continue and the port to come up. If policies
switch# configure terminal do not correspond, the errors are placed in an error-disabled policy
switch(config)# int e3/1 state.
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Step 10 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to add a Layer 2 Ethernet interface 1/4 to channel group 5:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)# switchport
switch(config-if)# channel-group 5

Adding a Layer 3 Port to a Port Channel

You can add a Layer 3 port to a new channel group or to a channel group that is already configured with Layer
3 ports. The software creates the port channel associated with this channel group if the port channel does not
already exist.
If the Layer 3 port that you are adding has a configured IP address, the system removes that IP address before
adding the port to the port channel. After you create a Layer 3 port channel, you can assign an IP address to
the port-channel interface.

Note Use the no channel-group command to remove the port from the channel group. The port reverts to its
original configuration. You must reconfigure the IP addresses for this port.

Command Purpose
no channel-group Removes the port from the channel group.
Example:
switch(config)# no channel-group

Before You Begin

Enable LACP if you want LACP-based port channels.
Remove any IP addresses configured on the Layer 3 interface.

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 Configuring Port Channels
Adding a Layer 3 Port to a Port Channel

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface type slot/port
3. no switchport
4. channel-group channel-number [force] [mode {on | active | passive}]
5. show interface type slot/port
6. show interface status error policy [detail]
7. no shutdown
8. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface type slot/port Specifies the interface that you want to add to a channel group, and
enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 no switchport Configures the interface as a Layer 3 port.

Example:
switch(config-if)# no switchport

Step 4 channel-group channel-number [force] [mode Configures the port in a channel group and sets the mode. The
{on | active | passive}] channel-number range is from 1 to 4096. The Cisco NX-OS software
creates the port channel associated with this channel group if the
Example: port channel does not already exist.
• switch(config-if)# channel-group 5 (Optional) Forces an interface with some incompatible
channel-group 5 configurations to join the channel. The forced interface must have
• switch(config-if)#
force the same speed, duplex, and flow control settings as the channel
group.

Step 5 show interface type slot/port (Optional) Displays interface information.

Example:
switch# show interface ethernet 1/4

Step 6 show interface status error policy [detail] (Optional) Displays the interfaces and VLANs that produce an error
during policy programming to ensure that policies are consistent
Example: with hardware policies.
switch# show interface status error policy
detail
Use the detail command to display the details of the interfaces that
produce an error.

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring the Bandwidth and Delay for Informational Purposes

Command or Action Purpose

Step 7 no shutdown (Optional) Clears the errors on the interfaces and VLANs where
policies correspond with hardware policies. This command allows
Example: policy programming to continue and the port to come up. If policies
switch# configure terminal do not correspond, the errors are placed in an error-disabled policy
switch(config)# int e3/1 state.
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Step 8 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to add a Layer 3 Ethernet interface 1/5 to channel group 6 in on mode:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface ethernet 1/5
switch(config-if)# switchport
switch(config-if)# channel-group 6

This example shows how to create a Layer 3 port-channel interface and assign the IP address:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 4
switch(config-if)# ip address 192.0.2.1/8

Configuring the Bandwidth and Delay for Informational Purposes

The bandwidth of the port channel is determined by the number of total active links in the channel.
You configure the bandwidth and delay on port-channel interfaces for informational purposes.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel channel-number
3. bandwidth value
4. delay value
5. exit
6. show interface port-channel channel-number
7. copy running-config startup-config

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Configuring the Bandwidth and Delay for Informational Purposes

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel channel-number Specifies the port-channel interface that you want to configure,
and enters the interface mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 2
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 bandwidth value Specifies the bandwidth, which is used for informational
purposes. The range is from 1 to 80,000,000 kbs. The default
Example: value depends on the total active interfaces in the channel
switch(config-if)# bandwidth 60000000 group.
switch(config-if)#

Step 4 delay value Specifies the throughput delay, which is used for informational
purposes. The range is from 1 to 16,777,215 tens of
Example: microseconds. The default value is 10 microseconds.
switch(config-if)# delay 10000
switch(config-if)#

Step 5 exit Exits the interface mode and returns to the configuration mode.

Example:
switch(config-if)# exit
switch(config)#

Step 6 show interface port-channel channel-number (Optional) Displays interface information for the specified
port channel.
Example:
switch# show interface port-channel 2

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to configure the informational parameters of the bandwidth and delay for port
channel 5:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 5
switch(config-if)# bandwidth 60000000
switch(config-if)# delay 10000
switch(config-if)#

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 Configuring Port Channels
Shutting Down and Restarting the Port-Channel Interface

Shutting Down and Restarting the Port-Channel Interface

You can shut down and restart the port-channel interface. When you shut down a port-channel interface, no
traffic passes and the interface is administratively down.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel channel-number
3. shutdown
4. exit
5. show interface port-channel channel-number
6. show interface status error policy [detail]
7. no shutdown
8. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel channel-number Specifies the port-channel interface that you want to configure, and
enters the interface mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 2
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 shutdown Shuts down the interface. No traffic passes and the interface displays
as administratively down. The default is no shutdown.
Example: Note Use the no shutdown command to open the interface.
switch(config-if)# shutdown
switch(config-if)# The interface displays as administratively up. If there are
no operational problems, traffic passes. The default is no
shutdown.
Step 4 exit Exits the interface mode and returns to the configuration mode.

Example:
switch(config-if)# exit
switch(config)#

Step 5 show interface port-channel channel-number (Optional) Displays interface information for the specified port
channel.
Example:
switch(config-router)# show interface
port-channel 2

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring a Port-Channel Description

Command or Action Purpose

Step 6 show interface status error policy [detail] (Optional) Displays the interfaces and VLANs that produce an error
during policy programming to ensure that policies are consistent
Example: with hardware policies.
switch# show interface status error policy
detail
Use the detail command to display the details of the interfaces that
produce an error.

Step 7 no shutdown (Optional) Clears the errors on the interfaces and VLANs where
policies correspond with hardware policies. This command allows
Example: policy programming to continue and the port to come up. If policies
switch# configure terminal do not correspond, the errors are placed in an error-disabled policy
switch(config)# int e3/1 state.
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Step 8 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to bring up the interface for port channel 2:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 2
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Configuring a Port-Channel Description

You can configure a description for a port channel.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel channel-number
3. description
4. exit
5. show interface port-channel channel-number
6. copy running-config startup-config

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring the Speed and Duplex Settings for a Port-Channel Interface

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel channel-number Specifies the port-channel interface that you want to
configure, and enters the interface mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 2
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 description Allows you to add a description to the port-channel interface.

You can use up to 80 characters in the description. By default,
Example: the description does not display; you must configure this
switch(config-if)# description engineering parameter before the description displays in the output.
switch(config-if)#

Step 4 exit Exits the interface mode and returns to the configuration
mode.
Example:
switch(config-if)# exit
switch(config)#

Step 5 show interface port-channel channel-number (Optional) Displays interface information for the specified
port channel.
Example:
switch# show interface port-channel 2

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to add a description to port channel 2:

switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 2
switch(config-if)# description engineering

Configuring the Speed and Duplex Settings for a Port-Channel Interface

You can configure the speed and duplex settings for a port-channel interface.

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring the Speed and Duplex Settings for a Port-Channel Interface

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel channel-number
3. speed {10 | 100 | 1000 | auto}
4. duplex {auto | full | half}
5. exit
6. show interface port-channel channel-number
7. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel channel-number Specifies the port-channel interface that you want to
configure, and enters the interface mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 2
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 speed {10 | 100 | 1000 | auto} Sets the speed for the port-channel interface. The default
is auto for autonegotiation.
Example:
switch(config-if)# speed auto
switch(config-if)#

Step 4 duplex {auto | full | half} Sets the duplex for the port-channel interface. The default
is auto for autonegotiation.
Example:
switch(config-if)# speed auto
switch(config-if)#

Step 5 exit Exits the interface mode and returns to the configuration
mode.
Example:
switch(config-if)# exit
switch(config)#

Step 6 show interface port-channel channel-number (Optional) Displays interface information for the
specified port channel.
Example:
switch# show interface port-channel 2

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring Load Balancing Using Port Channels

This example shows how to set port channel 2 to 100 Mb/s:

switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 2
switch(config-if)# speed 100

Configuring Load Balancing Using Port Channels

You can configure the load-balancing algorithm for port channels that applies to the entire device. Module-based
load balancing takes precedence over device-based load balancing.

Note Use the no port-channel load-balance command to restore the default load-balancing algorithm of
source-dest-mac for non-IP traffic and source-dest-ip for IP traffic.

Command Purpose
no port-channel load-balance Restores the default load-balancing
algorithm.
Example:
switch(config)# no port-channel load-balance

Before You Begin

Enable LACP if you want LACP-based port channels.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. port-channel load-balance method {dst ip | dst ip-port-vlan | dst ip-vlan | dst mac | dst port | src-dst
ip [symmetric] | src-dst ip-gre | source-dst mac | source-dst port | src-ip port | src-dst ip-l4port
[symmetric] | src-dst l4port | src-dst mac | src ip | src mac | src-port} [fex {fex-range | all}] [rotate
rotate]
3. show port-channel load-balance
4. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

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 Configuring Port Channels
Enabling LACP

Command or Action Purpose

Step 2 port-channel load-balance method {dst ip | dst Specifies the load-balancing algorithm for the device. The
ip-port-vlan | dst ip-vlan | dst mac | dst port | src-dst ip range depends on the device. The default for Layer 3 is
[symmetric] | src-dst ip-gre | source-dst mac | source-dst src-dst-ip for both IPv4 and IPv6, and the default for non-IP
port | src-ip port | src-dst ip-l4port [symmetric] | src-dst is src-dest-mac.
l4port | src-dst mac | src ip | src mac | src-port} [fex Use the no port-channel load-balance src-dst mac
{fex-range | all}] [rotate rotate] asymmetric command to revert back to the default system
settings (symmetrical).
Example:
Note If a module-based configuration already exists, it
• switch(config)# port-channel load-balance
src-dst mac asymmetric
takes precedence over the default system settings.
switch(config)# Note Only the following load-balancing algorithms
no port-channel load-balance support symmetric hashing:
• switch(config)#
src-dst mac asymmetric
switch(config)# • src-dst ip
• src-dst ip-l4port

Step 3 show port-channel load-balance (Optional) Displays the port-channel load-balancing

algorithm.
Example:
switch(config-router)# show port-channel
load-balance

Step 4 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

Enabling LACP
LACP is disabled by default; you must enable LACP before you begin LACP configuration. You cannot
disable LACP while any LACP configuration is present.
LACP learns the capabilities of LAN port groups dynamically and informs the other LAN ports. Once LACP
identifies correctly matched Ethernet links, it group the links into a port channel. The port channel is then
added to the spanning tree as a single bridge port.
To configure LACP, you must do the following:
• Enable LACP globally by using the feature lacp command.
• You can use different modes for different interfaces within the same LACP-enabled port channel. You
can change the mode between active and passive for an interface only if it is the only interface that is
designated to the specified channel group.

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring LACP Port-Channel Port Modes

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. feature lacp
3. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 feature lacp Enables LACP on the device.

Example:
switch(config)# feature lacp

Step 3 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the
startup configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

This example shows how to enable LACP:

switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# feature lacp

Configuring LACP Port-Channel Port Modes

After you enable LACP, you can configure the channel mode for each individual link in the LACP port channel
as active or passive. This channel configuration mode allows the link to operate with LACP.
When you configure port channels with no associated aggregation protocol, all interfaces on both sides of the
link remain in the on channel mode.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface type slot/port
3. channel-group number mode {active | on | passive}
4. show port-channel summary
5. copy running-config startup-config

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring LACP Port-Channel Minimum Links

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface type slot/port Specifies the interface that you want to add to a channel group,
and enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 channel-group number mode {active | on | passive} Specifies the port mode for the link in a port channel. After
LACP is enabled, you configure each link or the entire channel
Example: as active or passive.
switch(config-if)# channel-group 5 mode active
When you run port channels with no associated aggregation
protocol, the port-channel mode is always on.
The default port-channel mode is on.

Step 4 show port-channel summary (Optional) Displays summary information about the port
channels.
Example:
switch(config-if)# show port-channel summary

Step 5 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to set the LACP-enabled interface to the active port-channel mode for Ethernet
interface 1/4 in channel group 5:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)# channel-group 5 mode active

Configuring LACP Port-Channel Minimum Links

You can configure the LACP minimum links feature. Although minimum links and maxbundles work only
in LACP, you can enter the CLI commands for these features for non-LACP port channels, but these commands
are nonoperational.

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring LACP Port-Channel Minimum Links

Note Use the no lacp min-links command to restore the default port-channel minimum links configuration.

Command Purpose
no lacp min-links Restores the default port-channel minimum
links configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# no lacp min-links

Before You Begin

Ensure that you are in the correct port-channel interface.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel number
3. lacp min-links number
4. show running-config interface port-channel number

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel number Specifies the interface to configure, and enters the
interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 3
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 lacp min-links number Specifies the port-channel interface to configure the
number of minimum links and enters the interface
Example: configuration mode. The range is from 1 to 16.
switch(config-if)# lacp min-links 3

Step 4 show running-config interface port-channel number (Optional) Displays the port-channel minimum links
configuration.
Example:
switch(config-if)# show running-config interface
port-channel 3

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Configuring the LACP Port-Channel MaxBundle

This example shows how to configure the minimum number of port-channel interfaces on module 3:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# lacp min-links 3

Configuring the LACP Port-Channel MaxBundle

You can configure the LACP maxbundle feature. Although minimum links and maxbundles work only in
LACP, you can enter the CLI commands for these features for non-LACP port channels, but these commands
are nonoperational.

Note Use the no lacp max-bundle command to restore the default port-channel max-bundle configuration.

Command Purpose
no lacp max-bundle Restores the default port-channel max-bundle
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# no lacp max-bundle

Before You Begin

Ensure that you are in the correct port-channel interface.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel number
3. lacp max-bundle number
4. show running-config interface port-channel number

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel number Specifies the interface to configure, and enters the interface
configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 3
switch(config-if)#

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring the LACP Fast Timer Rate

Command or Action Purpose

Step 3 lacp max-bundle number Specifies the port-channel interface to configure max-bundle, and
enters the interface configuration mode.
Example: The default value for the port-channel max-bundle is 16. The
switch(config-if)# lacp max-bundle
allowed range is from 1 to 32.
Note Even if the default value is 16, the number of active
members in a port channel is the minimum of the
pc_max_links_config and pc_max_active_members that
is allowed in the port channel.
Step 4 show running-config interface port-channel (Optional) Displays the port-channel max-bundle configuration.
number

Example:
switch(config-if)# show running-config
interface port-channel 3

This example shows how to configure the port channel interface max-bundle on module 3:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# lacp max-bundle 3

Configuring the LACP Fast Timer Rate

You can change the LACP timer rate to modify the duration of the LACP timeout. Use the lacp rate command
to set the rate at which LACP control packets are sent to an LACP-supported interface. You can change the
timeout rate from the default rate (30 seconds) to the fast rate (1 second). This command is supported only
on LACP-enabled interfaces.

Note We do not recommend changing the LACP timer rate. HA and SSO are not supported when the LACP
fast rate timer is configured.

Before You Begin

Ensure that you have enabled the LACP feature.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface type slot/port
3. lacp rate fast

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring the LACP System Priority

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface type slot/port Specifies the interface to configure and enters the interface
configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 lacp rate fast Configures the fast rate (one second) at which LACP control
packets are sent to an LACP-supported interface.
Example: To reset the timeout rate to its default, use the no form of the
switch(config-if)# lacp rate fast
command.

This example shows how to configure the LACP fast rate on Ethernet interface 1/4:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)# lacp rate fast
This example shows how to restore the LACP default rate (30 seconds) on Ethernet interface 1/4.
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)# no lacp rate fast

Configuring the LACP System Priority

The LACP system ID is the combination of the LACP system priority value and the MAC address.

Before You Begin

Enable LACP.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. lacp system-priority priority
3. show lacp system-identifier
4. copy running-config startup-config

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 Configuring Port Channels
Configuring the LACP Port Priority

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 lacp system-priority priority Configures the system priority for use with LACP. Valid values
are from 1 through 65535, and higher numbers have a lower
Example: priority. The default value is 32768.
switch(config)# lacp system-priority 40000
Note Each VDC has a different LACP system ID because
the software adds the MAC address to this configured
value.
Step 3 show lacp system-identifier (Optional) Displays the LACP system identifier.

Example:
switch(config-if)# show lacp system-identifier

Step 4 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to set the LACP system priority to 2500:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)# lacp system-priority 2500

Configuring the LACP Port Priority

When you enable LACP, you can configure each link in the LACP port channel for the port priority.

Before You Begin

Enable LACP.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface type slot/port
3. lacp port-priority priority
4. copy running-config startup-config

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 Configuring Port Channels
Disabling LACP Graceful Convergence

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface type slot/port Specifies the interface that you want to add to a channel
group, and enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 lacp port-priority priority Configures the port priority for use with LACP. Valid values
are from 1 through 65535, and higher numbers have a lower
Example: priority. The default value is 32768.
switch(config-if)# lacp port-priority
40000

Step 4 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config-if)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to set the LACP port priority for Ethernet interface 1/4 to 40000:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)# lacp port-priority 40000

Disabling LACP Graceful Convergence

By default, LACP graceful convergence is enabled. In situations where you need to support LACP
interoperability with devices where the graceful failover defaults may delay the time taken for a disabled port
to be brought down or cause traffic from the peer to be lost, you can disable convergence. If the downstream
access switch is not a Cisco Nexus device, disable the LACP graceful convergence option.

Note The port channel has to be in the administratively down state before the command can be run.

Before You Begin

Enable LACP.

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SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel number
3. shutdown
4. no lacp graceful-convergence
5. no shutdown
6. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel number Specifies the port channel interface to configure and
enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 shutdown Administratively shuts down the port channel.

Example:
switch(config-if) shutdown

Step 4 no lacp graceful-convergence Disables LACP graceful convergence on the port

channel.
Example:
switch(config-if)# no lacp graceful-convergence

Step 5 no shutdown Brings the port channel administratively up.

Example:
switch(config-if) no shutdown

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the
startup configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

This example shows how to disable LACP graceful convergence on a port channel:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)# shutdown
switch(config-if)# no lacp graceful-convergence
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

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Reenabling LACP Graceful Convergence

If the default LACP graceful convergence is once again required, you can reenable convergence.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel number
3. shutdown
4. lacp graceful-convergence
5. no shutdown
6. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel number Specifies the port channel interface to configure and
enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 shutdown Administratively shuts down the port channel.

Example:
switch(config-if) shutdown

Step 4 lacp graceful-convergence Enables LACP graceful convergence on the port

channel.
Example:
switch(config-if)# lacp graceful-convergence

Step 5 no shutdown Brings the port channel administratively up.

Example:
switch(config-if) no shutdown

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the
startup configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

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This example shows how to enable LACP graceful convergence on a port channel:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)# shutdown
switch(config-if)# lacp graceful-convergence
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Disabling LACP Suspend Individual

LACP sets a port to the suspended state if it does not receive an LACP PDU from the peer. This process can
cause some servers to fail to boot up as they require LACP to logically bring up the port.

Note You should only enter the lacp suspend-individual command on edge ports. The port channel has to be
in the administratively down state before you can use this command.

Before You Begin

Enable LACP.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel number
3. shutdown
4. no lacp suspend-individual
5. no shutdown
6. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel number Specifies the port channel interface to configure and
enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 shutdown Administratively shuts down the port channel.

Example:
switch(config-if) shutdown

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Command or Action Purpose

Step 4 no lacp suspend-individual Disables LACP individual port suspension behavior on
the port channel.
Example:
switch(config-if)# no lacp suspend-individual

Step 5 no shutdown Brings the port channel administratively up.

Example:
switch(config-if) no shutdown

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the
startup configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

This example shows how to disable LACP individual port suspension on a port channel:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)# shutdown
switch(config-if)# no lacp suspend-individual
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Reenabling LACP Suspend Individual

You can reenable the default LACP individual port suspension.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel number
3. shutdown
4. lacp suspend-individual
5. no shutdown
6. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

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Configuring Delayed LACP

Command or Action Purpose

Step 2 interface port-channel number Specifies the port channel interface to configure and
enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
switch(config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 shutdown Administratively shuts down the port channel.

Example:
switch(config-if) shutdown

Step 4 lacp suspend-individual Enables LACP individual port suspension behavior on

the port channel.
Example:
switch(config-if)# lacp suspend-individual

Step 5 no shutdown Brings the port channel administratively up.

Example:
switch(config-if) no shutdown

Step 6 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the
startup configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

This example shows how to reenable the LACP individual port suspension on a port channel:
switch# configure terminal
switch (config)# interface port-channel 1
switch(config-if)# shutdown
switch(config-if)# lacp suspend-individual
switch(config-if)# no shutdown

Configuring Delayed LACP

You configure the delayed LACP with the lacp mode delay command followed by configuring the LACP
port priority.

Note For vPC, you must enable the delayed LACP on both vPC switches.

Note Delayed LACP is not supported on Layer 3 port channels, FEX modules, or the Cisco Nexus 9500 Series
switch.

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Note For vPC, when the delayed LACP port is on the primary switch and the primary switch fails to boot, you
need to remove the vPC configuration on the delayed LACP port-channel of the acting primary switch
and flap the port-channel for a new port to be chosen as the delayed LACP port on the existing port-channel.

Note When no lacp suspend-individual and the delayed LACP feature are configured on the same port, the
non-delayed LACP ports belonging to the port are in individual state. When LACP is established, the
member should be moved to up state.
As a best practice, do not use no lacp suspend-individual together with the delayed LACP feature on the
same port channel.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel number
3. lacp mode delay

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2 interface port-channel Specifies the port channel interface to configure and enters the interface configuration mode.
number
Step 3 lacp mode delay Enables delayed LACP.
Note To disable delayed LACP, use the no lacp mode delay command.
Complete the configuration of the delayed LACP by configuring the LACP port priority. See
the "Configuring the LACP Port Priority" section for details.
The priority of a LACP port determines the election of the delayed LACP port. The port with
the lowest numerical priority is elected.
When two or more ports have the same best priority, the VDC system MAC is used to determine
which vPC is used. Then within a non-vPC switch or the elected vPC switch, the smallest of
the ethernet port names is used.
When the delayed LACP feature is configured and made effective with a port channel flap, the
delayed LACP port operates as a member of a regular port channel, allowing data to be
exchanged between the server and switch. After receiving the first LACP PDU, the delayed
LACP port transitions from a regular port member to a LACP port member.
Note The election of the delayed LACP port is not complete or effective until the port
channel flaps on the switch or at a remote server.

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Configuring Port Channel Hash Distribution

The following example configures delayed LACP.

switch# config terminal

switch(config)# interface po 1
switch(config-if)# lacp mode delay

switch# config terminal

switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/1
switch(config-if)# lacp port-priority 1
switch(config-if)# channel-group 1 mode active

The following example disables delayed LACP.

switch# config terminal

switch(config)# interface po 1
switch(config-if)# no lacp mode delay

Configuring Port Channel Hash Distribution

Cisco NX-OS supports the adaptive and fixed hash distribution configuration for both global and port-channel
levels. This option minimizes traffic disruption by minimizing Result Bundle Hash (RBH) distribution changes
when members come up or go down so that flows that are mapped to unchange RBH values continue to flow
through the same links. The port-channel level configuration overrules the global configuration. The default
configuration is adaptive globally, and there is no configuration for each port channel, so there is no change
during an ISSU. No ports are flapped when the command is applied, and the configuration takes effect at the
next member link change event. Both modes work with RBH module or non-module schemes.
During an ISSD to a lower version that does not support this feature, you must disable this feature if the fixed
mode command is being used globally or if there is a port-channel level configuration.

Configuring Port Channel Hash Distribution at the Global Level

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. no port-channel hash-distribution {adaptive | fixed}
3. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 no port-channel hash-distribution {adaptive | fixed} Specifies the port-channel hash distribution at the global level.

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Command or Action Purpose

The default is adaptive mode.
Example: The command does not take effect until the next member link
switch(config)# port-channel hash-distribution event (link down/up/no shutdown/shutdown). (Do you still
adaptive
switch(config)# want to continue(y/n)? [yes])

Step 3 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to configure hash distribution at the global level:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)# no port-channel hash-distribution fixed

Configuring Port Channel Hash Distribution at the Port Channel Level

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal
2. interface port-channel {channel-number | range}
3. no port-channel port hash-distribution {adaptive | fixed}
4. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#

Step 2 interface port-channel {channel-number | range} Specifies the interface to configure, and enters the interface
configuration mode.
Example:
switch# interface port-channel 4
switch(config-if)#

Step 3 no port-channel port hash-distribution {adaptive | Specifies the port-channel hash distribution at the port
fixed} channel level.

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Command or Action Purpose

There is no default.
Example: The command does not take effect until the next member
switch(config-if)# port-channel port link event (link down/up/no shutdown/shutdown). (Do you
hash-distribution adaptive
switch(config-if) still want to continue(y/n)? [yes])

Step 4 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Copies the running configuration to the startup
configuration.
Example:
switch(config)# copy running-config
startup-config

This example shows how to configure hash distribution as a global-level command:

switch# configure terminal
switch(config)# no port-channel hash-distribution fixed

Verifying the Port-Channel Configuration

To display port-channel configuration information, perform one of the following tasks:

Command Purpose
show interface port-channel channel-number Displays the status of a port-channel interface.

show feature Displays enabled features.

load- interval {interval seconds {1 | 2 | 3}} Sets three different sampling intervals to bit-rate and
packet-rate statistics.

show port-channel compatibility-parameters Displays the parameters that must be the same among
the member ports in order to join a port channel.

show port-channel database [interface Displays the aggregation state for one or more
port-channel channel-number] port-channel interfaces.

show port-channel load-balance Displays the type of load balancing in use for port
channels.

show port-channel summary Displays a summary for the port-channel interfaces.

show port-channel traffic Displays the traffic statistics for port channels.

show port-channel usage Displays the range of used and unused channel
numbers.

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Command Purpose
show lacp {counters [interface port-channel Displays information about LACP.
channel-number] | [interface type/slot] | neighbor
[interface port-channel channel-number] |
port-channel [interface port-channel
channel-number] | system-identifier]]}

show running-config interface port-channel Displays information about the running configuration
channel-number of the port-channel.

Monitoring the Port-Channel Interface Configuration

Use the following commands to display port-channel interface configuration information.

Command Purpose
clear counters interface port-channel Clears the counters.
channel-number

clear lacp counters [interface port-channel Clears the LACP counters.

channel-number]

load- interval {interval seconds {1 | 2 | 3}} Sets three different sampling intervals to bit-rate and
packet-rate statistics.

show interface counters [module module] Displays input and output octets unicast packets,
multicast packets, and broadcast packets.

show interface counters detailed [all] Displays input packets, bytes, and multicast and
output packets and bytes.

show interface counters errors [module module] Displays information about the number of error
packets.

show lacp counters Displays statistics for LACP.

Example Configurations for Port Channels

This example shows how to create an LACP port channel and add two Layer 2 interfaces to that port channel:

switch# configure terminal

switch (config)# feature lacp
switch (config)# interface port-channel 5
switch (config-if)# interface ethernet 1/4
switch(config-if)# switchport
switch(config-if)# channel-group 5 mode active
switch(config-if)# lacp port priority 40000

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Related Documents

switch(config-if)# interface ethernet 1/7

switch(config-if)# switchport
switch(config-if)# channel-group 5 mode

This example shows how to add two Layer 3 interfaces to a channel group. The Cisco NX-OS software
automatically creates the port channel:

switch# configure terminal

switch (config)# interface ethernet 1/5
switch(config-if)# no switchport
switch(config-if)# no ip address
switch(config-if)# channel-group 6 mode active
switch (config)# interface ethernet 2/5
switch(config-if)# no switchport
switch(config-if)# no ip address
switch(config-if)# channel-group 6 mode active
switch (config)# interface port-channel 6
switch(config-if)# ip address 192.0.2.1/8

Related Documents
Related Topic Document Title
System management Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS System Management
Configuration Guide

High availability Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS High Availability

and Redundancy Guide

Licensing Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide

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Related Documents

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