Configuring Etherchannels: Understanding How Etherchannels Work
Configuring Etherchannels: Understanding How Etherchannels Work
12
Configuring EtherChannels
This chapter describes how to configure EtherChannels on the Cisco 7600 series router Layer 2 or
Layer 3 LAN ports.
Note
For complete syntax and usage information for the commands used in this chapter, refer to the
Cisco 7600 Series Routers Command References at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps368/prod_command_reference_list.html
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Note
The network device to which a Cisco 7600 series router is connected may impose its own limits on the
number of ports in an EtherChannel.
If a segment within an EtherChannel fails, traffic previously carried over the failed link switches to the
remaining segments within the EtherChannel. When a failure occurs, the EtherChannel feature sends a
trap that identifies the router, the EtherChannel, and the failed link. Inbound broadcast and multicast
packets on one segment in an EtherChannel are blocked from returning on any other segment of the
EtherChannel.
EtherChannel Modes
Mode
Description
on
Mode that forces the LAN port to channel unconditionally. In the on mode, a usable
EtherChannel exists only when a LAN port group in the on mode is connected to another
LAN port group in the on mode. Because ports configured in the on mode do not negotiate,
there is no negotiation traffic between the ports. You cannot configure the on mode with
an EtherChannel protocol.
auto
(Default for PAgP) PAgP mode that places a LAN port into a passive negotiating state, in
which the port responds to PAgP packets it receives but does not initiate PAgP negotiation.
desirable
PAgP mode that places a LAN port into an active negotiating state, in which the port
initiates negotiations with other LAN ports by sending PAgP packets.
passive
(Default for LACP) LACP mode that places a port into a passive negotiating state, in which
the port responds to LACP packets 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.
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Understanding How EtherChannels Work
A LAN port in desirable mode can form an EtherChannel successfully with another LAN port that
is in desirable mode.
A LAN port in desirable mode can form an EtherChannel with another LAN port in auto mode.
A LAN port in auto mode cannot form an EtherChannel with another LAN port that is also in auto
mode, because neither port will initiate negotiation.
Router A
Router B
Result
auto mode
auto mode
auto mode
desirable mode
desirable mode
auto mode
desirable mode
desirable mode
A LAN port in active mode can form an EtherChannel successfully with another LAN port that is
in active mode.
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A LAN port in active mode can form an EtherChannel with another LAN port in passive mode.
A LAN port in passive mode cannot form an EtherChannel with another LAN port that is also in
passive mode, because neither port will initiate negotiation.
Router A
Router B
Result
passive mode
passive mode
passive mode
active mode
active mode
passive mode
active mode
active mode
LACP system priorityYou must configure an LACP system priority on each router running LACP.
The system priority can be configured automatically or through the command line interface (CLI)
(see the Configuring the LACP System Priority and System ID section on page 12-10). LACP uses
the system priority with the router MAC address to form the system ID and also during negotiation
with other systems.
Note
LACP port priorityYou must configure an LACP port priority on each port configured to use
LACP. The port priority can be configured automatically or through the CLI (see the Configuring
Channel Groups section on page 12-8). 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 hardware limitation that prevents all compatible ports from aggregating.
Note
The LACP system ID is the combination of the LACP system priority value and the MAC
address of the router.
Port priority is only effective when it is configured on a device with an LACP system priority
higher than the peer.
LACP administrative keyLACP automatically configures an administrative key value equal to the
channel group identification number on each port configured to use LACP. The administrative key
defines the ability of a port to aggregate with other ports. A ports ability to aggregate with other
ports is determined by these factors:
Port physical characteristics, such as data rate, duplex capability, and point-to-point or shared
medium
Configuration restrictions that you establish
On ports configured to use LACP, LACP tries to configure the maximum number of compatible ports in
an EtherChannel, up to the maximum allowed by the hardware (eight ports). If LACP cannot aggregate
all the ports that are compatible (for example, the remote system might have more restrictive hardware
limitations), then all the ports that cannot be actively included in the channel are put in hot standby state
and are used only if one of the channeled ports fails. You can configure an additional 8 standby ports
(total of 16 ports associated with the EtherChannel).
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EtherChannel Feature Configuration Guidelines and Restrictions
The commands in this chapter can be used on all LAN ports in Cisco 7600 series routers, including
the ports on the supervisor engine and a redundant supervisor engine.
The WS-X6548-GE-TX and WS-X6548V-GE-TX switching modules support more than 1 Gbps of
traffic per EtherChannel.
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The WS-X6148-GE-TX and WS-X6148V-GE-TX switching modules do not support more than
1 Gbps of traffic per EtherChannel.
When you add a member port that does not support Inter-Switch Link Protocol (ISL) trunking to an
EtherChannel, Cisco IOS software automatically adds a switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
command to the port-channel interface to prevent configuration of the EtherChannel as an ISL trunk.
The switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q command is inactive when the EtherChannel is not a
trunk.
All Ethernet LAN ports on all modules, including those on a redundant supervisor engine, support
EtherChannels (maximum of eight LAN ports) with no requirement that the LAN ports be physically
contiguous or on the same module.
Configure all LAN ports in an EtherChannel to use the same EtherChannel protocol; you cannot run
two EtherChannel protocols in one EtherChannel.
Configure all LAN ports in an EtherChannel to operate at the same speed and in the same duplex
mode.
LACP does not support half-duplex. Half-duplex ports in an LACP EtherChannel are put in the
suspended state.
Enable all LAN ports in an EtherChannel. If you shut down a LAN port in an EtherChannel, it is
treated as a link failure and its traffic is transferred to one of the remaining ports in the
EtherChannel.
An EtherChannel will not form if one of the LAN ports is a Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN)
destination port.
For Layer 3 EtherChannels, assign Layer 3 addresses to the port channel logical interface, not to the
LAN ports in the channel.
same on all the trunks. LAN ports in an EtherChannel with different trunk modes can operate
unpredictably.
An EtherChannel supports the same allowed range of VLANs on all the LAN ports in a trunking
Layer 2 EtherChannel. If the allowed range of VLANs is not the same, the LAN ports do not
form an EtherChannel.
LAN ports with different STP port path costs can form an EtherChannel as long they are
compatibly configured with each other. If you set different STP port path costs, the LAN ports
are still compatible for the formation of an EtherChannel.
An EtherChannel will not form if protocol filtering is set differently on the LAN ports.
You can configure a maximum of 256 port-channel interfaces, numbered from 1 to 256.
After you configure an EtherChannel, the configuration that you apply to the port-channel interface
affects the EtherChannel. The configuration that you apply to the LAN ports affects only those LAN
ports to which you apply the configuration.
When quality of service (QoS) is enabled, enter the no mls qos channel-consistency port-channel
interface command to support EtherChannels that have ports with and without strict-priority queues.
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Configuring EtherChannels
Note
Configure the ports from the card that belong to different family when mls qos
channel-consistency command is disabled. This condition works only when the QoS is not
applied on any of the targets configured on the port-channel and on the member-links of the
port-channel.
ES20 and ES+ cross-bundling is not supported and any LAN card and ES20/ES+ cross-bundling is
also not supported.
Configuring EtherChannels
These sections describe how to configure EtherChannels:
Note
Configuring the LACP System Priority and System ID, page 12-10
Make sure that the LAN ports are configured correctly (see the EtherChannel Feature Configuration
Guidelines and Restrictions section on page 12-5).
When configuring Layer 2 EtherChannels, you cannot put Layer 2 LAN ports into manually created
port-channel logical interfaces. If you are configuring a Layer 2 EtherChannel, do not perform the
procedures in this section (see the Configuring Channel Groups section on page 12-8).
When configuring Layer 3 EtherChannels, you must manually create the port-channel logical
interface as described in this section, and then put the Layer 3 LAN ports into the channel group (see
the Configuring Channel Groups section on page 12-8).
To move an IP address from a Layer 3 LAN port to an EtherChannel, you must delete the IP address
from the Layer 3 LAN port before configuring it on the port-channel logical interface.
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Configuring EtherChannels
To create a port-channel interface for a Layer 3 EtherChannel, perform this task in interface
configuration mode:
Command
Purpose
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Router(config-if)# end
Step 4
When configuring Layer 3 EtherChannels, you must manually create the port-channel logical
interface first (see the Configuring Port-Channel Logical Interfaces for Layer 3 EtherChannels
section on page 12-7), and then put the Layer 3 LAN ports into the channel group as described in
this section.
When configuring Layer 2 EtherChannels, configure the LAN ports with the channel-group
command as described in this section, which automatically creates the port-channel logical
interface. You cannot put Layer 2 LAN ports into a manually created port-channel interface.
For Cisco IOS to create port-channel interfaces for Layer 2 EtherChannels, the Layer 2 LAN ports
must be connected and functioning.
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Configuring EtherChannels
To configure channel groups, perform this task for each LAN port in interface configuration mode:
Command
Purpose
Step 1
Step 2
Router(config-if)# no ip address
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Router(config-if)# end
Step 7
This example shows how to configure Fast Ethernet ports 5/6 and 5/7 into port channel 2 with PAgP
mode desirable:
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# interface range fastethernet 5/6 -7
Router(config-if)# channel-group 2 mode desirable
Router(config-if)# end
Note
See the Configuring a Range of Interfaces section on page 8-3 for information about the range
keyword.
This example shows how to verify the configuration of port-channel interface 2:
Router# show running-config interface port-channel 2
Building configuration...
Current configuration:
!
interface Port-channel2
no ip address
switchport
switchport access vlan 10
switchport mode access
end
Router#
This example shows how to verify the configuration of Fast Ethernet port 5/6:
Router# show running-config interface fastethernet 5/6
Building configuration...
Current configuration:
!
interface FastEthernet5/6
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no ip address
switchport
switchport access vlan 10
switchport mode access
channel-group 2 mode desirable
end
Router# show interfaces fastethernet 5/6 etherchannel
Port state
= Down Not-in-Bndl
Channel group = 12
Mode = Desirable-Sl
Gcchange = 0
Port-channel = null
GC
= 0x00000000
Pseudo port-channel = Po1
2
Port index
= 0
Load = 0x00
Protocol =
PAgP
Flags:
S
A
d
Timers: H
S
Local information:
Port
Fa5/2
Flags State
d
U1/S1
Timers
Hello
Partner PAgP
Interval Count
Priority
1s
0
128
Learning Group
Method Ifindex Interface
Any
0 5/2
This example shows how to verify the configuration of port-channel interface 2 after the LAN ports have
been configured:
Router# show etherchannel 12 port-channel
Port-channels in the group:
---------------------Port-channel: Po12
-----------Age of the Port-channel
= 04d:18h:58m:50s
Logical slot/port
= 14/1
Number of ports = 0
GC
= 0x00000000
HotStandBy port = null
Port state
= Port-channel Ag-Not-Inuse
Protocol
=
PAgP
Router#
Purpose
Step 1
Step 2
Router(config)# end
Step 3
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The system priority is displayed first, followed by the MAC address of the router.
Step 1
Command
Purpose
dst-ipDestination IP addresses
src-ipSource IP addresses
Step 2
Router(config)# end
Step 3
This example shows how to configure EtherChannel to use source and destination IP addresses:
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# port-channel load-balance src-dst-ip
Router(config)# end
Router(config)#
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Configuring EtherChannels
Purpose
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Router(config-if)# end
Step 4
Note
Although the EtherChannel Min-Links feature works correctly when configured only on one end of an
EtherChannel, for best results, configure the same number of minimum links on both ends of the
EtherChannel.
This example shows how to configure port-channel interface 1 to be inactive if fewer than 2 member
ports are active in the EtherChannel:
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# interface port-channel 1
Router(config-if)# port-channel min-links 2
Router(config-if)# end
Purpose
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
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Command
Purpose
Step 4
Router(config-if)# end
Step 5
Note
For the LACP 1:1 redundancy feature to work correctly, especially the fast switchover capability, the
feature needs to be enabled at both ends of the EtherChannel.
This example shows how to configure an LACP EtherChannel with 1:1 redundancy. Because Fast
Ethernet port 5/6 is configured with a higher port priority number (and therefore a lower priority) than
the default of 32768, it will be the standby port.
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# lacp system-priority 33000
Router(config)# interface range fastethernet 5/6 -7
Router(config-if)# channel-protocol lacp
Router(config-if)# channel-group 1 mode active
Router(config)# interface fastethernet 5/6
Router(config-if)# lacp port-priority 33000
Router(config)# interface port-channel 1
Router(config-if)# lacp fast-switchover
Router(config-if)# lacp max-bundle 1
Router(config-if)# end
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