VSX Profile

The Virtual Switch Extension (VSX) is a virtualization technology for aggregation and core switches running the AOS-CX operating system. VSX virtualizes the control plane of two aggregation switches to function as a single device at layer-2 and as independent devices at layer-3.

Note:

  • Classic Central does not provide a UI-based configuration for VSX configuration.

  • Use the HPE Aruba Networking Central UI to configure VSX profiles for all AOS-CX switches except AOS-CX 6300 switches.

Prerequisites

Ensure that the following prerequisites are complete:

  1. Your target switches support VSX stacking. Supported model series are: AOS-CX 5420, AOS-CX 6400, AOS-CX 8100, AOS-CX 8320, AOS-CX 8325, AOS-CX 8325H, AOS-CX 8325P, AOS-CX 8360, AOS-CX 8400, AOS-CX 9300, AOS-CX 9300S, AOS-CX 10000.

  2. Add the device to the device inventory and ensure that connectivity is established between the device and HPE Aruba Networking Central. For more information, see Onboarding Workflow and Onboarding Workflow.

  3. Assign the device to a site. If a site is unavailable, create a site. For more information, see Creating a Site.

  4. Assign a device function and site to the device. For more information, see Assigning a Device Function to a Device.

  5. Move the device to the applicable HPE Aruba Networking Central group. For more information, see Adding a Group and Assign Devices to Groups in the HPE Aruba Networking Classic Central User Guide or the HPE Aruba Networking Classic Central Online Help.

  6. Ensure that the device configuration is in the Synchronized state. For more information, see Configuration Synchronization States.

VSX Profile Formation

The VSX cluster formation involves the following procedures:

  1. Creation of a VLAN profile at the site level. For more information, see VLAN Profile.

    Note: Ensure you configure Active Forwarding or Active Gateway parameters on the VLAN profile if required. Alternatively, if you want to set up Active Forwarding or Active Gateway at the device scope, use an alias. For more information, see Creating a VSX pair.

  2. Configuration of a VSX profile. For more information, see Configuring a VSX Profile.

  3. Creation of a Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation (MCLAG) interface at the device level using a System Interface Configuration profile. For more information, see Creating a MCLAG Interface at the Device Level.

Configuring a VSX Profile

To create a Virtual Switch Extension (VSX) profile, complete the following steps:

  1. In the HPE Aruba Networking Central landing page, click the configurationicon.
    The Profiles tab is displayed.

  2. In the left navigation menu, select one of the following options:

    • Sites—If you create profiles at the Site level, then the profiles have site scope assigned by default.

      Note:

      Profiles must be created at the Site level if creating a VSX pair.

    • Device Groups—If you create profiles at the Device Group level, then the profiles have device group scope assigned by default.

  3. Select the required site or device group from the list.

    The Profiles Management view for the selected site is displayed.

  4. Select the applicable switch device function from the Device Function drop-down menu.

  5. On the High Availability card, click VSX.

    Alternatively, you can complete the following steps:

    1. On the High Availability card, click Manage.

    2. On the VSX card, click Manage.

    The VSX list view is displayed.

  6. Click Create VSX.

    The Create Profile UI is displayed.

  7. Enter the following parameters:

    1. Configure the following Device & Role Selection parameters:

      • Name—Enter the profile name.

      • Description (Optional)—Enter a description.

      • Role Selection—Set the role either to Manual or Auto.

        Note:

        • By default, when Auto is selected, the Peer 1 Role and Peer 2 Role fields are set to Primary and Secondary respectively.

        • To change the Peer roles, set the Role Selection to Manual.

      • Peer 1 Select Device—Select the Peer 1 device from the drop-down menu. This field is mandatory before advancing to Inter-switch Links (ISL) or Keepalive.

      • Peer 1 Role—Set the Peer 1 device role as Primary.

      • Peer 2 Select Device—Select the Peer 2 device from the drop-down menu. This field is mandatory before advancing to Inter-switch Links (ISL) or Keepalive.

      • Peer 2 Role—Set the Peer 2 device role as Secondary.

    2. Configure the following System parameters:

      • System MAC—Enter the system MAC address to be used for the VSX cluster for MSTP and LACP functions. This is a user-defined field. See the AOS-CX documentation for recommended formats.

      • Link Up Delay Timer—Click and drag the slider to the required duration.

      • Reset above timers to default—Select the Reset timers to default checkbox to reset the timer values, if necessary.

      • Split Recovery—Enable Split Recovery to prevent traffic loss when the ISL goes out-of-sync and keepalive subsequently fails. When the ISL goes out-of-sync and keepalive is established, the secondary VSX LAGs are brought down. This field is enabled by default.

    3. Configure the following Inter-switch Link parameters:

      • In the Peer 1 and Peer 2 sections, select the intended physical interface or LAG from the ISL Link drop-down menus. If a new LAG needs to be created, click the Create New LAG link in the drop-down menus and enter the following parameters:

        • LAG ID—Enter the LAG interface ID.

        • Description—Enter the description for LAG interface.

        • LAG Type—Set the type as LAG.

        • LACP—Select the check box.

        • LACP Mode—Select Active from the drop-down list.

        • VLAN Mode—Set the VLAN mode to Trunk.

        Click Add.
        A new LAG is created and made available in the Peer 1 and Peer 2 drop-down menus in the VSX UI.

      • ISL Hello-Interval—click and drag the knob to the required duration.

      • ISL Peer Detect Interval—click and drag the knob to the required duration.

      • ISL Hold Timer—click and drag the knob to the required duration.

      • ISL Dead Timer—click and drag the knob to the required duration.

      • Reset above timers to default—Select the Reset timers to default checkbox.

    4. Configure the following Keepalive parameters:

      • Keepalive—Set the Keepalive type to Dedicated Peer-to-Peer, Upstream Routing, or Management Interface.

        • Select Dedicated Peer-to-Peer to use an ROP interface for keepalive.

        • Select Upstream routing to use a loopback address for keepalive.

        • Select Management Interface to use an out-of-band management interface for keepalive. When management interface is selected, the VRF profile field is set to mgmt by default.

      • Configure the following Keepalive Timer parameters:

        • Hello-Interval—click and drag the knob to the required duration.

        • Dead-Interval—click and drag the knob to the required duration.

        • Reset above timers to default—Enable the checkbox to revert the interval time pickers to default.

        • UDP port—Select the UDP port used by keepalive.

        • IP Address Family—Select whether the keepalive peers use IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.

      • Configure the following Peer 1 Keepalive and Peer 2 Keepalive parameters:

        • Device Selection and Role assignment—Choose the routed interface IP:

          • New Routed Interface IP—Create a new routed interface IP on an unused interface.

          • Existing Routed Interface IP—Assign an existing routed interface IP on a configured interface.

        • VRF Profile—Select a dedicated VRF profile for the Keepalive from the drop-down menu, under the Peer 1 Keepalive and Peer 2 Keepalive sections. By default, a VRF Profile called default is available.

          If there is no VRF profile available, create a new VRF profile as follows:

          1. In the VRF Profile drop-down menu, click New VRF Profile.

            The Create VRF UI is displayed.

          2. Create as a local profile—Select this checkbox if you want to configure this profile as local.

            Note:

            The Create as a local profile checkbox is available at the Global, Site Collections, Sites, Devices, and Device Groups levels. It is not available at the Library level.

          3. Name—Enter the profile name.

          4. (Optional) Description—Enter the profile description.

          5. Click Add.

            A new VRF profile is created and made available in the VRF drop-down in the VSX profile UI.

  8. Click Add.

    Note:

    It may take a few minutes for the VSX configuration to process.

  9. To confirm that the VSX creation is successful, select the hamburger icon and click on the Audit Trail card.

  10. Search for the VSX profile you created.

  11. Once created, the description will read Configuration Successfully Pushed to the Device.

Creating a MCLAG Interface at the Device Level

To create a Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation (MCLAG) interface at the device level using a System Interface Configuration profile, complete the following steps:

  1. In the HPE Aruba Networking Central landing page, click the configurationicon.
    The Profiles tab is displayed.

  2. In the left navigation menu, select Devices.

    The device list view is displayed.

  3. Select a device from which you want to create a MCLAG interface using a System Interface Configuration profile.

    The Profiles Management page is displayed.

  4. On the Interface card, click Switch Interface Configuration.

    Alternatively, you can complete the following steps:

    1. On the Interface card, click Manage.

    2. On the Switch Interface Configuration card, click Manage.

    The Switch Interface Configuration list view is displayed.

  5. Select the LAGs tab and click the Create LAG button.

  6. Click the add icon to select the ports for the LAG. LAGs support a maximum of 16 ports.

  7. Configure the following mandatory LAG interface parameters:

    • LAG ID—Enter the LAG interface ID (1-480).

    • Description—Enter the description for LAG interface.

    • Type—Set the type as MCLAG.

    • LACP—Enable the LACP checkbox. When the LACP is operating in active mode on either end of a link, both ports can send PDUs. The active LACP initiates an LACP connection by sending LACPDUs. The passive LACP will wait for the remote end to initiate the link.

      • Rate—Set the rate to Fast or Slow. This value determines the LACP heartbeat request time. Fast sets the heartbeat request to every second, and the timeout period is a three-consecutive heartbeat loss that is 3 seconds. Slow sets the heartbeat request to every 30 seconds. The timeout period is three-consecutive heartbeat loss that is 90 seconds. By default, this value is set to Slow.

      • LACP fallback—Enable the LACP fallback checkbox. When no LACP partner is detected, the VSX LAG port makes members of the VSX LAG function as non-bonded interfaces.

    • VLAN Mode—Set the VLAN mode to Trunk to facilitate the transfer of multiple VLAN traffic streams across switches.

    • IP Client Tracker—Set the IP Client Tracker to Auto when creating a LAG for use as an Inter-Switch Link (ISL) between VSX peers.

    For information on the optional fields when creating a LAG interface, see Configuring LAG.

  8. Click Create.

Profile Mapping for pre-created VSX pairs

You can map interface profiles with regular port profiles, LAG port profiles, or MCLAG port profiles. Complete the following steps to assign an interface profile:

  1. On the left-hand panel, select Library.

  2. Go to the interface card and select Interface Profile.

  3. In the search bar, enter the name of the profile you want to map, and hit enter.

  4. Locate your profile within the results list.

  5. Within that row, hover over the assigned Scope and click on the ellipses to open the two configuration options: Assign and Unassign.

  6. Click Assign.

  7. Select the Device Function.

  8. Select a Scope Level from the drop-down menu.

  9. Click Add.

  10. Click Assign.

  11. Open your profile once more and scroll down to locate the Uplink Port Profile and Downlink Port Profile sections. Use these sections to configure the ports.

  12. Click Update.

  13. Go to the profile you want to map to and go through the same steps to assign a Scope and port profiles, making sure both match the first profile setup.

  14. To confirm that the mapping was successful, go to Devices and select a device profile.

  15. In Profiles Management, locate the Interfaces card and select Switch Interface Configuration.

  16. Make sure the Ports tab is selected, and search for the newly assigned ports.