HP 10500 series User manual

HP 10500 Switch Series
IRF
Configuration Guide
Part number: 5998-5224
Software version: Release 2111P01 and later
Document version: 6W101-20140331

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Contents
IRF overview ································································································································································· 1
Hardware compatibility····················································································································································1
IRF benefits·········································································································································································1
Application scenario·························································································································································1
Network topologies ··························································································································································2
Basic concepts···································································································································································2
Operating mode·······················································································································································3
IRF member roles ······················································································································································3
IRF member ID···························································································································································4
MPU roles··································································································································································4
IRF port ······································································································································································4
IRF physical port ·······················································································································································5
IRF domain ID ···························································································································································5
IRF split ······································································································································································5
IRF merge ··································································································································································6
Member priority························································································································································6
Master election··································································································································································6
IRF multi-active detection ··················································································································································7
Multi-active handling procedure ·····························································································································7
LACP MAD ································································································································································8
BFD MAD ··································································································································································9
Configuring IRF···························································································································································11
General restrictions and configuration guidelines······································································································ 11
Software requirements ·········································································································································· 11
IRF size ··································································································································································· 11
IRF physical port restrictions································································································································· 11
IRF link and MPU redundancy ····························································································································· 12
Multichassis link aggregation ······························································································································ 13
Feature and IRF mode compatibility···················································································································· 13
MAD and IRF domain restrictions························································································································ 13
MDC and IRF merge restrictions·························································································································· 13
Other configuration guidelines ···························································································································· 13
Setup and configuration task list ·································································································································· 14
Planning the IRF fabric setup········································································································································· 14
Preconfiguring IRF member devices in standalone mode ·························································································· 15
Assigning a member ID to each IRF member device························································································· 15
Specifying a priority for each member device··································································································· 15
Binding physical ports to IRF ports ······················································································································ 16
Saving configuration to the next-startup configuration file ························································································ 16
Connecting physical IRF ports······································································································································· 17
Setting the operating mode to IRF mode ····················································································································· 17
Accessing the IRF fabric ················································································································································ 18
Configuring IRF member devices in IRF mode ············································································································ 18
Assigning an IRF domain ID to the IRF fabric····································································································· 18
Changing the member ID of a device················································································································· 20
Changing the priority of a member device ········································································································ 20
Adding physical ports to an IRF port··················································································································· 21
Enabling IRF auto merge ······································································································································ 22

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Configuring a member device description ········································································································· 22
Configuring IRF link load sharing mode ············································································································· 23
Configuring IRF bridge MAC persistence··········································································································· 24
Enabling software auto-update for system software image synchronization ·················································· 25
Setting the IRF link down report delay ················································································································ 26
Configuring MAD·················································································································································· 26
Displaying and maintaining an IRF fabric··················································································································· 32
Configuration examples ················································································································································ 32
LACP MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a two-chassis IRF fabric·················································· 32
BFD MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a two-chassis IRF fabric···················································· 35
Configuration example for restoring standalone mode ···················································································· 38
Four-chassis IRF fabric configuration example ··································································································· 40
Support and other resources ·····································································································································45
Contacting HP ································································································································································ 45
Subscription service ·············································································································································· 45
Related information························································································································································ 45
Documents······························································································································································ 45
Websites································································································································································· 45
Conventions ···································································································································································· 46
Index ···········································································································································································48

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IRF overview
The HP Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) technology creates a large IRF fabric from multiple devices to
provide data center class availability and scalability. IRF virtualization technology offers processing
power, interaction, unified management, and uninterrupted maintenance of multiple devices.
This book describes IRF concepts and guides you through the IRF setup procedure.
Hardware compatibility
An HP 10500 switch can form an IRF fabric only with devices in the same series.
Three- or four-chassis 10500 IRF fabrics do not support OAA cards.
IRF benefits
IRF provides the following benefits:
•Simplified topology and easy management—An IRF fabric appears as one node and is accessible
at a single IP address on the network. You can use this IP address to log in at any member device
to manage all the members of the IRF fabric. In addition, you do not need to run the spanning tree
feature among the IRF members.
•1:N redundancy—In an IRF fabric, one member works as the master to manage and control the
entire IRF fabric, and all other members process services while backing up the master. When the
master fails, all the other member devices elect a new master from among them to take over without
interrupting services.
•IRF link aggregation—You can assign several physical links between neighboring members to their
IRF ports to create a load-balanced aggregate IRF connection with redundancy.
•Multiple-chassis link aggregation—You can use the Ethernet link aggregation feature to aggregate
the physical links between the IRF fabric and its upstream or downstream devices across the IRF
members.
•Network scalability and resiliency—Processing capacity of an IRF fabric equals the total
processing capacities of all the members. You can increase ports, network bandwidth, and
processing capacity of an IRF fabric simply by adding member devices without changing the
network topology.
Application scenario
Figure 1 shows an IRF fabric that has two devices, which appear as a single node to the upper and lower
layer devices.

2
Figure 1 IRF application scenario
Network topologies
An IRF fabric can use a daisy-chain or ring topology. IRF does not support the full mesh topology. For
information about connecting IRF member devices, see "Connecting physical IRF ports."
Basic concepts
This section uses Figure 2 to describe the basic concepts that you might encounter when you work with
IRF.

3
Figure 2 Two-chassis IRF fabric implementation schematic diagram
In this figure, Device A and Device B form a two-chassis IRF fabric that has four MPUs (one active and
three standbys) and two times the number of interface cards that a single device provides. The IRF fabric
manages the physical and software resources of Device A and Device B in a centralized manner.
Operating mode
The device operates in one of the following modes:
•Standalone mode—The device cannot form an IRF fabric with other devices.
•IRF mode—The device can form an IRF fabric with other devices.
IRF member roles
IRF uses two member roles: master and standby (called "subordinate" throughout the documentation).
When devices form an IRF fabric, they elect a master to manage the IRF fabric, and all other devices back
up the master. When the master device fails, the other devices elect a new master automatically. For more
information about master election, see "Master election."

4
IRF member ID
An IRF fabric uses member IDs to uniquely identify and manage its members. If two devices have the
same IRF member ID, they cannot form an IRF fabric. If the IRF member ID of a device has been used in
an IRF fabric, the device cannot join the fabric.
Member ID information is included as the first part of interface numbers and file paths to uniquely
identify interfaces and files in an IRF fabric. For example, after you assign a device with member ID 2 to
an IRF fabric, the name of interface Ten-GigabitEthernet 3/0/1 changes to Ten-GigabitEthernet
2/3/0/1, and the file path slot1#flash:/test.cfg changes to chassis1#slot1#flash:/test.cfg.
MPU roles
Each IRF member device has one or two MPUs, which play different roles, as follows:
Role Descri
p
tion
Master MPU Active MPU of the master device. It is also called the "global active MPU." You
configure and manage the entire IRF fabric at the CLI of the global active MPU.
Active MPU
Active MPU on each member device. An active MPU has the following
responsibilities:
•Manages the local device, including synchronizing configuration with the
local standby MPU, processing protocol packets, and creating and
maintaining route entries.
•Handles IRF related events, such as master election and topology collection.
Standby MPU
For the master MPU, all other MPUs, including active MPUs on subordinate
devices, are standby MPUs.
If a member device has two MPUs, the one backing up the local active MPU is
the local standby MPU from the perspective of the member device.
IRF port
An IRF port is a logical interface for the connection between IRF member devices. Every IRF-capable
device supports two IRF ports.
In standalone mode, the IRF ports are named IRF-port 1 and IRF-port 2.
In IRF mode, the IRF ports are named IRF-port n/1 and IRF-port n/2, where nis the member ID of the
device. The two IRF ports are referred to as "IRF-port 1" and "IRF-port 2" in this book for simplicity.
To use an IRF port, you must bind at least one physical port to it. The physical ports assigned to an IRF
port form an aggregate IRF link automatically. An IRF port goes down only if all its physical IRF ports are
down.
For two neighboring devices, their IRF physical links must be bound to IRF-port 1 on one device and to
IRF-port 2 on the other.

5
IRF physical port
IRF physical ports connect IRF member devices and must be bound to an IRF port. They forward the IRF
protocol packets between IRF member devices and the data packets that must travel across IRF member
devices.
IRF domain ID
One IRF fabric forms one IRF domain. IRF uses IRF domain IDs to uniquely identify IRF fabrics and prevent
IRF fabrics from interfering with one another.
As shown in Figure 3, Device A and Device B form IRF fabric 1, and Device C and Device D form IRF
fabric 2. Both fabrics use the LACP aggregate links between them for MAD. When a member device in
one IRF fabric receives an extended LACP packet for MAD, it looks at the domain ID in the packet to see
whether the packet is from the local IRF fabric or from a different IRF fabric. Then, the device can handle
the packet correctly.
Figure 3 A network that comprises two IRF domains
IRF split
IRF split occurs when an IRF fabric breaks up into two or more IRF fabrics because of IRF link failures, as
shown in Figure 4. The split IRF fabrics operate with the same IP address and cause routing and
forwarding problems on the network. To quickly detect a multi-active collision, configure at least one
MAD mechanisms (see "IRF multi-active detection").

6
Figure 4 IRF split
IRF merge
IRF merge occurs when two split IRF fabrics reunite or when two independent IRF fabrics are united, as
shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5 IRF merge
Member priority
Member priority determines the possibility of a member device to be elected the master. A member with
higher priority is more likely to be elected the master.
The default member priority is 1. You can change the member priority of a device to affect the master
election result.
Master election
Master election is held each time the IRF fabric topology changes, for example, when the IRF fabric is
established, the master device fails or is removed, the IRF fabric splits, or IRF fabrics merge. Master
election does not occur when two split IRF fabrics merge.
Master election uses the following rules in descending order:
1. Current master, even if a new member has higher priority.
When an IRF fabric is being formed, all member devices consider themselves as the master, and
this rule is skipped.
2. Member with higher priority.
3. Member with the longest system uptime.
Two members are considered starting up at the same time if their startup time difference is equal
to or less than 10 minutes. For these members, the next tiebreaker applies.
4. Member with the lowest member ID.
The IRF fabric is formed on election of the master.
IRF link
XGE1/3/0/1 XGE2/3/0/1
Device A Device B
Device A Device B
IRF 1 IRF 2 IRF
+=

7
During an IRF merge, the devices of the IRF fabric that fails the master election must reboot to rejoin the
IRF fabric that wins the election. The reboot can be performed automatically or manually, depending on
the configuration. See "Enabling IRF auto merge."
After a master election, all subordinate devices reboot with the configuration on the master. The
configuration files of the subordinate members are still retained, but these files do not take effect in the
IRF fabric. A subordinate member reboots with its own startup configuration file only when it is converted
to the standalone mode.
IRF multi-active detection
An IRF link failure causes an IRF fabric to split in two IRF fabrics operating with the same Layer 3
configurations, including the same IP address. To avoid IP address collision and network problems, IRF
uses multi-active detection (MAD) mechanisms to detect the presence of multiple identical IRF fabrics,
handle collisions, and recover from faults.
Multi-active handling procedure
The multi-active handling procedure includes detection, collision handling, and failure recovery.
Detection
The MAD implementation of this device detects active IRF fabrics with the same Layer 3 global
configuration by extending the LACP or BFD protocol.
These MAD mechanisms identify each IRF fabric with a domain ID and an active ID (the member ID of
the master). If multiple active IDs are detected in a domain, MAD determines that an IRF collision or split
has occurred.
IMPORTANT:
LACP MAD handles collisions in a different way than BFD MAD. To avoid conflicts, do not enable LACP
MAD together with BFD MAD.
For a comparison of these MAD mechanisms, see "Configuring MAD."
Collision handling
MAD mechanisms remove multi-active collisions by setting one IRF fabric to the Detect state and other IRF
fabrics to the Recovery state. The Detect-state IRF fabric is active. The Recovery-state IRF fabric is inactive.
Only members in the Detect-state fabric can continue to forward traffic.
LACP MAD handles a multi-active collision in the following process:
1. Compares the number of members in each fabric.
2. Sets the fabric that has the most members to the Detect state and all other fabrics to the Recovery
state.
3. If all IRF fabrics have the same number of members, compares the member IDs of their masters.
4. Sets the IRF fabric that has the lowest numbered master to the Detect state and all other fabrics to
the Recovery (disabled) state.
5. Shuts down all physical network ports in the Recovery-state fabrics except their physical IRF ports
and any ports you have specified with the mad exclude interface command.

8
In contrast, BFD MAD does not compare the number of members in fabrics. BFD MAD handles a
multi-active collision in the following process:
1. Sets the IRF fabric that has the lowest numbered master to the Detect state.
2. Sets all other fabrics to the Recovery state.
3. Takes the same action on the network ports in Recovery-state fabrics as LACP MAD does.
Failure recovery
To merge two split IRF fabrics, first repair the failed IRF link and remove the IRF link failure.
If the IRF fabric in Recovery state fails before the failure is recovered, repair the failed IRF fabric and the
failed IRF link.
If the active IRF fabric fails before the failure is recovered, first enable the inactive IRF fabric to take over
the active IRF fabric and protect services from being affected. After that, recover the MAD failure.
LACP MAD
LACP MAD requires that every IRF member have a link with an intermediate device, and all these links
form a dynamic link aggregation group, as shown in Figure 6. In addition, the intermediate device must
be an HP device that supports extended LACP for MAD.
The IRF member devices send extended LACPDUs with TLVs that convey the domain ID and the active ID
of the IRF fabric. The intermediate device transparently forwards the extended LACPDUs received from
one member device to all the other member devices:
•If the domain IDs and the active IDs in the extended LACPDUs sent by all the member devices are
the same, the IRF fabric is integrated.
•If the extended LACPDUs convey the same domain ID but different active IDs, a split has occurred.
LACP MAD handles this situation as described in "Collision handling."

9
Figure 6 LACP MAD application scenario
BFD MAD
BFD MAD can work with or without intermediate devices. Figure 7 shows a typical BFD MAD application
scenario.
To use BFD MAD:
•Set up dedicated BFD MAD link between each pair of IRF members or between each IRF member
and the intermediate device. Do not use the BFD MAD links for any other purpose.
•Assign the ports connected by BFD MAD links to the same VLAN, create a VLAN interface for the
VLAN, and assign a MAD IP address to each member on the VLAN interface.
The MAD IP addresses identify the member devices and must belong to the same subnet.
With BFD MAD, the master tries to establish BFD sessions with the other member devices by using its
MAD IP address as the source IP address:
•If the IRF fabric is integrated, only the MAD IP address of the master is effective, and the master
cannot establish a BFD session with any other member. If you execute the display bfd session
command, the state of the BFD sessions is Down.
•When the IRF fabric splits, the IP addresses of the masters in the split IRF fabrics take effect, and the
two masters can establish a BFD session. If you use the display bfd session command, the state of
the BFD session between the two devices is Up.
Intermediate device
Master
IRF
Internet
Customer
premise
network
IRF link
Common traffic path
LACP MAD traffic path
LACP-enabled dynamic
link aggregation
Subordinate
LACP-enabled dynamic
link aggregation

10
Figure 7 BFD MAD application scenario
Device
Master Subordinate
IRF
Internet
Customer
premise
network
IRF link
Link aggregation
BFD MAD link
VLAN 2
192.168.1.2/24 VLAN 2
192.168.1.3/24

11
Configuring IRF
General restrictions and configuration guidelines
To ensure a successful IRF setup, read the configuration restrictions and guidelines carefully before you
connect and set up an IRF fabric.
Software requirements
All IRF member devices must run the same system software image version.
IRF size
An HP 10500 IRF fabric can have up to four chassis.
IRF physical port restrictions
You can use 10-GE or 40-GE ports for IRF connection.
Selecting transceiver modules or cables
When you select transceiver modules or cables, follow these guidelines:
•The transceiver modules at the two ends of an IRF link must be the same type.
•The module and cable type must match the port type:
Port t
yp
e Module/cable t
yp
e
10-GE Twisted-pair cable
CFP CFP transceiver module and fiber
QSFP+
•Long-distance connection—QSFP+ transceiver modules and fibers
•Short-distance connection—QSFP+ cables
SFP+
•Long-distance connection—SFP+ transceiver modules and fibers
•Short-distance connection—SFP+ cables
XFP XFP transceiver module and fiber
•When you connect CFP, XFP, or SFP+ transceiver modules, connect the transmit port of the
transceiver module at one end to the receive port of the transceiver module at the other end.
For more information about transceiver modules, see the device installation guide.
10-GE port restrictions
When you use 10-GE ports for IRF connection, follow these restrictions and guidelines:
•The 10-GE ports are grouped by port number in order, starting from 1. Each group contains four
ports. If you use one port in a group for IRF connection, you must also use all the other ports in the
group for IRF connection. However, you can bind them to different IRF ports.

12
•Before binding a 10-GE port in a port group to an IRF port or removing it from the IRF port, you must
shut down all the other 10-GE ports in the same group.
•Bring up the ports after you complete the operation.
40-GE port restrictions
When you use 40-GE port for IRF connection, follow these restrictions and guidelines:
•You can use a 40-GE port as one IRF physical port.
•You can use the using tengige command to split a 40-GE port into four 10-GE interfaces. The
following restrictions apply to these 10-GE interfaces:
{You must use all or none of the four 10-GE interfaces as IRF physical ports. The four interfaces
can be bound to different IRF ports.
{Before you bind a 10-GE interface to an IRF port or remove it from the IRF port, you must shut
down all the 10-GE interfaces of the 40-GE port. If any of the interfaces is in up state, the bind
or remove action will fail.
{Bring up the interfaces after you complete the operation.
•Complete the port split (the using tengige command) or combination (the using fortygige command)
operation before you add the device to an IRF fabric. These operations require a card reboot.
When you perform these operations in an IRF fabric, make sure you understand the impact on the
IRF fabric topology. For more information about 40-GE port split and combination operations, see
Layer 2—LAN Switching Configuration Guide.
Physical port binding mode requirements
When you bind physical ports to an IRF port, follow these restrictions:
•The binding mode of all IRF physical ports bound to an IRF port must be the same (either enhanced
or normal).
•The two ends of an IRF link must use the same binding mode.
•To use TRILL, MPLS L2VPN, or VPLS in the IRF fabric, you must configure the IRF physical ports to
operate in enhanced mode.
For more information about the binding mode, see "Binding physical ports to IRF ports" and "Adding
physical ports to an IRF port."
IRF port connecting restrictions
When you connect two neighboring IRF members, connect the physical ports of IRF-port 1 on one
member to the physical ports of IRF-port 2 on the other.
Suppose you have four chassis: A, B, C, and D. IRF-port 1 and IRF-port 2 are represented by A1 and A2
on chassis A, represented by B1 and B2 on chassis B, and so on. To connect the four chassis into a ring
topology of A-B-C-D(A), the IRF link cabling scheme must be one of the following:
•A1-B2, B1-C2, C1-D2, and D1-A2.
•A 2- B 1, B 2- C 1, C 2- D 1, a n d D 2- A 1.
IRF link and MPU redundancy
When you configure an IRF fabric, follow these redundancy guidelines:
•Make sure each member device has at least one MPU.
•For link redundancy and load sharing, bind up to eight physical ports to one IRF port.

13
•Physical ports bound to an IRF port can be located on different cards.
•HP recommends using multicard IRF links to prevent a card removal from causing an IRF split.
Multichassis link aggregation
For high availability, connect a downstream device to each IRF member device, and assign the links to
one link aggregation group.
Feature and IRF mode compatibility
To form an IRF fabric:
•All member devices in the IRF fabric must work in the same system operating mode. For more
information about the system operating mode, see Fundamentals Configuration Guide.
•All member devices in the IRF fabric must have the same setting for the maximum number of ECMP
routes. For more information about configuring ECMP, see Layer 3—IP Routing Configuration
Guide.
MAD and IRF domain restrictions
When you configure an IRF fabric, follow these MAD and IRF domain restrictions and guidelines:
•If LACP MAD runs between two IRF fabrics, assign each fabric a unique IRF domain ID. (For BFD
MAD, this task is optional.)
•An IRF fabric has only one IRF domain ID.
{You can change the IRF domain ID by using the irf domain or mad enable command. The IRF
domain IDs configured with these commands overwrite each other.
{In an MDC environment, if you change the IRF domain ID in one MDC, the IRF domain IDs in
all other MDCs change automatically. The irf domain command is available only on the default
MDC. The mad enable command is available on any MDCs.
•LACP MAD handles collisions in a different way than BFD MAD. To avoid conflicts, do not enable
LACP MAD together with BFD MAD in an IRF fabric.
•To exclude a port from the shutdown action that is executed when an IRF fabric transits to the
Recovery state, use the mad exclude interface command. To bring up a port after the IRF fabric
transits to the Recovery state, you must use the mad restore command to activate the entire IRF fabric,
and not the undo shutdown command.
MDC and IRF merge restrictions
If the IRF fabric splits, do not change the MDC and IRF settings on any IRF member devices before they
reunite.
Other configuration guidelines
•If a subordinate device uses the same next-startup configuration file name as the master device, the
file might be overwritten depending on your configuration file management settings. To continue to
use the configuration file after removing the device from the IRF fabric, back up the file before setting
up the IRF fabric.

14
•Strictly follow the IRF fabric setup procedure described in "Setup and configuration task list" to plan
the IRF fabric, identify IRF physical ports, connect IRF member devices, and configure basic settings.
•If two IRF fabrics have the same bridge MAC address, they cannot merge.
•Assign each member a unique IRF member ID to make sure they can merge. You must reboot the
members to validate the IRF member ID settings.
•Assign the highest member priority to the device you want to use as the master.
•Save any configuration you have made to the startup configuration file before you reboot the IRF
member devices.
Setup and configuration task list
HP recommends the following IRF fabric setup and configuration procedure:
Setu
p
and confi
g
uration
p
rocedure Remarks
1. (Required.) Planning the IRF fabric setup N/A
2. (Required.) Preconfiguring IRF member devices in standalone mode:
{Assigning a member ID to each IRF member device
{Specifying a priority for each member device
{Binding physical ports to IRF ports
Perform this task on each member
device before the IRF mode is
enabled.
3. (Required.) Saving configuration to the next-startup configuration file
N/A
4. (Required.) Connecting physical IRF ports Make sure that they are
interoperable.
5. (Required.) Setting the operating mode to IRF mode N/A
6. (Required.) Accessing the IRF fabric N/A
7. (Optional.) Configuring IRF member devices in IRF mode:
{Assigning an IRF domain ID to the IRF fabric
{Changing the member ID of a device
{Changing the priority of a member device
{Adding physical ports to an IRF port
{Enabling IRF auto merge
{Configuring a member device description
{Configuring IRF link load sharing mode
{Configuring IRF bridge MAC persistence
{Enabling software auto-update for system software image
synchronization
{Setting the IRF link down report delay
{Configuring MAD
Adding physical ports to an IRF port
is required if you did not configure
IRF port bindings in standalone
mode.
CAUTION:
Changing member IDs in an IRF
fabric can void member ID-related
configuration and cause
unexpected problems. Before doing
that, make sure you understand the
impact on your live network.
Planning the IRF fabric setup
Consider the following items when you plan an IRF fabric:
•Hardware compatibility and restrictions
•IRF fabric size
•Master device

15
•IRF physical ports
•Member ID and priority assignment scheme
•Fabric topology and cabling scheme
For more information about hardware and cabling, see the installation guide for the device.
Preconfiguring IRF member devices in standalone
mode
Perform the tasks in this section on every IRF member device. These settings take effect on each member
device after their operating mode changes to IRF.
Assigning a member ID to each IRF member device
IMPORTANT:
If a two-chassis IRF fabric has OAA cards, you must assign member ID 1 or 2 to the member device tha
t
holds the cards.
A device by default operates in standalone mode without an IRF member ID. You must assign it a unique
IRF member ID before changing its operating mode to IRF.
Execute the display irf configuration command and look at the MemberID field. If the device has no IRF
member ID, the field displays two hyphens (--).
The member ID assigned to a device is saved in both active and standby MPUs of the device. If the
standby MPU has a different member ID than the active MPU, for example, because of an MPU
replacement, the member ID in the active MPU takes effect and is automatically updated to the standby
MPU.
To set a member ID for the device in standalone mode:
Ste
p
Command Remarks
1. Enter system view. system-view N/A
2. Assign an IRF member ID to
the device. irf member member-id By default, the device has no IRF
member ID.
Specifying a priority for each member device
IRF member priority represents the possibility for a device to be elected the master in an IRF fabric. The
higher the priority, the higher the possibility.
To specify a priority for the device in standalone mode:
Ste
p
Command Remarks
1. Enter system view. system-view N/A
2. Specify a priority for the
device. irf priority priority The default IRF member priority
is 1.

16
Binding physical ports to IRF ports
To establish an IRF connection between two devices, you must bind at least one physical port to IRF-port
1 on one device and to IRF-port 2 on the other. For link redundancy and load sharing, bind multiple
physical ports to one IRF port.
Make sure the IRF physical ports are operating as Layer 2 interfaces. Layer 3 interfaces cannot be bound
to IRF ports. You can set a physical port as a Layer 2 or Layer 3 interface by using the port link-mode
{ bridge | route } command (see Layer 2—LAN Switching Configuration Guide).
In standalone mode, binding a physical port to an IRF port does not affect the current configuration of the
port. However, when the operating mode changes to IRF mode, the default configuration of the physical
IRF port restores, and you can only execute the shutdown, description, and flow-interval commands on
the physical port. For more information about these commands, see Layer 2—LAN Switching Command
Reference.
To bind physical ports to IRF ports:
Ste
p
Command Remarks
1. Enter system view. system-view N/A
2. Enter IRF port view. irf-port port-number N/A
3. Bind a physical IRF port to
the IRF port.
port group interface interface-type
interface-number [ mode { enhanced |
normal } ]
By default, no physical ports are
bound to any IRF port.
Repeat this step to assign more
physical ports to the IRF port.
Each IRF port can have up to
eight physical ports.
Make sure all physical ports
bound to an IRF port use the
same binding mode. If you do
not specify a binding mode, the
enhanced mode applies.
Saving configuration to the next-startup
configuration file
Save the running configuration before converting to the IRF mode. The mode change requires a reboot,
which can cause all unsaved settings to be lost.
Perform the following task in any view:
Task Command
Save the running configuration to
the next-startup configuration file. save [ safely ] [ backup | main ] [ force ]