Cisco APIC Layer 2 Networking Configuration Guide, Release 6.2(x)

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Cisco APIC Layer 2 Networking Configuration Guide, Release 6.2(x)

Deploy FCoE vFC Ports Using the APIC GUI

Updated: July 7, 2026

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The Topic Describe the Deploy FCoE vFC Ports Using the APIC GUI

The APIC GUI enables you to create customized node policy groups, leaf profiles, interface policy groups, interface profiles, and virtual SAN domains that system administrators can re-use to ensure that all interfaces they designate as F ports or NP ports to handle FCoE traffic have consistent FCoE-related policies applied.

Before you begin

Procedure

  1. Create an FCoE supportive switch policy group to specify and combine all the leaf switch policies that support FCoE configuration.

    This policy group will be applied to the leaf switches that you want to serve as NPV hosts.

    1. In the APIC GUI, starting on the APIC menu bar, click Fabric > Access Policies > Switches > Leaf Switches > Policy Groups .
    2. Right-click Policy Groups and click Create Access Switch Policy Group .
    3. In the Create Access Switch Policy Group dialog, specify the settings described below and then click Submit .
    Policy Description
    Name

    Identifies the switch policy group.

    Enter a name that indicates the FCoE supportive function of this switch policy group. For example, fcoe_switch_policy_grp .
    Fibre Channel SAN Policy

    Specifies the following SAN Policy values:

    • FC Protocol EDTOV (default: 2000)

    • FC Protocol RATOV (default : 10000)

    • MAC address prefix (also called FC map) used by the leaf switch. This value should match the value of the peer device connected on the same port. Typically the default value OE:FC:00 is used.

    Click the drop-down option box.

    • To use the default EDTOV, RATOV, and MAC address prefix values, click default .

    • To use the value specified in an existing policy, click that policy.

    • To create a new policy to specify a new customized MAC address prefix, click Create Fibre Channel SAN Policy and follow the prompts.

  2. Create a leaf profile for leaf switches to support FCoE traffic.

    This profile specifies a switch or set of leaf switches to assign the switch policy group that was configured in the previous step. This association enables that set of switches to support FCoE traffic with pre-defined policy settings.

    1. Starting at the APIC menu bar, click Fabric > Access Policies > Switches > Leaf Switches > Profiles
    2. Right-click Leaf Profiles , then click Create Leaf Profile .
    3. In the Create Leaf Profile dialog create and name the leaf profile (for example: NPV-1)
    4. Also in the Create Leaf Profile dialog, locate the Leaf Selectors table, click + to create a new table row and specify the leaf switches to serve as NPV devices.
    5. In the new table row choose a leaf name, blocks, and assign the switch policy group that you created in the previous step.
    6. Click Next and then click Finish .

  3. Create at least two FCoE-supportive interface policy groups: one to combine all policies that support FCoE F port interfaces, and one to combine all policies that support FCoE NP port interfaces.

    These interface policy groups are to be applied to the interface profiles that are applied to interfaces that are to serve as F ports and NP ports.
    1. On the APIC menu bar, click Fabric > Access Policies > Interfaces > Leaf Interfaces > Policy Groups .
    2. Right-click Policy Groups , then, depending on how port access is configured, click one of the following options: Create Leaf Access Port Policy Group , Create PC Interface Port Policy , or Create vPC Interface Port Policy Group .
      Note
    3. In the policy group dialog, specify for inclusion the Fibre Channel Interface policy, the slow drain policy, and the priority flow control policy you configure.
    Policy Description
    Name

    Name of this policy group.

    Enter a name that indicates the FCoE supportive function of this Leaf Access Port Policy Group and the port type, (F or NP) that it is intended to support, for example: fcoe_f_port_policy or fcoe_np_port_policy .
    Priority Flow Control Policy

    Specifies the state of the Priority Flow Control (PFC) on the interfaces to which this policy group is applied.

    Options include the following:

    • Auto (the default value) Enables priority flow control (PFC) on local port on the no-drop CoS as configured, on the condition that values advertised by the DCBX and negotiated with the peer succeed. Failure causes priority flow control to be disabled on the no-drop CoS.

    • Off disables FCoE priority flow control on the local port under all circumstances.

    • On enables FCoE PFC on the local port under all circumstances.

    Click the drop-down option box:

    • To use the default values, click default .

    • To use the value specified in an existing policy, click that policy.

    • To create a new policy specifying different values, click Create Priority Flow Control Policy and follow the prompts.

    Note

    PFC requires that Class of Service (CoS) levels be globally enabled for the fabric and assigned to the profiles of applications that generate FCoE traffic. Also CoS Preservation must be enabled. To enable it, navigate to Fabric > Access Policies > Policies > Global > QoS Class and enable Preserve COS Dot1p Preserve .
    Slow Drain Policy Specifies how to handle FCoE packets that are causing traffic congestion on the ACI fabric. Options include the following:

    • Congestion Clear Action (default: disabled)

      Action to be taken during FCoE traffic congestion. Options include:

      • Err - disable - Disable the port.

      • Log - Record congestion in the Event Log.

      • Disabled - Take no action.

    • Congestion Detect Multiplier (default: 10)

      The number of pause frames received on a port that triggers a congestion clear action to address FCoE traffic congestion.

    • Flush Admin State

      • Enabled - Flush the buffer.

      • Disabled - Don't flush the buffer.

    • Flush Timeout (default: 500 milliseconds)

      Threshold in milliseconds to trigger buffer flush drop during congestion.

    • To use the default values, click default .

    • To use the value specified in an existing policy, click that policy.

    • To create a new policy specifying different values, click Create Slow Drain Policy and follow the prompts.

  4. Create at least two interface profiles: one profile to support F port connections, one profile to support NP port connections, and optional additional profiles to be associated with additional port policy variations.

    1. Starting at the APIC bar menu click Fabric > Access Policies > Interfaces > Leaf Interfaces > Profiles .
    2. Right-click Profiles and choose Create Leaf Interface Profile .
    3. In the Create Leaf Interface Profile dialog, enter a descriptive name for the profile, for example, FCoE_F_port_Interface_profile-1 .
    4. Locate the Interface Selectors table and click + to display the Create Access Port Selector dialog. This dialog enables you to display a range of interfaces and apply settings to the fields described in the following table.
    Option Description
    Name

    A descriptive name for this port selector.
    Interface IDs

    Specifies the set of interfaces to which this range applies.

    • To include all interfaces in the switch, choose All .

    • To include an individual interface in this range, specify single Interface ID, for example: 1/20 .

    • To include a range of interfaces in this range, enter the lower and upper values separated by a dash, for example: 1/10 - 1/15 .

    Note

    Specify separate, non-overlapping ranges of interfaces when configuring interface profiles for F ports and an NP port.
    Interface Policy Group

    The name of either the F port interface policy group or the NP port policy group that you configured in the previous step.

    • To designate the interfaces included in this profile as F ports, choose the interface policy group that you configured for F ports.

    • To designate the interfaces included in the profile as NP ports, choose the interface policy group that you configured for NP ports.

  5. Click Submit . Repeat the previous step so that you at least have interface profiles for both F ports and an NP port.

  6. Configure whether to apply global QoS policies to FCoE traffic.

    You can specify different QoS policies to different levels (1, 2, 4, 5, or 6) of FCoE traffic.

    1. Starting at the APIC bar menu click Fabric > Access Policies > Policies > Global > QoS Class and enable the Preserve CoS flag in the QoS Class pane.
    2. In the QoS Class - Level 1 , QoS Class - Level 2 , QoS Class - Level 4 , QoS Class - Level 5 , or QoS Class - Level 6 dialog, edit the following fields to specify the PFC and no-drop CoS. Then click Submit.
      Note

      Only 1 Level can be configured for PFC and no-drop CoS.

    Policy Description
    PFC Admin State

    Whether to enable priority flow control to this level of FCoE traffic (default value is false).

    Enabling priority flow control sets the Congestion Algorithm for this level of FCoE traffic to no-drop.
    No-Drop-CoS

    The CoS level to impose no drop FCoE packet handling even in the case of FCoE traffic congestion.

  7. Define a Fibre Channel domain. Create a set of virtual SANs (VSANs) and map them to set of existing VLANs.

    1. Starting at the APIC bar menu click Fabric > Access Policies > Physical and External Domains > Fibre Channel Domains .
    2. Right-click Fibre Channel Domains and click Create Fibre Channel Domain .
    3. In the Fibre Channel Domain dialog, specify the following settings:
    Option Description/Action
    Name

    Specifies the name or label you want to assign the VSAN domain you are creating. (For example: vsan-dom2)
    VSAN Pool

    The pool of VSANs assigned to this domain.

    • To select an existing VSAN pool, click the drop-down and choose a listed pool. If you want to revise it, click the Edit icon.

    • To create a VSAN pool, click Create a VSAN Pool.

    If you open the dialog to create a VSAN pool, follow the prompts configure the following:

    • A Static resource allocation method to support FCoE.

    • a range of VSANs that will be available to assign to FCoE F port interfaces and NP port interfaces.

      Note

      Minimum range value is 1. Maximum range value is 4078.

      Configure multiple ranges of VSANs if necessary.
    VLAN Pool

    The pool of VLANS available to be mapped to by the members of the VSAN pool.

    A VLAN pool specifies numerical ranges of VLANs you want available to support FCoE connections for this domain. The VLANs in the ranges you specify are available for VSANs to map to them.

    • To select an existing VLAN pool, click the drop-down and choose a listed pool. If you want to revise it, click the Edit icon.

    • To create a VLAN pool, click Create a VLAN Pool.

    If you open the dialog to create a VLAN pool, follow the prompts configure the following:

    • A Static resource allocation method to support FCoE.

    • a range of VLANs that will be available for VSANs to map to.

      Note

      Minimum range value is 1. Maximum range value is 4094.

      Configure multiple ranges of VLANs if necessary.
    VSAN Attr

    The VSAN Attributes map for this domain.

    The VSAN Attributes map VSANs in the VSAN pool to VLANs in the VLAN pool.

    • To select an existing VSAN Attributes map, click the drop-down and choose a listed map. If you want to revise it, click the Edit icon.

    • To create a VSAN Attributes map, click Create VSAN Attributes.

    If you open the dialog to configure the VSAN attributes, follow the prompts configure the following:

    • The appropriate load balancing option (src-dst-ox-id or src-dst-id).

    • Mapping of individual VSANs to individual VLANs, for example: vsan-8 to vlan-10

      Note

      Only VSANs and VLANs in the ranges you specified for this domain can be mapped to each other.

  8. Create an attached entity profile to bind the Fibre Channel domain with the interface policy group.

    1. On the APIC menu bar, click Fabric > Access Policies > Interfaces > Leaf Interfaces > Policy Groups > interface_policy_group_name .

      In this step interface_policy_group_name is the interface policy group that you defined in Step 3.

    2. In the interface policy group dialog, Click the Attached Entity Profile drop-down and choose an existing Attached Entity Profile or click Create Attached Entity Profile to create a new one.
    3. In the Attached Entity Profile dialog specify the following settings:
    Field Description
    Name

    A name for this Attached Entity Profile.
    Domains To Be Associated To Interfaces

    Lists the domain to be associated with the interface policy group.

    In this case, choose the Fibre Channel domain you configured in Step 7.

    Click Submit .

  9. Associate the leaf profile and the F port and NP port interface profiles.

    1. Starting at the APIC menu bar, click Fabric > Access Policies > Switches > Leaf Switches > Profiles then click the name of the leaf profile you configured in Step 2.
    2. In the Create Leaf Profile dialog, locate the Associated Interface Selector Profiles table, click + to create a new table row and choose the F port interface profile you created in Step 4.
    3. Again on the Associated Interface Selector Profiles table, click + to create a new table row and choose the NP port interface profile you created in Step 4.
    4. Click Submit .

What to do next

After successful deployment of virtual F ports and NP ports to interfaces on the ACI fabric, the next step is for system administrators to enable EPG access and connection over those interfaces.

For more information, see Deploying EPG Access to vFC Ports Using the APIC GUI .