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Add Interfaces for LAN Operational Mode, Release 12.2.1

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Last updated: April 8, 2024
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New and Changed Information

The following table provides an overview of the significant changes up to this current release. The table does not provide an exhaustive list of all changes or of the new features up to this release.

Release Version Feature Description

There were no major changes from the previous release.

Interfaces

The Interfaces option displays all the interfaces that are discovered for the switch, Virtual Port Channels (vPCs), and intended interfaces missing on the device.

Invalid interface error appears on the following scenarios:

  • Interface Mode 'routed' is invalid. Allowed mode is trunk & access.

  • Access port which is already allocated to other network.

  • Interface which is not available in the switch.

You can use the following functions:

  • Create, deploy, view, edit and delete a port channel, vPC, Straight-through FEX, Active-Active FEX, loopback, and subinterface.

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  • The following features are unsupported for the brownfield migration of switches with the Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I4(8b) and 7.0(4)I4(x) images:

    • FEX on switches other than Cisco Nexus 9300 Series switches and Cisco Nexus 9500 Series switches with X9500 line cards

    • AA-FEX

    For information about the platform support for FEX, refer to your platform and NX-OS documentation to check the feature compatibility.

    • To edit interfaces associated with fabric links such as intra-fabric links and inter-fabric links, see Editing Interfaces Associated with Links.

    • The flowcontrol or priority-flow-control config is not supported for HIF ports or PO with HIF ports as members.

    • When using the REST API for configurations, make sure to set consistent values for the primary fields and NV pairs fields. For example, a REST API post for a single port channel that has different values in certain fields, such as:

      • ifName: Port-testing123

      • PO_ID: Port-channel1000

        will result in two interfaces being created rather than the intended single interface.

  • Create tunnel interfaces for Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000v Series (Cisco CSR 1000v Series).

  • Create breakout and unbreakout ports.

  • Shut down and bring up interfaces.

  • Rediscover ports and view interface configuration history.

  • Apply host policies on interfaces and vPCs. For example, int_trunk_host, int_access_host, and so on.

  • View interface information such as its admin status, operation status, reason, policy, speed, MTU, mode, VLANs, IP/Prefix, VRF, port channel, and the neighbor of the interface.

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The Neighbor column provides details of connected switches that are discovered, intent links, and Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) connectivity.

The Status column displays the following status of an interface:

  • Blue: Pending

  • Green: In Sync/Success

  • Red: Out-of-Sync/Failed

  • Yellow: In Progress

  • Grey: Unknown/NA

  • If an interface is created out-of-band, you need to perform fabric resync or wait for Config Compliance poling before this interface can be deleted. Otherwise, Config Compliance does not generate the correct diff.

However, you cannot add or edit interfaces for ASR 9000 Series Routers and Arista switches.

You can filter and view information for any of the given fields (such as Device Name). The following table describes the buttons that appear on this page.

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  • Ensure that appropriate configurations are deployed on the Fabric before deploying from the Interfaces option, including proper vPC pair configurations. If you add or edit an interface before configurations are deployed on the Fabric, the configuration may fail on the device.

  • Deploy any underlays including vPC Pairing in the fabric before deploying any configurations from the interface manager.

Field Description

Create Interface

Allows you to add a logical interface such as a port channel, vPC, Straight-through FEX, Active-Active FEX, and loopback. For more information, see Adding Interfaces.

Create Subinterface

Allows you to add a logical subinterface.

Edit interface

Allows you to edit and change policies that are associated with an interface.

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Access-admin user role cannot edit interfaces associated with link policy such as inter-fabric link or intra-fabric link for easy fabrics. The user role can edit interfaces for LAN classic and IPFM fabrics.

Preview interfaces

Allows you to preview the interface configuration.

Deploy interfaces

Allows you to deploy or redeploy saved interface configurations.

No Shutdown

Allows you to enable an interface (no shutdown or admin up).

Shutdown

Allows you to shut down the interface.

Add to interface group

Allows you to add an interface to an interface group.

Remove from interface group

Allows you to remove an interface from an interface group.

Breakout

Allows you to breakout an interface.

Un-Breakout

Allows you to unbreakout interfaces that are in breakout state.

Rediscover Interface

Allows you to rediscover or recalculate the compliance status on the selected interfaces.

Show commands

Allows you to display the interface show commands. A show command requires show templates in the template library.

Deployer History

Allows you to display the interface deployment history details.

Import

Allows you to import the edited interfaces. The following are the limitations during importing the interfaces:

  • You are not allowed to import interfaces with the below policy templates:

    • All fabric templates with int_fabric or int_ipfm_fabric

    • int_vpc_peer and int_vpc_leaf_tor_assoc

    • int_freeform templates

  • You must update the mandatory fields fabric name, serial number, interface name, and policy name.

  • You are not allowed to import the interfaces with the interface name nve and vlan except int_ipfm_vlan policy. You can import the interface with int_ipfm_vlan policy.

  • The allowed MTU range for integer values is between 576 and 9216.

  • The allowed MTU string values is either default or jumbo.

  • The fabric name, serial number, and interface name must be unique.

  • You can only import a single policy type for an interface per .csv file. Importing a .csv file with multiple policy types is not allowed.

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There is a server property to set the maximum number of rows that can be imported. By default, the property is 200 for import.

Export

Allows you to export the selected interfaces with multiple types of policies to a .csv file.

While there is technically no limit on the number of interfaces to export, the number of interfaces included in each exported .csv file is limited to the number of rows that are displayed on the page. For example, if you select all of the interfaces in the window and you have 50 as the entry in the Rows per page field at the bottom of the window, then only the 50 interfaces displayed in this page are exported to the .csv file.

Delete Interface

Allows you to delete a logical interface that is created from the Interfaces screen. An interface having a policy that is attached from an overlay and underlay cannot be deleted.

The following table describes the new user role access-admin operations support in the host facing port of Interfaces window from Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Release 11.5(1).

Operations

User Roles

access-admin

Create new interface

Save, Preview, Deploy

Breakout

Blocked

Un-Breakout

Blocked

Edit interface

Save, Deploy

Delete Interface

Save, Deploy

Shutdown

Save, Deploy

No Shutdown

Save, Deploy

Show commands

Clear Output, Execute

Rediscover interface

Supported

Deploy Interfaces

Cancel, Deploy Config

Import

Supported

Export

Supported

You can disable deployments, or freeze, a fabric in Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller as a network administrator. However, you cannot perform all actions when you freeze the fabric or if the fabric is in monitor mode.

The following table describes the actions you can perform when you freeze a fabric and when you enable the monitor mode for a fabric.

Operations

Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Mode

Freeze Mode

Monitor Mode

Add

Save, Preview

Blocked

Breakout

Blocked

Blocked

Unbreakout

Blocked

Blocked

Edit

Save, Preview

Blocked

Delete

Save, Preview

Blocked

Shutdown

Save, Preview

Blocked

No Shutdown

Save, Preview

Blocked

Show

Supported

Supported

Rediscover

Supported

Supported

Deploy

Blocked

Blocked

Import

Supported

Supported

Export

Supported

Supported

The buttons for the associated operations are grayed out accordingly.

If you perform admin operations (shutdown/no shutdown) on SVI, which is part of a config profile, successive Save & Deploy operations generate no interface vlan command.

For SVI with no policy, on performing admin operation, that is, shutdown/no shutdown command pushed from Interface Manager, int_vlan_admin_state policy is associated with the SVI.

For example, create and deploy the SVI from switch_freeform.

interface vlan1234
  description test
  no shutdown
  no ip redirects
  no ipv6 redirects

If you shutdown the SVI from interface manager, the int_vlan_admin_state policy is associated with the SVI.

Pending diff is shown as:

interface Vlan1234
  shutdown
  no ip redirects
  no ipv6 redirects
  description test
  no shutdown

Remove the no shutdown CLI from the free-form config.

If the user has performed admin operation on SVI, device will have interface in running config. Therefore, post network detach interface vlan will be still present and interface will be discovered. You need to manually delete the interface from Interface Manager.

The following table describes the fields that appear on Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

Field Description

Fabric Name

Specifies the fabric name.

Device Name

Specifies the device name.

Interface

Specifies the interface name.

Admin Status

Specifies the administrative status of the interface. The status can be either Up or Down.

Oper-Status

Specifies the operational status of the interface. The status can be either Up or Down.

Reason

Specifies the reason.

Policies

Specifies the policy name.

Overlay Network

Specifies the overlay network.

Sync Status

Specifies the sync status. Specifies if the interface status is In-Sync or Out-Of-Sync.

Interface Group

Specifies the interface group to which the interface belongs to.

Port Channel ID

Specified the port channel ID.

vPC ID

Specifies the vPC ID.

Speed

Specifies the interface speed.

MTU

Specifies the MTU size.

Mode

Specifies the interface mode.

VLANs

Specifies the VLANs.

IP/Prefix

Specifies the interface IP/Prefix.

VRF

Specifies virtual routing and forwarding instances (VRFs).

Neighbour

Specifies the interface neighbour.

Description

Specifies the interface description.

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If the interface description is more than 64 characters, you must configure the switch using snmp ifmib ifalias long command.

Adding Interfaces

To add the interfaces from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose LAN > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Click Actions > Create new interface to add a logical interface.

    The Create new interface window appears.

  3. From the Type drop-down list, choose the type of the interface.

    Valid values are Port Channel, virtual Port Channel (vPC), Straight-through (ST) FEX, Active-Active (AA) FEX, Loopback, Subinterface, Tunnel Ethernet, and Switch Virtual Interface (SVI). The respective interface ID field is displayed when you select an interface type.

    • When you create a port channel through Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller, add interfaces of the same speed. A port channel that is created from interfaces of varying speeds won’t come up. For example, a port channel with two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports is valid. However, a port channel with a 10-Gigabit Ethernet + 25-Gigabit Ethernet port combination isn’t valid.

    • To add vPC hosts, you must designate vPC switches in the fabric topology and deploy vPC and peer-link configurations using the Save Deploy option. After the vPC pair configurations are deployed, it appears in the Select a vPC pair drop-down box.

      You can create a vPC using the int_vpc_trunk_host policy.

    • When adding a subinterface, you must select a routed interface from the interface table before clicking the Add button.

    • You can preprovision Ethernet interfaces in the Interface window. This preprovisioning feature is supported in Easy, eBGP, and External fabrics. .

    • After preprovision the Ethernet interface you can preprovision subinterface on a physical interface.

  4. In the Select a device field, choose a device.

    Devices are listed based on the fabric and interface type.. In the case of vPC or Active to Active FEX, select the vPC switch pair.

  5. Enter the ID value in the respective interface ID field (Port Channel ID,vPC ID,Loopback ID, Tunnel ID, Interface name, VLAN ID, and Subinterface ID) that is displayed, based on the selected interface.

    You can override this value. The new value is used only if it’s available in the Resource Manager pool. Else, it results in an error.

  6. Under the Policy field, select a policy to apply on an interface.

    The field only lists the Interface Python Policy with tag interface_edit_policy and filtered based on the interface type.

    You must not create a _upg interface policy. For example, you shouldn’t create a policy using the vpc_trunk_host_upg, port_channel_aa_fex_upg, port_channel_trunk_host_upg, and trunk_host_upg options.

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    The policies are filtered based on the interface type you choose in the Type drop-down list and the device you choose in the Select a device drop-down list.

  7. Enter values in the required fields under Policy Options.

    The fields vary according to the interface type you choose.

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    From Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Release 11.5(1) you can mirror the configurations of Peer-1 on Peer-2 while creating a vPC. When you check the Enable Config Mirroring check box, the Peer-2 fields will be grayed out. The configurations that you enter in the Peer-1 fields will be copied to Peer-2 fields.

    From Cisco NDFC Release 12.1.2e, you can set Native Vlan for the interface which has int_trunk_host or int_port_channel_trunk_host, or int_vpc_trunk_host policy template.

    A trunk port can carry nontagged packets simultaneously with tagged packets. When you assign a default port VLAN ID to the trunk port, all untagged traffic travels on the default port VLAN ID for the trunk port, and all untagged traffic is assumed to belong to this VLAN. This VLAN is referred to as the native VLAN ID for a trunk port. That is, the native VLAN ID is the VLAN that carries untagged traffic on trunk ports.

  8. Click Save to save the configurations.

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    To apply QoS policies on the interface, create the interface freeform with references accordingly.

    Only saved configurations are pushed to the device. While adding the interface, you can only modify the policy attribute after the first save. If you try to use an ID that is already used, you encounter the Resource could not be allocated error.

  9. To view configurations for a new interface, double-click on the policy name in the Policies tab.

  10. (Optional) Click the Preview option to preview the configurations to be deployed.

  11. Click Deploy to deploy the specified logical interface.

    The newly added interface appears in the screen.

Breakout

To breakout an interface, from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. On Interface window, click ActionsBreakout.

    The Breakout Interfaces window appears.

  2. Choose the required option in the window and click Breakout.

    The available options are 10g-4x, 25g-4x, 50g-2x, 50g-4x, 100g-2x, 100g-4x, 200g-2x, and Unbreakout.

UnBreakout

You can unbreakout interface that are in breakout state.

On the Interface window, click Actions > UnBreakout.

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The unbreakout option is grayed out for interfaces that are not in breakout state.

Editing Interfaces

To edit the interfaces from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

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The Edit interface allows you to change the policy and add or remove an interface from a port channel or vPC.

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces.

    You can break out and unbreak out an interface by using the breakout option in the Actions menu.

  2. Select the interface check box to edit an interface or vPC.

    Select corresponding check boxes for editing multiple interfaces. You cannot edit multiple port channels and vPC. You cannot edit interfaces of different types at the same time.

  3. Click Actions > Edit to edit an interface.

    The variables that are shown in the Edit interface(s) window are based on the template and its policy. Select the appropriate policy. Save the policy and deploy the same. This window lists only Interface Python Policy with the tag interface_edit_policy and filtered based on the interface type.

    In a vPC setup, the two switches are in the order the switch names are displayed in the edit window. For example, if Switch Name is displayed as LEAF1:LEAF2, then Leaf1 is peer switch one and Leaf2 is peer switch two.

    During overlay network deployment on switches, the network can be associated with trunk interfaces. The trunk interface to network association is reflected in the Interfaces tab. You can update such interfaces.

    For PVLAN interfaces, you can associate interfaces with the networks only for access and trunk port types.

    For interface policies that are not created from the Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces screen, you can edit some configurations but not change the policy itself. The policy and fields that cannot be edited are grayed out.

    The following are some examples of policies that cannot be edited:

    • Loopback interface policies - The int_fabric_loopback policy is used to create a loopback interface. You can edit the loopback IP address and description but not the int_fabric_loopback policy instance.

      You cannot edit the loopback IP addresses for loopback interfaces that are created automatically while creating and attaching the VRFs.

    • Fabric underlay network interface policies (int_fabric_num, for example) and fabric overlay network interface (NVE) policies.

    • Policies associated with port channels and member ports of port channels, including the port channels and member ports associated with a vPC.

    • SVIs created during network and VRF creation. The associated VLANs appear in the interfaces list.

Editing Interfaces Associated with Links

There are two types of links, namely intra-fabric links and inter-fabric links. As the name implies, intra-fabric links are set up between devices within the same Easy fabric and are typically used for spine-leaf connectivity. Inter-fabric links are set up between the Easy fabric, and typically other external or Easy fabrics. They are used for external WAN and/or DCI connectivity. A policy is associated with each link that effectively states the configuration that is applied to both ends of the link. In other words, the link policy becomes the parent of the individual child interface policies that are associated with the two interfaces that form the link. In this scenario, you must edit the link policy to edit the interface policy fields such as description, IP address, and any per interface freeform config. The following procedure shows how to edit the interfaces associated with links:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Select a link and click Actions > More > Rediscover Interface.

Deleting Interfaces

To delete the interfaces from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

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- This option allows you to delete only logical ports, port channels, and vPCs. You can delete the interface if it does not have overlay or underlay policy attached.
- When a port channel or vPC is removed, the corresponding member ports get the default policy associated. The default policy can be configured in server.properties file.

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Select the interfaces and choose Actions > More > Delete Interface.

    You cannot delete logical interfaces created in the fabric underlay.

  3. Click Save.

  4. Click Deploy to delete the interface.

Shutting Down and Bringing Up Interfaces

To shut down and bring up the interfaces from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Select the interfaces that you want to shut down or bring up.

    Note: For all interfaces except VLANs, you cannot perform a Shutdown or No Shutdown on interfaces that do not have a policy attached.

  3. Click Shutdown to disable the selected interfaces. For example, you may want to isolate a host from the network or a host that is not active in the network.

    A confirmation window appears where you can save, preview, and deploy the changes.

  4. Click Save to preview or deploy the changes.

  5. Click No Shutdown to bring up the selected interfaces.

    A confirmation window appears where you can save, preview, and deploy the changes.

  6. Click Save to preview or deploy the changes.

Viewing Interface Configuration

To view the interface configuration commands and execute them from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Select the interface whose configurations you want to view and choose Actions > More > Show commands.

  3. In the Interface show commands window, select the action from the Commands drop-down list and click Execute.

    The interface configurations are displayed on the right of the screen.

    For Show commands, you must have corresponding show templates for interface or interface sub types like port channel or vPC, defined in the Templates.

Rediscovering Interfaces

To rediscover the interfaces from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Select the interfaces that you want to rediscover and choose Actions > More > Rediscover Interface to rediscover the selected interfaces.

    For example, after you edit or enable an interface, you can rediscover the interface.

Viewing Interface History

To view the interface history from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Select the interface and choose Actions > More > Deployer History to view the configuration history on the interface.

  3. Click Status to view each command that is configured for that configuration instance.

Deploying Interface Configurations

To deploy the interface configuration from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interfaces.

  2. Select an interface that you want to deploy and choose Actions > Deploy Interfaces to deploy or redeploy configurations that are saved for the interface.

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    You can select multiple interfaces and deploy pending configurations.

    After you deploy the interface configuration, the interface status information is updated. However, the overall switch-level state may be in the pending state, which is in blue. The overall switch-level state goes to the pending state whenever there is a change in intent from any module, such as interface, link, policy template update, top-down, or so on. In the pending state, a switch may have pending configurations or switch-level recomputation. The switch-level recomputation occurs when:

    • You deploy for the switch

    • During a deploy

    • During hourly sync

Creating External Fabric Interfaces

You can add and edit port channel, vPC, subinterface, and loopback interfaces for external fabric devices. You cannot add Straight-through FEX and Active-Active FEX functions.

The Breakout port function is only supported for the Cisco Nexus 9000, 3000, and 7000 Series Switches in the external fabric.

When you add an interface to an external fabric device, the Resource Manager is not in sync with the device. So, ensure that the value populated in the ID field (Port-channel ID, vPC ID, Loopback ID, etc) is not previously configured on the switch.

If you want to configure a portchannel in the external fabric, you should add and deploy the feature_lacp policy on the switches where the portchannel will be configured.

When an external fabric is set to Fabric Monitor Mode Only, you cannot deploy configurations on its switches. If you click Save & Deploy in the fabric topology screen, it displays an error message. However, the following settings (available when you right-click the switch icon) are allowed:

  • vPC pairing - You can designate a vPC switch pair, but it is only for reference.

  • View/edit policy - You can add a policy but you cannot deploy it on the switch.

  • Manage interfaces - You can only create intent for adding interfaces. If you try to deploy, edit, or delete interfaces, it results in an error message.

Interface Groups

An interface group consists of multiple interfaces with same attributes. You can create an interface group that allows grouping of host-facing interfaces at a fabric level. Specifically, you can create an interface group for physical Ethernet interfaces, Layer 2 port-channels, and vPCs. You can attach or detach multiple overlay networks to the interfaces in an interface group.

Shared Policy

From Cisco NDFC Release 12.1.2e, you can create and add a shared policy for an interface group. This policy ensures update of appropriate configurations for all the interfaces in the Interface group. In the shared policy, all the interfaces will have the same underlay and overlay attributes. When you change the configuration in the shared policy, then that configuration is applied to all the interfaces.

You can see the details of shared policy under the Policies column.

Custom policy can also be created by selecting the policy from the template list and Duplicate Template to add the additional information. The shared policy must contain the tags interface_edit_policy,interface_edit_shared_policy, and int_trunk.

Guidelines

  • Interface groups are only supported for the following fabric template types:

    • Data Center VXLAN EVPN

    • Enhanced Classic LAN

  • An interface group is specific to a fabric. For example, consider two fabrics: Fab1 and Fab 2. The interface group IG1 in Fab1 isn’t applicable to Fab 2.

  • An interface group can only have interfaces of a certain type. For example, you need three separate interface groups if you want to group three types of interfaces such as IG1 for physical Ethernet trunk interfaces, IG2 for Layer 2 trunk port-channels, and IG3 for vPC host trunk ports.

  • An interface group can also be created using preprovisioned interfaces.

  • Interface groups are supported only to switches with leaf or border roles. For Border Gateway roles, Interface Groups are supported only on vPC BGWs but not on Anycast BGW, BGW Spine, or BGW SuperSpine.

  • From Cisco NDFC Release 12.1.2e, you can include Layer 2 ToR interfaces in the interface groups.

  • Interfaces added to an interface group with a shared policy replaces the individual policy and get the shared policy.

  • You can change description and status of each interface in interface group.

  • Interface removed from an interface group with a shared policy will set to a default policy.

  • VMs should have the same configuration for all the interfaces under the shared policy.

  • Shared policy is supported only for Ethernet interface type in interface group.

  • Ethernet interface groups now have a common policy.

  • Port-Channel and vPC interface types are not supported for adding shared policy in interface group.

  • When the MTU value in the shared policy has to be changed, make sure to update the fabric settings with the same value across all switches of that fabric.

  • When the ptp, ttag, and ttag-strip option from the shared policy has to be used, make sure to enable PTP globally in fabric settings.

  • When the netflow option has to be used, make sure all the interfaces of interface groups are capable of netflow configuration and that it is enabled globally in fabric settings.

  • For Layer 2 port-channels and vPCs that are part of an interface group, they can’t be deleted until they are de-associated from the interface group even if there are no networks associated with the interface group. Similarly, a trunk port that has no overlay networks but is part of an IG can’t be converted to an access port. In other words, you can’t change policies for interfaces that are part of an interface group. However, you can edit certain fields for policies.

  • For L4-L7 services configuration on leaf switches, trunk ports that are used for services attachment can’t be part of interface groups.

  • When you perform a per fabric backup of an easy fabric, if there are interface groups created in that fabric, all the associated interface group state is backed up.

  • If an easy fabric contains an interface group, then this fabric can’t be imported into the MSO. Similarly, if an easy fabric has been added to the MSO, you can’t create interface groups for interfaces that belong to switches in the easy fabric.

  • The Add to Interface Group and Remove from Interface Group button is enabled only for Admin and Stager users. For all other users, this button is disabled.

  • The Interface Group button is disabled in the following circumstances:

    • Select any other interface apart from vPC, Port-channel, and Ethernet.

    • If the interface has a policy attached from another source, for example:

      • If the interface is member of a port-channel or vPC.

      • If the port-channel is member of vPC.

      • If the interface has a policy from underlay or links.

    note.svg

    If you select different types of interfaces, the Interface Group button is enabled. However, when you try to create or save different types of interfaces to an interface group, an error is displayed.

Creating an Interface Group

To create an interface group from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces > Interface Groups.

  2. Choose Actions > Create new interface group.

  3. From the Select Fabric window, select a fabric and click Select.

  4. In the Create new interface group window, provide an interface group name in the Interface Group Name field, select an Interface Type, and click Save.

    An interface group name can have a maximum length of 64 characters.

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    An interface can be added to single interface group only.

  5. Click on the Policy field.

    The Select Policy window appears.

  6. Choose int_shared_trunk_host policy and then click Select.

    From Cisco NDFC Release 12.1.2e, a new Policy field is introduced in the Create new interface group window. You can add a shared policy to the interface group which can be shared by the interfaces existing in that group. Shared Policy is optional, for upgrades, all the existing interface group will not have a policy.

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    The policy field supports the Ethernet interface type only.

  7. Enter the mandatory parameters in the text field and click Save.

  8. In the Interfaces tab, select the interfaces to group and choose Actions > Add to interface Group.

    The Add new interface Group window appears.

  9. To create a custom interface group, enter an interface group name in the Select Interface Group field and click Create custom.

    If you have already created an interface group, select it from the Select Interface Group drop-down list. Also, if an interface is already part of an interface group, you can move it to a different interface group by selecting the new group from the Select Interface Group drop-down list.

    You can create interface groups from either the Interfaces Groups window or the Interfaces window under Fabric Overview.

  10. Click Save.

    In the Interfaces window, you can see the interface group name under the Interface Group column.

  11. To edit an interface group, choose Actions > Edit Interface Group. You can update the policy options after you assign the shared policy.

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    You cannot edit or delete the shared policy template.

Removing Interfaces from an Interface Group

To remove interfaces from an interface group from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Manage > Inventory > Interfaces.

  2. Select the interfaces to disassociate from an interface group and choose Actions > Remove from interface Group.

    A dialog box appears asking whether you want to clear all the associated interfaces.

  3. Click Yes to proceed.

    Note that if there are any networks attached to these interfaces, they are detached as well when you click Clear.

Attaching Networks to an Interface Group

To attach networks to an interface group from the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Web UI, perform the following steps:

  1. Double click on the fabric to launch Fabric Overview.

  2. On the Networks tab, select the networks that you need to attach to an interface group and click Interface Group.

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    An overlay network can belong to multiple interface groups. You can select only the networks with a VLAN ID. Otherwise, an error message is displayed.]

  3. In the Interface Groups window, you can perform the following:

    • Select an existing interface group from the Select Interface Group drop-down list and click Save.

      For example, you select three networks and the interface group test, and click the Save button, the following operations are performed in the background:

      1. Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller retrieves interfaces that are part of the interface group test.

      2. Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller determines that three networks are added to the interface group test. Therefore, it autoattaches these networks to all the interfaces that are part of the interface group test.

      3. For each interface, Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller pushes the "switchport trunk allowed vlan add xxxx" command three times for each selected network.

        note.svg

        Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller ensures that there’s no duplicate configuration intent.

    If you click Clear, Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller pushes "switchport trunk allowed vlan remove xxx' config intent.

    • Create a custom interface group by entering an interface group name in the Select Interface Group field and click Create new interface group. Click Save.

      If you choose this option, make sure to add interfaces to this Interface Group in the Interfaces window. As a result, Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller performs the following operations:

      • Removes all existing overlay networks that don’t belong to the interface group from these interfaces.

      • Adds new overlay networks to these interfaces that are part of the interface group but not yet attached to these interfaces.

        For more information about associating interfaces to interface groups, see Creating an Interface Group.

  4. Click Actions > Recalculate & Deploy to deploy the selected networks on the switches.

Detaching a Network from an Interface Group

This procedure shows how to detach a network from an interface group in the Networks window. Also, you can detach networks when you remove an interface from an interface group in the Interfaces window. For more information, see Removing Interfaces from an Interface Group.

  1. Double click on the fabric to launch Fabric Overview.

  2. On the Networks tab, select the networks that you need to detach to an interface group and click Add to Interface Group.

  3. In the Add to Interface Groups window, select the interface group from the Select Interface Group drop-down list and click Clear to detach a network.

  4. (Optional) Navigate to Manage > Inventory > Interfaces.

    Under the Overlay Network column, you can see the detached network in the red color for the corresponding interface. Click the network to view the expected config that is struck through.

  5. Navigate to the Networks tab and choose Actions > Recalculate & Deploy.

Deleting an Interface Group

An interface group is automatically deleted when it’s not in use. . You can perform an explicit delete by clicking on Interface Group > Actions > Delete Interface group. This check is performed whenever you click the Clear button in the Edit Interface Group window. There may be exception scenarios where you need to clean up the interface groups explicitly.

For example, you create an interface group storageIG and add an interface to it. Later, you want to change the interface mapping to another group. Therefore, you select the interface and click Interface Group to open the Edit Interface Group window. Select the other interface group named diskIG. Now, the storageIG interface group doesn’t have any associated member interfaces or networks. In this case, perform the following steps:

  1. Select an interface that doesn’t belong to an interface group.

  2. Click Interface Group to open the Edit Interface Group window.

  3. Select the StorageIG interface group from the Select Interface Group drop-down list.

  4. Click Clear.

Out-of-Band Switch Interface Configurations

Any interface level configuration made outside of Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (via CLI) can be synced to Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller and then managed from Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller. Also, the vPC pair configurations are automatically detected and paired. This applies to the External_Fabric and Classic LAN fabrics only. The vPC pairing is performed with the vpc_pair policy.

note.svg

When Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller is managing switches, ensure that all configuration changes are initiated from Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller and avoid making changes directly on the switch.

When the interface config is synced up to the Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller intent, the switch configs are considered as the reference, that is, at the end of the sync up, the Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller intent reflects what is present on the switch. If there were any undeployed intent on Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller for those interfaces before the resync operation, they will be lost.

Guidelines

  • Supported in fabrics using the following fabric templates: Data Center VXLAN EVPN, External, and Classic LAN.

  • Supported for Cisco Nexus switches only.

  • Supported for interfaces that do not have any fabric underlay related policy associated with them prior to the resync. For example, IFC interfaces and intra fabric links are not subjected to resync.

  • The time taken by host port resync depends on the number of switches/interfaces to be synchronized.

  • Supported for interfaces that do not have any custom policy (policy template that is not shipped with Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller) associated with them prior to resync.

  • Supported for interfaces where the intent is not exclusively owned by a Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller feature and/or application prior to resync.

  • Supported on switches that do not have Interface Groups associated with them.

  • Interface mode (switchport to routed, trunk to access, and so on) changes are not supported with overlays attached to that interface.

The sync up functionality is supported for the following interface modes and policies:

Interface Mode

Policies

trunk (standalone, po, and vPC PO)

  • int_trunk_host

  • int_port_channel_trunk_host

  • int_vpc_trunk_host

access (standalone, po, and vPC PO)

  • int_access_host

  • int_port_channel_access_host

  • int_vpc_access_host

dot1q-tunnel

  • int_dot1q_tunnel_host

  • int_port_channel_dot1q_tunnel_host

  • int_vpc_ dot1q_tunnel_host

routed

int_routed_host

loopback

int_freeform

sub-interface

int_subif

FEX (ST, AA)

  • int_port_channel_fex

  • int_port_channel_aa_fex

breakout

interface_breakout

nve

int_freeform (only in External_Fabric/Classic LAN)

SVI

int_freeform (only in External_Fabric/Classic LAN)

mgmt0

int_mgmt

In an Easy fabric, the interface resync will automatically update the network overlay attachments based on the access VLAN or allowed VLANs on the interface.

After the resync operation is completed, the switch interface intent can be managed using normal Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller procedures.

Syncing up Switch Interface Configurations

We recommend that you deploy all switch configurations from NDFC. In some scenarios, it may be necessary to make changes to the switch interface configuration out-of-band. This will cause configuration drift causing switches to be reported Out-of-Sync.

NDFC supports syncing up the out-of-band interface configuration changes back into its intent.

Guidelines and Limitations

The following limitations are applicable after syncing up the switch interface configurations to NDFC:

  • This feature is not supported on ToR/Access switches, or on leaf switches with ToR pairing present.

  • The port channel membership changes (once the policy exists) are not supported.

  • Changing the interface mode (trunk to access and so on) that have overlays attached is not supported.

  • Resync for interfaces that belong to Interface Groups are not supported.

  • The vPC pairing in External_Fabric and Classic LAN templates must be updated with the vpc_pair policy.

  • The resync can be performed for a set of switches and repeated as desired.

  • The time taken by host port resync depends on the number of switches/interfaces to be synchronized.

  • In Data Center VXLAN EVPN fabrics, VXLAN overlay interface attachments are performed automatically based on the allowed VLANs.

Before you begin

  • We recommend taking a fabric backup before attempting the interface resync.

  • In External Fabric and Classic LAN fabrics, for the vPC pairing to work correctly, both the switches must be in the fabric and must be functional.

  • Ensure that the switches are In-Sync and switch mode must not be Migration or Maintenance.

  • From the Actions drop-list, choose Discovery > Rediscover to ensure that NDFC is aware of any new interfaces and other changes.

Procedure

  1. Choose Manage > Fabrics and double-click on a fabric.

    The Fabric Overview window appears.

  2. Click the Switches tab and ensure that switches are present in the fabric and vPC pairings are completed.

  3. Click the Policies tab and select one or more switches where the interface intent resync is needed.

    note.svg

    • If a pair of switches is already paired with either no_policy or vpc_pair, select only one switch of the pair.

    • If a pair of switches is not paired, then select both the switches.

  4. From the Actions drop-down list, choose Add Policy.

    The Create Policy window appears.

  5. On the Create Policy window, choose host_port_resync from the Policy drop-down list.

  6. Click Save.

  7. Check the Mode column for the switches to ensure that they report Migration. For a vPC pair, both switches are in the Migration-mode.

    • After this step, the switches in the Topology view are in Migration-mode.

    • Both the switches in a vPC pair are in the migration mode even if one of the switches is placed into this mode.

    • If switches are unintentionally put into the resync mode, they can be moved back to the normal mode by identifying the host_port_resync policy instance and deleting it from the Policies tab.

  8. After the configuration changes are ready to sync up to NDFC, navigate to the Switches tab and select the required switches.

  9. Click Recalculate & Deploy to start the resync process.

    note.svg

    This process might take some time to complete based on the size of the switch configuration and the number of switches involved.

  10. The Deploy Configuration window is displayed if no errors are detected during the resync operation. The interface intent is updated in NDFC.

    note.svg

    If the External_Fabric or Classic LAN fabric is in Monitored Mode, an error message indicating that the fabric is in the read-only mode is displayed. This error message can be ignored and doesn’t mean that the resync process has failed.

    Close the Deploy Configuration window, and you can see that the switches are automatically moved out of the Migration-mode. Switches in a vPC pair that were not paired or paired with no_policy show up as paired and associated with the vpc_pair policy.

    note.svg

    The host_port_resync policy that was created for the switch is automatically deleted after the resync process is completed successfully.

Copyright

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