Create an aggregate link with Cisco switch

[huwy]

hi there,

I'm trying to setup an aggregate link between my ESXi 5.0.0 (768111) server and a Cisco 2960 switch.

Please see the attachments for the config of the cisco switch and some screen shots of the vswitch setup.

It doesn't seem to be working. If you look at the "cisco diags" attachment the status of the etherchannel is "SD" = layer2 down. Can anyone see what I've done wrong? The VMs in this vswitch are able to communicate over the network.

Am happy to provide more info if needed.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Huw

[MKguy]

ESXi <5.1 does not support LACP, only static etherchannel when you use the route based on IP-hash policy.

ESXi 5.1 added support for LACP, but only on distributed vSwitches.

See:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004048

http://blog.ioshints.info/2011/01/vmware-vswitch-does-not-support-lacp.html

http://wahlnetwork.com/2012/10/15/using-lacp-with-a-vsphere-distributed-switch-5-1/

[huwy]

Thanks for coming back.

Is static etherchannel not what we've setup?

Thanks,

Alun

[MKguy]

I'm afraid I'm not a Cisco guy, but from what you've uploaded I can see LACP references everywhere:

Group  Port-channel  Protocol    Ports
------+-------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------
1      Po1(SD)         LACP      Gi0/2(I)    Gi0/3(I)    Gi0/4(I)
2      Po2(SD)        LACP      Gi0/8(I)    Gi0/9(I)    Gi0/10(I)



CIT-COLO-SW1#sh etherchannel 1 detail
Group state = L2
Ports: 3   Maxports = 16
Port-channels: 1 Max Port-channels = 16
Protocol:   LACP
Minimum Links: 0

Make sure you follow the directions in http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004048 when configuring the physical switch.

[huwy]

Thanks I got this working. The main fault was that LACP was set to "active" whereas it should be set to "on". i.e. I should have

interface GigabitEthernet0/2

flowcontrol receive desired

channel-group 1 mode on

spanning-tree portfast

Instructions found here...

http://www.it-book.co.uk/2448/how-to-setup-aggregate-links-between-esxi-and-a-cisco-switch

Thanks a lot for your help.

-H