Automatically Adding or Replacing Nodes in a Stack

You can easily automatically add or replace nodes in an existing stack.

Important

Important

You can only replace a switch with the same switch model, or with a model from the same switch series (family) with the same number of ports, but a different port type. For example, you can replace an ExtremeSwitching X450-G2-24t-10GE4 with an ExtremeSwitching X450-G2-24p-10GE4 (24t → 24p).
Connecting a new node to a stack automatically triggers the following tasks in a stack:
To start automatic node replacement:
  1. Prepare the replacement node:
    1. If the replacement switch is not out of the shipping box, remove any configuration and restore the factory defaults by running the command unconfigure switch {all | erase [all | nvram]} with the all option.
    2. If the replacement switch is going to be the backup node, check for feature license mismatches between it and the master by running show licenses [slot | all] on both switches. Install licenses as needed to the replacement node by running the command enable license {software} [key ] .
    3. Power down the replacement switch.
  2. Remove the current node from the stack.
  3. If you are changing to a different port type (for example, 24t → 24p):
    1. On the master, run the command configure slot slot module module_type , and change the module_type as applicable.
    2. Save the configuration (save configuration {primary | secondary | existing-config | new-config} ).
  4. Physically connect the new switch to the stack, and power it up. For information about cabling, see ExtremeSwitching and Summit Switches: Hardware Installation Guide for Switches Using ExtremeXOS Version 30.6 .
  5. Configure the switch port and speed for stack communication on the connected port of the new node for ExtremeSwitching X670-G2, X465, X590, X620, X690, X695, and X870 series switches by running the command configure stacking-support stack-port [stack-ports | all] selection [native {V160} | V320 |V400 {alternative-configuration} | help} | alternate].
    For ExtremeSwitching X460-G2, X450-G2, and X440-G2 series switches, the auto-discovery feature automatically turns on stacking support for the connected port.
    Platform Stacking Mode Supported Ports Stacking Method Port Speed
    X460-G2 Native VIM-2Q V160 40G
    VIM-2SS 10G
    Alternate VIM-2X 10G
    Front panel 10G
    X440-G2 Alternate Front/rear panel 10G
    X450-G2 Alternate Front panel - 10G
    Important

    Important

    The auto-discovery feature takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. During this time, the new node is rebooted twice, and if an image upgrade is required, it is rebooted a third time.

    To determine that the auto-discovery feature has finished adding the node to the stack, on the master run the command show slot {slot {detail} | detail } without the detail options. When auto-discovery is finished, the slot appears in the output as "Operational". If the node appears as "Failed", run the command show slot {slot {detail} | detail }, specifying the slot and using the detail option to see why the node has failed to join the stack. The most likely problem is that there is a feature license mismatch. To resolve this, re-run the procedure ensuring that you complete Step 1b.
    Note

    Note

    Auto-discovery is enabled by default. To turn on or off auto-discovery, use the following command: configure stacking-support auto-discovery [disable | enable].

To manually add or replace a node, see Manually Adding Nodes to a Stack.