Create a Port Channel

Port channels, also called Link Aggregation Groups (LAG), are used for load balancing traffic among ports.

About this task

After you create a port channel, it is available for selection when you create ingress groups and egress.

Note

• The fields that are available for creating a port channel vary by the device you are configuring.
• LACP LAG is not supported. Only static LAG is supported. The LACP option is grayed out and unselected. The Static option is grayed out and selected.

1. In the Navigation menu, select Configure.
2. In the Devices panel, select the device for which you want to create a port channel.
3. Select the Configurations tab.
4. In the Device Config menu, select Add Port Channel.
5. In the Port Channel ID field, enter a unique numeric ID.
   No two port channels can have the same ID.
6. In the Lag Speed field, select the speed for the ports that you will select in step 8.
7. In the Description field, provide enough information to help you identify the port channel.
8. In the Ports field, select at least one port from the list.
   The ports in the list will be of the speed that you selected in step 6. A port can be a member of only one port channel. Ports that are not in the list are either already added to another port channel or are operating at a speed that is different from the selection in step 6.
9. (SLX and 9920 only) In the MTU field, select the maximum transmission unit for packets that pass through the ports in the channel.
10. (MLX only) In the Primary Port field, select one of the port channels you selected in the Ports field.
11. In the Minimum Link field, select or enter the minimum number of interfaces that the port channel requires to be active.
12. (9920 only) In the Load Balance Algorithm field, select a load-balancing method or select None.
    • src-dst-ip-l4-port: The source and destination IP Layer 4 ports method is the default load-balancing method.
    • src-dst-ip-l4-port-tid: The source and destination IP Layer 4 ports method with tunnel ID.
13. Select Enable to change the port channel operating status to Up.
    When you select this field, you initiate the no shutdown command on the device, which changes the operating status to Up. When the field is not selected, the shutdown command runs on the port channel and the operating status changes to Down.
14. (MLX and SLX only) Select Loopback to configure the port channel as a loopback interface.
    A loopback is a virtual interface that a device uses to communicate with itself. A loopback interface cannot be used as an egress interface.
15. (SLX only) Select Truncation Profile to slice an incoming packet on the loopback interface based on the specified frame size.
    1. In the Profile Name field, enter a name for the truncation profile.
    2. In the Frame Size field, enter a value to represent the maximum packet size after truncation.
       The final packet size will be less than or equal to this value.
16. Save (✔) your selections.