Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual

• Finding Feature Information, on page 1

• Prerequisites for Cisco StackWise Virtual, on page 1
• Restrictions for Cisco StackWise Virtual, on page 2
• Information About Cisco StackWise Virtual, on page 3
• How to Configure Cisco StackWise Virtual, on page 13
• Verifying Cisco StackWise Virtual Configuration, on page 21
• Additional References for StackWise Virtual, on page 21
• Feature History and Information for Cisco StackWise Virtual, on page 22

Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and
feature information, see Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To
find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each
feature is supported, see the feature information table at the end of this module.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support.
To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not
required.

Prerequisites for Cisco StackWise Virtual

• All the switches in a Cisco StackWise Virtual solution must be of the same switch model.
• All the switches in a Cisco StackWise Virtual solution must be running the same license level.
• All the switches in a Cisco StackWise Virtual solution must be running the same software version.
• All the switches in a Cisco StackWise Virtual solution must be running the same SDM template.

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Restrictions for Cisco StackWise Virtual

Note When you enable Cisco StackWise Virtual on the device:

• Layer 2, Layer 3, Security, Quality of Service, Multicast, Application, Monitoring and Management,
Multiprotocol Label Switching, and High Availability are supported. Contact the Cisco Technical Support
Centre for the specific list of features that are supported under each one of these technologies.
• Resilient Ethernet Protocol, Remote Switched Port Analyzer, and Sofware-Defined Access are NOT
supported.

Restrictions for Cisco StackWise Virtual

Common Restrictions for Cisco Catalyst 9500 and 9500 High Performance Series Switches
The following are the restrictions common to all the switches:
• The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) is not supported on SVLs; using FIPS commands
in releases that do not support FIPS will result in nondeterministic behavior.
• When deploying Cisco StackWise Virtual, ensure that VLAN ID 4094 is not used anywhere on the
network. All inter-chassis system control communication between stack members is carried over the
reserved VLAN ID 4094 from the global range.
• Dual-Active Detection (DAD) and SVL configuration must be performed manually and the devices
should be rebooted for the configuration changes to take effect.
• Only Cisco Transceiver Modules are supported.
• The interface VLAN MAC address that is assigned by default, can be overridden using the mac-address
command. If this command is configured on a single SVI or router port that requires Layer 3 injected
packets, all other SVIs or routed ports on the device also must be configured with the same first four
most significant bytes (4MSB) of the MAC address. For example, if you set the MAC address of any
SVI to xxxx.yyyy.zzzz, set the MAC address of all other SVIs to start with xxxx.yyyy. If Layer 3 injected
packets are not used, this restriction does not apply.

Note This applies to all Layer 3 ports, SVIs, and routed ports. This does not apply to
GigabitEthernet0/0 port.

Restrictions for Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches

• When configuring StackWiseVirtual links (SVLs) on 9500-40X and C9500-16X models of the Cisco
Catalyst 9500 Series Switches, note that you cannot create SVLs on any of the network modules.
• 4x10G breakout cables are not supported with SVL mode.

Restrictions for Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance Switches

• 4x25G and 4x10G breakout cables are not supported with SVL mode.

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Information About Cisco StackWise Virtual

• On C9500-32C switches, you can configure SVL and DAD only on interfaces numbered 1-16 on the
front panel of the switch.
• On C9500-32QC, you can configure SVL and DAD only on native 100G and 40G interfaces (default
configuration ports). You cannot configure SVL and DAD on converted 100G and 40G interfaces.
• On Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance Switches, configuring SVL using 1G interfaces is not
supported.

Information About Cisco StackWise Virtual

Cisco StackWise Virtual on Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches
This section describes the Cisco StackWise Virtual features specific to Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches
and Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance Switches.
• Cisco StackWise Virtual is supported on the following models:

Table 1: Switches supporting StackWise Virtual

Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance
Switches

C9500-24Q C9500-32C

C9500-12Q C9500-32QC

C9500-40X C9500-24Y4C

C9500-16X C9500-48Y4C

• You can establish SVLs using 40G or 10G Ethernet connections (downlink connections) on Cisco Catalyst
9500 Series Switches and 100G, 40G, 25G and 10G Ethernet connections on Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
High Performance Switches.
• You can configure upto 8 SVLs in a Cisco StackWise Virtual solution using Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
Switches or Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance Switches.

StackWise Virtual Overview

Cisco StackWise Virtual is a network system virtualization technology that pairs two switches into one virtual
switch. Switches in a Cisco StackWise Virtual solution increase operational efficiency by using single control
and management plane, scale system bandwidth with distributed forwarding plane, and assist in building
resilient networks using the recommended network design. Cisco StackWise Virtual allows two physical
switches to operate as a single logical virtual switch using an Ethernet connection.

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Cisco StackWise Virtual Topology

Cisco StackWise Virtual Topology

A typical network design consists of core, distribution, and access layers. The default mode of a switch is
standalone. When two redundant switches are deployed in the distribution layer, the following network
challenges arise:
• If VLAN IDs are reused between access layers then, it will introduce a spanning tree loop that will impact
the overall performance of the network.
• Spanning tree protocols and configuration are required to protect Layer 2 network against spanning tree
protocol loop, and root and bridge protocol data unit management.
• Additional protocols such as first hop redundancy protocol are required to virtualize the IP gateway
function. This should align with STP root priorities for each VLAN.
• The Protocol independent multicast designated router (PIM DR) configuration should be fine-tuned to
selectively build a multicast forwarding topology on a VLAN.
• The standalone distribution layer system provides protocol-driven remote failure and detection, which
results in slower convergence time. Fine-tune FHRP and PIM timers for rapid fault detection and recovery
process.

We recommend Cisco StackWise Virtual model for aggregation layers and collapsed aggregation and core
layers. The stack can be formed over a redundant 100G, 25G, 40G or 10G fiber links to ensure that the
distribution or the aggregation switches can be deployed over a large distance.
Note that STP keeps one of the ports connected to the distribution switches blocked on the access switches.
As a result of this, an active link failure causes STP convergence and the network suffers from traffic loss,
flooding, and a possible transient loop in the network. On the other hand, if the switches are logically merged
into one switch, all the access switches might form an EtherChannel bundle with distribution switches, and
a link failure within an EtherChannel would not have any impact as long as at least one member within the
EtherChannel is active.
Figure 1: Typical Network Design using Cisco StackWise Virtual

Etherchannel in StackWise Virtual is capable of implementing Multi-chassis EtherChannel (MEC) across the
stack members. When access layer and aggregation layer are collapsed into a single StackWise Virtual system,
MEC across the different access layer domain members and across distribution and access layer switches will
not be supported. MEC is designed to forward the traffic over the local link irrespective of the hash result.

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Cisco StackWise Virtual Redundancy

Since the control plane, management plane, and data plane are integrated, the system behaves as a single
switch.
The virtualization of multiple physical switches into a single logical switch is from a control and management
plane perspective only. Because of the control plane being common, it may look like a single logical entity
to peer switches. The data plane of the switches is distributed. Each switch is capable of forwarding over its
local interfaces without involving other members. However, when a packet coming into a switch has to be
forwarded over a different member’s port, the forwarding context of the packet is carried over to the destination
switch after ingress processing is performed in the ingress switch. Egress processing is done only in the egress
switch. This provides a uniform data plane behavior to the entire switch irrespective whether of the destination
port is in a local switch or in a remote switch. However, the common control plane ensures that all the switches
have equivalent data plane entry for each forwarding entity.
An election mechanism elects one of the switches to be Cisco StackWise Virtual active and the other switch
to be Cisco StackWise Virtual standby in terms of Control Plane functions. The active switch is responsible
for all the management, bridging and routing protocols, and software data path. The standby switch is in hot
standby state ready to take over the role of active, if the active switch fails over.
The following are the components of the Cisco StackWise Virtual solution:
• Stack members
• StackWise Virtual link: 100G, 25G, 40G or 10G Ethernet connections. SVL is established using the
100G, 25G, 40G or 10G interfaces depending on the switch models. However, a combination of two
different speeds is not supported.

StackWise Virtual link is the link that connects the switches over Ethernet. Typically, Cisco StackWise Virtual
consists of multiple 100G, 25G, 40G or 10G physical links. It carries all the control and data traffic between
the switching units. You can configure a StackWise Virtual link on a supported port. When a switch is powered
up and the hardware is initialized, it looks for a configured StackWise Virtual link before the initialization of
the control plane.
The Link Management Protocol (LMP) is activated on each link of the StackWise Virtual links as soon as the
links are established. LMP ensure the integrity of SVL links and monitors and maintains the health of the
links. The redundancy role of each switch is resolved by the StackWise Discovery Protocol (SDP). It ensures
that the hardware and software versions are compatible to form the SVL and determines which switch becomes
active or standby from a control plane perspective.
Cisco StackWise Virtual Header (SVH) is 64-byte frame header that is prepended over all control, data, and
management plane traffic that traverse over each SVL between the two stack members of the Cisco StackWise
Virtual domain. The SVH-encapsulated traffic operates at OSI Layer 2 and can be recognized and processed
only by Cisco StackWise Virtual-enabled switches. SVL interfaces are non-bridgeable and non-routeable,
and allows non-routeable traffic over L2 or L3 network.

Cisco StackWise Virtual Redundancy

Cisco StackWise Virtual operates stateful switchover (SSO) between the active and standby switches. The
following are the ways in which Cisco StackWise Virtual's redundancy model differs from that of the standalone
mode:
• The Cisco StackWise Virtual active and standby switches are hosted in separate switches and use a
StackWise Virtual link to exchange information.
• The active switch controls both the switches of Cisco StackWise Virtual. The active switch runs the
Layer 2 and Layer 3 control protocols and manages the switching modules of both the switches.

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SSO Redundancy

• The Cisco StackWise Virtual active and standby switches perform data traffic forwarding.

Note If the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch fails, the standby switch initiates a switchover and assumes the
Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch role.

SSO Redundancy
A StackWise Virtual system operates with SSO redundancy if it meets the following requirements:
• Both the switches must be running the same software version, unless they are in the process of software
upgrade.
• StackWise Virtual link-related configuration in the two switches must match.
• License type must be same on both the switch models.
• Both the switch models must be in the same StackWise Virtual domain.

With SSO redundancy, the StackWise Virtual standby switch is always ready to assume control if a fault
occurs on the StackWise Virtual active switch. Configuration, forwarding, and state information are
synchronized from the StackWise Virtual active switch to the redundant switch at startup, and whenever
changes to the StackWise Virtual active switch configuration occur. If a switchover occurs, traffic disruption
is minimized.
If StackWise Virtual does not meet the requirements for SSO redundancy, it will be incapable of establishing
a relationship with the peer switch. StackWise Virtual runs stateful switchover (SSO) between the StackWise
Virtual active and standby switches. The StackWise Virtual determines the role of each switch during
initialization.
The CPU in the StackWise Virtual standby switch runs in hot standby state. StackWise Virtual uses a StackWise
Virtual link to synchronize configuration data from the StackWise Virtual active switch to the StackWise
Virtual standby switch. Also, protocols and features that support high availability synchronize their events
and state information to the StackWise Virtual standby switch.

Nonstop Forwarding
While implementing Nonstop Forwarding (NSF) technology in systems using SSO redundancy mode, network
disruptions are minimized for campus users and applications. High availability is provided even when the
control-plane processing stack-member switch is reset. During a failure of the underlying Layer 3, NSF-capable
protocols perform graceful network topology resynchronization. The preset forwarding information on the
redundant stack-member switch remains intact; this switch continues to forward the data in the network. This
service availability significantly lowers the mean time to repair (MTTR) and increases the mean time between
failure (MTBF) to achieve a high level of network availability.

Multichassis EtherChannels
Multichassis EtherChannel (MEC) is an EtherChannel bundled with physical ports having common
characteristics such as speed and duplex, that are distributed across each Cisco StackWise Virtual system. A
Cisco StackWise Virtual MEC can connect to any network element that supports EtherChannel (such as a
host, server, router, or switch). Cisco StackWise Virtual supports up to 128 MECs deployed in Layer 2 or

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MEC Minimum Latency Load Balancing

Layer 3 modes. EtherChannel 127 and 128 are reserved for SVL connections. Hence, the maximum available
MEC count is 126.
In a Cisco StackWise Virtual system, an MEC is an EtherChannel with additional capability. A multichassis
EtherChannel link reduces the amount of traffic that requires transmission across the StackWise Virtual link
by populating the index port only with the ports local to the physical switch. This allows the switch to give
precedence to the local ports of the multichassis EtherChannel link over those on the remote switch.
Each MEC can optionally be configured to support either Cisco PAgP, IEEE LACP, or Static ON mode. We
recommend that you implement EtherChannel using Cisco PAgP or LACP with a compatible neighbor. If a
remotely connected neighbor such as Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) does not support this link-bundling
protocol, then a Static ON mode can be deployed. These protocols run only on the Cisco StackWise Virtual
active switch.
An MEC can support up to eight physical links that can be distributed in any proportion between the Cisco
StackWise Virtual active switch and the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch. We recommend that you
distribute the MEC ports across both switches evenly.

MEC Minimum Latency Load Balancing

The StackWise Virtual environment is designed such that data forwarding always remains within the switch.
The Virtual Stack always tries to forward traffic on the locally available links. This is true for both Layer 2
and Layer3 links. The primary motivation for local forwarding is to avoid unnecessarily sending data traffic
over the StackWise Virtual link and thus reduce the latency (extra hop over the SVL) and congestion.The
bidirectional traffic is load-shared between the two StackWise Virtual members. However, for each StackWise
Virtual member, ingress and egress traffic forwarding is based on locally-attached links that are part of MEC.
This local forwarding is a key concept in understanding convergence and fault conditions in a StackWise
Virtual enabled campus network.
The active and standby switches support local forwarding that will individually perform the desired lookups
and forward the traffic on local links to uplink neighbors. If the destination is a remote switch in the StackWise
Virtual domain, ingress processing is performed on the ingress switch and then traffic is forwarded over the
StackWise Virtual link to the egress switch where only egress processing is performed.

MEC Failure Scenarios

We recommend that you configure a MEC with at least one link to each switch. This configuration ensures
that there is always an alternate path for data traffic in case of a switch failure.
The following sections describe issues that may arise and the resulting impact:

Single MEC Link Failure

If a link within a MEC fails (and other links in the MEC are still operational), the MEC redistributes the load
among the operational links, as in a regular port.

All MEC Links to the Cisco StackWise Virtual Active Switch Fail
If all the links to the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch fail, a MEC becomes a regular EtherChannel with
operational links to the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch.
Data traffic that terminates on the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch reaches the MEC by crossing a
StackWise Virtual link to the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch. Control protocols continue to run in
the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch. Protocol messages reach the MEC by crossing a StackWise Virtual
link.

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Cisco StackWise Virtual Packet Handling

All MEC Links Fail

If all the links in an MEC fail, the logical interface for the EtherChannel is set to Unavailable. Layer 2 control
protocols perform the same corrective action as for a link-down event on a regular EtherChannel.
On adjacent switches, routing protocols and the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) perform the same corrective
action as for a regular EtherChannel.

Cisco StackWise Virtual Standby Switch Failure

If the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch fails, a MEC becomes a regular EtherChannel with operational
links on the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch. Connected peer switches detect the link failures, and
adjust their load-balancing algorithms to use only the links to the StackWise Virtual active switch.

Cisco StackWise Virtual Active Switch Failure

Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch failure results in a stateful switchover (SSO). After the switchover, a
MEC is operational on the new Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch. Connected peer switches detect the
link failures (to the failed switch), and adjust their load-balancing algorithms to use only the links to the new
Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch.

Cisco StackWise Virtual Packet Handling

In Cisco StackWise Virtual, the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch runs the Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols
and features and manages the ports on both the switches.
Cisco StackWise Virtual uses StackWise Virtual link to communicate system and protocol information between
the peer switches and to carry data traffic between the two switches.
The following sections describe packet handling in Cisco StackWise Virtual.

Traffic on a StackWise Virtual link

A StackWise Virtual link carries data traffic and in-band control traffic between two switches. All the frames
that are forwarded over the StackWise Virtual link are encapsulated with a special StackWise Virtual Header
(SVH). The SVH adds an overhead of 64 bytes for control and data traffic, which provides information for
Cisco StackWise Virtual to forward the packet on the peer switch.
A StackWise Virtual link transports control messages between two switches. Messages include protocol
messages that are processed by the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch, but received or transmitted by
interfaces on the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch. Control traffic also includes module programming
between the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch and the switching modules on the Cisco StackWise Virtual
standby switch.
Cisco StackWise Virtual transmits data traffic over a StackWise Virtual link under the following circumstances:
• Layer 2 traffic flooded over a VLAN (even for dual-homed links).
• Packets processed by software on the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch where the ingress interface
is on the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch.
• The packet destination is on the peer switch, as described in the following examples:
• Traffic within a VLAN where the known destination interface is on the peer switch.
• Traffic that is replicated for a multicast group and the multicast receivers are on the peer switch.

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Layer 2 Protocols

• The known unicast destination MAC address is on the peer switch.

• The packet is a MAC notification frame destined for a port on the peer switch.

A StackWise Virtual link also transports system data, such as NetFlow export data and SNMP data, from the
Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch to the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch.
Traffic on the StackWise Virtual link is load balanced with the same global hashing algorithms available for
EtherChannels (the default algorithm is source-destination IP).

Layer 2 Protocols
The Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch runs the Layer 2 protocols (such as STP and VTP) for the switching
modules on both the switches. Protocol messages that are received on the standby switch ports must traverse
SVL links to reach the active switch where they are processed. Similarly, protocol messages that are transmitted
from the standby switch ports originate on the active switch, and traverse the SVL links to reach the standby
ports.
All the Layer 2 protocols in Cisco StackWise Virtual work similarly in standalone mode. The following
sections describe the difference in behavior for some protocols in Cisco StackWise Virtual.

Spanning Tree Protocol

The Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch runs the STP. The Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch redirects
the STP BPDUs across a StackWise Virtual link to the StackWise Virtual active switch.
The STP bridge ID is commonly derived from the switch MAC address. To ensure that the bridge ID does
not change after a switchover, Cisco StackWise Virtual continues to use the original switch MAC address for
the STP Bridge ID.

EtherChannel Control Protocols

Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) and Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) packets contain a device
identifier. Cisco StackWise Virtual defines a common device identifier for both the switches. Use either PAgP
or LACP on Multi EtherChannels instead of mode ON, even if all the three modes are supported.

Note A new PAgP enhancement has been defined for assisting with dual-active scenario detection.

Switched Port Analyzer

Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) on StackWise Virtual link ports is not supported; SVL ports can be neither
a SPAN source, nor a SPAN destination. Cisco StackWise Virtual supports all the SPAN features for non-SVL
interfaces. The number of SPAN sessions that are available on Cisco StackWise Virtual matches that on a
single switch running in standalone mode.

Private VLANs
Private VLANs on StackWise Virtual work the same way as in standalone mode. The only exception is that
the native VLAN on isolated trunk ports must be configured explicitly.

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Layer 3 Protocols

Apart from STP, EtherChannel Control Protocols, SPAN, and private VLANs, the Dynamic Trunking Protocol
(DTP), Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunk Protocol (VTP), and Unidirectional Link Detection
Protocol (UDLD) are the additional Layer 2 control-plane protocols that run over the SVL connections.

Layer 3 Protocols
The Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch runs the Layer 3 protocols and features for the StackWise Virtual.
All the Layer 3 protocol packets are sent to and processed by the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch. Both
the member switches perform hardware forwarding for ingress traffic on their interfaces. When software
forwarding is required, packets are sent to the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch for processing.
The same router MAC address assigned by the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch is used for all the Layer
3 interfaces on both the Cisco StackWise Virtual member switches. After a switchover, the original router
MAC address is still used. The router MAC address is chosen based on chassis-mac and is preserved after
switchover by default. Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance switches support Layer 3 subinterfaces.
The following sections describe the Layer 3 protocols for Cisco StackWise Virtual.

IPv4 Unicast
The CPU on the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch runs the IPv4 routing protocols and performs any
required software forwarding. All the routing protocol packets received on the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby
switch are redirected to the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch across the StackWise Virtual link. The
Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch generates all the routing protocol packets to be sent out over ports on
either of the Cisco StackWise Virtual member switches.
Hardware forwarding is distributed across both members on Cisco StackWise Virtual. The CPU on the Cisco
StackWise Virtual active switch sends Forwarding Information Base (FIB) updates to the Cisco StackWise
Virtual standby switch, which in turn installs all the routes and adjacencies into hardware.
Packets intended for a local adjacency (reachable by local ports) are forwarded locally on the ingress switch.
Packets intended for a remote adjacency (reachable by remote ports) must traverse the StackWise Virtual
link.
The CPU on the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch performs all software forwarding and feature processing
(such as fragmentation and Time to Live exceed functions). If a switchover occurs, software forwarding is
disrupted until the new Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch obtains the latest Cisco Express Forwarding
and other forwarding information.
In virtual switch mode, the requirements to support non-stop forwarding (NSF) match those in the standalone
redundant mode of operation.
From a routing peer perspective, Multi-Chassis EtherChannels (MEC) remain operational during a switchover,
that is, only the links to the failed switch are down, but the routing adjacencies remain valid.
Cisco StackWise Virtual achieves Layer 3 load balancing over all the paths in the Forwarding Information
Base entries, be it local or remote.

IPv6
Cisco StackWise Virtual supports IPv6 unicast and multicast because it is present in the standalone system.

IPv4 Multicast
The IPv4 multicast protocols run on the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch. Internet Group Management
Protocol (IGMP) and Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) protocol packets received on the Cisco StackWise

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Dual-Active Detection

Virtual standby switch are transmitted across a StackWise Virtual link to the StackWise Virtual active switch.
The latter generates IGMP and PIM protocol packets to be sent over ports on either of the Cisco StackWise
Virtual members.
The Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch synchronizes the Multicast Forwarding Information Base (MFIB)
state to the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch. On both the member switches, all the multicast routes
are loaded in the hardware, with replica expansion table (RET) entries programmed for only local, outgoing
interfaces. Both the member switches are capable of performing hardware forwarding.

Note To avoid multicast route changes as a result of a switchover, we recommend that all the links carrying multicast
traffic be configured as MEC rather than Equal Cost Multipath (ECMP).

For packets traversing a StackWise Virtual link, all Layer 3 multicast replications occur on the egress switch.
If there are multiple receivers on the egress switch, only one packet is replicated and forwarded over the
StackWise Virtual link, and then replicated to all the local egress ports.

Software Features
Software features run only on the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch. Incoming packets to the Cisco
StackWise Virtual standby switch that require software processing are sent across a StackWise Virtual link
to the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch.

Dual-Active Detection
If the standby switch detects a complete loss of the StackWise Virtual link, it assumes the active switch has
failed and will take over as the active switch. However, if the original Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch
is still operational, both the switches will now be Cisco StackWise Virtual active switches. This situation is
called a dual-active scenario. This scenario can have adverse effects on network stability because both the
switches use the same IP addresses, SSH keys, and STP bridge IDs. Cisco StackWise Virtual detects a
dual-active scenario and takes recovery action. Dual-active-detection link is the dedicated link used to mitigate
this.
If a StackWise Virtual link fails, the Cisco StackWise Virtual standby switch cannot determine the state of
the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch. To ensure that switchover occurs without delay, the Cisco StackWise
Virtual standby switch assumes that the Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch has failed and initiates switchover
to take over the Cisco StackWise Virtual active role. The original Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch
enters recovery mode and brings down all the interfaces except the StackWise Virtual link and the management
interfaces.

Dual-Active-Detection Link with Fast Hello

To use the dual-active fast hello packet detection method, you must provision a direct ethernet connection
between the two Cisco StackWise Virtual switches. You can dedicate up to four links for this purpose.
The two switches periodically exchange special dual-active hello messages containing information about the
switch state. If all SVLs fail and a dual-active scenario occurs, each switch recognizes that there is a dual-active
scenario from the peer's messages. This initiates recovery actions as described in the Recovery Actions, on
page 12 section. If a switch does not receive an expected dual-active fast hello message from the peer before
the timer expires, the switch assumes that the link is no longer capable of dual-active detection.

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Dual-Active Detection with enhanced PAgP

Note Do not use the same port for StackWise Virtual link and dual-active detection link.

Dual-Active Detection with enhanced PAgP

Port aggregation protocol (PAgP) is a Cisco proprietary protocol used for managing EtherChannels. If a
StackWise Virtual MEC terminates on a Cisco switch, you can run PAgP protocol on the MEC. If PAgP is
running on the MECs between the StackWise Virtual switch and an upstream or downstream switch, the
StackWise Virtual can use PAgP to detect a dual-active scenario. The MEC must have at least one port on
each switch of the StackWise Virtual setup.
Enhanced PAgP is an extension of the PAgP protocol. In virtual switch mode, ePAgP messages include a
new type length value (TLV) which contains the ID of the StackWise Virtual active switch. Only switches in
virtual switch mode send the new TLV.
When the StackWise Virtual standby switch detects SVL failure, it initiates SSO and becomes StackWise
Virtual active. Subsequent ePAgP messages sent to the connected switch from the newly StackWise Virtual
active switch contain the new StackWise Virtual active ID. The connected switch sends ePAgP messages
with the new StackWise Virtual active ID to both StackWise Virtual switches.
If the formerly StackWise Virtual active switch is still operational, it detects the dual-active scenario because
the StackWise Virtual active ID in the ePAgP messages changes.
Figure 2: Dual-active-detection with ePAgP

Note To avoid PAgP flaps and to ensure that dual-active detection functions as expected, the stack MAC persistent
wait timer must be configured as indefinite using the command stack-mac persistent timer 0 .

Recovery Actions
A Cisco StackWise Virtual active switch that detects a dual-active condition shuts down all of its non-SVL
interfaces to remove itself from the network. The switch then waits in recovery mode until the SVLs have
been recovered. You should physically repair the SVL failure and the recovery switch should be manually
reloaded for it to be the standby switch.

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Implementing Cisco StackWise Virtual

Implementing Cisco StackWise Virtual

The two-node solution of Cisco StackWise Virtual is normally deployed at the aggregation layer. Two switches
are connected over an SVL.
Cisco StackWise Virtual combines the two switches into a single logical switch with a large number of ports,
offering a single point of management. One of the member switches is the control and management plane
master, while the other one is the standby. The virtualization of multiple physical switches into a single logical
switch is only from a control and management perspective. Because of the control plane being common, it
may look like a single logical entity to peer switches. The data plane of the switches are converged, that is,
the forwarding context of a switch might be passed to the other member switch for further processing when
traffic is forwarded across the switches. However, the common control plane ensures that all the switches
have equivalent data plane entry for each forwarding entity.
Figure 3: Two-Node Solution

An election mechanism that determines which switch is Cisco StackWise Virtual active and which one is a
control plane standby, is available. The active switch is responsible for management, bridging and routing
protocols, and software data path. These are centralized on the active switch supervisor of the Cisco StackWise
Virtual active switch.

How to Configure Cisco StackWise Virtual

Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual Settings
To enable StackWise Virtual, perform the following procedure on both the switches:

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device>enable

Step 2 switchswitch-numberrenumbernew switch -number (Optional) Reassigns the switch number.

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 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual Settings

Command or Action Purpose

Example: The default switch number will be 1. The valid values for
the new switch number are 1 and 2.
Device#switch 1 renumber 2

Step 3 switchswitch-numberprioritypriority-number (Optional) Assigns the priority number.

Example: The default priority number is 1. The highest priority
number is 15.
Device#switch 1 priority 5

Step 4 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device#configure terminal

Step 5 stackwise-virtual Enables Cisco StackWise Virtual and enters

stackwise-virtual submode.
Example:

Device(config)#stackwise-virtual

Step 6 domain id (Optional) Specifies the Cisco StackWise Virtual domain

ID.
Example:
Device(config-stackwise-virtual)#domain 2 The domain ID range is from 1 to 255. The default value
is one.

Step 7 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:
Device(config-stackwise-virtual)#end

Step 8 show stackwise-virtual

Example:
Device#show stackwise-virtual

Step 9 write memory Saves the running-configuration which resides in the

system RAM and updates the ROMmon variables. If you
Example:
do not save the changes, the changes will no longer be part
Device#write memory of the startup configuration when the switch reloads. Note
that the configurations for stackwise-virtual and domain
are saved to the running-configuration and the
startup-configuration after the reload.

Step 10 reload Restarts the switch and forms the stack.

Example:
Device#reload

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14
 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual Link

Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual Link

Note Depending on the switch model, SVL is supported on all 10G interfaces and 40G interfaces of the Cisco
Catalyst 9500 Series switches and on all the 100G, 40G, 25G and 10G interfaces of the Cisco Catalyst 9500
Series High Performance switches. However, a combination of different interface speeds is not supported.

To configure a switch port as an SVL port, perform the following procedure on both the switches:

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device>enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device#configure terminal

Step 3 Perform one the of the following depending on the switch Enters ethernet interface configuration mode.
that you are configuring.
• If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
Switch, use interface
{TenGigabitEthernet|FortyGigabitEthernet}<interface>
• If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
High Performance Switch, use interface
{HundredGigE |FortyGigabitEthernet
|TwentyFiveGigE}<interface>

Example:
Device(config)#interface TenGigabitEthernet1/0/2

Step 4 stackwise-virtual link link value Associates the interface with configured SVL.
Example:
Device(config-if)#stackwise-virtual link 1

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:
Device(config-if)#end

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15
 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Configuring StackWise Virtual Fast Hello Dual-Active-Detection Link

Command or Action Purpose

Step 6 write memory Saves the running-configuration which resides in the system
RAM and updates the ROMmon variables. If you do not
Example:
save the changes, the changes will no longer be part of the
Device#write memory startup configuration when the switch reloads. Note that
the configuration for stackwise-virtual link link value is
saved only in the running-configuration and not the
startup-configuration.

Step 7 reload Restarts the switch.

Example: Note
Device#reload When converting a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High
Performance switch from standalone mode to SVL mode
for the first time, one of the switches boots up or resets, for
resolving the switch number conflict and sets the
SWITCH_NUMBER environment variable to 2. The
following message appears on the console prompt indicating
this:
Waiting for remote chassis to join
#######################################################################
Chassis number is 2
All chassis in the stack have been discovered.
Accelerating discovery

Chassis is reloading, reason: Configured Switch

num conflicts with peer,
Changing local switch number to 2 and reloading to
take effect

Configuring StackWise Virtual Fast Hello Dual-Active-Detection Link

To configure StackWise Virtual Fast Hello DAD link, perform the following procedure. This procedure is
optional.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device>enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device#configure terminal

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 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Enabling ePAgP Dual-Active-Detection

Command or Action Purpose

Step 3 Perform one the of the following depending on the switch Enters ethernet interface configuration mode.
that you are configuring.
• If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
Switch, use interface
{TenGigabitEthernet|FortyGigabitEthernet}<interface>
• If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
High Performance Switch, use interface
{HundredGigE |FortyGigabitEthernet
|TwentyFiveGigE}<interface>

Example:
Device(config)#interface TenGigabitEthernet1/0/40

Step 4 stackwise-virtual dual-active-detection Associates the interface with StackWise Virtual

dual-active-detection.
Example:
Device(config-if)#stackwise-virtual Note This command will not be visible on the device
dual-active-detection after the configuration, but will continue to
function.

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:
Device(config-if)#end

Step 6 write memory Saves the running-configuration which resides in the system
RAM and updates the ROMmon variables. If you do not
Example:
save the changes, the changes will no longer be part of the
Device#write memory startup configuration when the switch reloads. Note that
the configuration for stackwise-virtual
dual-active-detection is saved only in the
running-configuration and not the startup-configuration.

Step 7 reload Restarts the switch and configuration takes effect.

Example:
Device#reload

Enabling ePAgP Dual-Active-Detection

To enable ePAgP dual-active-detection on a switch port, perform the following procedure on . This procedure
is optional.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

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 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Enabling ePAgP Dual-Active-Detection

Command or Action Purpose

Device>enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device#configure terminal

Step 3 interface { TenGigabitEthernet | Enters the interface configuration mode.

FortyGigabitEthernet | TwentyFiveGigE }
<interface>
Example:
Device(config)#interface FortyGigabitEthernet
1/0/5

Step 4 channel-group group_ID mode desirable Enables PAgP MEC with channel-group id in the range
of 1 to 126 for 10 GigabitEthernet interfaces.
Example:
Device(config-if)#channel-group 1 mode desirable

Step 5 exit Exits interface configuration.

Example:
Device(config-if)#exit

Step 6 interface port-channel channel-group-id Selects a port channel interface to configure.

Example:
Device(config)#interface port-channel 1

Step 7 shutdown Shuts down an interface.

Example:
Device(config-if)#shutdown

Step 8 exit Exits interface configuration.

Example:
Device(config-if)#exit

Step 9 stackwise-virtual Enters the StackWise Virtual configuration mode.

Example:
Device(config)#stackwise-virtual

Step 10 dual-active detection pagp Enables pagp dual-active detection. This is enabled by
default.
Example:
Device(config-stackwise-virtual)#dual-active
detection pagp

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 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Disabling Cisco StackWise Virtual

Command or Action Purpose

Step 11 dual-active detection pagp trust channel-group Enables dual-active detection trust mode on channel-group
channel-group id with the configured ID.
Example:
Device(config-stackwise-virtual)#dual-active
detection pagp trust channel-group 1

Step 12 exit Exits the StackWise-Virtual configuration mode.

Example:
Device(config-stackwise-virtual)#exit

Step 13 interface port-channel portchannel Configured port-channel on the switch.

Example:
Device(config)#interface port-channel 1

Step 14 no shutdown Enables the configured port-channel on the switch.

Example:
Device(config-if)#no shutdown

Step 15 end Exits interface configuration.

Example:
Device(config-if)#end

Step 16 write memory Saves the running-configuration which resides in the

system RAM and updates the ROMmon variables. If you
Example:
do not save the changes, the changes will no longer be part
Device#write memory of the startup configuration when the switch reloads. Note
that the configuration for dual-active detection pagp trust
channel-group channel-group id is saved to the
running-configuration and the startup-configuration after
the reload.

Step 17 reload Restarts the switch and configuration takes effect.

Example:
Device#reload

Disabling Cisco StackWise Virtual

To disable Cisco StackWise Virtual on a switch, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

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 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Disabling Cisco StackWise Virtual

Command or Action Purpose

Device>enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device#configure terminal

Step 3 Perform one the of the following depending on the switch Enters ethernet interface configuration mode.
that you are configuring.
• If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
Switch, use interface
{TenGigabitEthernet|FortyGigabitEthernet}<interface>
• If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
High Performance Switch, use interface
{HundredGigE |FortyGigabitEthernet
|TwentyFiveGigE}<interface>

Example:
Device(config)#interface TenGigabitEthernet 1/0/41

Step 4 no stackwise-virtual dual-active-detection Dissociates the interface from StackWise Virtual DAD.
Example:
Device(config-if)#no stackwise-virtual
dual-active-detection

Step 5 Repeat step Step 3, on page 20. Enters the interface configuration mode.
Example:
Device(config)#interface TenGigabitEthernet 1/0/5

Step 6 no stackwise-virtual link link Dissociates the interface from SVL.

Example:
Device(config-if)#no stackwise-virtual link 1

Step 7 exit Exits interface configuration.

Example:
Device(config-if)#exit

Step 8 no stackwise-virtual Disables StackWise Virtual configuration.

Example:
Device(config)#no stackwise-virtual

Step 9 exit Exits the global configuration mode.

Example:

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 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Verifying Cisco StackWise Virtual Configuration

Command or Action Purpose

Device(config)#exit

Step 10 write memory Saves the running configuration.

Example:
Device#write memory

Step 11 reload Restarts the switch and the configuration takes effect.
Example:
Device#reload

Verifying Cisco StackWise Virtual Configuration

To verify your StackWise Virtual configuration, use the following show commands:

show stackwise-virtual switch number <1-2> Displays information of a particular switch in the stack.

show stackwise-virtual link Displays StackWise Virtual link information.

show stackwise-virtual bandwidth Displays the bandwidth available for the Cisco StackWise
Virtual.

show stackwise-virtual neighbors Displays the Cisco StackWise Virtual neighbors.

show stackwise-virtual dual-active-detection Displays StackWise Virtual dual-active-detection

information.

show stackwise-virtual dual-active-detection Displays ePAgP dual-active-detection information.

pagp

Additional References for StackWise Virtual

Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

For complete syntax and usage information for High Availability Command Reference for Catalyst 9500
the commands used in this chapter. Switches

MIBs

MIB MIBs Link

All the supported MIBs for this To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases,
release. and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs

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21
 Configuring Cisco StackWise Virtual
Feature History and Information for Cisco StackWise Virtual

Technical Assistance

Description Link
The Cisco Support website provides extensive online resources, including http://www.cisco.com/support
documentation and tools for troubleshooting and resolving technical issues
with Cisco products and technologies.
To receive security and technical information about your products, you can
subscribe to various services, such as the Product Alert Tool (accessed from
Field Notices), the Cisco Technical Services Newsletter, and Really Simple
Syndication (RSS) Feeds.
Access to most tools on the Cisco Support website requires a Cisco.com user
ID and password.

Feature History and Information for Cisco StackWise Virtual

Release Modification

Cisco IOS XE Everest 16.6.1 This feature was introduced on Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series
Switches.

Cisco IOS XE Everest 16.10.1 This feature was introduced on Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High
Performance Switches.

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