HOW IS A SWITCH 4500G CONFIGURED AS THE MANAGEMENT DEVICE FOR A CLUSTER?

Symptoms:

• How is a switch 4500G configured as the management device for a cluster?
• What commands are necessary to configure the switch 4500G as a management device for a cluster?
• How do I determine that MAC address used to specify a device to be black-listed

Facts:

• Switch 4500G
• Switch 4500G 24-Port
• Switch 4500G 48-Port
  • Switch 4500G PWR 24-Port
• Switch 4500G PWR 48-Port

Causes: Clustering uses two layer 2 protocols when identifying the candidate and potential members of a cluster. Those protocols are Network Discovery Protocol (NDP) and Network Topology Discovery Protocol (NTDP). Between the 2 protocols, candidates for membership in the cluster are identified using NDP. Once candidates are identified, the NTDP will build the cluster topology and identify the interfaces that the devices will communicate through.

If using the default configuration for the switch 4500G, NDP and NTDP are enabled on all interfaces as is the cluster?

feature.

However, interfaces that are not to be members of the cluster will require that NDP and NTDP be disabled (undo ndp enable and undo ntdp enable) on that specific interface.

Additionally, under the cluster configuration, the MAC address of the specific unit that is not to participate will have to be defined via the ?blacklist? option.

The MAC address of the blacklisted device can be attained via the ?display STP? command. It is the MAC address defined under the heading lt;st1:place w:st=“on”>CIST Bridge.

If there currently is a single vlan defined (default vlan1) then a second vlan will be required to be defined. It is this vlan that communication between the switch acting as the management device for the cluster and the members of the cluster are to communicate.

Thus each interface on the cluster management device that accesses the clustered device will be required to be configured as a trunk port and tagged with the vlan used for management.

Fixes: Steps to configure assuming that that the switch 4500G has default settings:

1. On all interfaces that there is to be a black-listed entry, disable NDP and NTDP

• A. Undo NDP enable

• b. Undo NTDP enable

2. At the system level create a vlan that is to be used exclusively for the management cluster

• A. Vlan <management cluster vlan>

3. At the system level define the management vlan as the vlan used to manage the cluster.

• A.management-vlan <vlan number>

4. At the system level, type cluster? to enter the cluster? view.

• A. Define the ip-pool that is to be associated with each member of the specific cluster on this specific management vlan
• B. Execute ?build? and specify a name for the cluster; also responding ?No? to the option build from a local flash file.

5. Confirm that the expected candidates have been identified for the cluster using the command: Display Cluster Candidates.

6. Once candidates are identified under the Cluster view, execute the command “topology accept” of either “all” the candidates or a subset of those listed.

• Product(s): Switch 4500G
• Sub Product(s):

— David Gonzalez 2021/04/14 14:54