VLACP tab for ports

Use the following procedure to view the VLACP tab for ports:

Procedure steps

  1. In the Device Physical View, double-click a Port.

    The Port X/X dialog box appears with the Interface tab displayed.

  2. Select the VLACP tab.

If you want to configure multiple ports, you can access the VLACP tab on the MLT/LACP tab.

Variable definitions

The following table outlines the parameters of the VLACP tab.

Table 1. Port X/X VLACP tab parameters
Variable Value
AdminEnable Enables or disables VLACP on a port. The default value is False.
OperEnable Indicates whether VLACP is operationally enabled or disabled. This is a read-only field.
FastPeriodicTimer Specifies the number of milliseconds between periodic transmissions using short timeouts. Valid values range from 400-20000 with a default of 500.
SlowPeriodicTimer Specifies the number of milliseconds between periodic transmissions using long timeouts. Valid values range from 10000-30000 with a default of 30000.
Timeout Specifies whether the timeout control value is a short or long timeout.
TimeoutScale Sets a timeout scale for the port, where timeout = (periodic time) * (timeout scale).

The range is 1-10. Default is 3.

Note: With VLACP, a short interval exists between a port transmitting a VLACPDU and the partner port receiving the same VLACPDU. However, if the timeout-scale is set to less than 3, the port timeout value does not take into account the normal travel time of the VLACPDU. The port expects to receive a VLACPDU at the same moment the partner port sends it. Therefore, the delayed VLACPDU results in the link being blocked, and then enabled again when the packet arrives. To prevent this scenario from happening, set the timeout-scale to a value larger than 3. If a VLACP partner does not receive a VLACPDU during (periodic time)*(timeout scale) the system sets the link as VLACP down.

EtherType Specifies VLACP protocol identification. The ID value is a 4-digit Hex number, with a default of 8103.
EtherMacAddress The default value is 00:00:00:00:00:00 and it can be configured with the MAC address of the switch or stack to which this port is sending VLACPDUs. It cannot be configured as a multicast MAC.

Note: VLACP has only one multicast MAC address, configured using the MulticastMACAddress field in the VLACP Global tab, which is the Layer 2 destination address used for the VLACPDUs. The port-specific EtherMACAddresss parameter does not specify a multicast MAC address, but instead specifies the MAC address of the switch or stack to which this port is sending VLACPDUs. You are not always required to configure EtherMACAddresss. If not configured, the first VLACP-enabled switch that receives the PDUs from a unit assumes that it is the intended recipient and processes the PDUs accordingly.

If you want an intermediate switch to drop VLACP packets, configure the EtherMACAddresss field with the desired destination MAC address. With EtherMACAddresss configured, the intermediate switches do not misinterpret the VLACP packets.

PortState Identifies whether the VLACP port state is up or down. This is a read-only field.