Verify and Troubleshoot EtherChannel
Verify and Troubleshoot EtherChannel
CCNA2
·10 min read

Verify and Troubleshoot EtherChannel

Verify and Troubleshoot EtherChannel
5

Summary

This topic Troubleshoot EtherChannel. Start learning CCNA 200-301 for free right now!!

Note: Welcome: This topic is part of Module 6 of the Cisco CCNA 2 course, for a better follow up of the course you can go to the CCNA 2 section to guide you through an order.

Verify EtherChannel

As always, when you configure devices in your network, you must verify your configuration. If there are problems, you will also need to be able to troubleshoot and fix them. This topic gives you the commands to verify, as well as some common EtherChannel network problems and their solutions.

The verification command examples will use the topology shown in the figure.

Verify EtherChannel Example
Verify EtherChannel Example

There are a number of commands to verify an EtherChannel configuration. Click each button to for an explanation and command output.

The show interfaces port-channel command displays the general status of the port channel interface. In the figure, the Port Channel 1 interface is up.

S1# show interfaces port-channel 1
Port-channel1 is up, line protocol is up (connected)
  Hardware is EtherChannel, address is c07b.bcc4.a981 (bia c07b.bcc4.a981)
  MTU 1500 bytes, BW 200000 Kbit/sec, DLY 100 usec,
     reliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 1/255
(output omitted)

When several port channel interfaces are configured on the same device, use the show etherchannel summary command to display one line of information per port channel. In the output, the switch has one EtherChannel configured; group 1 uses LACP.

The interface bundle consists of the FastEthernet0/1 and FastEthernet0/2 interfaces. The group is a Layer 2 EtherChannel and it is in use, as indicated by the letters SU next to the port channel number.

S1# show etherchannel summary
Flags:  D - down        P - bundled in port-channel
        I - stand-alone s - suspended
        H - Hot-standby (LACP only)
        R - Layer3      S - Layer2
        U - in use      N - not in use, no aggregation
        f - failed to allocate aggregator
        M - not in use, minimum links not met
        m - not in use, port not aggregated due to minimum links not met
        u - unsuitable for bundling
        w - waiting to be aggregated
        d - default port
        A - formed by Auto LAG
Number of channel-groups in use: 1
Number of aggregators:           1
Group  Port-channel  Protocol    Ports
------+-------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------
1      Po1(SU)         LACP      Fa0/1(P)    Fa0/2(P)

Use the show etherchannel port-channel command to display information about a specific port channel interface, as shown in the output. In the example, the Port Channel 1 interface consists of two physical interfaces, FastEthernet0/1 and FastEthernet0/2. It uses LACP in active mode. It is properly connected to another switch with a compatible configuration, which is why the port channel is said to be in use.

S1# show etherchannel port-channel
                Channel-group listing:
                ----------------------
Group: 1
----------
                Port-channels in the group:
                ---------------------------
Port-channel: Po1    (Primary Aggregator)
------------
Age of the Port-channel   = 0d:01h:02m:10s
Logical slot/port   = 2/1          Number of ports = 2
HotStandBy port = null
Port state          = Port-channel Ag-Inuse
Protocol            =   LACP
Port security       = Disabled
Load share deferral = Disabled
Ports in the Port-channel:
Index   Load   Port     EC state        No of bits
------+------+------+------------------+-----------
  0     00     Fa0/1    Active             0
  0     00     Fa0/2    Active             0
Time since last port bundled:    0d:00h:09m:30s    Fa0/2

On any physical interface member of an EtherChannel bundle, the show interfaces etherchannel command can provide information about the role of the interface in the EtherChannel, as shown in the output. The interface FastEthernet0/1 is part of the EtherChannel bundle 1. The protocol for this EtherChannel is LACP.

S1# show interfaces f0/1 etherchannel
Port state    = Up Mstr Assoc In-Bndl
Channel group = 1           Mode = Active          Gcchange = -
Port-channel  = Po1         GC   =   -             Pseudo port-channel = Po1
Port index    = 0           Load = 0x00            Protocol =   LACP
Flags:  S - Device is sending Slow LACPDUs   F - Device is sending fast LACPDUs.
        A - Device is in active mode.        P - Device is in passive mode.
Local information:
                            LACP port     Admin     Oper    Port       
Port      Flags   State     Priority      Key       Number  State
Fa0/1     SA      bndl      32768         0x1       0x1     0x102       0x3D
Partner's information:
                  LACP port                        Admin  Oper   Port    Port
Port      Flags   Priority  Dev ID          Age    key    Key    Number  State
Fa0/1     SA      32768     c025.5cd7.ef00  12s    0x0    0x1    0x102   0x3Dof the port in the current state: 0d:00h:11m:51sllowed vlan 1,2,20

Common Issues with EtherChannel Configurations

All interfaces within an EtherChannel must have the same configuration of speed and duplex mode, native and allowed VLANs on trunks, and access VLAN on access ports. Ensuring these configurations will significantly reduce network problems related to EtherChannel. Common EtherChannel issues include the following:

  • Assigned ports in the EtherChannel are not part of the same VLAN, or not configured as trunks. Ports with different native VLANs cannot form an EtherChannel.
  • Trunking was configured on some of the ports that make up the EtherChannel, but not all of them. It is not recommended that you configure trunking mode on individual ports that make up the EtherChannel. When configuring a trunk on an EtherChannel, verify the trunking mode on the EtherChannel.
  • If the allowed range of VLANs is not the same, the ports do not form an EtherChannel even when PAgP is set to the auto or desirable mode.
  • The dynamic negotiation options for PAgP and LACP are not compatibly configured on both ends of the EtherChannel.

Note: It is easy to confuse PAgP or LACP with DTP, because they are all protocols used to automate behavior on trunk links. PAgP and LACP are used for link aggregation (EtherChannel). DTP is used for automating the creation of trunk links. When an EtherChannel trunk is configured, typically EtherChannel (PAgP or LACP) is configured first and then DTP.

Troubleshoot EtherChannel Example

In the figure, interfaces F0/1 and F0/2 on switches S1 and S2 are connected with an EtherChannel. However, the EtherChannel is not operational.

Verify EtherChannel Example
Verify EtherChannel Example

Click each button for the steps to troubleshoot the EtherChannel.

The output of the show etherchannel summary command indicates that the EtherChannel is down.

S1# show etherchannel summary
Flags:  D - down        P - bundled in port-channel
        I - stand-alone s - suspended
        H - Hot-standby (LACP only)
        R - Layer3      S - Layer2
        U - in use      N - not in use, no aggregation
        f - failed to allocate aggregator
        M - not in use, minimum links not met
        m - not in use, port not aggregated due to minimum links not met
        u - unsuitable for bundling
        w - waiting to be aggregated
        d - default port
        A - formed by Auto LAG
Number of channel-groups in use: 1
Number of aggregators:           1
Group  Port-channel  Protocol    Ports
------+-------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------
1      Po1(SD)         -      Fa0/1(D)    Fa0/2(D)

In the show run | begin interface port-channel output, more detailed output indicates that there are incompatible PAgP modes configured on S1 and S2.

S1# show run | begin interface port-channel
interface Port-channel1
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2,20
 switchport mode trunk
!
interface FastEthernet0/1
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2,20
 switchport mode trunk
 channel-group 1 mode on
!
interface FastEthernet0/2
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2,20
 switchport mode trunk
 channel-group 1 mode on
!======================================
S2# show run | begin interface port-channel
interface Port-channel1
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2,20
 switchport mode trunk
!
interface FastEthernet0/1
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2,20
 switchport mode trunk
 channel-group 1 mode desirable
!
interface FastEthernet0/2
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2,20
 switchport mode trunk
 channel-group 1 mode desirable

To correct the issue, the PAgP mode on the EtherChannel is changed to desirable.

Note: EtherChannel and STP must interoperate. For this reason, the order in which EtherChannel-related commands are entered is important, which is why you see interface Port-Channel 1 removed and then re-added with the channel-group command, as opposed to directly changed. If one tries to change the configuration directly, STP errors cause the associated ports to go into blocking or errdisabled state.

S1(config)# no interface port-channel 1
S1(config)# interface range fa0/1 - 2
S1(config-if-range)# channel-group 1 mode desirable
Creating a port-channel interface Port-channel 1
S1(config-if-range)# no shutdown
S1(config-if-range)# exit
S1(config)# interface range fa0/1 - 2
S1(config-if-range)# channel-group 1 mode desirable
S1(config-if-range)# no shutdown
S1(config-if-range)# interface port-channel 1
S1(config-if)# switchport mode trunk
S1(config-if)# end
S1#

The EtherChannel is now active as verified by the output of the show etherchannel summary command.

S1# show etherchannel summary
Flags:  D - down        P - bundled in port-channel
        I - stand-alone s - suspended
        H - Hot-standby (LACP only)
        R - Layer3      S - Layer2
        U - in use      N - not in use, no aggregation
        f - failed to allocate aggregator
        M - not in use, minimum links not met
        m - not in use, port not aggregated due to minimum links not met
        u - unsuitable for bundling
        w - waiting to be aggregated
        d - default port
        A - formed by Auto LAG
Number of channel-groups in use: 1
Number of aggregators:           1
Group  Port-channel  Protocol    Ports
------+-------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------
1      Po1(SU)         PAgP      Fa0/1(P)    Fa0/2(P)

Packet Tracer – Troubleshoot EtherChannel

Four switches were recently configured by a junior technician. Users are complaining that the network is running slowly and would like you to investigate.

Download Here

Glossary: If you have doubts about any special term, you can consult this computer network dictionary.

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