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Understanding Virtual Chassis Configuration

You configure and manage almost all aspects of a Virtual Chassis configuration through the master of the Virtual Chassis. However, you can also configure Virtual Chassis parameters when an EX 4200 is a standalone switch not interconnected with other members.

An EX 4200 switch has some innate characteristics of a Virtual Chassis by default. A standalone EX 4200 switch is assigned member ID 0 and is the master of itself. Therefore, you can edit its Virtual Chassis configuration. When the standalone switch is interconnected with an existing Virtual Chassis configuration, the Virtual Chassis configuration statements and any VCP uplink settings that you previously specified on the standalone switch remain part of its configuration.

A switch cannot be recognized as a member of a Virtual Chassis configuration until it is interconnected with the master or interconnected with an existing member of the Virtual Chassis configuration. When a switch is located too far away to be interconnected with the dedicated Virtual Chassis ports, you can specify an uplink as a Virtual Chassis port using the request virtual-chassis vc-port command. The request virtual-chassis vc-port command must be executed on the standalone switch, because it is not yet part of the Virtual Chassis configuration. Without an uplink VCP, the standalone switch cannot be recognized by the master as belonging to the Virtual Chassis configuration.

While an uplink port is set as a VCP interface, it cannot be used for any additional purpose. If you want to use the uplink port for another purpose, you can delete the VCP setting by using the request virtual-chassis vc-port command. You can execute this command directly on the member whose uplink VCP setting you want to delete or through the master of the Virtual Chassis configuration.

Warning: Deleting a VCP in a Virtual Chassis chain configuration can cause the Virtual Chassis configuration to split. For more information, see Understanding Split and Merge in a Virtual Chassis Configuration.

In addition, you may choose to create a preprovisioned configuration. This type of configuration allows you to deterministically control the member ID and role assigned to a member switch by associating the switch to its serial number. For an example of a preprovisioned configuration, see Example: Configuring a Virtual Chassis with a Preprovisioned Configuration File.

Note: If an EX 4200 switch is interconnected with other switches in a Virtual Chassis configuration, each individual switch that is included as a member of the configuration is identified with a member ID. The member ID functions as an FPC slot number. When you are configuring interfaces for a Virtual Chassis configuration, you specify the appropriate member ID (0 through 9) as the slot element of the interface name.

The default factory settings for a Virtual Chassis configuration include FPC 0 as a member of the default VLAN because FPC 0 is configured as part of the ethernet-switching family. In order to include FPC 1 through FPC 9 in the default VLAN, add the ethernet-switching family to the configurations for those interfaces.

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