By the way, I can confirm that AOS-S VSF (on 2930F switches) works like a charm event after loosing commander and then standby (but not both at the same time : the stack needs approx. 2-3mn to elect/promote a new standby after master is lost).
Original Message:
Sent: Aug 08, 2025 12:30 PM
From: parnassus
Subject: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi! it's holiday time (at least on some boreal countries :-) ), maybe it explains why we see less "traffic" than usual.
You wrote: "On AOS-VSF and IRF, as long as one member of the stack is up, there is a master controlling the stack."
Well I'm not totally sure (I admit I should check) that on AOS-S based VSF (excluding the two member case of a VSF made with a pair of Aruba 5400R zl2 switches which I know better) will "survive" in exactly the same scenario you are thinking about...where both elected VSF Conductor and designated VSF Standby are concurrently lost (where with survive I mean, as example, a scenario where a new VSF Conductor election happens among remaining active VSF simple members on the remaining VSF fragment, clearly excluding the ex-Conductor and the ex-Standby VSF members since they were lost).
In other terms I believe that, once a Stack loses both the elected Conductor AND the designated Standby, no remaining active Stack member promotion (to become the new Conductor) would happen on the remaining Stack fragment...but I could be totally wrong (I need to recheck the good old docs).
Cheers!
Original Message:
Sent: 8/8/2025 12:13:00 PM
From: frmeunier
Subject: RE: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi Parnassus,
(Seems we are only two on this thread !)
I shall agree that the switch is probably defective.
There is an open case/ticket, but it has been paused/freezed ("change your SFP for official ones, and then we'll take your request in consideration").
Nevermind, we shall try another topology, with smaller stacks and hope it will work fine.
My main concern on CX stacks is that you can have only 2 active members (conductor and standby). If both are down, the stack is down (other members don't take over the controller role). On AOS-VSF and IRF, as long as one member of the stack is up, there is a master controlling the stack.
(Nevertheless, I find these 3 stacking techs easier than VSX !)
Have a nice day.
------------------------------
Frederic
(kudos welcome)
Original Message:
Sent: Aug 07, 2025 05:55 AM
From: parnassus
Subject: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi Frederic, at this point - given what you wrote, your troubleshooting attemps and experience done - I suggest you to open a Support Ticket on the HEP Support Porta (ASP)...if it's not an issue derived (or caused) by a wrong configuration/deployment...it could be that that particular Switch is "defective".
My opinion is that deploying an ArubaOS-CX based VSF should be as simple as deploying an ArubaOS-Switch based VSF...and - probably (but here our respective mileage may vastly vary due to personal preferences and expertise) - it should be simpler than deploying an IRF stack on Comware based switches (someone will tell the contrary and I accept that opinion without problem because I definitley like Comware OS despite I work more with ArubaOS-CX on a day to day basis).
Original Message:
Sent: Aug 06, 2025 04:17 AM
From: frmeunier
Subject: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi Parnassus,
We did zeroize the faulty member (twice), with no success.
he main issue is that it works for a few minutes or hours, then goes wild. I really cannot figure out what is putting the mess.
(personnal opinion : IRF stacks are much easier ! Even 2930F VSF is easier !)
------------------------------
Frederic
(kudos welcome)
Original Message:
Sent: Aug 01, 2025 09:29 AM
From: parnassus
Subject: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi Frederic, with few evidence one potential (extreme but not so much) suggestion would be: have you tried to zeroize that particular Aruba 6300M Switch (R8S89A) and repeat the VSF join procedure on that particular problematic stack? Cheers, Davide.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 28, 2025 03:35 AM
From: frmeunier
Subject: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi Parnassus,
Thank you for taking some time to answer my call.
Obviously, I'm considering upgrading to the latest version. Since these switches are in pre-prod, I shall find a maintenance window...
But I see nothing concerning VSF stack in the release notes (1010, 1020 and .1030), and all the 19 switches in the 3 stacks are the same (R8S89A) , all SFP+ are the same (coded as J9150D / 10GBase-SR)
I just don't understand why only one switch goes wild...
Have a nice day.
------------------------------
Frederic
(kudos welcome)
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 25, 2025 06:13 AM
From: parnassus
Subject: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi, I don't comment about the non-OEM options because you already know what it means but I strongly suggest you to update to latest AOS-CX 10.15.1030 (it should be tge latest available build of AOS-CX 10.15 SSR software line)...can you provide more detail? what VSF Member switches' SKUs are you implementing into the Stack? Cheers.
Original Message:
Sent: 7/25/2025 5:56:00 AM
From: frmeunier
Subject: CX6300M VSF stack - member 5 not joining
Hi all,
We have a set of 3 VSF stacks composed respectively of :
stack 1 : 6 members
stack 2 : 6 members
stack 3 : 7 members
All the same switch model (R8S89A), all stacked through 10GBase-SR links (ring topology), all version 10.15.1005 (did not see any improvement concerning stacking in recent relase notes)
Stack 1 and 3 run smoothly, but we have an issue with stack 2 :
member n°5 does not correctly join the stack or the stack goes wild after some time (minutes or hours AFTER the switch joined).
ring 1-2-3-4-6 is ok (stable)
chain 2-3-4-5-6 is ok
chain 1-2-3-4-5-6 is unstable
chain 6-1-2-3-4 is ok
when inserting member 5, all goes wild (unstable).
(since SFP+ are compatible-HPE-coded, HPE TAC does not give any support).
changed SFP+, with no success (always and only member 5 problematic)
Did someone experience the same ?
------------------------------
Frederic
(kudos welcome)
------------------------------