Cisco ACI Fabric Node - adSt vs. fabricSt

[zo3]

Hi everyone - I was looking into the documentation for FabricNode and saw two fields revealing the status of the node: AdSt and FabricSt 

AdSt defined as: 

The administrative state of the node.

FabricSt as: 

Fabric state of the node

Can anyone point me to further documentation explaining what these different states means in the context of Cisco ACI? For example, an APIC that seems to be available has adSt "on" but fabricSt "unknown" - this means it's up and running? Or does fabricSt not apply to APIC devices? "unknown" seems to be the default if not set for that Enum. But leaf/spine nodes seem to have something specified up if registered to the fabric. Thanks!

https://pubhub.devnetcloud.com/media/apic-mim-ref-301/docs/MO-fabricNode.html#diagram

https://sandboxapicdc.cisco.com/model-doc/#/objects/fabricNode/properties/overview

[AshSe]

Meaning:

Admin State

Admin state refers to the operational state that is controlled by the administrator. It determines whether a particular object, such as a node, interface, or endpoint, is administratively enabled or disabled.

• Enabled (Up): When an object is in the enabled admin state, it means that the administrator has allowed it to participate in the ACI fabric and its functions.
• Disabled (Down): When an object is in the disabled admin state, it means that the administrator has explicitly chosen to prevent it from participating in the fabric, effectively taking it out of service.

Key Points:

• Admin state is a manual setting that reflects the intention of the administrator regarding the object’s operational status.
• Changing the admin state typically involves configuration changes made through the ACI management interface (such as APIC).
• It does not directly reflect the actual operational status but rather the intended operational status as set by the admin.

Fabric State

Fabric state, on the other hand, reflects the actual operational status of the fabric components as seen by the ACI fabric. It provides insights into whether the components are functioning correctly within the fabric, regardless of their admin state.

• Online: When the fabric state is online, it indicates that the component is functioning correctly and is actively participating in the fabric.
• Offline: If the fabric state is offline, the component is not operational or is not communicating properly with the rest of the fabric.
• Decommissioned: This state is used to indicate that the component has been removed from active service and will not participate in the fabric operations.

Key Points:

• Fabric state provides a real-time view of the component’s health and operational status.
• It is automatically managed by the ACI fabric based on various factors such as network connectivity, health checks, and protocol exchanges.
• The fabric state can reflect issues that might not be apparent from the admin state alone, such as physical hardware failures or network connectivity problems.

Differences:

1. Control vs. Reality:

   • Admin State: Controlled manually by the administrator, representing the desired state.
   • Fabric State: Represents the actual, real-time status of the fabric components.

2. Function:

   • Admin State: Used to enable or disable components based on administrative decisions.
   • Fabric State: Used to monitor and report the current operational health and connectivity of the components.

3. Implications:

   • Changing the admin state affects the desired operational behavior but doesn’t immediately influence the actual operational status unless the component’s fabric state changes correspondingly.
   • The fabric state provides diagnostic and operational information that helps in troubleshooting and ensuring the health of the ACI deployment.

HTH