Possible to connect APIC controller to N9K-C9332PQ using break out cable?

[YanL]

We have some equipment available to build a learning environment but the only leaf switch available is the 40G N9K-C9332PQ. The APICs have 10G VIC cards so the only physical option is to use a break out cable but I cannot configure the leaf switch in ACI until it's discovered. Obviously the leaf cannot be discovered until I get connectivity. I looked at the leaf CLI to configure the interface in break out mode but haven’t found documentation on how to do it or even if it’s possible.

APIC version: 2.2(2i)

Leaf version: 12.2(2i)

Thank you

Yan

[Trinh Nguyen]

You can only use certain ports.  I used eth1/25-eth1/32 and they are working fine

[YanL]

Trinh I tried port eth1/25, the link light goes off after about 20 seconds. I also tried eth1/32 same result, link light goes off after 20 seconds. Ports eth1/27-eth1/32 are actually designated as Spine uplink ports only on my 9332PQ leaf switch.

Yan

[Trinh Nguyen]

Yan,

My case was a little different, I thought it may work for you.  I needed to connect a host 40G port to leaf 93180YC.  It turned out I could not connect directly from  leaf 40G port to any host 40G ports.  The leaf 40G ports are only for up link to spine.  So I bought break out cables to link them up.  When I connected break out cable to leaf, ports were flapped as you observed.  So, the suggestion was 40G-10G converter cable, which also reduce the bandwidth of the 40G host.  Fortunately someone found the manual that suggested to use port 25-32 on the leaf for break out cables.   Problem solved.  

Who would know the user manual helped save the day!

_Trinh

[Jason Williams]

Yan, 

When connecting from a 9332 to an APIC, you must use QSFP to SFP adapter. This is supported in 2.2(2) and newer code. The comment below is found in the release notes. 

"Connecting the APIC (the controller cluster) to the ACI fabric requires a 10G interface on the ACI leaf. You cannot connect the APIC directly to the N9332PQ ACI leaf switch, unless you use a 40G to 10G converter (part number CVR-QSFP-SFP10G), in which case the port on the N9332PQ switch will auto-negotiate to 10G without requiring any manual configuration."

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/1-x/release/notes/apic_rn_222.html

Jason