ASA port-channel command on IOS v. 9.0(4)

[Rosa Ladeira]

I have configured 2 of ASA 5550 on a port channel as follows:

=======================================
router# show version
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software Version 8.4(2)

router# show module
  0 ASA 5550 Adaptive Security Appliance         ASA5550            JMX1226L1S9
  1 SSM-4GE Included with ASA 5550 System        SSM-4GE-INC        JAF1224ATNS

router# show interface Port-channel48
Interface Port-channel48 "", is up, line protocol is up
  Hardware is EtherChannel/ON, BW 2000 Mbps, DLY 10 usec
    Auto-Duplex(Full-duplex), Auto-Speed(1000 Mbps)
    Input flow control is unsupported, output flow control is off
    Media-type configured as RJ45 connector
    Available but not configured via nameif
    MAC address 001f.ca97.44e2, MTU not set
    IP address unassigned
  Members in this channel:
      Active:   Gi1/2 Gi1/3

router# show startup-config
!
interface GigabitEthernet1/2
 channel-group 48 mode on
 no nameif
 no security-level
 no ip address
!
interface GigabitEthernet1/3
 channel-group 48 mode on
 no nameif
 no security-level
 no ip address
!
interface Port-channel48
 no nameif
 no security-level
 no ip address
!
interface Port-channel48.4
 vlan 4
!
interface Port-channel48.5
 vlan 5

After migrating to version 9.0(4) I could not configure channel group on int g 1/2.
 
=======================================
router# show version
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software Version 9.0(4)

router# show module
  0 ASA 5550 Adaptive Security Appliance         ASA5550            JMX1421L333
  1 SSM-4GE Included with ASA 5550 System        SSM-4GE-INC        JAF1419ALAK

router# configure terminal
router(config)# interface GigabitEthernet1/2
router(config-if)#  channel-group 48 mode on
                      ^
ERROR: % Invalid input detected at '^' marker.
router(config-if)# ?

So I have the following questions about verion 9:

1. Can I still use port-channels on a sigle ASA?
2. Should I replace port-channel by lacp command on a sigle ASA?
3. Does lacp command can be used only on clusters ?

Att.,
Rosa

[Karsten Iwen · Accepted solution]

The following is documented in the config guide for both 8.4 and 9.0:

•You cannot use interfaces on the 4GE SSM, including the integrated 4GE SSM in slot 1 on the ASA 5550, as part of an EtherChannel. 

So, even with 8.4 it was probably never meant to work.

[Rosa Ladeira]

Should I replace port-channel by lacp command on a sigle ASA?
Does lacp command can be used only on clusters ?

Att.,
Rosa

[Karsten Iwen]

What do you want to achieve with the lacp-commands? They are used to control *how* a channel is formed. But they won't help if channels are not supported at all.

[Rosa Ladeira]

Is there any way to configure channel on ASAs interfaces in order to agregate interfaces throughput ?

[Karsten Iwen]

Yes, on the build-in interfaces of the ASA (g0/0 to g0/3). But the overall throughput of the 5550 is only slightly higher than the capacity of a single gig-link. So it's more about the higher availability that can be achieved than the throughput.