Adding new zones to an already active zoneset and then activating it

[John12321]

Hi All

We have 2 standalone Cisco 9148 switches.

I plan to add new zones to an already activated zoneset in anticipation of new hosts.

I am planning not to activate the zoneset after adding the new zones until the new hosts are installed which would leave the switches in this state for a few days.

Is there any disadvantage to doing this?

I would run "copy run start" but what would happen if the switch rebooted? Would the zoneset be activated with the new configuration?

Thanks

John

P.S. These are the commands I plan to use:

fcalias name <name> vsan 1 - this will be new host

zone name <zone> vsan 1 - new zone
member fcalias <name> - new host
member fcalias <name> - existing fcalias for storage SP0

zoneset name <zoneset> vsan 1 - this already exists and is already active
zone name <zone>

This is the command I plan to do once the host is installed
zoneset activate name <zoneset> vsan 1

[Walter Dey · Accepted solution]

If you create the new zone, and add this zone to the zoneset, without zoneset activation, and copy run start is ok !

However a reboot of the switch would activate the modified zoneset !

Don't use VSAN 1 !

Instead of using fcalias, I would highly recommend to use device alias.

Don't understand why you like to postpone the activation ?

[John12321]

Hi Walter

I have activated it now and it works well.

The reason that I postponed the activation is that I created fcalias's without any member. Therefore I was concerned that this might cause an error.  The reason that I did this is the pwwn is not known until the host is actually installed which it hasn't been then.

I guess then that your suggestion of device alias rather than fcalias would solve this.

What is wrong with VSAN 1?

I'm sorry to ask these things but I dont' know much about Storage and FC switches. I work regularly with network routing and switching - and rarely work with FC switches. They were configured by another section so I don't have much experience in them.

Thank you.

John

[Walter Dey]

VSAN 1 is the embedded VSAN, used internally for house keeping traffic.

You also know, that any physical or Logical interface is by default in VSAN 1.

Therefore any productive interface (physical or Logical) should be move to a VSAN =/ 1.

If everything is in VSAN 1, you have no clue which interfaces are in use, which ones are idle.

Anyway, in a dual fabric setup, you should have 2 different VSAN's, e.g. even for fabric A, and odd for fabric B.

[jetthompson · Accepted solution]

You could clone your current zoneset, place your new zones in it, then activate the new (cloned) zoneset when ready.

[John12321]

Hi
Thanks. I activated the zoneset and it all worked as expected. Your suggestion would be a better and safer method for doing changes in the future as it offers a clear rollback method. I did clone the zoneset prior to making the changes - but your suggestion of cloning the zoneset and making the changes to this and then activating it, is better I think.
John