[Migration approach] C2960X L2-switches stack

[DamienTokyo]

Hi everyone,

I have been asked to support the migration from a 4-switches stack (WS-C2960S-48LPS-L)  to a new 4-switches stack (WS-C2960X-48LPS-L). We will re-use exacting same place in the rack, exactly same cables and exactly same configuration. These switches are L2 distribution devices mainly connected to user's devices (laptops, IP phones, etc) inside a medium-sized company local network. These switches are also connected to L3 core switches and so on.

I have a good idea of the work-around for this migration, basically re-using previous configuration and cables (connected to some servers and users's laptops). However I am thinking of what kind of checklist I should prepare before migration day.

Here are some ideas I have to make sure everything goes well after migration, for each point I will compare Before and After switches replacement status:

1. Create a matching list of Interfaces/VLAN/MAC Address/IP Address (show mac address-table, show ip arp)
   => Everything should match before and after except if a laptop is not connected, etc... 
2. Do a "show cdp neighbors" to confirm connected devices
3. On trunk interfaces (trunk connected to L3 switches): confirm spanning tree status with a "sh spanning-tree int <Interface name>" to confirm status is same as before

My question is, according to your experience, am I missing any other thing to check after migration ?

Thanks,

Damien

[DamienTokyo]

Hi everyone, thanks again for your help. Here is some news about the migration I handled: all went well no issues to report at all. I have been careful with configuration transfer and re-cabling so everything went smooth.

If it can help some people in the future, here is the checklist I have followed (output to save before AND after replacement) to ensure that actions did not have impact.

Best regards,

Damien

#	Command / Action to do	Device	Confirmation criteria
1	show cdp neighbor	new switch	same number of neighbour devices
1bis	show cdp neighbor	neighbor switch	can see new device connected
2	show switch detail	new switch	make sure we get the same neighbor ports
3	show spanning-tree	new switch	same displayed output as before
4	show mac address-table	new switch	roughly same number of client mac addresses
5	show ip arp	Layer-3 switch	roughly same number of matching IP/mac addresses
6	show arp all	Firewall	roughly same number of matching IP/mac addresses
7	ping -list	Laptop	roughly all targeted devices responding to ping request
8	On a few seats, check if IP phones are starting and if you can connect your PC to network cables	IP phones	IP phones booting up normally inside office
9	Try to connect on internal Wi-Fi + guest Wi-Fi	Company Laptop + personal MobilePhone	Can connect back to wi-fi as usual

[Richard Burts]

Thanks for sharing the results of your migration and the check list that you used to verify the results. +5 for that contribution. I am a bit surprised that you did not find the command show interface trunk to be a helpful verification step. Glad that the migration went well.