Plug and play of 2x9500 with Stackwise virtual

[uppermost]

When it comes to 9200 or 9300, all you need to do is connect stack cables, then connect new switches to upstream switch, and power them up, then pnp will take care of the rest, but what if I have 2x 9500 with Stackwise Virtual?

I am planning to connect new 2x9500 to existing core switch using portchannel and then configure it using PNP.

When I connect VSL links between 9500, and then power the switches up, isn´t STP gonna block one of the VSL links, and also when I power them up, they wont be in a stack until I configure stackwise domain & VSL links. So at the time of pnp process, those switches will be seen as 2 separate switches?  Do I have to perform pnp for each 9500 separately ?

[M02@rt37 · Accepted solution]

Hello @uppermost,

Regarding STP and VSL links, it's true that STP will block one of the VSL links by default. However, when you configure Stackwise Virtual, the VSL links are treated differently and won't be blocked by STP. The VSL links have a special protocol, called Stackwise Virtual Link, running on top of them, which allows the virtual stack to function properly without STP blocking any of the links.

You need to configure the Stackwise Virtual settings manually on the 9500 switches before starting the PNP process. Once the switches are in a virtual stack, you can proceed with PNP, and it will treat them as a single entity for configuration and management purposes.

[uppermost]

That´s what I thought, so there is no way to do PNP for 2x9500 without having someone on site with console. Then I may as well just configure everything via console.....Thanks Cisco

[dontsellmydata]

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You need to configure the Stackwise Virtual settings manually on the 9500 switches before starting the PNP process. Once the switches are in a virtual stack, you can proceed with PNP, and it will treat them as a single entity for configuration and management purposes

If I do the Stackwise Virtual config manually and reload the switches the PnP process won't start as there is already a saved startup-config on the switch?
If I then do a 'pnpa reset' command to reset PnP that is going to erase the startup-config and therefore erase the Stackwise Virtual config?

I can't find anything in the documentation for onboarding new 9500 switches via PnP in DNAC as a virtual stack using stackwise virtual.

Can anyone from Cisco confirm if this is supported?

[rasmus.elmholt]

Hi @dontsellmydata 

Have you ever found a solution to this problem, with starting the pnp agent after the stackwise virtual is configured and up and running?

[MHM Cisco World]

I will check