Ethernet ports support various Layer 2 features such as spanning-tree protocols (STPs), IEEE 802.1x, Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP), and Multiple VLAN Registration Protocol (MVRP). With the extension of Layer 2 switching capability to devices in a chassis cluster, you can use Ethernet switching features on both nodes of a chassis cluster.
To ensure that Layer 2 switching works seamlessly across chassis cluster nodes, a dedicated physical link connecting the nodes is required. This type of link is called a switching fabric interface( swfab) . Its purpose is to carry Layer 2 traffic between nodes.
error: device swfabx not found
Warning Message:
user@host> show configuration protocols l2-learning { ## ## Warning: statement ignored: unsupported platform (srx4600) <-- Warning Message on SRX4600 device. ## global-mode switching;
user@host> show configuration protocols l2-learning { ## ## Warning: statement ignored: unsupported platform (srx4600) <--
## global-mode switching;
Interfaces 'swfab0' and 'swfab1' are used to enable switching in the SRX chassis cluster. These interfaces 'swfab0' and 'swfab1' fail to function properly in High-End SRX devices because Layer 2 switching capability feature is not supported on SRX High-End Series. This can be verified by the warning that gets displayed when checking the configuration of protocols under L2-learning (there may be a significant delay noticed in the output display):
.... user@host> show configuration protocols l2-learning { ## ## Warning: statement ignored: unsupported platform (srx4600) ## global-mode switching;
Initially, when no configuration is present on swfab interface, the output seems normal. Check below:
user@host> show interfaces swfab0 Aug 09 13:45:32 Physical interface: swfab0, Enabled, Physical link is Down Interface index: 129, SNMP ifIndex: 533 Link-level type: Ethernet, MTU: 9014, Speed: Unspecified, BPDU Error: None, Ethernet-Switching Error: None, MAC-REWRITE Error: None, Loopback: Disabled, Source filtering: Disabled, Flow control: Disabled, Minimum links needed: 1, Minimum bandwidth needed: 0 Device flags : Present Running Interface flags: Hardware-Down SNMP-Traps Internal: 0x4000 Current address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c, Hardware address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c Last flapped : 2018-08-07 15:02:40 UTC (1d 22:43 ago) Input packets : 0 Output packets: 0
user@host> show interfaces swfab1 Aug 09 13:45:32 Physical interface: swfab1, Enabled, Physical link is Down Interface index: 129, SNMP ifIndex: 533 Link-level type: Ethernet, MTU: 9014, Speed: Unspecified, BPDU Error: None, Ethernet-Switching Error: None, MAC-REWRITE Error: None, Loopback: Disabled, Source filtering: Disabled, Flow control: Disabled, Minimum links needed: 1, Minimum bandwidth needed: 0 Device flags : Present Running Interface flags: Hardware-Down SNMP-Traps Internal: 0x4000 Current address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c, Hardware address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c Last flapped : 2018-08-07 15:02:40 UTC (1d 22:43 ago) Input packets : 0 Output packets: 0
When we try to enable a basic configuration and check the same interface output, we can see an error:
Example:
user@host# show | compare [edit interfaces] + swfab0 { + fabric-options { + member-interfaces { <-- Added simple configuration + xe-1/1/6; + xe-1/1/7; + } + } + } + swfab1 { + fabric-options { + member-interfaces { <-- Added simple configuration + xe-8/1/6; + xe-8/1/7; + } + } + }
{primary:node1} user@host> show interfaces swfab0 Physical interface: swfab0, Enabled, Physical link is Up Interface index: 131, SNMP ifIndex: 539 Link-level type: Ethernet, MTU: 9014, Speed: 20Gbps, BPDU Error: None, Ethernet-Switching Error: None, MAC-REWRITE Error: None, Loopback: Disabled, Source filtering: Disabled, Flow control: Disabled, Minimum links needed: 1, Minimum bandwidth needed: 0 Device flags : Present Running Interface flags: SNMP-Traps Internal: 0x4000 Current address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c, Hardware address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c Last flapped : 2018-07-09 07:52:56 UTC (00:03:16 ago) Input rate : 0 bps (0 pps) Output rate : 0 bps (0 pps) error: remote statistics get for interface swfab1.0 failed: Resource temporarily unavailable (35)
{primary:node1} user@host> show interfaces swfab1 Physical interface: swfab1, Enabled, Physical link is Up Interface index: 131, SNMP ifIndex: 539 Link-level type: Ethernet, MTU: 9014, Speed: 20Gbps, BPDU Error: None, Ethernet-Switching Error: None, MAC-REWRITE Error: None, Loopback: Disabled, Source filtering: Disabled, Flow control: Disabled, Minimum links needed: 1, Minimum bandwidth needed: 0 Device flags : Present Running Interface flags: SNMP-Traps Internal: 0x4000 Current address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c, Hardware address: 58:00:bb:89:af:2c Last flapped : 2018-07-09 07:52:56 UTC (00:03:16 ago) Input rate : 0 bps (0 pps) Output rate : 0 bps (0 pps) error: remote statistics get for interface swfab1.0 failed: Resource temporarily unavailable (35)
The interface terse option shows that the interfaces are up and running:
user@host> show interfaces terse | match swfab* xe-1/1/6.0 up up aenet --> swfab0.0 xe-1/1/7.0 up up aenet --> swfab0.0 xe-8/1/6.0 up up aenet --> swfab1.0 xe-8/1/7.0 up up aenet --> swfab1.0 swfab0 up up swfab0.0 up up swfab1 up up swfab1.0 up up
The Ethernet switching interfaces output seems to be fine:
user@host> show ethernet-switching interfaces swfab0:
Name Status xe-1/1/6 up xe-1/1/7 up swfab1:
Name Status xe-8/1/6 up xe-8/1/7 up
The interface output for individual swfab returns an error:
{primary:node0}[edit] root@node0_anderson1# run show interfaces swfab0 error: device swfab0 not found
{primary:node0}[edit] root@node0_anderson1# run show interfaces swfab1 error: device swfab1 not found
This is an expected behavior since L2 Ethernet switching is not supported by SRX HE Series devices. Note: It is also expected when the outputs for the above-listed commands take more than 10-20 seconds to display. Since these are unsupported features, such anomalies can be normal.