Licensing Requirements
For a complete explanation of Cisco NX-OS licensing recommendations and how to obtain and apply licenses, see the Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide and the Cisco NX-OS Licensing Options Guide.
The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.
For a complete explanation of Cisco NX-OS licensing recommendations and how to obtain and apply licenses, see the Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide and the Cisco NX-OS Licensing Options Guide.
Cisco NX-OS supports multiple configuration parameters for each of the interface types supported. Most of these parameters are covered in this guide but some are described in other documents.
The following table shows where to get further information on the parameters you can configure for an interface.
Feature |
Parameters |
Further Information |
---|---|---|
Basic parameters |
Description, duplex, error disable, flow control, MTU, beacon |
“Configuring Basic Interface Parameters” |
Layer 3 |
Medium, IPv4 and IPv6 addresses |
“Configuring Layer 3 Interfaces” |
Layer 3 |
Bandwidth, delay, IP routing, VRFs |
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Unicast Routing Configuration Guide Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Multicast Routing Configuration Guide |
Port Channels |
Channel group, LACP |
“Configuring Port Channels” |
Security |
EOU |
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration Guide |
Ethernet interfaces include routed ports.
An access port carries traffic for one VLAN. This type of port is a Layer 2 interface only.
For more information on access ports, see the “Information About Access and Trunk Interfaces” section.
A routed port is a physical port that can route IP traffic to another device. A routed port is a Layer 3 interface only.
For more information on routed ports, see the “Routed Interfaces” section.
You can use the management Ethernet interface to connect the device to a network for remote management using a Telnet client, the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), or other management agents. The management port (mgmt0) is autosensing and operates in full-duplex mode at a speed of 10/100/1000 Mb/s.
For more information on the management interface, see the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Configuration Guide.
A port channel is a logical interface that is an aggregation of multiple physical interfaces. You can bundle up to 32 individual links (physical ports) into a port channel to improve bandwidth and redundancy. For more information about port-channel interfaces, see the “Configuring Port Channels” section.
You can create virtual subinterfaces using a parent interface configured as a Layer 3 interface. A parent interface can be either a physical port or a port-channel. A parent interface can be a physical port. Subinterfaces divide the parent interface into two or more virtual interfaces on which you can assign unique Layer 3 parameters such as IP addresses and dynamic routing protocols.
A loopback interface is a virtual interface with a single endpoint that is always up. Any packet that is transmitted over a virtual loopback interface is immediately received by that interface. Loopback interfaces emulate a physical interface. For more information about subinterfaces, see the “Loopback Interfaces” section.
Cisco NX-OS supports the breakout of a high bandwidth interface into one or more low bandwidth interfaces at the module level or at the per-port level.
For module level breakout, the interface breakout command splits the high bandwidth 40G interface of a module into four 10G interfaces. The module is reloaded and the configuration for the interface is removed when the command is executed.
The following is an example of the command:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)# interface breakout module 1
Module will be reloaded. Are you sure you want to continue(yes/no)? yes
The no interface breakout module module_number command undoes the breakout configuration. It puts all interfaces of the module in 40G mode and deletes the configuration for the previous 10G interfaces.
The lane selector is a push button switch and 4 LEDs located on the Cisco Nexus switch (left side of front panel, labeled "LS"). The push button switch and LEDs are used to indicate the status of the ports. The lane selector is supported on Cisco Nexus Series 9000 series switches and the Cisco Nexus 3164 and 3232 switches.
By default, the LEDs indicate the link/activity status of a 1 x 40G configuration. When the ports are configured as 4 x 10G, you can access the link status of each individual 10G port with the lane selector.
By pressing the lane selector push button, the port LED shows the selected lane’s link/activity status. The 1st time the push button is pressed, the first LED displays the status of the first port. Pressing the push button a 2nd time displays the status of the second port, and so on. You can display the status of each of the four ports by pressing the push button in this manner.
For example, if port 60 is configured as 4 x 10G, pressing the lane selector push button once displays the link status of 60/1/1. Pressing the push button a second time displays the link status of 60/1/2.
When you press the push button after displaying the status of the last port, all four of the LEDs should extinguish to indicate that the lane selector has returned to display the status for the default 1 x 40G configuration.
Note |
A 10G breakout port's LED blinks when the beacon feature has been configured for it. |
Note |
When a port is configured to be in 10G breakout mode and no lane is selected, the 40G port's LED illuminates as green even though only one of the 10G breakout ports is up. |
Cisco Nexus 9516 switch does not support breakout on Modules 8 to 16.
The following table provides detailed information of the supported or not supported breakout modes. For more information, see Cisco Nexus Data Sheets:
As of Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(2), manual breakout of QSA ports is not supported.
Manual breakout is supported on the following platforms because auto-breakout does not happen successfully on them—N9K-C93128TX, N9K-9332, N9K-C9396PX, N9K-C9396TX, N9K-C9372PX, N9K-C9372TX, N9K-C9332PQ, N9K-C93120TX, N9K-9432PQ, N9K-9536PQ, N9K-9636PQ, N9K-X9632PC-QSFP100, N9K-X9432C-S, N3K-C3132Q-V, N3K-C3164Q, N3K-C3132C, N3K-C3232C, N3K-C3264Q, N3K-C3264C, N3K-3064Q, N3K-3016, N3K-3172.
You need to perform manual breakout using "interface breakout module <module number> port <port range> map <breakout mapping>" command.
When a break-out port is configured as a part of a port-channel, you need to apply the configuration twice (after write-erase/reload), to ensure the effectiveness of the port-channel.
When you upgrade a Cisco Nexus 9000 device to Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(2) or later releases, if a QSFP port is configured with the manual breakout command and is using a QSA, the configuration of the interface Ethernet 1/50/1 is no longer supported and will need to be removed. To restore the configuration, you must manually configure the Ethernet 1/50 on the device.
This behaviour is not applicable to the following platforms—N9K-C93128TX, N9K-9332, N9K-C9396PX, N9K-C9396TX, N9K-C9372PX, N9K-C9372TX, N9K-C9332PQ, N9K-C93120TX, N9K-9432PQ, N9K-9536PQ, N9K-9636PQ, N9K-X9632PC-QSFP100, N9K-X9432C-S, N3K-C3132Q-V, N3K-C3164Q, N3K-C3132C, N3K-C3232C, N3K-C3264Q, N3K-C3264C, N3K-3064Q, N3K-3016, N3K-3172—because manual breakout is supported on these platforms.
Beginning with Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(3) you see two additional options to configure FEC such as rs-cons16 and rs-ieee as per IEEE standards.
Note |
Auto-FEC is not supported in Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(x) |
The breakout of high bandwidth interfaces are supported only on:
The X9636PQ, X9432PQ, X9536PQ, and X9732C-EX line cards on a Cisco Nexus 9500 Series switch.
The Cisco Nexus 9332PQ switch.
The Cisco Nexus 3164Q switch.
For 7.0(3)I7(1) and later, Cisco Nexus 9000 C93180LC-EX switch provides three different modes of operation:
Mode 1: 28 x 40G + 4 x 40G/100G (Default configuration)
Hardware profile portmode 4x100g + 28x40g.
10x4 breakout is supported on the top ports from 1 to 27 (ports 1,3,5, 7...27). If any of the top port is broken out, the corresponding bottom port becomes non-operational. For example, if port 1 is broken out port 2 becomes non-operational.
1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit QSA is supported on ports 29, 30, 31, and 32. However, QSAs on the top and bottom front panel ports must be of same speed.
Ports 29, 30, 31, and 32 support 10x4, 25x4, and 50x2 breakout.
Mode 2: 24 x 40G + 6 x 40G/100G
Hardware profile portmode 6x100g + 24x40g.
10x4 breakout is supported on the top ports from 1 to 23 (ports 1,3,5, 7...23). If any of the top port is broken out the corresponding bottom port becomes non-operational.
Ports 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, and 32 support 10x4, 25x4, and 50x2 breakout.
1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit QSA is supported on ports 29, 30, 31, and 32. However, QSAs on the top and bottom front panel ports must be of same speed.
Mode 3: 18 x 40G/100G
Hardware profile portmode 18x100g.
10x4, 25x4, and 50x2 breakout is supported on top ports from 1 to 27 (ports 1,3,5, 7...27) and on ports 29,30,31,32.
1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit QSA is supported on all the 18 ports.
Changing Mode 3 to any other mode or vice versa requires copy running-config startup-config command followed by reload command to take effect. However, moving between Modes 1 and 2 is dynamic and requires only copy running-config startup-config command.
Use the show running-config | grep portmode command to display the current operation mode.
Example:
switch(config-if-range)# show running-config | grep portmode
hardware profile portmode 4x100G+28x40G
With the Cisco Nexus C93180LC-EX switch, there are three breakout modes:
40G to 4x10G breakout ports
Enables the breakout of 40G ports into 4 X 10G ports.
Use the interface breakout module 1 port x map 10g-4x command.
100G to 4x25G breakout ports
Enables the breakout of 100G ports into 4 X 25G ports.
Use the interface breakout module 1 port x map 25g-4x command.
100G to 2x50G breakout ports
Enables the breakout of 100G ports into 2 X 50G ports.
Use the interface breakout module 1 port x map 50g-2x command.
Cisco NX-OS can segment operating system and hardware resources into virtual device contexts (VDCs) that emulate virtual devices. The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switch does not support multiple VDCs. All switch resources are managed in the default VDC.
Interfaces support stateful and stateless restarts. A stateful restart occurs on a supervisor switchover. After the switchover, Cisco NX-OS applies the runtime configuration.