Configuring IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation

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Follow these steps to configure an IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation.

  1. Type smitty etherchannel at the command line.
  2. Select Add an EtherChannel / Link Aggregation from the list and press Enter.
  3. Select the primary Ethernet adapters that you want on your Link Aggregation and press Enter.
    If you are planning to use a backup adapter, do not select the adapter that you plan to use for the backup at this point.
    Note: The Available Network Adapters displays all Ethernet adapters. If you select an Ethernet adapter that is already being used (has an interface defined), you will get an error message. You first need to detach these interfaces if you want to use them.
  4. Enter the information in the fields according to the following guidelines:
    • Parent Adapter: Provides information about an EtherChannel's parent device (for example, when an EtherChannel belongs to a Shared Ethernet Adapter). This field displays a value of NONE if the EtherChannel is not contained within another adapter (the default). If the EtherChannel is contained within another adapter, this field displays the parent adapter's name (for example, ent6). This field is informational only and cannot be modified. The parent adapter option is available in AIX® 5.3 and later.
    • EtherChannel / Link Aggregation Adapters: You should see all primary adapters that you are using in your Link Aggregation. You selected these adapters in the previous step.
    • Enable Alternate Address: This field is optional. Setting this to yes enables you to specify a MAC address that you want the Link Aggregation to use. If you set this option to no, the Link Aggregation uses the MAC address of the first adapter.
    • Alternate Address: If you set Enable Alternate Address to yes, specify the MAC address that you want to use here. The address you specify must start with 0x and be a 12-digit hexadecimal address (for example, 0x001122334455).
    • Enable Gigabit Ethernet Jumbo Frames: This field is optional. In order to use this, your switch must support jumbo frames. This only works with a Standard Ethernet (en) interface, not an IEEE 802.3 (et) interface. Set this to yes if you want to enable it.
    • Mode: Enter 8023ad.
    • Hash Mode: You can choose from the following hash modes, which determines the data value to be used by the algorithm to determine the outgoing adapter:
      • default: In this hash mode the destination IP address of the packet will be used to determine the outgoing adapter. For non-IP traffic (such as ARP), the last byte of the destination MAC address is used to do the calculation. This mode will guarantee packets are sent out over the EtherChannel in the order they were received, but it may not make full use of the bandwidth.
      • src_port: The source UDP or TCP port value of the packet is used to determine the outgoing adapter. If the packet is not UDP or TCP traffic, the last byte of the destination IP address is used. If the packet is not IP traffic, the last byte of the destination MAC address is used.
      • dst_port: The destination UDP or TCP port value of the packet is used to determine the outgoing adapter. If the packet is not UDP or TCP traffic, the last byte of the destination IP is used. If the packet is not IP traffic, the last byte of the destination MAC address is used.
      • src_dst_port: Both the source and destination UDP or TCP port values of the packet are used to determine the outgoing adapter (specifically, the source and destination ports are added and then divided by two before being fed into the algorithm). If the packet is not UDP or TCP traffic, the last byte of the destination IP is used. If the packet is not IP traffic, the last byte of the destination MAC address is used. This mode can give good packet distribution in most situations, both for clients and servers.
      To learn more about packet distribution and load balancing, see EtherChannel load-balancing options.
    • Backup Adapter: This field is optional. Enter the adapter that you want to use as your backup.
    • Internet Address to Ping: This field is optional and is available if you have one or more adapters in the main aggregation and a backup adapter. The Link Aggregation pings the IP address or host name that you specify here. If the Link Aggregation is unable to ping this address for the number of times specified by the Number of Retries field and in the intervals specified by the Retry Timeout field, the Link Aggregation switches adapters.
    • Number of Retries: Enter the number of ping response failures that are allowed before the Link Aggregation switches adapters. The default is three. This field is optional and valid only if you have set an Internet Address to Ping.
    • Retry Timeout: Enter the number of seconds between the times when the Link Aggregation pings the Internet Address to Ping. The default is one second. This field is optional and valid only if you have set an Internet Address to Ping.
  5. Press Enter after changing the desired fields to create the Link Aggregation.
  6. Configure IP over the newly-created Link Aggregation device by typing smitty chinet at the command line.
  7. Select your new Link Aggregation interface from the list.
  8. Fill in all the required fields and press Enter.