ArubaOS-CX VSF Stacking: Link Setup and Member Provisioning

Virtual Switching Framework (VSF) is ArubaOS-CX stacking: up to ten 6300 (or eight 6200) switches interconnect through standard Ethernet ports and operate as a single logical device with one management plane. The first member becomes the conductor, a manually designated member becomes the standby conductor, and the rest join as ordinary members. This guide covers manual VSF provisioning with CLI commands, auto-stacking, member renumbering and the show commands that validate a healthy stack.

VSF Topologies and Roles

VSF supports ring and chain topologies. Two VSF links per member are recommended so the stack survives a link failure; a chain has no redundancy. Use DAC cables for the VSF links (50G on the 6300 series, 10G on the 6200 series) and keep every VSF link port at the same speed. All switches in a stack must be the same series.

Manual VSF Configuration on the Conductor

Member 1 is the conductor by default. Enter the VSF member context and assign the physical ports that carry VSF traffic:

switch# configure terminal
switch(config)# vsf member 1
switch(vsf-member-1)# link 1 1/1/25
switch(vsf-member-1)# link 2 1/1/26
switch(vsf-member-1)# exit
switch(config)# vsf secondary-member 2

Configuring a port as a VSF link removes all existing interface configuration (VLANs, ACLs, QoS, MTU) — that port can only connect to another VSF link. On the second switch (also numbered 1 out of the box), configure its links and then renumber it; the switch reboots with the new member ID:

switch(config)# vsf member 1
switch(vsf-member-1)# link 1 1/1/25
switch(vsf-member-1)# link 2 1/1/26
switch(vsf-member-1)# exit
switch(config)# vsf renumber-to 2

Once the physical VSF links are connected, member 2 reboots and joins the stack automatically, taking the standby (VSF-Standby) role because it was designated with vsf secondary-member 2.

Auto-Stacking with the CLI

For factory-default switches wired in a ring on the reserved VSF ports (25/26 on 24-port models, 49/50 on 48-port models), stacking can be fully automatic:

switch(config)# vsf start-auto-stacking

The members reboot one by one and join the stack; the command also provisions member 2 as the standby.

Verifying and Operating the Stack

switch# show vsf
switch# show vsf link
switch# show vsf member

Best practice: use identical models for conductor and standby, power them from different circuits, and never add a new member to a live stack until its configuration revision is reset. Spanning tree prevents loops on VSF link ports while a stack is being provisioned.

VSF gives you a single logical switch; for two-switch active-active redundancy at the core, see our ArubaOS-CX VSX configuration guide. Compare the concept with Juniper Virtual Chassis, and refresh edge port design with ArubaOS-CX access vs trunk ports.

原文链接：https://arubanetworking.hpe.com/techdocs/AOS-CX/10.13/PDF/vsf.pdf