When the node is shipped from the factory, the chassis-role parameter in the boot loader file is set to factory-default. For the node to be part of a VC, the user must explicitly set the chassis-role parameter in the boot loader to standalone-vc.
The user must also configure the following boot loader parameters to operate the VC:
Before these boot loader parameters are configured, verity that the chassis-role must be set to standalone-vc.
vc-stack-name
Configure the boot loader parameter vc-stack-name on the active CPM-IMM node to identify the VC of which the nodes are members. A node configured with a vc-stack-name of ‟my-stack” is a member node of the VC ‟my-stack”. The system-name variable in the configure system name command can be reused as the boot loader vc-stack-name value. A node cannot be added to a VC if its vc-stack-name value does not match that of the current active CPM-IMM.
vc-stack-node-type
Specify the node role as either cpm-imm or imm-only using the boot loader BOF parameter vc-stack-node-type. The default setting is imm-only. Users need to modify the default only for nodes that can take on the role of CPM by changing the setting to cpm-imm. The BOF parameter does not need to be modified for nodes whose role is IMM. Users can configure two nodes in the stack to be cpm-imm nodes.
In addition, to operate the VC users must also configure the following commands in the TiMOS BOF context:
vc-stack-node
Use the command bof>vc-stack-node {cpmA | cpmB} slot-num slot-num mac-addr mac-address to configure the slot number and the MAC address of the CPM nodes. The VC stack node cpmA and cpmB parameters can also be configured through the boot loader BOF menu prompts.
The slot number identifies a specific node in the VC (similar to the slot ID of a card in a chassis-based system) and is used in addressing service objects created during provisioning. The slot number also is used to light up the correct LED on the front-panel of the node, enabling operators to see which slot is configured with the VC node (the stack LED also denotes that the node is part of a VC and is fully functional). The slot number of the active and standby CPM-IMMs can be set to any number from 1 to 8, as long as it is not in use by another VC member node. An arbitration process during the boot phase ensures that one of the CPM nodes is the active CPM and the other is the standby CPM.
The MAC address must match the base MAC address printed on the label of the chassis.
eth-mgt-address
Configure the management IP address for the two CPM nodes using the command bof>eth-mgmt-address ip-prefix/ip-prefix-length [active | standby]. The Ethernet management IP address configured as active provides the IP address of the active node, which a management station can use to operate the stack. The management IP address configured as standby provides connectivity to the standby node.