AOS-S Stack

A switch stack is a set of switches that are interconnected through stacking ports. The switches in a stack elect a primary switch called Conductor and a backup switch as Standby. The remaining switches become Members of the stack. The following table lists the switches that support stacking:

Table 1: Switch Stacking Support

AOS-S Platform

Maximum Number

of Stack Members

Minimum Supported Version for Template Group

Minimum Supported Version for UI Group

Supported Stack Type (Frontplane (VSF) / Backplane (BPS))

Supported Configuration Group Type for Stacking (UI or Template)

Aruba 2920 Switch Series

4
  • WB.16.08.0019 or later
  • WB.16.09.0015 or later
  • WB.16.10.0011 or later
  • WB.16.08.0019 or later
  • WB.16.09.0015 or later
  • WB.16.10.0011 or later

BPS

UI and Template

Aruba 2930M Switch Series

10
  • WC.16.08.0019 or later
  • WC.16.09.0015 or later
  • WC.16.10.0012 or later
  • WC.16.08.0019 or later
  • WC.16.09.0015 or later
  • WC.16.10.0012 or later

BPS

UI and Template

Aruba 2930F Switch Series

8
  • WC.16.08.0019 or later
  • WC.16.09.0015 or later
  • WC.16.10.0012 or later
  • WC.16.08.0019 or later
  • WC.16.09.0015 or later
  • WC.16.10.0012 or later

VSF Virtual Switching Framework. VSF allows network administrators to stack multiple individual switches into a single logical device using standard Ethernet links.

UI and Template

Aruba 5400R Switch Series

2
  • KB.16.08.0019 or later
  • KB.16.09.0015 or later
  • KB.16.10.0012 or later

N/A

VSF

Template only

Aruba 3810 Switch Series

10
  • KB.16.08.0019 or later
  • KB.16.09.0015 or later
  • KB.16.10.0012 or later
  • KB.16.08.0019 or later
  • KB.16.09.0015 or later
  • KB.16.10.0012 or later

BPS

UI and Template

Provisioning and configuring of Aruba 5400R switch series and switch stacks is supported only through configuration templates. HPE Aruba Networking Central does not support moving Aruba 5400R switches from the template group to a UI group. If an Aruba 5400R switch is pre-assigned to a UI group, then the device moves to an unprovisioned group after it joins HPE Aruba Networking Central.

For more information on topology and configuration of switch stacks, see the AOS-S Switch Management and configuration Guide for the respective switch series.

Provisioning AOS-S Stacks in HPE Aruba Networking Central

The switch elected as the conductor establishes a WebSocket connection to HPE Aruba Networking Central. The following criteria apply to provisioning and management of switch stacks in HPE Aruba Networking Central:

  • Switch stacks can be added only to a template group and cannot be moved to a UI group.
  • If the standalone switches in a group join to form a switch stack, the switch moves to the Unprovisioned state.
  • If a switch stack in the template group joins HPE Aruba Networking Central as a stand-alone Switch, it is blocked unless it is deleted from the stack. After it is removed from the stack, the stand-alone switch is moved to the pre-provisioned group.
  • If a switch stack is moved from a pre-provisioned group to an existing group in the UI, it moves to the Unprovisioned state.
  • After forming a switch stack, you can remove a member and erase its stacking configuration. However, the member can join HPE Aruba Networking Central as a standalone switch only after it is deleted from the switch stack.
  • When a stack is removed, the stack members cannot join HPE Aruba Networking Central until the stack entry is deleted. For more information on deleting the stack, see Configuring AOS-S Stacks Using UI Groups. When a stack entry is not deleted and the member tries to rejoin HPE Aruba Networking Central, an event is triggered in the Audit Trail page stating that the stack association is detected.

Assigning Labels and Sites

HPE Aruba Networking Central supports organizing your devices into sites for ease of monitoring. Sites refer to physical locations in which the devices are installed. Administrators can assign switch stacks to a single site for ease of managing installations and monitoring the overall site health. For more information on assigning devices to sites, see Managing Sites.

Similarly, switch stacks can also be tagged using labels. Labels allow you to identify or tag devices installed in a specific site for ease of monitoring. For more information on assigning labels, see Manage Labels.

If any one member of the switch stack is assigned to a site, HPE Aruba Networking Central automatically assigns all other members in a switch stack to the same site. Similarly, if a label is assigned to an individual member in a stack, the same label is applied to all other members of the stack.

Because all members of a switch stack must be assigned to the same site and label, HPE Aruba Networking Central automatically corrects the site and label assignment for switch stacks that were earlier assigned to different labels or sites. If you have such switch stacks in your account, you will notice that all stack members are migrated to the same site or label to which the conductor was assigned. HPE Aruba Networking recommends that you review the sites and labels assigned by HPE Aruba Networking Central to verify that the switch stacks in your account are assigned to sites and labels that you intended to use, and if required, assign all members of stack to a common site or label of your choice.

Configuring AOS-S Stacks

All the switches in the AOS-S stack must be licensed in HPE Aruba Networking Central.

For information on configuring switch stacks using template groups, see Configuring AOS-S Stacks using Template Groups.

For information on configuring switch stacks using UI groups, see Configuring AOS-S Stacks Using UI Groups.

Monitoring AOS-S Stacks

See Monitoring Switches in List View.

Viewing AOS-S Stacks in Site Topology

See Topology Tab in Site Dashboard.