How to Configure a Standby Interface for an IPMP Group

Before You Begin

• You must have configured all interfaces as members of the IPMP group.

• You should not have configured a test address on the interface to become the standby interface.

For information on configuring an IPMP group and assigning test addresses, refer to How to Configure an IPMP Group With Multiple Interfaces.

1. On the system with the standby interfaces to be configured, assume the Primary Administrator role or become superuser.

   The Primary Administrator role includes the Primary Administrator profile. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Chapter 2, Working With the Solaris Management Console (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

2. Configure an interface as a standby and assign the test address.

   # ifconfig interface plumb \ ip-address other-parameters deprecated -failover standby up

   A standby interface can have only one IP address, the test address. You must set the -failover option before you set the standby up option. For <other-parameters>, use the parameters that are required by your configuration, as described in the ifconfig(1M) man page.

   • For example, to create an IPv4 test address, you would type the following command:

     # ifconfig hme1 plumb 192.168.85.22 netmask + broadcast + deprecated -failover standby up

     hme1

     Defines hme1 as the physical interface to be configured as the standby interface.

     192.168.85.22

     Assigns this test address to the standby interface.

     deprecated

     Indicates that the test address is not used for outbound packets.

     -failover

     Indicates that the test address does not fail over if the interface fails.

     standby

     Marks the interface as a standby interface.

   • For example, to create an IPv6 test address, you would type the following command:

     # ifconfig hme1 plumb -failover standby up

3. Check the results of the standby interface configuration.

   # ifconfig hme1 hme1: flags=69040843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,DEPRECATED,IPv4,NOFAILOVER, STANDBY,INACTIVE mtu 1500 index 4 inet 192.168.85.22 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 19.16.85.255 groupname test

   The INACTIVE flag indicates that this interface is not used for any outbound packets. When a failover occurs on this standby interface, the INACTIVE flag is cleared.

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   Note –

   You can always view the current status of an interface by typing the ifconfig interface command. For more information on viewing interface status, refer to How to Get Information About a Specific Interface.

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4. (Optional) Preserve the IPv4 standby interface across reboots.

   Assign the standby interface to the same IPMP group, and configure a test address for the standby interface.

   For example, to configure hme1 as the standby interface, you would add the following line to the /etc/hostname.hme1 file:

   192.168.85.22 netmask + broadcast + deprecated group test -failover standby up

5. (Optional) Preserve the IPv6 standby interface across reboots.

   Assign the standby interface to the same IPMP group, and configure a test address for the standby interface.

   For example, to configure hme1 as the standby interface, add the following line to the /etc/hostname6.hme1 file:

   -failover group test standby up

Example 31–4 Configuring a Standby Interface for an IPMP Group

Suppose you want to create a test address with the following configuration:

• Physical interface hme2 as a standby interface

• Test address of 192.168.85.22

• deprecated and -failover options set

• Netmask and broadcast address set to the default value

You would type the following:

# ifconfig hme2 plumb 192.168.85.22 netmask + broadcast + \
deprecated -failover standby up

The interface is marked as a standby interface only after the address is marked as a NOFAILOVER address.

You would remove the standby status of an interface by typing the following:

# ifconfig interface -standby