ProCurve Stack Management

Configuring Stack Management

Options for Configuring a Commander and Candidates. Depending on how Commander and Candidate switches are configured, Candidates can join a stack either automatically or by a Commander manually adding (“pulling”) them into the stack. In the default configuration, a Candidate joins only when manually pulled by a Commander. You can reconfigure a Commander to automatically pull in Candidates that are in the default stacking configura- tion. You can also reconfigure a Candidate switch to either “push” itself into a particular Commander’s stack, convert the Candidate to a Commander (for a stack that does not already have a Commander), or to operate as a stand- alone switch without stacking. The following table shows your control options for adding Members to a stack.

Table 7-3. Stacking Configuration Guide

Join Method1

Commander

Candidate

 

 

(IP Addressing Required)

(IP Addressing Optional)

 

 

Auto Grab

Auto Join

Passwords

 

 

 

 

Automatically add Candidate to Stack

Yes

Yes (default)

No (default)*

(Causes the first 15 eligible, discovered

 

 

 

switches in the subnet to automatically join

 

 

 

a stack.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manually add Candidate to Stack

No (default)

Yes (default)

Optional*

(Prevent automatic joining of switches you

 

 

 

Yes

No

Optional*

don’t want in the stack)

 

Yes

Yes (default) or No

Configured

 

 

 

 

Prevent a switch from being a Candidate

N/A

Disabled

Optional

 

 

 

 

*The Commander’s Manager and Operator passwords propagate to the candidate when it joins the stack.

The easiest way to automatically create a stack is to:

1.Configure a switch as a Commander.

2.Configure IP addressing and a stack name on the Commander.

3.Set the Commander’s Auto Grab parameter to Yes.

4.Connect Candidate switches (in their factory default configuration) to the network.

This approach automatically creates a stack of up to 16 switches (including the Commander). However this replaces manual control with an automatic process that may bring switches into the stack that you did not intend to include. With the Commander’s Auto Grab parameter set to Yes, any switch conforming to all four of the following factors automatically becomes a stack Member:

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