topic 5520-48W Stack Cable Change in ExtremeSwitching (EXOS/Switch Engine)

5520-48W Stack Cable Change

joelkandrach — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 19:42:41 GMT

Hello, I have a stack of 4 5520-48W switches and I need to change the stacking cables. There are currently no errors and everything works fine. However, when the stacking cables were sourced, one was too long and another too short. I have since been able to get cables that are appropriatly sized.

My question, is there a propper procedure for swapping these stacking cables out? Should I power down the entire stack or can these cables be unplugged while everything is running?

Thank you!

Joel

Re: 5520-48W Stack Cable Change

joshross28 — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 22:16:11 GMT

I would not hesitate to replace the cable while the stack is running as long as you confirm that your UP and Down data is flowing. You should be fully redundant.

Re: 5520-48W Stack Cable Change

Gabriel_G — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 15:49:33 GMT

Hi Joel,

As long as each slot has some type of stacking connection to the master, you can replace the stacking cables one at a time while the stack is still running and no connectivity should be lost. I would wait a few seconds after establishing one link before breaking another, or check 'show stacking' to make sure that all nodes are 'actvie' before continuing to the next link.

If you happen to remove both stacking links at the same time, you may run into a dual master situation, or a no master situation, which could lead to some reboots. Either way, once things reboot and see the appropriate master, things should restabalize.

Hope that helps!

Re: 5520-48W Stack Cable Change

joelkandrach — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 17:35:07 GMT

Thank you very much for the reply! I will attempt to do it live, replacing one at a time and checking the stack status. Have a great weekend!

Joel