Hi guys,
I have an existing stack with two S0E91A switches. I was trying to add one more switch to the stack, model number is JL658A. After not being able to add it I had to revert everything as it was and postpone this task until I can figure out what is going on. I ordered 2 pcs of the JL658A since I have to do the same thing on another site, so I also tried with that one to eliminate any possibilities of hardware issues.
On member 2 port 50 I installed a 40G to 10G QSFP to SFP+ adapter (adjusted the group speed to 40g) and connected the new member 3 (JL658A) on port 25 to it with a 10G DAC cable. Also added the port 50 as vsf link 2 for member 2.
The new member 3 is on version 10.10.1070, while members 1 and 2 are on 10.13.1000, but as far as I can see there should be no issue with VSF automatically upgrading the new one to the 10.13. Also, if that was the reason I should get a log message for that if I'm not mistaken, which I didn't.
I tried adding it both with autojoin and manually, so I'll explain both cases separately.
1) Autojoin
After pushing a erase zeroize on the new switch, I connected it as explained above to the member 2. Member 2 port 50 went up and member 3 was created in the running config with the correct device type. But, member 3 wasn't joining the stack, it was just running like normal instead of rebooting and joining the stack. These are the log messages:
2025-06-14T22:53:38.504619+02:00 hostname ipsavd[3631]: Event|8213|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Dynamic binding entries on the port 3/1/26 were cleared.
2025-06-14T22:53:33.054004+02:00 hostname ipsavd[3631]: Event|8213|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Dynamic binding entries on the port 3/1/25 were cleared.
2025-06-14T22:53:26.299889+02:00 hostname hpe-cardd[823]: Event|3233|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Line module 3/1 configured with product number JL658A
2025-06-14T22:51:30.682027+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:30.681800+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:30.667543+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9923|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|VSF link 2 is up
2025-06-14T22:51:29.858930+02:00 hostname vsfd[4406]: Event|9923|LOG_INFO|STBY|2|VSF link 2 is up
2025-06-14T22:51:29.724664+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:29.724590+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:29.724513+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:29.724434+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:29.724346+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:29.724193+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9959|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 applied for all VSF interfaces
2025-06-14T22:51:29.691768+02:00 hostname vsfd[792]: Event|9958|LOG_INFO|CDTR|1|Egress port shape rate 10000000 will be applied for all VSF interfaces
This is the status in sh vsf and sh vsf link detail:
hostname(config)# sh vsf
Force Autojoin : Disabled
Autojoin Eligibility Status: Not Eligible
MAC Address : 4c:d5:87:52:0d:00
Egress Shape Rate : 10000000 kbps
Secondary : 2
Topology : Chain
Status : No Split
Split Detection Method : None
Mbr Mac Address type Status
ID
--- ------------------- -------------- ---------------
1 4c:d5:87:52:0d:00 S0E91A Conductor
2 4c:d5:87:52:4c:40 S0E91A Standby
3 JL658A Not Present
hostname(config)# sh vsf link detail
VSF Member: 1 Link 1
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
1/1/51 up S 2/1/51 4c:d5:87:52:4c:40 S0E91A
VSF Member: 1 Link 2
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
1/1/50 down D
VSF Member: 2 Link 1
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
2/1/51 up S 1/1/51 4c:d5:87:52:0d:00 S0E91A
VSF Member: 2 Link 2
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
2/1/50 autojoin in progress AP 3/1/25 34:c5:15:7e:c0:80 JL658A
VSF Member: 3 Link 1
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
3/1/25 down D
VSF Member: 3 Link 2
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
3/1/26 down D
As you can see, it says autojoin in progress under VSF Member 2 link 2, so I left it like this for 30 minutes, but nothing was happening. Then I tried rebooting the member 3, unplugging the cable and plugging it back in, erase zeroize again, still nothing.
2) Manual adding
Also tried adding it manually after the autojoin didn't work.
Following the official VSF stacking guide, I connected to the member 3 and configured this:
vsf member 1
link 1 1/1/25
link 2 1/1/26
exit
vsf renumber-to 3
Also, on the existing stack I removed member 3 from the vsf config since it was automatically created by autojoin.
After that, the switch automatically started rebooting and I connected the DAC cable from port 25 to port 50 on member 2. After it booted up, ports went up, but again the stack didn't form. Logs:
025-06-13T14:40:09.090072+02:00 MEXSTNC7-0-1-01 vsflinkd[4406]: Event|9947|LOG_WARN|||Switch with MAC 34:c5:15:7e:c0:80 failed to autojoin. Connect the device 34:c5:15:7e:c0:80 to member 2 link 2 to proceed
2025-06-13T14:40:05.992620+02:00 MEXSTNC7-0-1-01 intfd[774]: Event|403|LOG_INFO|UKWN|1|Link status for interface 2/1/50 is up at 10 Gbps with no FEC
2025-06-13T14:40:03.090113+02:00 MEXSTNC7-0-1-01 pmd[4406]: Event|3808|LOG_INFO|STBY|2|Transceiver 10G-DAC3 inserted in 2/1/50 is unsupported, but allowed. An HPE pluggable module that is not fully supported in this interface, but is allowed because allow-unsupported-transceiver is configured
2025-06-13T14:40:03.089960+02:00 MEXSTNC7-0-1-01 pmd[4406]: Event|3812|LOG_INFO|STBY|2|Adapter QSA28 inserted in 2/1/50 is supported. A QSFP-to-SFP adapter that is supported in this interface
2025-06-13T14:40:02.589836+02:00 MEXSTNC7-0-1-01 pmd[4406]: Event|3804|LOG_INFO|STBY|2|Transceiver hot-swap insert for interface 2/1/50
The first line makes no sense, since the new member 3 is connected to exactly that port and that was visible in vsf link detail:
VSF Member: 1 Link 1
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
1/1/51 up S 2/1/51 4c:d5:87:52:4c:40 S0E91A
VSF Member: 1 Link 2
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
1/1/50 down D
VSF Member: 2 Link 1
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
2/1/51 up S 1/1/51 4c:d5:87:52:0d:00 S0E91A
VSF Member: 2 Link 2
Port State Status Code Peer Interface Peer System MAC Peer Product Type
------- -------------------- ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
2/1/50 up S 3/1/25 34:c5:15:7e:c0:80 JL658A
I checked the ports and the configurations, everything for like 50 times and it looks correct to me.
What crossed my mind as possible issues are that member 1 and member 2 are connected with 100G DAC cable, and this connection is done over a qsfp to sfp+ adapter for a 10g connection. But in the official VSF stacking guide it says that you can combine different speeds and that it will automatically lower the egress rate of all ports in VSF, which it did as you can see in logs.
I didn't have any issues when creating this stack and adding member 2 to the member 1, no idea why this is being so difficult. If anyone has experienced a similar issue please let me know.
Post
--
Robert