Latest posts
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Cisco ACI Leaf Node ID Swap on vPC Pairs: Risks, Precautions, and Step-by-Step Process
Cisco ACI Leaf Node ID Swap Steps When Leaves Are Part of vPC Step 0 – PreconditionsConfirm maintenance window is approved. Ensure alternate connectivity or downtime is acceptable. Make sure you have console or OOB access to both leaf switches. Step 1 – Drain Traffic and Clear EndpointsShut down or migrate all server-facing interfaces connected…
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How to Safely Decommission a Leaf Switch in Cisco ACI — Step-by-Step Guide with Checklist
Decommissioning a leaf switch in a Cisco ACI fabric is a high‑impact operational activity. Doing it correctly avoids outages, policy corruption, ghost nodes, and rediscovery issues. Doing it incorrectly can result in traffic loss, unresolved faults, and extended downtime. Many engineers think decommissioning a leaf is as simple as clicking a button in APIC. In…
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Cisco ACI “Unknown” Leaf State Explained: Certificates, LLDP, Software, and Hardware Issues
In a Cisco ACI fabric, one of the most frustrating issues during initial fabric bring‑up, expansion, or node replacement is seeing a leaf switch stuck in an “Unknown” state. When a leaf is in an unknown state, it means the APIC cannot fully discover, authenticate, or manage the node, preventing it from joining the fabric and…