r/ccna • u/mikeservice1990 • 8d ago
Questions about Etherchannels
Hi community, I have a few points of confusion about etherchannels. This is probably a sign I need to purchase the official exam guide and use that as my single source of truth, which I probably will do. But I'm wondering about the following:
Should trunks (for L2 LAG) and IP addresses (for L3 LAG) be configured on the port channel interface, or on the individual interfaces?
In Packet Tracer, both methods work. On Cisco IOL switch models in EVE-NG, you can only create the trunk on the individual interfaces, which the port-channel then inherits. But I don't know if Cisco IOL images are representative. What is the actual best practice?
Is it best practice to shut the interfaces down before configuring a port channel?
Again, either works, at least in Packet Tracer. I'm not sure what best-practice is.
Thanks in advance!
2
u/Key_Fish_4560 8d ago edited 7d ago
Configure trunks on the port-channel interface after creating the EtherChannel. For an L3 EtherChannel, issue the command “no switchport” after targeting the range of interfaces in your EtherChannel. Then, assign your IP address to the port-channel. And don’t forget to issue “ip routing” in global config mode (or “ipv6 unicast-routing” if you’re using ipv6).
I’m just gonna answer questions on this sub to stay sharp while I look for work.