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random66's avatar
random66
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Jul 15, 2021

Install new additional Viprion blade with slot disabled

Hi there,

Unfortunately I don't have a test environment to try this.

On the Viprion platform will the automated blade install process still initiate if the slot is manually "disabled" on the vCMP host? Does slot state from a vCMP guest perspective matter?

We want to install the hardware but initiate the install process at a later date. Thanks for your advice.

 

 

application delivery
BIG-IP
viprion
  • random66's avatar
    random66
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Jul 16, 2021

    A case was raised to F5 support for this, the answer from them is:

     

    "When the new blade inserts into chassis, the automated processes will start even the slot is disabled."

  • random66's avatar
    random66
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Oct 27, 2021

    Update.

    This was tested by installing a new additional B4450 blade into a C4480 chassis. The chassis was running 14.1.4.3.

    With the slot "disabled" indeed the automated blade install process DID start however it failed soon afterwards with "SLOT FAILED" (sh sys cluster).

    The interesting thing is that from this point the slot seems to "lock up". We could not recover from the "slot failed" state even after manually enabling the slot and removing and re-inserting the blade.

    We eventually fixed the issue by rebooting the chassis (which also happens to be a VCMP HOST). The chassis reboot looks to be the only fix.

    We installed 3 more blades after this to other chassis with the slot set to "enabled" and as expected all worked fine.

    This testing seems to prove (on this code version) that there is no way to "pre-install" a Viprion blade without the automated blade install process starting and that the slot must be enabled for the process to progress smoothly.