[EX] MC-LAG Support on EX4300 deprecated starting 17.4R1 release

Summary:

This article clarifies that MC-LAG support on EX4300 Series switches has been deprecated starting with Junos OS Release 17.4R1, and suggests an alternative.

Symptoms:

Although the configuration commit will go through, the settings will not take effect. Help and auto-completion will not also happen.

Additionally, platform exclusion warning would be seen on this configuration hierarchy, as shown below:

{master:0}[edit protocols]
root@nj-cnt-jnpr-sw-4300# show
##
## Warning: configuration block ignored: unsupported platform (ex4300-24t)
##
iccp {
    local-ip-addr 172.31.255.2;
    peer 172.31.255.3 {
        session-establishment-hold-time 400;
        redundancy-group-id-list 1;
        backup-liveness-detection {
            backup-peer-ip 10.53.67.64;
        }
        liveness-detection {
            minimum-interval 2000;
            multiplier 4;
        }
        authentication-key "$9$bRY4JTQ39CpcyML"; ## SECRET-DATA
    }
}

{master:0}[edit interfaces ae2]
root@nj-cnt-jnpr-sw-4300# show
aggregated-ether-options {
    lacp {
        active;
        periodic slow;
        system-id 00:00:00:00:00:02;
        admin-key 2;
    }
    ##
    ## Warning: configuration block ignored: unsupported platform (ex4300-24t)
    ##
    mc-ae {
        mc-ae-id 2;
        ##
        ## Warning: The redundancy group must match with one defined at <protocols iccp peer redundancy-group-id-list>
        ##
        redundancy-group 1;
        chassis-id 0;
        mode active-active;
        status-control active;
        init-delay-time 300;
        events {
            iccp-peer-down {
                prefer-status-control-active;
            }
        }
    }
}
unit 0 {
    family ethernet-switching {
        interface-mode trunk;
        vlan {
            members [ v10 v11 v12 ];
        }
    }
}

Cause:

The MC-LAG feature was introduced on the EX4300 platform running Junos OS Release 13.2X51-D20.

This feature is deprecated starting Junos OS 17.4R1 and later releases.

For details, check the Feature Explorer for MC-LAG.

Solution:

Consider using a Virtual Chassis or, alternatively, all-active multihoming for EVPN-VXLAN (ESI-LAG aka EVPN-LAG). All-active multihoming for EVPN-VXLAN (ESI-LAG aka EVPN-LAG) is supported on the EX4300 Multigigabit EX4300-48MP platform from Junos OS Release 19.1R1.

However, be sure to check the Feature Explorer for All-active multihoming support for EVPN-VXLAN (ESI-LAG aka EVPN-LAG) before configuring the above.

Note: Some VXLAN constraints on the switching platform that you may want to consider can be found in VXLAN Constraints on QFX Series and EX Series Switches.

Modification History:

2020-08-26: Minor, non-technical edit.

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