SUP replacement procedure in VSS for 4500,SUP7E,WS-4500X

SUP replacement procedure in VSS for 4500 SUP-7E,WS-4500X

Information: 

Supervisor replacement procedure is different  for 4500 switches in VSS when compare to  sup replacement for 6500 VSS.

Below are the simple steps to replace SUP in 4500 VSS. It applies to both active and standby supervisor replacement in 4500 VSS.

To add 4500 switch with new RMA supervisor to active VSS switch , please make sure below points.

1. Cisco IOS image on new RMA supervisor as current IOS used in VSS active SUP.
2. Same license needs to be installed as active supervisor in VSS.
3. Do not copy startup configuration to new RMA superviosr from active SUP as new RMA supervisor on standby switch will download the current configuration from active supervisor when standby supervisor will add in VSS.

Below procedure is strictly for dual-sup VSS and not for QUAD SUP VSS.

Procedure to replace the defective  supervisor either on active switch or standby switch in VSS.

1. If you are replacing active supervisor in VSS, do the switchover to standby switch first  by using "redundancy force-switchover " to make standby switch as active to avoid downtime.

2. If you are replacing supervisor on standby switch in VSS, powered off standby switch  first in VSS to avoid dual  active active-active situation with active switch in VSS.

3. Replace the supervisor with new Cisco RMA SUP on standby switch and  boot up standby switch WITHOUT VSL links connected.  Standby Switch will boot up with basic configuration.

 At this point, make sure  new supervisor is running same IOS as current IOS in VSS and same license  installed.

4. After verify above points, configure the below basic VSS configuration and VSL link configuration on standby switch and convert the switch from standalone to VIRTUAL mode. Below are  sample config.


switch virtual domain <>         Note :  Domain  number should match with active switch in VSS.

switch 1 or 2                             Note : Switch umber depend on which switch you are replacing and  
                                                           make sure the priority is less.
exit

interface port-channel <>
switchport
switch virtual link  2 or 1       Note : Switch number depend on which switch you are replacing SUP.
no shut
 exit

interface tengig<>
channel-group <> mode on
no shut
exit

5. Save the  config by using wr mem.

6. Convert the switch into virtual mode by using below command.

     switch convert mode virtual

7. While switch starts rebooting, connect the VSL link to the supervisor. 

After this, switch will convert into VSS and will come up as standby VSS in SSO mode and it will download the configuration from active supervisor.

8. Verify connectivity by using show cdp neigbor.


Used same process many times without any issues in production network.


Thank you for viewing this post. Hope this helps.