MGMT VLAN Interface IP & Switch IP

[CotyMick]

Hi All,

I was replacing an MX84 & an MS350 because of the CLOCK SIGNAL COMPONENT ISSUE. The MX swap went well and as expected. The configs from the previous MX uploaded to the new MX, sans the Site-to-Site VPN. But when I swapped out the MS350 (according to Meraki's replacement step by step) I ran into problems.

First, after cloning the new switch to the existing switch, the Routing & DHCP configuration to not copy over. I had to rebuild those from scratch. 

Also, and what took a bit of time to move past was that I could not use the Switch IP as the MGMT VLAN Interface IP. I have this setup at multiple locations. The MGMT VLAN Interface IP is the same as the switch IP. I had to change the Switch IP to 101.3 so that I can make the MGMT VLAN interface 101.2

Does anyone have any insight as to why I can't make them the same, after the

swap? Mind you, this is how it was set up on the switch I was replacing, and like I said I have this setup at multiple locations without an issue.

Thanks in Advance for your expert knowledge and shared experience.

Kindest Regards,

Mick 

[Adam]

My understanding is that the clone feature only copies over the port configurations.  No name, address, static IP or route information gets copied over.  I agree this is stupid and should be fixed.  Or perhaps another option called 'replace' should be made that does copy all of that info. 

[CotyMick]

Thanks...

You'd think that Cisco would have a replacement feature for the MS since we have to swap out so many devices cause the CLOCK SIGNAL COMPONENT ISSUE.

[Adam · Accepted solution]

Agreed, I have 10 coming my way in the near future.  Thankfully I don't have much L3 stuff. 

@CotyMickThe easiest way to do this from memory is to add the new switch to the same network without removing the old one.  You'll get a temporary license nag (disregard).  Then do the clone as you did.  Reference the old switch for your static IP info and input that into the new switch.  Then go to Switch>Routing & DHCP.  Select the static routes and select Edit>Move and select the new switch.  This will move those routes to the new switch.  The new switch may have to be online to do this, I don't recall.  This would be much easier than copy/paste or re-type them all. 

[CotyMick]

@Adam Thanks. I'll try that on the next replacement.

[Zilla]

Adam's correct. Clone only covers layer 2 portion.  

What you can do is enable Layer 3 on the switch device, then move the L3 interfaces over from the old switches. In the Switch  > Routing and DHCP section.  You'll have to build the first interface and set the default route before you can move/copy the interfaces and any static routes.

You will also want to make note of any relay settings.  In the early days those didn't move either. I can't remember if they move now.

[MRCUR]

My understanding on this after speaking to multiple engineers is that the setup you are using is not supported. I originally wanted to setup my L3 MS switches this way and was advised not to because of this. 

[Adam]

@MRCUR comment reminded me of what you are trying to do.  You use to be able to setup the management IP the same as the IP on the switch a long time ago.  That is no longer supported by Meraki. On many of my switches we don't even need an L3 configuration and just have the primary switch IP as the management IP (no L3 needed) since adding the extra IP was unnecessary. 

[CotyMick]

@MRCUR Thanks for that info. What happens to all my networks with this already in place? Should I submit change requests to change them or leave as is?

[MRCUR]

I would recommend removing the config and moving to a supported setup. I've created a VLAN for the L3 MS devices on the upstream switch they connect to which provides the switches with Internet access. I then make this a tagged VLAN on the MS uplink port and set the VLAN as the management VLAN for the device in Dashboard. 

[CotyMick]

@MRCUR Thanks!