Selecting an active interface in a single-mode vif

About selecting an active interface

When you create a single-mode vif, by default, an interface is selected randomly to be the active interface. However, if you want to specify another interface as active, you can use the vif favor command to override the random selection. Additionally, if you want to specify an interface not to be considered when random selection is made, you can use the vif nofavor command.

The active interface is also known as a preferred interface. There can be only one active interface in a single-mode vif.

For example, you might want to select an interface over another when you add a new, higher speed or higher bandwidth interface to the vif and want this new interface to be the preferred interface.

The interface that you designate as the one not to be considered during random selection is known as the "not favored" interface.

Selecting an active interface

To change the active interface in a single-mode vif, complete the following step.

Note
The operation performed using the vif favor command is not persistent across reboots unless the command is added to the /etc/rc file.

Step	Action
1	Enter the following command: vif favor interface interface is the name of the interface you want to be active. Example You can specify the interface e1 to be preferred with the following command: vif favor e1

About designating an interface "not favored"

The interface marked as "not favored" (using the vif nofavor command) can still become the active interface when all other interfaces in a single-mode vif have failed. Even after other interfaces come back up, a "not favored" interface continues to stay active until it fails or until you, the system administrator, change the active interface using the vif favor command.

Designating an interface as "not favored"

To designate an interface as "not favored" so it will not be considered during random selection for an active interface in a single-mode vif, complete the following step.

Note
The operation performed using the vif nofavor command is not persistent across reboots unless the command is added to the /etc/rc file.

Step	Action
1	Enter the following command: vif nofavor interface interface is the name of the interface you don't want to be considered during random selection for an active interface. Example You can specify the interface e2 to be "not favored" with the following command: vif nofavor e2