Best way to configure LACP on a *HEADLESS* Xserve G5 (Tiger) with only two NICs

[Tanster]

Is there a best practice method to configure LACP on a [b][u]headless[/u][/b] Xserve G5 running 10.4.11 that only has its two onboard NICs [b]without[/b] installing a video card /keyboard/monitor combo nor a 3rd NIC? Do I need to use the serial console port? I don’t want to pull the rug out from under myself and find myself unable to connect to the Xserve afterwards since I’m currently accessing the system via one of the two NICs and ARD. Guidelines would be appreciated from someone who has done this before since page 71 of the Tiger CLI manual isn’t too clear on how to avoid pulling the rug out from under oneself.

[Tanster]

Here’s what I did (whether it’s the right/best way or not, it seems to work) using just the GUI:

1. Turned on LACP bonding in the gigabit switch (ZyXEL GS-2024) for the two ports.

2. Fired up the 2nd NIC via the GUI and ARD (for everything, no CLI involved) and gave it a static IP.

3. Disconnected from 1st NIC and reconnected via 2nd NIC.

4. Created a 1 NIC LACP bonded pipe with the 1st NIC and configured it with the same static IP it had before as a singleton.

5. Disconnected from the 2nd NIC and reconnected via 1st NIC.

6. Added the 2nd NIC into the LACP bonded pipe created in #4 above by just editing it in the Network->Network config pane.

7. Checked using “changeip -checkhostname” to make sure nothing was upsetting to the Xserve.

Voila. Didn’t end up pulling out the rug from under myself either. And the LACP bonding seems to work even after a restart.

[Author]

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