Next-Generation Firewall
Configure an Aggregate Interface Group
Table of Contents
Configure an Aggregate Interface Group
Configure an aggregate interface group to combine multiple
Ethernet interfaces into a single virtual interface.
Contact your account team to enable Cloud Management for NGFWs using
Strata Cloud Manager.
| Where Can I Use This? | What Do I Need? |
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One of these:
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An aggregate interface group uses IEEE 802.1AX link aggregation to combine multiple Ethernet
interfaces into a single virtual interface that connects the firewall to another
network device or another firewall. An aggregate group increases the bandwidth
between peers by load-balancing traffic across the combined interfaces. It also
provides redundancy; when one interface fails, the remaining interfaces continue
supporting traffic.
By default, interface
failure detection is automatic only at the physical layer between
directly connected peers. However, if you enable Link Aggregation
Control Protocol (LACP), failure detection is automatic at the physical
and data link layers regardless of whether the peers are directly
connected. LACP also enables automatic failover to standby interfaces
if you configured hot spares. All Palo Alto Networks firewalls except
VM-Series models support aggregate groups. You can add up to eight
aggregate groups per firewall and each group can have up to eight
interfaces.
Firewalls support a maximum of 16,000 IPv4 addresses assigned to a Layer 3..
- Log in to Strata Cloud Manager.Select and select the Configuration Scope where you want to create the aggregate interface group.Select a firewall from your Folders or select Snippets to configure the aggregate interface group in a snippet.If you select a folder or select a snippet, you create an aggregated interface group variable that must be assigned at the device level.Configure the interfaces that you want to add to the aggregate interface group.Among the interfaces assigned to any particular aggregate group, the hardware media can differ (for example, you can mix fiber optic and copper) but the bandwidth and interface type must be the same.Add the aggregate interface.
- Folders and Snippets—Add Interface and select Aggregate Group.
- Firewalls—Add and Add Aggregation Group.
Enter the Interface Name.By default, all aggregate interface groups are prefixed with ae.(Optional) Enter a Description.Select the Interface Type.The aggregate interface group type must match the Ethernet interface type (Layer 2 or Layer 3).(Firewall only) Add the Ethernet Interfaces you created in the previous step.You can only add Ethernet interfaces to an aggregate interface group from the firewall Configuration Scope.(Layer 3 only) Configure the aggregate interface group IP settings.- Select the aggregate interface group IP Type.
- Static IPv4 Address.Add the IPv4 IP addresses for the interfaces in the aggregate interface group.
- DHCP Client activation on the aggregate interface group.See Configure an Interface as a DHCP Client for more information on configuring the aggregate interface group as a DHCP client.
(Optional) Configure the LACP settings.Configure this setting only if you want to enable LACP for the aggregate group.- Enable LACP.Set the LACP Mode.
- Passive (default)—The firewall just responds.
- Active—The firewall queries peer devices.
Set one LACP peer to active and the other to passive. LACP can’t function if both peers are passive. The firewall can’t detect the mode of its peer device.Set the Transmission Rate for LACP queries and response exchanges.Base your selection on how much LACP processing your network supports and how quickly LACP peers must detect and resolve interface failures.- Slow (default)—Every 30 seconds.
- Fast—Every second.
Enable Fast Failover to enable failover to a standby interface in less than 1 second.This option is disabled by default and the firewall uses the IEEE 802.1ax standard for failover processing, which takes at least 3 seconds.Enable Fast Failover in deployments where you might lose critical data during the standard failover interval.Specify the System Priority to determine the failover priority in the event of LACP peers that have nonmatching port priority values.Default is 32,768; range is 1-65,535. The value of the peer with the lower system priority number overrides the other peer.Save.Push Config to push your configuration changes.
