topic Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches in RUCKUS Self-Help

Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

BenBeck — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 20:28:14 GMT

Hey all,

I wanted to take a moment to look at spanning tree. By default, ICX switches run 802.1d spanning tree on a per-vlan basis. Ideally, we want to use a protocol with faster convergence such as rapid spanning tree (802.1w). I will go through some general configuration steps and a few best practices. These configurations will not suit all customers, but it is a good starting point for many.

Enabling RSTP on vlan(s)

ICX#conf t
ICX(config)#vlan 10 20 30 <--edits three vlans at once. You can edit vlans one at a time or using a range via the 'to' syntax (vlan 1 to 20)
ICX(config-mvlan-10*30)#spanning-tree 802-1w

Now that 802.1w is running, we will want to set a root bridge priority. If no priority is defined, the default of 32768 will be used. Let us assume you want this switch to be the root bridge. A lower priority number wins, so let us go ahead and set it to zero to ensure this switch becomes root bridge:

ICX(config-mvlan-10*30)#spanning-tree 802-1w priority 0

The resulting configuration will look like this:

vlan 10 by port
 tagged ethe 1/1/1 to 1/1/48 ethe 1/2/1 ethe 1/2/2 ethe 1/2/3 ethe 1/2/4 ethe 1/2/5 ethe 1/2/6 ethe 1/2/7 ethe 1/2/8
 spanning-tree 802-1w
 spanning-tree 802-1w priority 0
!
vlan 20 by port
 tagged ethe 1/1/1 to 1/1/48 ethe 1/2/1 ethe 1/2/2 ethe 1/2/3 ethe 1/2/4 ethe 1/2/5 ethe 1/2/6 ethe 1/2/7 ethe 1/2/8
 spanning-tree 802-1w
 spanning-tree 802-1w priority 0
!
vlan 30 by port
 tagged ethe 1/1/1 to 1/1/48 ethe 1/2/1 ethe 1/2/2 ethe 1/2/3 ethe 1/2/4 ethe 1/2/5 ethe 1/2/6 ethe 1/2/7 ethe 1/2/8
 spanning-tree 802-1w
 spanning-tree 802-1w priority 0

Now that our RSTP instances are running, let's take a look at a couple best practices.

Switch-to-switch connections should be defined as point-to-point links to optimize convergence times. In this example, let us assume ports 1/2/1 through 1/2/8 are all switch-to-switch links:

ICX#conf t
ICX(config)#interface ethernet 1/2/1 to 1/2/8
ICX(config-mif-1/2/1-1/2/8)#spanning-tree 802-1w admin-pt2pt-mac

The resulting configuration:

interface ethernet 1/2/1
 port-name Switch-to-Switch-Connection
 spanning-tree 802-1w admin-pt2pt-mac

Switch-to-client (edge) connections should be defined as operational edge ports. In this example, let us assume ports 1/1/1 through 1/1/48 are all client edge ports:

ICX#conf t
ICX(config)#interface ethernet 1/1/1 to 1/1/48
ICX(config-mif-1/1/1-1/1/48)#spanning-tree 802-1w admin-edge-port

Client ports can also have STP BPDU Guard enabled. This will shut down the port if any BPDUs are received on the port.


ICX#conf t
ICX(config)#interface ethernet 1/1/1 to 1/1/48
ICX(config)#stp-bpdu-guard

The resulting configuration:

interface ethernet 1/1/1
 port-name Client-Port
 spanning-tree 802-1w admin-edge-port
 stp-bpdu-guard

To see RSTP information, you can use the following commands:

ICX#show 802-1w
ICX#show 802-1w detail

Note: If you are running 802.1d, you will use 'show spanning-tree' and 'show spanning-tree detail'. MSTP also has unique commands such as 'show mstp' and 'show mstp detail'

To see all available configuration options for spanning tree, please see our FastIron Layer 2 Switching Configuration Guide:

HTML Version

PDF Version (requires login)

Let us know if you have any questions!

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

sven_siersdorfe — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 06:45:29 GMT

Great starting point for RSTP deployment. Thank you.

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

abilashpr — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 13:04:33 GMT

Dear Ben Beck,

Good one, it would be great if you could share some troubleshooting steps to resolve any STP Loop.

Thank you for sharing this!!!

Regards,

Abilash PR.

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

jay01 — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 19:07:04 GMT

Hi Ben,

Whats the difference between configuring pt2pt stp configuration on interface as opposed to applying it on vlan instead? I am new to Ruckus switching and wanting to uplink to an extreme switch using RSTP. When I enable RSTP I am getting constant BPDU errors on the extreme switch port. If I apply below to interface will it stop the errors ?

spanning-tree 802-1w admin-pt2pt-mac

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

dobbins71 — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 17:43:48 GMT

Thank you for this! Which option would you use for a switch to AP with clients needing vlan 20 and 30? Also, the Mesh APs that have a switch connected?

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

jzsjr — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:14:31 GMT

Ben

Can spanning-tree 8 be used in conjunction with loop-detection and STP BPDU Guard for client-facing ports?

Thank you,

Jim

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

jzsjr — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:16:05 GMT

Sorry, let me re-phrase this. Can spanning-tree 8's BPDU Guard be used in conjunction with loop-detection or do they conflict?

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

inphobia — Fri, 10 May 2024 19:29:16 GMT

heya,
thx for this overview, is there a chance that the 10.0.10 & 10.0.20 docs could get a review? often they still make point of mentioning switch & router images, while since 10 it's a unified image:

a few examples:
https://docs.commscope.com/bundle/fastiron-10020-l2guide/page/GUID-92D9B12D-8B95-46DD-8482-781DAD6D38E7.html
https://docs.commscope.com/bundle/fastiron-10020-l2guide/page/GUID-4F5D9098-E962-4C38-BA57-0C0D38ABBA23.html

also, "Standard STP Parameter Configuration" states "For FastIron 10.0.00 and later, STP is disabled by default." on the very next page "STP Parameters and Defaults" it says "Default STP State: enabled"

on a more serious note: i've found it hard to figure out the difference what the difference is between global, port-based vlan & individual port stp. in particular regarding what interactions/overrides they can have.

i'm also not clear on what to make of this:
https://docs.commscope.com/bundle/fastiron-10020-l2guide/page/GUID-A7C9E7F9-8349-4B09-82D5-A4AA81723673.html
it starts out with " can be enabled on a port-based VLAN or on an individual port" , but in the first attention item it then talks about "even when 802.1W is globally disabled".

trying to get some 7850's up & running but stp hasn't really been playing along.

thx

Re: Configuring RSTP (802.1w) and Spanning Tree Best Practices on ICX Switches

Sydney_N — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 22:18:57 GMT

inphobia,

Did you ever figure out a good stp configuration for you environment? Currently running into issues while trying to implement these best practices, but I'm not ready to open a case on it.