Garp Vlan Registration Protocol (Gvrp); Important Points To Remember; Configure Gvrp - Dell Force10 Z9000 Configuration Manual

GARP VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP)

GARP VLAN registration protocol (GVRP) is supported on Dell Networking OS.
Typical virtual local area network (VLAN) implementation involves manually configuring each Layer 2 switch that participates in a
given VLAN. GVRP, defined by the IEEE 802.1q specification, is a Layer 2 network protocol that provides for automatic VLAN
configuration of switches. GVRP-compliant switches use GARP to register and de-register attribute values, such as VLAN IDs, with
each other.
GVRP exchanges network VLAN information to allow switches to dynamically forward frames for one or more VLANs. Therefore,
GVRP spreads this information and configures the needed VLANs on any additional switches in the network. Data propagates via the
exchange of GVRP protocol data units (PDUs).
The purpose of GVRP is to simplify (but not eliminate) static configuration. The idea is to configure switches at the edge and have
the information dynamically propagate into the core. As such, the edge ports must still be statically configured with VLAN
membership information, and they do not run GVRP. It is this information that is propagated to create dynamic VLAN membership in
the core of the network.

Important Points to Remember

• GVRP propagates VLAN membership throughout a network. GVRP allows end stations and switches to issue and revoke
declarations relating to VLAN membership.
• VLAN registration is made in the context of the port that receives the GARP PDU and is propagated to the other active ports.
• GVRP is disabled by default; enable GVRP for the switch and then for individual ports.
• Dynamic VLANs are aged out after the LeaveAll timer expires three times without receipt of a Join message. To display status,
use the show gvrp statistics {interface interface | summary} command.
Dell(conf)#protocol spanning-tree pvst
Dell(conf-pvst)#no disable
% Error: GVRP running. Cannot enable PVST.
.........
Dell(conf)#protocol spanning-tree mstp
Dell(conf-mstp)#no disable
% Error: GVRP running. Cannot enable MSTP.
.........
Dell(conf)#protocol gvrp
Dell(conf-gvrp)#no disable
% Error: PVST running. Cannot enable GVRP.
% Error: MSTP running. Cannot enable GVRP.

Configure GVRP

To begin, enable GVRP.
To facilitate GVRP communications, enable GVRP globally on each switch. Then, GVRP configuration is per interface on a switch-by-
switch basis. Enable GVRP on each port that connects to a switch where you want GVRP information exchanged. In the following
example, that type of port is referred to as a VLAN trunk port, but it is not necessary to specifically identify to the Dell Networking
OS that the port is a trunk port.
GARP VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP)
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