previous zone lost in cisco san switch

was it done from the same switch ?

ya in same switch only.

sorry for the late reply..

Hi,

Not having saved the current config to the startup config should not be an issue (unless the switch was rebooted). I have some theories about what could have happened:

- Maybe the zoneset was modified at some point in time.

- Maybe the zoneset applied afterwards was not the same that was active.

you can check the accounting log (command show account log) in order to see if the active zoneset has suffered any modification. Can you tell us the procedure you followed to activate the first and the second zone? did you do it by CLI or by FabricManager?

Rgds

The procedure you followed is correct, but I mean that the content of SW1_Zoneset in the switch local database (which is not the same as the Active one) may have been modified after you applied the first zone and before you applied MMEX-MBX1_IBM_TL_LTO5_TD1-4 zone.

how zone will lose while modifying zoneset ??

its done through CLI only. the procedure is given below

*******************start***************************

config

zone name MMEX-MBX1_IBM_TL_LTO5_TD1-4 vsan 1

member fcalias MMEX-MBX1 

member fcalias IBM_TL_LTO5_TD1

member fcalias IBM_TL_LTO5_TD2

member fcalias IBM_TL_LTO5_TD3

member fcalias IBM_TL_LTO5_TD4 

exit

config

zoneset name SW1_Zoneset vsan 1

member MMEX-MBX1_IBM_TL_LTO5_TD1-4

exit

config

zoneset activate name SW1_Zoneset vsan 1

****************************end*********************************

after this i lost the previous zone.

anyway if the zone is active means that zone data should be stored temporarly. Then without a reboot how the data will loose ?? can u tell how the configuration data is saving ?it may help me to understand.

felipon wrote: Hi, Not having saved the current config to the startup config should not be an issue (unless the switch was rebooted). I have some theories about what could have happened:

even if the switch was rebooted, active zone set is preserved across reboots

Hi,

Usually losing zones after zoning is a zoneset distribution issue. For example: 2 switches ISL'd together one with zoneset distribution ACTIVE (switch A) and the other zoneset distribution FULL (switch B).

Zoning changes in January from switch A would not distribute the FULL zoneset database (it only distributes the ACTIVE zoneset database. Zoning changes in February from switch B would be from it's full zoneset which is even older than the zoning done in January.

This is because when making zone changes, you're editing the FULL zoneset while the switch is still running with the ACTIVE zoneset.

Regards,

Sam

This looks an awful lot like the remote lab thing we did last year

sure does

Dynamox and I encountered a similar problem in a lab environment about a year and a half ago and after doing many tests with reboots of switches and disconnecting cables and and and and.... we came to the conclusion that it's best to save the config before AND after doing zone configurations to be sure that configs aren't lost when a new "copy run start" is done and a zone disappears because it wasn't saved to flash and wasn't distributed to all other switches. Oh well, in the end it looked like the distribution of the zoneset was only done to other switches once, at least it was a 1 time try. When that failed it looked like reconnecting switches didn't trigger a redistribution and writing a new zoneset made that a zone that wasn't distributed to other switches was lost because a new zoneset became active in which this previous new zone wasn't added.

Does my story make sence? I know it's not a solution to your problem, but I'm trying to tell you what we found out and what our recommendation is.

Hi jeeson,

We have seen such issues in the past where people lost previous zones either all or some after activating the zoneset in basic zone mode.To explain this scenario first you need to check the switch settting in your environment and how many switches are there in your fabric.

1) check the default policy on your switch whether its set to distribute FULL or only ACTIVE zoneset database.

2) Also check whether your using Basic Zone mode or Enhanced mode.

cw9513pa# show system default zone

system default zone default-zone deny

system default zone distribute full

system default zone mode basic

system default zone gs read-write

If the switch is in basic mode and policy is to distribute only Active DB in such fabric in case you perform zoning from the sub-ordinate switc suddenly one day or a switch from where you didnt did your last zoning then it can wipe of the old zones added . Simple understanding that every switch has a local full zoneset database and it becomes active when you activate. This can be different on both switches if you practise to edit zones from different switches in fabric instead of Principal Switch (always) and so when zoneset is activated the copy of Zoneset on that local switch became Active ( which is not same as full zoneset db on other switches if the policy is to distribute only active) .

I am not good in explaining theory but hope if you check your fabric and find details you will come to know the issue.