Configure Static MAC Addresses for IRB Interfaces

Enterprise customers experience disruptions when IRB interface MAC addresses change during data center migrations. Downtime is needed to reconnect server storage devices. HPE Networking Apstra Data Center Director uses a default MAC address, but you may need to configure a custom MAC address to ensure consistency with existing networks. This action prevents disruptions, avoid invalid IPs, and preserves configuration settings during upgrades.

To configure static MAC addresses for IRB interfaces:

  1. From your blueprint, navigate to Staged > Fabric Settings > Fabric Policy and click Modify Settings.
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  2. Enter the new Virtual MAC Address. This overrides the Apstra DC Director default MAC address 00:1c:73:00:00:01.
    RX utilization graph showing minimal usage near 0 percent for system ID bp1-spine1 52540052DB73 pod1.
  3. Click Save Changes to complete the configuration.
  4. Optionally, you can specify a different MAC address for each virtual network. This action overrides the virtual MAC address you configured in Step 2 but only for the specific virtual network.
    To specify a different MAC address:
    1. Navigate to Staged > Virtual and select your network from the table.
      User interface for managing virtual networks, showing tabs for navigation, a selected Virtual Networks tab, a table listing network details like name, type, and routing zone, a Create Virtual Networks button, filters for selection, and pagination controls.
    2. From the Parameters window, click the Edit button to modify your virtual network.
      Screenshot of a virtual network management interface with the Staged tab selected, showing subsections like Virtual Networks and Routing Zones. Parameters section lists Name as blue_304_rg_esi_1_v6, Type as VXLAN, and an Edit button is visible to modify details. Back to list link allows navigation to a previous view.
    3. Enter the new MAC address in the Virtual MAC Address field and click Update.
      Note. If you do not specify a MAC address, the system uses the default address from the fabric settings.
      Configuration interface to edit virtual network with options for enabling DHCP, IPv4, IPv6 connectivity, and fields for IPv6 subnet, gateway, MAC address, and L3 MTU. Warning on MAC address change. Update button included.