Stack Construction Methods

Note: After you have become familiar with stack construction methods, be sure to review the Stacking Deployment Guidelines.

There are several ways to build a stack.

  1. The stack interactive-setup utility. Interactive-setup gives you control over the design of your stack topology. RUCKUS recommends interactive-setup because it provides the flexibility to choose stack members and their IDs. As you create the stack, you can see the topology and any potential connection errors. Refer to Scenaroi 1 - Using stack interactive-setup to create a stack for more information.
  2. Stack zero-touch provisioning. With this method, after all members are connected, you configure stack zero-touch-enable on the unit that will ultimately serve as the stack active controller. All other units must be clean units, without startup or running configuration. The zero-touch provisioning process is triggered every three minutes in background. The results of the process are equivalent to running stack interactive-setup utility option 2 and accepting all suggested values. Refer to Scenario 2 - Using zero-touch provisioning to configure a stack for more information.
  3. Manual stack configuration. With this method, you configure every unit individually and enable stacking on each unit. Once the units are connected together, they automatically operate as a stack. The unit with the highest priority becomes the active controller, and ID assignment is determined by the sequence in which you physically connect the units. Refer to Scenario 3 - Manually configuring a three-member stack in a ring topology for more information.

Note: The principles outlined in stack construction scenarios apply to all ICX devices. Figures used to illustrate a certain stack topology are not necessarily representative of other devices. For illustrations specific to a particular device, refer to the stack configuration section for that device, which also contains device-specific stacking considerations.
Note: For information on configuring a stack from SmartZone, refer to "Creating a Switch Stack" under "Switch Management" in the RUCKUS SmartZone Network Administration Guide.

For information on configuring a stack from RUCKUS One, refer to "Adding a Stack" under "Managing Network Devices: Switches" in the RUCKUS One User Guide.

In this section:

  1. ID Assignment for New Units
  2. The Stack Interactive-setup Utility
  3. Scenario 1 - Using Stack Interactive-setup to Create a Stack
  4. Scenario 2 - Using Zero-touch Provisioning to Configure a Stack
  5. Scenario 3 - Manually Configuring a Three-member Stack in a Ring Topology
    Although RUCKUS recommends using the stack interactive-setup utility to construct a stack or to add new units to an existing stack, users may need to use the manual configuration process in certain cases, such as when merging two stacks or adding units that have stack enable configuration.
Parent topic: Building a Stack