Enabling or Disabling Layer 2 Switching

By default, RUCKUS Layer 3 devices support Layer 2 switching. If you want to disable Layer 2 switching, you can do so globally or on individual ports, depending on the version of software your device is running.

Note: Consult your reseller or RUCKUS to understand the risks involved before disabling all Layer 2 switching operations.

When the route-only command is entered in global configuration mode, the following syslogs appear to indicate the impact of the Layer 2 functions already available on the ports:

  • On tagged ports and virtual Ethernet (VE) interfaces

    ROUTE-ONLY: Only would cause L2 functions non-functional on %p Port, Part of VE/Tagged Interface

  • On Generic Attribute Registration Protocol (GARP) VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP)-enabled ports

    ROUTE-ONLY: Only would cause L2 functions non-functional on 1/1/15 Port, Part of VE/Tagged Interface

  • On Virtual Switch Redundancy Protocol (VSRP)-enabled ports

    ROUTE-ONLY: Only would cause VSRP non-functional on 7th VLAN

  • On Metro Ring Protocol (MRP)-enabled ports

    ROUTE-ONLY: Global Route-Only would cause MRP non-functional on %dth VLAN

Be aware of the following restrictions and limitations when disabling Layer 2 switching:

  • RUCKUS ICX devices support disabling Layer 3 switching at the interface configuration mode as well, as the global configuration mode.
  • Enabling or disabling Layer 2 switching is not supported on virtual interfaces.

Configuration examples for disabling Layer 2 switching

To globally disable Layer 2 switching on a Layer 3 device, enter commands such as the following. 

device# configure terminal
device(config)# route-only
device(config)# exit
device# write memory
device# reload

To re-enable Layer 2 switching on a Layer 3 device, enter the following commands. 

device# configure terminal
device(config)# no route-only
device(config)# exit
device# write memory
device# reload

To disable Layer 2 switching only on a specific interface, go to the interface configuration level for that interface, and then disable the feature. The following commands show how to disable Layer 2 switching on port 2. 

device# configure terminal
device(config)# interface ethernet 2
device(config-if-e1000-2)# route-only
Parent topic: IP Addressing