[j-nsp] EX4200 9.4R2.9 process crash on previously valid config

[Ross Vandegrift]

On Thu, Apr 02, 2009 at 01:48:26PM -0400, Jeff S Wheeler wrote:
> configure any interface as follows
> interfaces {
>   ge-0/0/0 {
>     ether-options {
>       speed {
>         1g;
>       }
>     802.3ad ae0;
>   }
> }
> 
> JUNOS 9.4 won't let you configure that, but the upgrade validator does
> not catch it (and numerous other problems) when you already have it
> configured on an older version.  So if you have the above in your config
> in 9.4R2.9, no interfaces will come up, whatever process (forgot) will
> crash repeatedly, and you will have to hunt down the problem and correct
> it before any ports on your stack can come up again.

Wow, that's awful.  I have many interfaces like that.  What does JUNOS
9.4 want to see for the config on an ethernet interface that's a
member of a LAG?  Aggregated ethernet devices seem to be generally
poor in the EX series.  Almost all of the traffic impacting bugs we've
seen are related to using aggregated ethernet devices.

I'm planning on upgrading to 9.3R3 when it comes out next week to pick
up a fix to some VC issues that cause LAG members to go down and never
come back.  But 9.3R2 and earlier contain an annoying MSTP bug that
prevents mapping unconfigured VLANs....

So I feel the woes.  

On Thu, Apr 02, 2009 at 20:14:28 -0500, Richard A Steenbergen wrote:
> EX makes me sad... I really want to like the thing, but I think
> Juniper has just completely missed the boat from a product management
> perspective. Another good idea ruined by trying to focus exclusively
> on Enterprise.

This kind of hits the nail on the head.  I really want to love the
platform.  It correctly implements a number of features that no one
else has done a good job on.  But it struggles to get too many of the
basics.  My confidence is somewhat shaken at this point.

I guess I should've been more skeptical when, on the first day of our
demo, I crashed the ethernet-switching daemon.  Many people might have
been more scared of such a symbolically significant process!

-- 
Ross Vandegrift
ross at kallisti.us

"If the fight gets hot, the songs get hotter.  If the going gets tough,
the songs get tougher."
	--Woody Guthrie