How to safely confirm and remove an unused LACP LAG from a vSphere Distributed Switch

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Administrators may find legacy or placeholder Link Aggregation Group (LAG) configurations on a VDS. Before deleting these objects, it is critical to confirm they are not actively carrying production traffic to avoid a network outage.

Symptoms/Scenarios:

• LACP is configured on the VDS but the corresponding physical switch ports are not in an "Active" LACP state.

• Uncertainty regarding which Uplinks are associated with a LAG versus standard NIC teaming.

• A need to simplify VDS configuration by removing dormant LAG objects.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

A LAG may exist without being functional if:

1. No physical NICs (vmnics) are assigned to the LAG ports.

2. The Port Group "Teaming and Failover" policy is set to use standard Uplinks (Uplink 1, 2, etc.) instead of the LAG.

3. The physical switch ports are configured as standard trunks rather than an LACP Port-Channel.

Resolution

Follow these steps to verify if a LAG is safe to delete:

1. Check Physical NIC Assignment:

   • Navigate to VDS > Configure > Settings > LACP.

   • Expand the LAG and check the Assigned Adapters column. If it is empty across all hosts, the LAG is not using physical hardware.

2. Verify Teaming and Failover Policy:

   • Navigate to the Distributed Port Groups associated with the VDS.

   • Go to Configure > Settings > Policies > Teaming and Failover.

   • Confirm that the LAG is in the "Unused" or "Standby" section, and that standard Uplinks are in the "Active" section.

3. Monitor Throughput:

   • Select the Host in the inventory.

   • Go to Monitor > Performance > Advanced.

   • Switch the view to Network and check the statistics for the LAG interface. Confirm "Data Receive Rate" and "Data Transmit Rate" are 0.

4. Decommission:

   • Once confirmed as unused, go to VDS > Configure > LACP.

   • Select the LAG and click Remove.