The Autozone feature is a mechanism to automate zoning of devices. This feature can be used to reduce the administrative overhead of manually creating and updating the switch zone configuration each time a device is added to the SAN to a one-time command. An administrator has to configure the Autozone feature after the initial deployment and does not have to manually change or modify the zone configuration each time a new device is added to a fabric. The Autozone feature is intended for fabrics composed of a single fabric switch that has no more than 100 devices connected.
Initially, Autozone configures zoning that enables connectivity from every initiator to every target. The zones that are created are placed in a single zone set in VSAN 1 and activated. When in automatic mode, a Scheduler job is created to scan for newly logged-in devices every five minutes. New initiators are zoned with all the targets, and new targets are zoned with all the initiators. The new zones are then added to the active zone set. This process allows the switch to be administered with minimal effort by simply plugging in new devices and having automatic connectivity for the devices within minutes. The administrator can run Autozone manually if connectivity to the newly logged-in devices is required before the next scheduled scan. Autozone does not change the existing zones created either by Autozone or manually by an administrator. This prevents duplication of any existing zones by Autozone and allows an administrator to manually add specialized zones.
Autozone has two modes of operation:
Automatic mode: The Autozone Scheduler job runs every five minutes, checking for changes in device logins, and updates the zone set accordingly.
Manual mode: No Scheduler job is created. The administrator has to run the autozone –update command each time a new device is connected to a switch for the device to be added to the zoning configuration.
Note
Autozone works on single-switch fabrics. It works only for ports that are logged on to VSAN 1. If the administrator moves ports to other VSANs, Autozone does not move them back into VSAN 1 or zone them.
Zone Merge
All Cisco SAN switches distribute active zone sets when new E port links come up or when a new zone set is activated in a VSAN. When two switches in a fabric are merged using a TE or E port, these TE and E ports may become isolated when the active zone set databases are different between the two switches or fabrics, as shown in Figure 8-36. When a TE port or an E port becomes isolated, you can recover that port from its isolated state using one of three options:
Import the neighboring switch’s active zone set database and replace the current active zone set.
Export the current database to the neighboring switch.
Manually resolve the conflict by editing the full zone set, activating the corrected zone set, and then bringing up the link.
Figure 8-36 Importing and Exporting the Database
On Cisco SAN switches, you cannot edit an active zone set. However, you can copy an active zone set to create a new zone set that you can edit. Also, you can back up the zone configuration to a workstation using TFTP. This zone backup file can then be used to restore the zone configuration on a switch. Restoring the zone configuration overwrites any existing zone configuration on a switch.