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Administration Guide

Persistent (sticky) MAC addresses

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Persistent (sticky) MAC addresses

You can make dynamically learned MAC addresses persistent when the status of a FortiSwitch port changes (goes down or up). By default, MAC addresses are not persistent.

NOTE:

  • You cannot use persistent MAC addresses with 802.1x authentication.
  • If you move a device within your network that has a sticky MAC address entry on the switch, remove the sticky MAC address entry from the interface. If you move the device and do not clear the sticky MAC address from the original port it was learned on, the new port will not learn the MAC address of the device.
Using the GUI:
  1. Go to Switch > MAC Entries.
  2. Select Add MAC Entry to create a new item.
  3. Select an interface and enter a value for MAC Address and VLAN.
  4. Select Sticky.
  5. Select Add to create the MAC entry.

To delete the persistent MAC addresses instead of saving them in the FortiSwitch configuration file:

  1. Go to Switch > Monitor > Forwarding Table.
  2. In the Unsaved sticky MACs on field, select an interface or select All.
  3. Select Delete.
Using the CLI:

Use the following command to configure the persistence of MAC addresses on an interface:

config switch interface

edit <port>

set sticky-mac <enable | disable>

next

end

You can also save persistent MAC addresses to the FortiSwitch configuration file so that they are automatically loaded when the FortiSwitch unit is rebooted. By default, persistent entries are lost when a FortiSwitch unit is rebooted. Use the following command to save persistent MAC addresses for a specific interface or all interfaces:

execute sticky-mac save {all | interface <interface_name>}

Use the following command to delete the persistent MAC addresses instead of saving them in the FortiSwitch configuration file:

execute sticky-mac delete-unsaved {all | interface <interface_name>}

Persistent (sticky) MAC addresses

You can make dynamically learned MAC addresses persistent when the status of a FortiSwitch port changes (goes down or up). By default, MAC addresses are not persistent.

NOTE:

  • You cannot use persistent MAC addresses with 802.1x authentication.
  • If you move a device within your network that has a sticky MAC address entry on the switch, remove the sticky MAC address entry from the interface. If you move the device and do not clear the sticky MAC address from the original port it was learned on, the new port will not learn the MAC address of the device.
Using the GUI:
  1. Go to Switch > MAC Entries.
  2. Select Add MAC Entry to create a new item.
  3. Select an interface and enter a value for MAC Address and VLAN.
  4. Select Sticky.
  5. Select Add to create the MAC entry.

To delete the persistent MAC addresses instead of saving them in the FortiSwitch configuration file:

  1. Go to Switch > Monitor > Forwarding Table.
  2. In the Unsaved sticky MACs on field, select an interface or select All.
  3. Select Delete.
Using the CLI:

Use the following command to configure the persistence of MAC addresses on an interface:

config switch interface

edit <port>

set sticky-mac <enable | disable>

next

end

You can also save persistent MAC addresses to the FortiSwitch configuration file so that they are automatically loaded when the FortiSwitch unit is rebooted. By default, persistent entries are lost when a FortiSwitch unit is rebooted. Use the following command to save persistent MAC addresses for a specific interface or all interfaces:

execute sticky-mac save {all | interface <interface_name>}

Use the following command to delete the persistent MAC addresses instead of saving them in the FortiSwitch configuration file:

execute sticky-mac delete-unsaved {all | interface <interface_name>}