[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Understanding Interface Naming Conventions on EX Series Switches

Juniper Networks EX Series Ethernet Switches use a naming convention for defining the interfaces that is similar to that of other platforms running under Juniper Networks JUNOS Software. This topic provides brief information on the naming conventions used for interfaces on EX Series switches. For additional information, see the JUNOS Software Network Interfaces Configuration Guide at https://www.juniper.net/techpubs/software/junos/junos94/index.html.

Physical Part of an Interface Name

Interfaces in JUNOS Software are specified as follows:

type-fpc / pic / port

EX Series switches apply this convention as follows:

  • type—EX Series interfaces use the following media types:
    • ge—Gigabit Ethernet interface
    • xe—10 Gigabit Ethernet interface
    • fe—Fast Ethernet interface
  • fpc—EX Series interfaces use the following convention for the FPC portion of interface names:
    • On Juniper Networks EX3200 Ethernet Switches and standalone Juniper Networks EX4200 Ethernet Switches (not configured in a Virtual Chassis), the FPC number portion is always 0.
    • On EX4200 switches configured in a Virtual Chassis, the FPC number indicates the member number of the switch within the Virtual Chassis, from 0 through 9.
    • On Juniper Networks EX8200 Ethernet Switches, the FPC number indicates the slot number of the line card that contains the physical interface.
  • pic—EX Series interfaces use the following convention for the PIC (Physical Interface Card) number portion of interface names:
    • On EX3200 and EX4200 switches, the PIC number is 0 for all built-in interfaces (interfaces that are not on an uplink module).
    • On uplink modules in EX3200 and EX4200 switches, the PIC number is 1.
    • On EX8200 switches, the PIC number is always 0.
  • port—EX Series interfaces use the following convention for port numbers:
    • On EX3200 and EX4200 switches, built-in network ports are numbered from left to right. On models that have two rows of ports, the ports on the top row start with 0 followed by the remaining even-numbered ports, and the ports on the bottom row start with 1 followed by the remaining odd-numbered ports.
    • On uplink modules in EX3200 and EX4200 switches, ports are labeled from left to right starting with 0. Uplink modules provide either 2 or 4 ports.
    • On EX8200 switches, the network ports are numbered from left to right on each line card. On line cards that have two rows of ports, the ports on the top row start with 0 followed by the remaining even-numbered ports, and the ports on the bottom row start with 1 followed by the remaining odd-numbered ports.

Logical Part of an Interface Name

The logical unit part of the interface name corresponds to the logical unit number, which can be a number from 0 through 16384. In the virtual part of the name, a period (.) separates the port and logical unit numbers: type-fpc/pic/port.logical. For example, if you issue the show ethernet-switching interfaces command on a system with a default VLAN, the resulting display shows the logical interfaces associated with the VLAN:


Interface State VLAN members Blocking ge-0/0/0.0 down remote-analyzer unblocked ge-0/0/1.0 down default unblocked ge-0/0/10.0 down default unblocked

When you configure aggregated Ethernet interfaces, you configure a logical interface that is called a bundle or a LAG. Each LAG can include up to eight Ethernet interfaces.

Wildcard Characters in Interface Names

In the show interfaces and clear interfaces commands, you can use wildcard characters in the interface-name option to specify groups of interface names without having to type each name individually. You must enclose all wildcard characters except the asterisk (*) in quotation marks (" ").


Published: 2009-07-22

[an error occurred while processing this directive]