BeginnerPublished 2026-08-02

CCNA Foundations: Layer 2 EtherChannel with LACP — Two Links, One Trunk

Today's daily lab

Bundle two parallel switch uplinks into a single Port-Channel using LACP so that Spanning Tree no longer blocks one link. You will convert two existing 802.1Q trunks into one logical trunk, verify both member links are active in the Port-Channel, and confirm end-to-end host reachability.

Track

CCNA

Est. time

40 minutes

Difficulty

Beginner

Topics

CCNA, Switching, EtherChannel, LACP, STP

Learning objectives

Configure LACP-based EtherChannel on parallel inter-switch trunks
Build and harden a Port-Channel as an 802.1Q trunk with native VLAN 999 and limited allowed VLANs
Verify EtherChannel state and membership with show etherchannel and trunk commands
Observe how STP treats a Port-Channel as a single logical link
Validate end-to-end connectivity across the aggregated uplink

Troubleshooting focus

Verify every link's interface status and IP addressing (`show ip interface brief`) and correct any interface that is down or misaddressed.
Confirm each device's running configuration matches the lab objective, and bring any interface, route, or service that is not in its expected state back to health.
Trace end-to-end reachability with ping/traceroute and isolate the first hop where forwarding fails.

Topology

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What's included in the package

Work / baseline CML import — lab-work.yaml
Topology diagram — topology.svg
Print-ready topology diagram (PDF) — topology.pdf
Step-by-step learner guide (Markdown — for Obsidian/VS Code) — lab-guide.md
Branded PDF lab guide — open in any viewer (Adobe/Preview) — lab-guide.pdf
Getting-started README — README.md
Verification checklist — verification-checklist.md

How this lab is graded

Build it your way. Where a lab lets you choose a value — a VLAN name, an interface description — grading checks that you configured it, not which name you picked. Names that another line has to reference, like an ACL applied with access-class, are stated in the guide and do have to match.
Addresses, modes and protocol keywords are exact. An IP address, a subnet mask, switchport mode trunk, an encapsulation — these carry the meaning of the lab, so they are graded as written in the guide.
Grading reads your saved configuration. Export the lab from CML after you have configured it, and make sure anything you set is in the running-config — a change that only exists in a terminal session never reaches the grader.
You can submit as many times as you like. Your best score stands, and each attempt tells you which checks passed so you can work the gaps.
Scored something you believe is correct? Use Report an issue on this page — that is exactly how the grading fixes in the changelog got found.

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CCNA Foundations: Layer 2 EtherChannel with LACP — Two Links, One Trunk

Learning objectives

Troubleshooting focus

Topology

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