Cisco EtherChannel

After much work I’ve gotten a good handle on EtherChannel. The network I’m
working on will be the core of a highly available system. It consists of 2 Cisco
3750G-24 multi-layer switches in a stacked configuration and 4 Cisco 2960G-48
switches. I want to configure the system in such a way that any single device
failure will not cause a complete outage. To do this I’ve set up EtherChannel
links between the edge switches and the 3750 switch stack. This is what Cisco
calls a “Cross-Stack EtherChannel”. Link to Cisco’s example

It’s been quite a while since I’ve configured network gear but overall this has
been good. So the basic procedure to create an EtherChannel is this:
Cisco 3750
3750(config)#interface range gi1/0/1 , gi2/0/1
3750(config-if)#switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
3750(config-if)#switchport trunk allowed vlan 7
3750(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
3750(config-if)#channel-group 1 mode on

Cisco 2960
2960(config)#interface range gi0/47-48
2960(config-if)#switchport trunk allowed vlan 7
2960(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
2960(config-if)#channel-group 1 mode on
One very important note about configuring an EtherChannel is to make sure the
ports are configured the way you want them before adding them to the
EtherChannel. Because these devices will be part of a secure system I had to
follow the DISA STIG which requires trunk ports to be on a separate native vlan.
Just adding this to the interfaces caused an error stating that there was a
mismatch between the interfaces and the port-channel. Ok, so I try to add the
native vlan to the port-channel but it just doesn’t like it, so I decide to de-
configure the EtherChannel and start over. One trick is to shut down the ports
on one switch or the other to prevent spanning tree from disabling them. If they
do get disabled you will have to issue a shutdown and no shutdown command on
the interface(s).
So this is what I end up with:
Cisco 3750
!
interface Port-channel1
switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
switchport trunk native vlan 3
switchport trunk allowed vlan 3,7
switchport mode trunk
!
-output suppressed-
!
interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1
switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
switchport trunk native vlan 3
switchport trunk allowed vlan 3,7
switchport mode trunk
channel-group 1 mode on
!
-output suppressed-
!
interface GigabitEthernet2/0/1
switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
switchport trunk native vlan 3
switchport trunk allowed vlan 3,7
switchport mode trunk
channel-group 1 mode on
Cisco 2960
!
interface Port-channel1
switchport trunk native vlan 3
switchport trunk allowed vlan 3,7
switchport mode trunk
!
-output suppressed-
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/47
switchport trunk native vlan 3
switchport trunk allowed vlan 3,7
switchport mode trunk
media-type rj45
channel-group 1 mode on
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/48
switchport trunk native vlan 3
switchport trunk allowed vlan 3,7
switchport mode trunk
media-type rj45
channel-group 1 mode on

https://murison.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/cisco-etherchanne