9 
Predefined user roles 
network-admin 
Parameters 
always: Enables the IRF bridge MAC address to be permanent. The IRF bridge MAC address does 
not change after the address owner leaves. 
timer: Enables the IRF bridge MAC address to remain unchanged for 6 minutes after the address 
owner leaves. If the owner rejoins the IRF fabric within the time limit, the IRF bridge MAC address 
does not change. If the owner does not rejoin within the time limit, the IRF fabric uses the bridge 
MAC address of the current master as the bridge MAC address. 
Usage guidelines 
IRF bridge MAC persistence specifies the amount of time an IRF fabric can continue using a bridge 
MAC address as its bridge MAC address after the address owner leaves. 
By default, an IRF fabric uses the bridge MAC address of the master device as its bridge MAC 
address. Layer 2 protocols, such as LACP, use this bridge MAC address to identify the IRF fabric. On 
a switched LAN, the bridge MAC address must be unique. 
To avoid duplicate bridge MAC addresses, an IRF fabric can change its bridge MAC address 
automatically after the address owner leaves. However, the change causes temporary service 
disruption. Depending on the network condition, you can enable the IRF fabric to retain or change its 
bridge MAC address after the address owner leaves. 
If ARP MAD or ND MAD is used, you must disable IRF bridge MAC persistence by using the undo irf 
mac-address persistent command. 
When IRF fabrics merge, IRF ignores the IRF bridge MAC address and checks the bridge MAC 
address of each member device in the IRF fabrics. IRF merge fails if any two member devices have 
the same bridge MAC address. 
Examples 
# Enable the IRF bridge MAC address to be permanent. 
<Sysname> system-view 
[Sysname] irf mac-address persistent always 
irf member description 
Use irf member description to configure a description for an IRF member device. 
Use undo irf member description to restore the default. 
Syntax 
irf member member-id description text 
undo irf member member-id description 
Default 
No description is configured for any IRF member device. 
Views 
System view 
Predefined user roles 
network-admin 
Parameters 
member-id: Specifies a member device by its IRF member ID.