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VLANs and L2

How to tell whether a VLAN still has any ports on a switch

VLANs outlive the things that needed them. Before removing one, the useful question is not "is this VLAN used" in the abstract but "does this switch still have ports in it", because that is answerable and it is what determines whether removing it breaks something locally.

All the questions
The same procedure as a recording, subtitled in English and French.
Before you start

What you need

  • Module required: inventory.
  • Permission required: view_inventory.
  • all

1. Open the VLAN inventory

app.nactrack.com/inventory/vlans
Open the VLAN inventory
Open Inventory then VLANs. Every row is one VLAN on one switch, which is the level the question has to be asked at.

2. Look for a dash

app.nactrack.com/inventory/vlans
Look for a dash
Scan the Interfaces column. A dash means the VLAN is defined on that switch but no access, voice or native port is assigned to it. On this access switch the users and voice VLANs are populated while the servers and management VLANs are not, which is what you would expect at the edge.
The limits

What this view does not tell you

  • A dash does not mean the VLAN is unused. It means no ACCESS port on this switch is in it. The VLAN may still be carried across the switch's trunks for other devices, and removing it would break them.
  • There is no fleet-wide "unused VLANs" report, and no filter for empty ones. This is a reading of a list, one switch at a time, which is why it belongs to the understanding tier rather than the lookup tier.

Try the same thing on your own estate

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