A replacement Nexus switch at a logistics company boots with an old startup configuration still stored, and the expected day-0 script never starts. Why did POAP not run?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Think of POAP as a welcome desk that opens only when the building is empty. You left a startup configuration on this switch, so the desk stays closed and the day-0 script never starts; remove that configuration only when you intend to provision the switch again.
Full Explanation
POAP is the day-0 process NX-OS uses when a switch boots without a startup configuration. It can use a DHCP offer to retrieve a script and configuration. Here, the replacement switch still has its old startup configuration, so it already has configuration and skips POAP. An EEM applet can watch for events such as syslog messages during normal operation, but POAP is not triggered by a syslog event or by an interface failure during boot. A scheduler runs jobs at set times; POAP is not a nightly scheduler task, so the switch clock’s hour did not determine whether it ran. SPAN copies frames to an analyzer, but it has no role in locating a day-0 script, and an analyzer does not need to be attached to the management port for provisioning. Caveat: an operator can abort POAP even when a switch has no startup configuration, so a skipped script on a truly empty switch calls for a different check. Practical check: confirm whether a startup configuration is present; remove it only if day-0 provisioning is intended, then reboot and verify that POAP requests its script.