Switching

Switch: EX4300

My goal is to team 2xGigE interfaces to be able to get 2Gbps peak throughput between Switch and Linux server.

Configurations is straight-forward:

ge-0/0/1 {
 ether-options {
  802.3ad ae1;
 }
}

ge-0/0/21 {
 ether-options {
  802.3ad ae1;
 }
}

...

ae1 {
 aggregated-ether-options {
  lacp {
   periodic fast;
  }
 }
 unit 0 {
  family ethernet-switching {
   vlan {
    members VLAN1039;
   }
  }
 }
}

My challenge: I want to make it possible for Linux machine to periodically run without LACP and still have connectivity. 

To clarify, when I only configure LAG on Juniper (no LACP on Server), everything works.

Once I enable LACP on Juniper (but not on Linux server) then ae1 interface goes down *until I enable LACP on Linux server*.

My goal is to be able to boot Linux server without LACP and still have connectivity (i.e. make LACP "optional").

Appreciate any suggestions.

I would think lacp force-up option should work

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/en_US/junos/topics/task/configuration/lacp-force-up-configuring-qfx.html

This will not need the lacp to be configured on the server and still the lacp will remain up locally on the Juniper end.

Thank you for the great pointer, I got it working with your help!