HP Aruba CX Switches: Getting Started with AOS-CX

If you’ve spent any time in enterprise networking, you’ve probably heard the buzz around Aruba’s CX switching platform. HP Aruba has been steadily positioning its CX switches and the AOS-CX operating system as the modern alternative to legacy campus switching platforms — and for good reason. Whether you’re migrating from older Aruba or ProCurve gear, evaluating options for a new campus deployment, or simply curious about what AOS-CX brings to the table, this guide will give you a practical foundation to get started.

What Is AOS-CX and Why Does It Matter?

AOS-CX is the network operating system powering HP Aruba’s CX switch portfolio. Unlike the older ArubaOS-Switch (formerly ProVision) that ran on the 2xxx and 3xxx series, AOS-CX was built from the ground up with modern network operations in mind.

A few things make AOS-CX stand out:

• REST API-first design – Every configuration action you can do through the CLI, you can also do through a fully documented REST API.
• Structured database model – Configuration and state data are stored in a structured database rather than flat text files, making automation and troubleshooting far more reliable.
• Built-in network analytics – The Network Analytics Engine (NAE) allows you to write monitoring scripts directly on the switch.
• Python scripting support – You can run Python scripts locally on the switch for custom automation tasks.
• Containerized services – AOS-CX supports running third-party containers for applications like telemetry collectors.

These capabilities make AOS-CX a strong candidate for organizations that want to modernize their campus switching infrastructure while building toward a more automated, intent-based network.

The Aruba CX Switch Portfolio

Before diving into configuration, it helps to understand which hardware runs AOS-CX. The CX portfolio spans access, aggregation, and core roles:

Access Layer

• Aruba CX 6000 Series – Entry-level access switches, ideal for small to medium campuses. PoE options available.
• Aruba CX 6100 Series – A step up in performance, supporting multi-gig uplinks and better PoE budgets.
• Aruba CX 6200 Series – Feature-rich access switches with stacking support and strong PoE capabilities.

Aggregation and Core

• Aruba CX 6300 Series – Mid-range aggregation with high-performance uplinks and VSX support.
• Aruba CX 8325/8360 Series – High-density core and data center aggregation switches.
• Aruba CX 10000 Series – Purpose-built for data center roles with distributed services processing.

For a typical campus network, you’ll likely be working with 6200 series at the access layer and 6300 or 8360 series at aggregation and core.

Initial Setup and Basic Navigation

Connecting to the Switch

Out of the box, connect a console cable to the USB-C or RJ-45 console port (depending on your model). Use a terminal emulator like PuTTY or SecureCRT with the following settings:

• Baud rate: 115200
• Data bits: 8
• Parity: None
• Stop bits: 1
• Flow control: None

On first boot, you’ll be prompted with a setup wizard. You can skip it and proceed manually if you prefer.

CLI Basics

AOS-CX uses a context-based CLI that will feel familiar if you’ve used Cisco IOS or similar platforms. Here’s a quick reference:

switch# show version                  // Check firmware version
switch# configure terminal            // Enter global config mode
switch(config)# hostname CORE-SW01   // Set hostname
switch(config)# exit
switch# write memory                  // Save configuration

One important difference from legacy HP switching: AOS-CX uses write memory to save config, but the underlying config is checkpoint-based, meaning you can roll back to previous configurations easily.

Checkpoint and Configuration Management

This is one of AOS-CX’s best features for network engineers who’ve ever accidentally broken something:

switch# checkpoint create pre-change-backup
switch# show checkpoint all
switch# checkpoint rollback pre-change-backup

This gives you a built-in safety net before making significant changes — something that’s genuinely useful in production environments.

Configuring VLANs and Switching

Creating VLANs

switch(config)# vlan 10
switch(config-vlan-10)# name DATA_VLAN
switch(config)# vlan 20
switch(config-vlan-20)# name VOICE_VLAN

Configuring Access Ports

switch(config)# interface 1/1/1
switch(config-if)# no shutdown
switch(config-if)# vlan access 10
switch(config-if)# spanning-tree bpdu-guard
switch(config-if)# description "Workstation Port"

Configuring Trunk Ports (Uplinks)

switch(config)# interface 1/1/49
switch(config-if)# no shutdown
switch(config-if)# vlan trunk native 1
switch(config-if)# vlan trunk allowed all
switch(config-if)# description "Uplink to Aggregation"

Trunk ports in AOS-CX use the vlan trunk allowed syntax, which will feel slightly different if you’re coming from Cisco but maps conceptually the same way.

Layer 3 Configuration and Routing

SVIs (Switched Virtual Interfaces)

For inter-VLAN routing, you’ll configure SVIs on your layer 3 switches:

switch(config)# interface vlan 10
switch(config-if-vlan)# ip address 192.168.10.1/24
switch(config-if-vlan)# no shutdown

switch(config)# interface vlan 20
switch(config-if-vlan)# ip address 192.168.20.1/24
switch(config-if-vlan)# no shutdown

Static and Dynamic Routing

AOS-CX supports OSPF, BGP, and static routing. Here’s a quick OSPF example for a campus core:

switch(config)# router ospf 1
switch(config-ospf-1)# router-id 10.0.0.1
switch(config-ospf-1)# area 0.0.0.0

switch(config)# interface vlan 10
switch(config-if-vlan)# ip ospf 1 area 0.0.0.0

This enables OSPF on the VLAN interface, advertising the connected subnet into area 0.

VSX: Virtual Switching Extension

One of the headline features for campus switching with AOS-CX is VSX (Virtual Switching Extension). VSX allows two physical switches to act as a single logical switch for redundancy and high availability — similar in concept to Cisco’s VSS or MLAG.

Why VSX Matters

• Provides active-active redundancy at the aggregation or core layer
• Eliminates spanning-tree blocked ports between VSX peers
• Supports synchronized configuration between peer switches
• Enables hitless failover for connected devices

VSX High-Level Configuration

switch(config)# interface lag 1
switch(config-lag-if)# no shutdown
switch(config-lag-if)# no routing
switch(config-lag-if)# vsx-sync

switch(config)# vsx
switch(config-vsx)# system-mac 02:00:00:00:00:01
switch(config-vsx)# inter-switch-link lag 1
switch(config-vsx)# role primary
switch(config-vsx)# keepalive peer 10.0.0.2 source 10.0.0.1 vrf mgmt

VSX configuration is more involved than this snippet suggests, but the concept maps well to familiar MLAG deployments. Aruba’s documentation provides a thorough VSX deployment guide for production implementation.

Using the REST API and Web UI

Web Interface

AOS-CX includes a built-in web UI accessible at https://<switch-ip>. It provides a clean dashboard view of port status, system health, and basic configuration — useful for quick checks without a CLI session.

REST API

The REST API is where AOS-CX really shines for automation-forward teams. Every resource is accessible at:

https://<switch-ip>/rest/v10.10/<resource>

For example, to retrieve VLAN information:

curl -k -X GET https://192.168.1.1/rest/v10.10/system/vlans 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>"

You can also use Aruba’s Python SDK (pyaoscx) to interact with the API more cleanly:

from pyaoscx.session import Session
from pyaoscx.vlan import Vlan

session = Session("192.168.1.1", "10.10")
session.open("admin", "password")

new_vlan = Vlan(session, 30, name="MGMT_VLAN")
new_vlan.apply()

This kind of programmatic control makes AOS-CX a compelling platform for teams moving toward Infrastructure as Code practices with tools like Ansible or Terraform.

Useful Show Commands for Day-to-Day Operations

Keeping a few go-to commands in your toolkit will help you navigate AOS-CX efficiently:

Conclusion

HP Aruba’s CX switching platform and AOS-CX operating system represent a genuine leap forward for campus switching. The combination of a structured configuration database, REST API access, built-in analytics, and features like VSX and configuration checkpoints makes it well-suited for organizations that want reliable, modern infrastructure with room to grow into automation. Whether you’re standing up a new campus network or migrating from legacy HP or Cisco gear, investing time in learning AOS-CX fundamentals will pay dividends quickly. Start with the CLI basics, get comfortable with VLAN and routing configuration, and then explore the API — you’ll find that AOS-CX rewards the effort with a surprisingly capable and flexible platform.