/directconnect

Managing Direct Connect Link Aggregation Groups

Overview

Domain expertise for bundling Direct Connect connections into a link aggregation group (LAG) and managing its members over time. Covers the same-speed and same-device requirement, the member-count limits by speed, the minimum links threshold and the trap of removing a member below it, the maintenance-window requirement for disruptive changes, and the MACsec key behavior on LAG join.

Does not cover choosing the connection model at first order (a separate reference introduces the LAG as a model choice), virtual interface and BGP setup, or resiliency model selection. Those are separate references.

Execute commands using the AWS MCP server when connected (sandboxed execution, audit logging, observability). Fall back to the AWS CLI otherwise. The Direct Connect console is regional; pass the customer's working --region on every aws directconnect command.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Member requirements and limits
• Minimum links and the removal trap
• Disruptive changes need a maintenance window
• MACsec on LAG join
• Troubleshooting
• Procedure
• Additional Resources

Member requirements and limits

Constraints:

• You MUST confirm every member connection runs at the same bandwidth and terminates at the same Direct Connect device before proposing or modifying the LAG; mismatches are rejected.

Minimum links and the removal trap

The minimum links value decides how many members must stay active before the whole LAG is declared down.

Constraints:

• You MUST set minimum links to at least 1 for a production LAG, and explain the threshold behavior, so a total outage produces a LAG-down signal.
• You MUST check the current active member count against minimum links before removing a member, and warn the customer when the removal would drop the count below the threshold and take the whole LAG down.

Disruptive changes need a maintenance window

Constraints:

• You MUST treat creating a LAG from an existing live connection, and adding or removing a member, as traffic-disrupting, and steer those changes into a maintenance window.

MACsec on LAG join

Constraints:

• You MUST associate the MACsec key with the LAG after members are added, not rely on a per-connection key carrying over. A connection's individual MACsec key is disassociated when it joins a LAG; the LAG carries its own key that applies to all members, and only one key is active across the LAG at a time. When the LAG uses MACsec, you MUST store the CKN/CAK pair in AWS Secrets Manager and reference it by --secret-arn, never passing the values inline or storing them in plaintext config. You SHOULD scope a resource policy on that secret to only the principals that need to manage the MACsec key, and include aws:SourceArn or aws:SourceAccount condition keys to restrict access to only the Direct Connect LAG that needs the key and prevent confused-deputy scenarios.
• You SHOULD remind the customer that traffic over the LAG is not encrypted in transit by default, and point them to the encrypting-traffic reference if the workload requires encryption.

Troubleshooting

A total member failure produced no LAG-down alarm

Minimum links is at the default of 0, so the LAG reports up with no active members. Set it to at least 1.

Removing one member took the whole LAG down

The removal dropped the active count below minimum links. Check the count against the threshold before removing a member.

A connection will not join the LAG

It is a different bandwidth or on a different Direct Connect device. All members must match on both.

MACsec stopped working after a connection joined the LAG

The per-connection key was disassociated on join. Associate the MACsec key with the LAG.

Procedure

Overview

This procedure confirms member compatibility, creates or modifies the LAG, sets minimum links safely, schedules disruptive changes into a maintenance window, and surfaces the console link.

Parameters

• action (required): create, add-member, or remove-member.
• lag_id (required for member changes): The LAG ID.
• connection_id (required for member changes): The member connection ID.
• bandwidth (required for create): The shared member bandwidth.
• location (required for create): The Direct Connect location.
• minimum_links (required): At least 1 for production.

Constraints for parameter acquisition:

• You MUST ask for the action, the member bandwidth/location (for create), and the minimum links value upfront.

Steps

1. Verify dependencies and member compatibility

Constraints:

• You MUST confirm credentials with aws sts get-caller-identity.
• You MUST use ephemeral IAM credentials (e.g., AWS SSO, an instance profile, or aws sts assume-role) rather than long-lived IAM user access keys for Direct Connect management operations.
• You MUST confirm all members share one bandwidth and terminate at the same Direct Connect device.

2. Create the LAG or change a member (in a maintenance window)

Constraints:

• You MUST create the LAG with the shared bandwidth, and warn that creating from an existing connection interrupts traffic:

  aws directconnect create-lag --location {location} --number-of-connections {number_of_connections} \
    --connections-bandwidth {bandwidth} --lag-name {lag_name} --region {region}

  To create from an existing connection (traffic-disrupting), add --connection-id {connection_id}.

• You MUST capture the lagId from the create-lag response as {lag_id}.

• You MUST poll until the LAG is available:

  aws directconnect describe-lags --lag-id {lag_id} \
    --query 'lags[0].lagState' --output text --region {region}

  Poll until lagState reports available.

• Before a member removal, you MUST check the active count against minimum links and warn if the removal would take the LAG down:

  aws directconnect describe-lags --lag-id {lag_id} --region {region}

• To add a member:

  aws directconnect associate-connection-with-lag \
    --connection-id {connection_id} --lag-id {lag_id} --region {region}

• To remove a member:

  aws directconnect disassociate-connection-from-lag \
    --connection-id {connection_id} --lag-id {lag_id} --region {region}

3. Set minimum links

Constraints:

• You MUST set minimum links to at least 1 for a production LAG:

  aws directconnect update-lag --lag-id {lag_id} --minimum-links {minimum_links} --region {region}

4. Surface the console link

Constraints:

• You MUST present the LAG console link, filling {lag_id} and {region}:

  https://console.aws.amazon.com/directconnect/v2/home?region={region}#/lags/{lag_id}

• You SHOULD recommend CloudWatch alarms on LAG state and member-count metrics, and confirm CloudTrail is capturing directconnect API calls with log file validation enabled and the trail encrypted with a KMS key, and any CloudWatch Logs log groups receiving these events or alarm state data encrypted with a KMS key, so state changes trigger alerts and configuration changes are audited with assured log integrity and confidentiality rather than relying on manual detection.

• You SHOULD ensure any SNS topics receiving Direct Connect alarm notifications are encrypted with a KMS key and that subscriptions are restricted to authorized operations personnel.

Security Considerations

• Not encrypted by default. Direct Connect does not encrypt traffic in transit. You MUST treat encryption as a separate, deliberate step (MACsec or a private IP Site-to-Site VPN) before regulated or sensitive data crosses the LAG. See the encrypting-traffic reference.
• Ephemeral credentials. You MUST use ephemeral IAM credentials (e.g., AWS SSO, an instance profile, or aws sts assume-role) for Direct Connect management operations rather than long-lived IAM user access keys.
• Least-privilege IAM. You MUST scope IAM permissions for directconnect API actions to the specific actions and resource ARNs each principal needs, and MUST NOT grant directconnect:* on resource * or attach any *FullAccess managed policy.

Additional Resources

• AWS Direct Connect link aggregation groups (AWS Direct Connect User Guide)
• MAC Security in Direct Connect (AWS Direct Connect User Guide)