Task 09: Disable Unused Network Adapters

Status: Active | Estimated Time: 5 minutes | Last Updated: 2026-03-04

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Overview

Disable network adapters that are not connected. Only the management adapter needs to remain enabled at this stage. Compute and storage adapters are configured later in Phase 16.

Do not disable the management adapter

Verify which adapter is your active management connection before running. Disabling the wrong adapter requires console access to recover.

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Prerequisites

Requirement	Details
Tasks 01–08 complete	OS configured, ICMP enabled
Management adapter identified	Know which NIC is your active connection

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Variables from variables.yml

Path	Type	Description
cluster_nodes[].management_ip	string	PSRemoting target IP (orchestrated mode)
cluster.management_nic_name	string	Adapter name to preserve (do not disable)

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Execution Options

Direct (On Node)

Run on each node individually via console, KVM, or RDP.

Toolkit script: scripts/deploy/04-cluster-deployment/phase-03-os-configuration/task-09-disable-unused-network-adapters/powershell/Disable-UnusedAdapters.ps1

# Task 09 - Disable Unused Network Adapters
# No variables required - targets all adapters with Status = Disconnected

Get-NetAdapter | Format-Table Name, Status, LinkSpeed -AutoSize

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Disconnected" } | Disable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false

Get-NetAdapter | Format-Table Name, Status, LinkSpeed -AutoSize

Orchestrated (Mgmt Server)

Run from the management server against all nodes.

Toolkit script: scripts/deploy/04-cluster-deployment/phase-03-os-configuration/task-09-disable-unused-network-adapters/powershell/Invoke-DisableAdapters-Orchestrated.ps1

# Task 09 - Disable Unused Network Adapters (orchestrated, all nodes)
# variables.yml variables:
# cluster_nodes[].management_ip -> $ServerList

$ConfigPath = "$env:USERPROFILE\variables.yml"
$ServerList = (Get-Content $ConfigPath | Select-String 'management_ip:\s+"?([^"'' ]+)' |
 ForEach-Object { $_.Matches[0].Groups[1].Value.Trim() })

Invoke-Command ($ServerList) {
 Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Disconnected" } | Disable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false
 Get-NetAdapter | Format-Table Name, Status, LinkSpeed -AutoSize
} | Sort -Property PsComputerName

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Validation

# Confirm no Disconnected adapters remain enabled
Get-NetAdapter | Format-Table Name, Status, LinkSpeed -AutoSize

Expected: Only the management adapter shows Up. All others show Disabled.

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Validation Checklist

• Management adapter remains Up on all nodes
• All unused adapters show Disabled
• Nodes still accessible over management network

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Resolution
Lost connectivity after running	Re-enable the adapter from console: Enable-NetAdapter -Name "<name>"
Adapter won't disable	Check for active sessions on that adapter

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Navigation

← Task 08: Enable ICMP · ↑ Phase 03 · Task 10: Configure Hostname →