If all interfaces configured in the Device attribute are down, the MultiNICA agent faults the resource after a two-three minute interval. This delay occurs because the MultiNICA agent tests the failed interface several times before it marks the resource OFFLINE. Engine logs record a detailed description of the events during a failover.

For a single main.cf configuration file, you can only have one MultiNICA resource, which uses either the IPv4 or the IPv6 protocol for a given set of devices. For example, you can have a MultiNICA resource configured as follows:

MultiNICA mnic (
    Device@sysa = { en0 = "10.128.8.42", en1 = "10.128.8.42" }
    Device@sysb = { en0 = "10.128.8.43", en1 = "10.128.8.43" }

The MultiNICA agent supports only one active interface on one IP subnet; the agent does not work with multiple active interfaces on the same subnet.

For example, you have two active interfaces, en0 (10.128.2.5) and en1 (10.128.2.8). You configure a third interface, en2, as the backup interface to en1. The agent does not fail over from en1 to en2 because some ping tests are redirected through en0 on the same subnet. The redirect makes the MultiNICA monitor return an online status.