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CCNA · 200-301Intermediate

HSRP: Missing Uplink Tracking

R1 stays active even after its ISP-facing interface fails, blackholing traffic while R2 sits idle. Diagnose it and fix it yourself, live, right below.

Interactive simHSRPTrackingHigh Availability

Symptom

The active gateway remains reachable locally after its WAN fails, blackholing client traffic. Configure object tracking so HSRP fails over on the real fault.

Your mission

Prove the cause, then fix it

Format

Guided CLI investigation

Start interactive labSee the investigation plan ↓Need a hint? Reveal the root cause ↓
HSRP: Missing Uplink Tracking

Investigate before you configure.

Use the CLI evidence to isolate the fault, make the smallest safe correction, then verify the network state changed.

Observe the symptom and link state.

Diagnose by comparing the protocol evidence.

Verify the expected device state and confirm the original symptom is resolved.

Console access: R1 · R2

This workspace stacks for portrait phones. Rotate to landscape for the full split-screen console.

Need a hint?

Reveal the root cause when you're ready.

Try the investigation first, then use this as your escape hatch, not a dead end.

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Lab debrief

Turn the session into a repeatable troubleshooting pattern.

Use this reference after your attempt: first explain the symptom, then verify the evidence, then confirm the repair.

The problem

R1 remains the active HSRP gateway after its ISP-facing interface fails. Clients continue to send it traffic because the local VLAN is healthy, but it has lost upstream connectivity and no priority decrement triggers R2 takeover.

What you'll practice

  • Separate LAN gateway health from upstream reachability
  • Read HSRP priority and tracking state
  • Configure interface/object tracking
  • Verify failover during an uplink loss

The topology

Two HSRP routers share a user VLAN and each has an upstream path. R1 is preferred until its tracked uplink fails.

Commands to run yourself

The real diagnostic commands for this lab, copy-paste ready. Run these in the same order to reproduce the investigation on your own session.

Inspect HSRP and tracking
show standby
Inspect tracked objects
show track
Check interface health
show ip interface brief
HSRP: missing uplink trackingR1 stays Active on a dead WAN uplink because nothing tracks it.10.0.20.0/24HSRP grp 20 · VIP 10.0.20.1Gi0/0 DOWNGi0/0 upR1Gi0/1 · 10.0.20.2/24pri 150R2Gi0/1 · 10.0.20.3/24pri 100R1's HSRP priority never reacts to its uplinkCompare who's Active against which router still has upstream reachability.

Frequently asked

Why doesn't R1 fail over on its own when the uplink drops?

HSRP only reacts to what it's told to watch. Without a track object tied to the WAN interface, HSRP has no idea the uplink is down, so R1's priority never changes and it keeps winning the Active election on local VLAN health alone.

Ready to run this lab yourself?

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