A storage administrator is connecting two previously configured switches to make a single fabric. When the E Ports are connected, the administrator sees a ZONE MERGE FAILURE message referring to the zoneset for VSAN 10 on each switch. Which command should the administrator use to allow these switches to work together?

A "ZONE MERGE FAILURE" occurs when two switches with different active zoneset configurations attempt to form an Inter-Switch Link (ISL). The fabric isolates the link to prevent instability. To resolve this, the zoneset databases must be synchronized. The zoneset import interface fc1/1 vsan 10 command manually resolves the conflict by pulling the active zoneset database from the neighboring switch (connected on interface fc1/1) and overwriting the local switch's database for VSAN 10. This makes the databases identical, allowing the merge to succeed and the fabric to form correctly.

B. zoneset distribute full vsan 10 pushes the local full database to the fabric. While this can resolve the issue, it's a forceful push, whereas import is a more controlled pull from a specific source.
C. zoneset overwrite-control vsan 10 is not a valid Cisco MDS command. Merge behavior is configured using the system default zone merge-control command, which sets a policy, but does not resolve an existing failure.
D. zoneset copy active-zoneset full-zoneset is a local operation on a single switch to save the running (active) configuration to the startup (full) configuration. It does not affect fabric merging. ---

1. Cisco MDS 9000 Series Fabric Configuration Guide, Release 9.x, Chapter: "Configuring and Managing Zones", Section: "Recovering from a Zone Merge Failure".

This document states: "You can manually intervene and resolve the zone merge failure in one of two ways: ... Manually copy the active zoneset database from a neighboring switch to the local switch by issuing the zoneset import command." This directly supports option A as a primary method for recovery.

2. Cisco MDS 9000 Series Command Reference, Release 9.x, Command: zoneset import.

The command description states: "To import an active zoneset from a neighbor switch, use the zoneset import command." The usage guidelines further clarify its role in resolving merge failures by synchronizing the active zoneset from a neighbor.

3. Cisco MDS 9000 Series Command Reference, Release 9.x, Command: zoneset distribute.

The documentation for zoneset distribute explains that it triggers a distribution of the zone database from the local switch. This confirms it is a "push" mechanism, contrasting with the "pull" mechanism of zoneset import.