If your LPAR is at least AIX 7.1 TL3 SP7 or later, you can use the  entstat  command to check  for the  poll_uplink  status and if it is enabled. Example 3-10 shows an excerpt of the  entstat command output in an LPAR where  poll_uplink  is not enabled (set to  no ). Example 3-10 Using poll_uplink=no Example 3-11 Using poll_uplink=yes when the physical link is up  Compared to Example 3-10, Example 3-11 shows the  entstat  command output on a system  where  poll_uplink  is enabled and where all physical links that are related to this virtual  interface are up. The text in bold shows the additional displayed content: GLYPH<SM590000> VIRTUAL_PORT GLYPH<SM590000> PHYS_LINK_UP GLYPH<SM590000> Bridge Status: Up # entstat -d ent0 -------------------------------------------------- ETHERNET STATISTICS (en0) : Device Type: Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan) ... General Statistics: ------------------- No mbuf Errors: 0 Adapter Reset Count: 0 Adapter Data Rate: 20000 Driver Flags: Up Broadcast Running Simplex 64BitSupport ChecksumOffload DataRateSet VIOENT ... LAN State: Operational ... #  # entstat -d ent0 -------------------------------------------------- ETHERNET STATISTICS (en0) : Device Type: Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan) ... General Statistics: ------------------- No mbuf Errors: 0 Adapter Reset Count: 0 Adapter Data Rate: 20000 Driver Flags: Up Broadcast Running Simplex 64BitSupport ChecksumOffload DataRateSet VIOENT  VIRTUAL_PORT PHYS_LINK_UP ... LAN State: Operational Bridge Status: Up ... # Chapter 3. Planning considerations  65