You can use maintenance mode to isolate a switch from the network in order to perform debugging or an upgrade. When switch maintenance is complete, you can return the switch to normal mode. When you place the switch in maintenance mode, all protocols are gracefully brought down and all physical ports are shut down. When normal mode is restored, all the protocols and ports are brought back up. Reference: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus6000/sw/system_management/ 7x/b_6k_System_Mgmt_Config_7x/configuring___maintenance_mode.pdf