Egress mirroring packets to CPU using recirculation

A switch comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to configure a data plane circuit to perform a method, the method comprising:
• mirroring one or more packets on a first physical port to a second physical port of the switch;
• recirculating the one or more packets on the second physical port to a forwarding pipeline, wherein the one or more packets on the second physical port become ingress packets on the second physical port;
• identifying, in the forwarding pipeline, packets that ingress on the second physical port;
• and
• sending the identified packets to a central processing unit (CPU) in the switch.

A switch comprising:

• a mirroring circuit, the mirroring circuit copying one or more packets on a first physical port to a second physical port of the switch;
• a recirculation circuit, the recirculation circuit providing the one or more packets on the second physical port to a forwarding pipeline, wherein the one or more packets on the second physical port become ingress packets on the second physical port;
• and
• the forwarding pipeline, the forwarding pipeline identifying packets that ingress on the second physical port and sending the identified packets to a central processing unit (CPU) in the switch.