This value reports the configuration mode (for example a fixed dedicated mode versus a shared/auto mode) that governs how the physical-port object that tracks a fabric-interconnect port's configuration mode and the progress of its own discovery workflow negotiates its operating parameters. An administrator diagnosing a port that will not come up at the expected speed or role checks confMode first, since it controls whether the port's settings are fixed by policy or negotiated automatically. For example, finding this Phys in a mode the operator did not intend would explain why the port behaves differently than a sibling port configured with a different confMode.