This read-write INTEGER, automatic or manual, determines whether the primary port is automatically reactivated as soon as it is identified as valid again, or whether the currently active port stays active regardless. An admin chooses this to decide whether service reverts to the primary port automatically once it recovers from a failure. For example, setting this to automatic(1) means that once a previously failed primary port is retested and found good, traffic automatically switches back to it without admin intervention.