The card type for the card in this shelf/slot.

When initially created, this value is defaulted to 'unknown'. When the card requests a load, the value in this field is compared to the requesting card type. If the value is 'unknown' and a load can be serviced (i.e. the card is swenabled, and a sw is specified in either the upgrade, specific, or default for this type fields), the value is updated to the requesting card type. Otherwise, the type in this field is compared to the requesting card type. If it matches, a load based on the other parameters is attempted. Otherwise, the load request is rejected and the initial request causes a trap to be generated.

This processing is provided to ensure a card is not accidentally installed which attempts to load or start provisioning for a non-matching card type.

The user may switch to a different card type than currently executing by setting this value to the new card type after the old card has been removed.