Systems and methods for automatically selecting active ports and standby ports in a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) or a Multi-Chassis LAG (MC-LAG) between a first node and a second node are described. The systems and methods include receiving a configuration associated with the LAG or the MC-LAG; automatically determining a port status for each of a plurality of ports based on the configuration; and communicating the determined port status for each of the plurality of ports between the first node and the second node.