Network Management

As the subject asked, can Airwave (v8.0.4.1) to manage Cisco Aironet Autonomous AP via SSH?

I kept getting error message attached.

I indeed only configured SSH for login on AP though. To me, It is kinda stupid if telnet is the only method used to remotely grab configuration...hope I did some configuration mistake on Airwave...

Thanks,

/S

I'd expect this to work regardless of the AirWave version for managing IOS APs with templates.

Can you check the following?

Go to Groups -> select the group with the IOS APs -> Basic tab -> Cisco IOS/Catalyst box

Check to see which mode of IOS communication is being attempted

It should be a Telnet or SSH option toggle

Here's a capture:

If it's set to Telnet, toggle to SSH and then "Save and Apply" (followed by a confirm page).

Another test is to login to AirWave CLI, test an SSH connection to the IOS AP.  Sometimes there's a prompt for generating an SSHkey that might not be accepting the confirm action.

Once either of the above actions are performed, go to IOS AP's audit tab and force an audit -> this will run a verification check of the Telnet/SSH connection as part of the audit process.  (Make sure that the device manage page has the IOS AP in monitor only mode during the this test check).

Caution:  When using templates, make sure you have a valid template before putting any devices into Management mode.  AirWave assumes that the action of putting an AP into Management mode is a sign-off that the group template is what the admin desires (even if template is blank).

Thanks, can not believe how I missed that telnet/ssh toggle...

One more question: how to manage/configure Cisco Autonomous AP OR Cisco WLC from Airwave, via template?

They are 2 different beasts.

Cisco IOS APs are managed using text form templates.  These will be located in the Group -> select group with IOS APs -> Templates.  If there's no templates, you can create a new one and choose a golden AP to base the template off of.  From there you can make variables for items that are unique on each IOS AP (the template tries to automate the variable for some of the fields, but you may need to create some additional variables).

Cisco WLC controllers are managed using Cisco WLC Config (This appears as a Cisco WLC Config tab for a group that has an WLC controller).  This is a UI based config that tries to organize the settings logically (and similar to what is done for Aruba config).

I typically suggest that all devices should be in monitor only mode unless you need to make a config push.  You can toggle on AMP setup to allow firmware updates in monitor only mode.

If you run into troubles, you can open a support case and they can add more depth to assist you (or arrange a training call with an SE or partner).

Thanks :) That is helpful

So can I say Airwave is recommended as monitoring/reporting platform not recommended as a centralized management platform?

No.  AirWave is designed to do both network monitoring and management.

The reason I keep my devices in monitor only is because I work with a shared lab, so some devices on my AirWave server can possibly be monitored by 4 or more other AirWave servers.  Keeping my devices in monitor only state keeps me from being the cause of disruption to other QA team members testing with the same lab devices.  I try to limit the cooks in the kitchen this way.  But if I was king of the lab, then by all means, I could keep it all in management state.

If you work with a team, and some manage from controllers directly, while others try to manage from AirWave, a team decision needs to be made for where management happens.  When I was on the support team, I once worked with a customer who tried to standardize management from AirWave for his team (team of 4), but a team member who didn't buy in would make changes directly on the controllers.  When AirWave pushed config overwriting his changes after an audit, he didn't know why the changes he made didn't stick.  This incident is avoided if all management is done uniformly across the network team.  (The bonus of performing changes from AirWave is that you can track which admin account scheduled or initialized the changes).  Had AirWave only been monitoring, the mismatch would have shown up in the config mismatch report.

It is user preference, so there are customers who manage devices from AirWave, and there are some that don't.  If you're only monitoring 2-3 controllers, you might feel that it can all be done from each controller's UI.  But when it gets to 20 or more controllers and they are all simialr config, that's when AirWave's management ability is a plus.