Wireless Access

We have a 7210 mobility Controller running 150 access points. I would like to get an alert when an AP goes down.

I understand that there is a AWMS product that can do this but don't have one. I researched on the site and came up with this link that seems to imply I need to walk the MIB continuously to try and find down APs (link) But the whole point of the SNMP trap system is so you don't have to do that, you listen for a report of a problem.

So I assumed that I could use SNMP traps to get an alert from the controller to our WhatsUpGold console for sending out the alerts, and by importing the MIB from the Aruba and configuring them to send and listen for traps it does indeed send some information.

However, the information is fairly useless. It reports that access points are up and down every few seconds - even though none are actually having problems. I had hoped for the name of the AP or at least its IP address, but the traps report only one of the controller addresses.

Am I looking at the wrong thing or can I not use traps with the controller in this instance? THis is pretty frustrating that something so basic is not easy to get at.

One of the SNMP traps from controller:

Logged Text:
PassiveMonitor.Payload.TrapName=wlsxNAccessPointIsDown
PassiveMonitor.Payload.TrapMajor=6
PassiveMonitor.Payload.TrapMinor=1041
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.1.1.0=d8:c7:c8:c6:2b:91
PassiveMonitor.Payload.wlsxTrapTime=2017-2-28,15:18:27.0,-8:0
PassiveMonitor.Payload.wlsxTrapAPMacAddress.0=d8:c7:c8:c6:2b:91
PassiveMonitor.Payload.snmpTrapOID.0=1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.2.1041 (wlsxNAccessPointIsDown)
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0=18days 21:53:37.00
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.1.60=2017-2-28,15:18:27.0,-8:0
PassiveMonitor.Payload.Object=1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.2 (wlsxTrapDefinitionsGroup)
PassiveMonitor.Payload.Timetick=18days 21:53:37.00
PassiveMonitor.Payload.Packet Type=SNMPv2 Trap
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.6.3.1.1.4.1.0=1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.2.1041
PassiveMonitor.Payload.Protocol Version=SNMPv2
PassiveMonitor.Payload.CommunityName=xxxxxx
PassiveMonitor.Payload.sysUpTimeInstance=18days 21:53:37.00

Payload:
Device.Address=10.2.0.3 PassiveMonitor.DisplayName=Any
PassiveMonitor.Payload.TrapName=wlsxNAccessPointIsDown
PassiveMonitor.Payload.TrapMajor=6 PassiveMonitor.Payload.TrapMinor=1041
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.1.1.0=d8:c7:c8:c6:2b:91
PassiveMonitor.Payload.wlsxTrapTime=2017-2-28,15:18:27.0,-8:0
PassiveMonitor.Payload.wlsxTrapAPMacAddress.0=d8:c7:c8:c6:2b:91
PassiveMonitor.Payload.snmpTrapOID.0=1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.2.1041 (wlsxNAccessPointIsDown)
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0=18days 21:53:37.00
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.1.60=2017-2-28,15:18:27.0,-8:0
PassiveMonitor.Payload.Object=1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.2 (wlsxTrapDefinitionsGroup)
PassiveMonitor.Payload.Timetick=18days 21:53:37.00 PassiveMonitor.Payload.Packet Type=SNMPv2 Trap
PassiveMonitor.Payload.1.3.6.1.6.3.1.1.4.1.0=1.3.6.1.4.1.14823.2.3.1.11.1.2.1041
PassiveMonitor.Payload.Protocol Version=SNMPv2
PassiveMonitor.Payload.CommunityName=xxxxxx
PassiveMonitor.Payload.sysUpTimeInstance=18days 21:53:37.00
PassiveMonitor.Payload.LogicalSource=10.2.0.3
PassiveMonitor.Payload.PhysicalSource=10.2.0.3
PassiveMonitor.Payload.EventType=SNMP Trap

Hi Mark,

The following snippet in the output attached provides the mac-address

of the AP:

PassiveMonitor.Payload.wlsxTrapAPMacAddress.0=d8:c7:c8:c6:2b:91

Will that help to address the query ?

Thanks for the reply - is that really the best that Aruba can do? Provide a MAC address?

Looks like I am going about this wrong. The controller keeps track of dozens of statistics about the AP's but won't report them to anything except a AWMS (or equivilant)

Mark

Mark, to keep track of an AP the wired mac address is the only definitive thing.  The name can change at any time.

Thanks for the reply - I was going to send a snarky response about the same argument could be made about DNS and that is the whole point of having names but it would be pointless ;-)

It looks like I have 3 options:

1) create a manual mapping of MAC address to AP name so when I get an SNMP alert I can scroll through the pages of hex codes to find what is having a problem.

2)  Remember to log in to the controller every day and click on monitoring to see if an Access Point is down (which does show the name.)

3) purchase some kind of management tool that will ping each AP independently and give a reasonable response.

Mark

Mark,

I am not going to disagree with you.  I'm just saying the way it exists in its current form.

Management software like SolarWinds needs to work with different devices and manufacturers and conform to their nuances and present it in a usable way to you, the customer.  You might want to contact Solar Winds to see if there is anything they can do to make the output useful to you.  If you want to "roll your own" solution, you also have to deal with the nuances.  Most people don't want to deal with it and that is why companies like Solar Winds are in business.