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Aruba Central already configured switches

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  • 1.  Aruba Central already configured switches

    Posted Mar 16, 2021 02:09 PM
    Hello Aruba Community,

    we are in the process of evaluating Aruba Central for our switches. Now the question for me is, in order to use the UI Groups, is it really necessary that the switches reset themselves so to speak and take the configuration from Aruba Central? Because my problem is, each switch is partially has a bit different configuration, that one port is tagged once and the other is not. Each switch also has a unique static IP address in our managed VLAN. How did you solve this, to include already configured switches in Aruba Central?

    Thanks a lot and greetings


  • 2.  RE: Aruba Central already configured switches

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Mar 16, 2021 05:22 PM
    Hi Andre,

    You can have switches within UI Groups with unique configuration. As you have eluded to, however, it is necessary for the switches to lose their current configuration in order to sync with the configuration of the UI Group.

    Static IP addressing, per-port VLAN assignment and other uniquely defined configuration can be set at a per switch level.

    If you used a template group you might be able to have a transition that feels less like a full reset. You could even go as far as having a template group per switch. Template groups are a bit more advanced than the UI group though so just be sure that it aligns with what you want to achieve.


  • 3.  RE: Aruba Central already configured switches

    Posted Apr 20, 2021 04:23 AM
    I do have a similar issue. A customer with around 100 CX switches which are fully configured and i have to onboard them to Aruba Central without destroying the individual per switch configuration. From what i understand i cannot use the UI Group because i would need to factory reset for that, and with factory defaults the switch will even not be able to reach the internet.

    Also i cannot use a template group because nearly every switch has a different configuration. What can i do now? Do i need to use template groups with one template per switch? If this is the only way, how can i do this in an efficient way?

    Onboarding preconfigured switches to Central will be a common use case also for the future, what are Aruba plans to improve that and allow individual switch configurations without pain?

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    Thomas Klein
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  • 4.  RE: Aruba Central already configured switches

    Posted May 01, 2021 02:01 AM
    I'm in exactly the same boat, trying to move an already configured network into a UI group without causing a major outage and/or headaches for our customers. It is pretty dumb !

    One thing that would be nice, as with template groups, to turn off Auto Commit ahead of time on a group level. At least it will not push anything which will give you time to get everything configured and then you can manually push when ready. Seems you can only turn it off per device BUT only when that device is already in the group, by then, my switch config has been wiped the and switch goes offline.

    ... or, do a checkpoint on the switch before pushing the config, you might loose the switch for a while, but when the auto-confirm is not acknowledged it would connect to central again and hopefully in that time you configured the device enough on the device level to at least get IP reachable to stick and the switch to stay online. Almost like gateways that will revert to a previous state when it can't contact Central.

    I tried connecting the CX switch to Central without assigning any groups. Once in Central, I then manually disable Central on the switch, move it to my UI group, which will allow me to click on the "device", but then trying to at least create a mgmt VLAN, I get "Bad Request". This crap is way too buggy still, wish our sales guys will stop selling this stuff until it's sorted !





  • 5.  RE: Aruba Central already configured switches

    Posted May 05, 2021 10:23 AM
    Hi, I've seen the same situation.

    With APs is different, a previously configured AP can import its configuration to a new group.

    Why is this option not available for switches?

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    Abdel Castro Perpuli
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  • 6.  RE: Aruba Central already configured switches

    Posted Jun 10, 2021 03:16 AM
    Hi,

    As long as the switch has internet access and you apply the license to the switch and connect it to the right customer on MSP portal the switch will come up and nothing will happen with the switch. The real deal comes when you push the configuration file (json or csv) and then depending on which mode (auto-commit ON or OFF) you have the switch will react to it. I am in the same boat as all of you, I have the template which works fine, and of course we do have 100s of switches with different port tags and vlans and the template is created to support all of the different scenarious. Then I change the variables on the configuration file and upload it to the switches.

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    nikim ab
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  • 7.  RE: Aruba Central already configured switches

    Posted Jun 11, 2021 06:35 AM
    Same boat here except over 350 switches. We want to use UI groups but can't due to us having stacked switches anyway. When stacks are supported in UI groups, I'm not sure I like the idea of importing them without carrying across their current configs.



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    James Whitehead
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  • 8.  RE: Aruba Central already configured switches

    Posted Jun 29, 2021 01:50 PM
      1. After logging in, at the top right corner of the screen, click on the Account Home icon.
      2. Click on Device Inventory.
      3. At the bottom right of the Device Inventory page, click on Advanced and select add more devices With Cloud Activation Key.
    1. www.myloweslife.com


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    Natasha Flaherty
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