Wireless Access

ARUBA Airheads Community, can anyone shed some light on my problem please.

Hello to the Aruba Airheads Community.

I am a new user to this community and would like to post my query for help on configuring an Aruba 651 controller. So here goes.

I have a rather interesting dilemma which I am attempting to solve but which seems to be giving me all sorts of challenges

My objective here is to make an Aruba 651 Wireless Controller a Master controller on my network with a local controller role assigned to an AP 135

Currently, the wireless network consists of the following elements:

1. Aruba 651 Controller
2. (1) Aruba AP 135
3. (2) Aruba AP 205H
4. (1) Aruba Ap-85
5. (1) Aruba Ap-65WB

The AP135 is currently acting as a Virtual Controller for the 2 AP 205’s. The 205’s are powered directly from the PoE switch built into the 651 controller. However, the controller doesn’t “see” them for whatever reason.

The AP-85 and AP-65WB are also plugged into the 651 controller but are also not seen by that controller or by the Virtual Controller in the AP135.

The 651 has 9 AP licenses and a PoE license.

Here is a summary of the license detail which were copied and pasted into a Word Doc with the necessary redactions. This represents the installed license count and details for that specific unit:

License Information

Service Status and Current Limits

Access Points    9

RF Protect           0

VPN Server Module       512

xSec Module     0

Next Generation Policy Enforcement Firewall Module 0

Advanced Cryptography               0

RF Protect           DISABLED

Policy Enforcement Firewall      DISABLED

VPN Server         ENABLED

Wired 802.1X     ENABLED

xSec Module     DISABLED

Power Over Ethernet     ENABLED

Policy Enforcement Firewall for VPN users         DISABLED

Advanced Cryptography               DISABLED

Maritime Regulatory Domain    DISABLED

AP Licenses

AP Licenses        9

Overall AP License Limit               9

AP Usage

Active CAPs        0

Standby CAPs    0

RAPs      0

Remote-node APs           0

Tunneled nodes               0

Total APs             0

Remaining AP Capacity

CAPs      9

RAPs      9

User License Usage

License Limit     512

License Usage   0

License Available            512

License Exceeded            0

xSec License Usage

License Limit     0

License Usage   0

License Exceeded            0

xSec users           0

xSec tunnel        0

License Table

Key        Installed              Expires Flags      Service Type      Actions

OnRPkBR8-1y1Rnmrs-XcwHtnsF-EqkBesBh-rXuRMDKa-IbQ         2012-07-30 10:25:51        Never   E              Power Over Ethernet             

Flags: A - auto-generated; E - enabled; R - reboot required to activate

My question is, what am I doing wrong here that I am unable to see the AP’s currently in the network and transfer roles from the AP-135 to the 651?

Any help or ideas are appreciated.

Thanks

There are quite some components in this question:

651 controller: This is end of life and can run ArubaOS 6.2 at the latest.

AP65/85 (end of life) 802.11abg access points that require a controller to work; but should not really be used anymore as it is 54 Mbps at max (which is gross, when overhead removed you end up with max 30 Mbps throughput).

AP-135 (end of sale for some time): this is an 802.11n (high end at that time) access point, where from the story you have the Instant version (IAP-135 sticker on the back);

AP-205H: this is an 802.11ac (wave-1) access point, from the story also running Instant. This AP requires when connected to a controller a minimal version of 6.4.3.0.

So, the 205H and 651 controller will not work together. The AP-65/85/135 should work on your controller; the AP-135 needs to be converted from Instant mode to controller mode before you will see it.

Also, the APs should get an IP address, either from the controller (configure DHCP server), or external DHCP server.

Probably it is best to discuss with your Aruba partner what to do with the equipment that you have as it is not all recent you will not get proper performance and expectations as you would expect from recent equipment and software.

Hi Herman.

Thanks so much for your response to my dilema.

I believe that the 651 is indeed running 6.4.x.x but will validate that later. I am aware that the 85's need a controller to work but they werent being seen by the 651 which was concerning me. There is a need to support some older clients which they were earmarked to serve. The throughput being that low was also unknown, but in an almost exclusively text based environment, they should not become heavily utilized

None the less, I take you advice on their integration and limitations.

I did see an option available on the Virtual controller to make the conversion to a Controller Managed unit, but didnt implement as I am unsure how that will pan out as it seems that reversions arent possible after making that change.

The 205's are only being powered by the controller as its compliant with PoE+. These will be physically migrated to another switch as soon as it is received, so there is really no desire to manage these from the controller. I will say however that because there are two networks at play here, the need for the 205's to be controller managed is negated.

Finally, the controller was configured to assign DHCP to the Ap's as they request an address. My question is related to AP's in Stand alone (Instant) mode as opposed to Controller mode is how can I identify, or can I identify this difference from the output monitoredat the console port and is here a way to revert an Ap which may have been converted to controller mode in the event that the controller fails or is no konger desired.

Unfortunately, your suggestion on involving a local Aruba partner is not an option at this time as there is only an availabe Aruba Reseller, and not a partner.

Thanks again for the expertise that you have brought to bear on this matter.

Kudos!

You can convert an Instant AP in IAP mode via the virtual controller web interface under Maintenance -> Convert.

You can revert a converted AP back by keeping the reset button (small hole, button reachable with a paperclip or other thin wire) pressed while you power on the AP. The indicator will flash fast if the reset was successful. The easiest way to find out if the AP is a converted IAP or a campus AP is to have a look at the smaller sticker on the back of the AP that has AP-xxx / IAP-xxx-RW / AP-xxx-RW; where RW is the Rest-of-World regulatory domain and has -US for US access points. If it has the addition -RW/-US it is an Instant AP which can be reverted back; if that sticker just shows AP-xxx then it is a campus AP that requires a controller.

Many Thanks again.

I was able to get some movement on the configuration and provisioning of an AP on that controller.

As for the 65WB and 85 AP's, I will configure them as and Internal and External AirMonitors respectively and provision an AP204 that I've got as a controller managed AP.

I am very grateful to you and the AirHeads community for the help provided.

Kudos!