Question: Why does my controller enter into initial setup, every time I reboot?
Environment:This article applies to all Aruba Mobility Controllers running any version of ArubaOS.
As a WLAN administrator, sometimes one might come across this situation, where controller keeps booting into initial setup on every reboot. A sample of the initial setup is shown below:
Such behavior is seen from controller, if "cfgfile" parameter is set to a value in controller boot options of cpboot> mode. Below is the snapshot from a controller cpboot> mode that displays the "cfgfile" value:
When this option is set, the switch bypasses the configuration file and instead loads the 'factory-default.cfg' file. This initiates the switch setup dialog, which prompts the user to go through the basic switch configuration every time it boots.
To correct this behavior, WLAN administrator should stop the controller boot process, enter into cpboot> mode and clear the "cfgfile" parameter. Following image list out the commands:
Notice, that in the above image the output for the printenv command, do not list out the "cfgfile" parameter.
Now, when you finish the initial setup on controller reboot, it would save the configuration and apply it on next reboot without prompting you for initial setup again.