This was a valuable discussion and helpful in preparing for the setup. I will try to verify my plan with a more experience ARuba Engineer that has actually done this before.
Thank you for your time. My plan now is:
1. It is stated that it would be best not to update the AP's before you arrive at the location.
a. At another lcoation the AP-345's came with version 8.0 and when they connected they were already in Campus mode (not Instant mode) and tehyupdated automatically to the version teh controlelr was on (8.3).
b. It took about 2 minutes adn 50 seconds per AP.
c. Only connect the new AP's to the network after the new controllers are on-line on that VLan.
2. Connect each new local Controller and set it up in a Standalone Mode with a temporary IP address when at the HQ Site.
a. Update the version of the MD operating system.
b. I would image that I can use the web UI to do this as well.
3. Setup any local user accounts on the Standalone local controllers that are necessary
a. Setup the guest local user account.
b. Verify that it can boot up correctly and be accessible from the web UI and putty.
4. Document the Aruba controller MAC addresses Assocaited with the HOSTNAME.
a. One will need to refer to that later.
5. Create the appropriate MD-Groups in the MM, below the Manged Network section.
a. Add the necessary onfiguraitons on teh group level.
b. I will not be able to do everything but it wil lbe a good start before arriving at the final location.
6. Then, disconnect the controllers from HQ network and connect to the controller from console connection.
a. Execute>wite erase<enter> from the local controllers.
b. Then execute >reload<enter>.
c. Now enter the Destination Hostname and IP and information.
d. Make sure you have a good record of the Hostname and its MAC address.
e. Verify that all of the local user accounts are still there after the write erase.
7. Then ship the controllers to their final destination.
a. Then when on site, connect to the controller via console port.
b. Power on the controller to verify the IP information or setup the information.
b. Then start continuous pings and plug in the controller to the network and verify lnetwork communciation.
c. Verify that communication works and that you can login locally via putty and web ui.
8. Then navigate to the MM's Web UI - MM - Configuration - Controllers and add the new controllers IPsec tunnel information.
a. Try restarting the MD and verify the communications works as expected.
b. Then add the controller to the correct MD Group.
c. The MM will try to propagate the configurations that were in place earlier.
d. Monitor the progress.