Wireless Access

Hi all,

Starting a topic to warn others of an undocumented limitation with the ap redeploy controller-less command which was introducted in AOS 6.5.2.0.

The CLI Guide states: 

ap redeploy controller-less

ap redeploy controller-less

all                   

ap-group <ap-group>

ap-name <ap-name>

ip-addr <ip-addr>

ip6-addr <ip6-addr>

wired-mac <wired-mac>

Description

This command sets the AP preference role to controller-less, allowing the AP to bypass controller discovery and immediately initiate Instant discovery during AP image upgrade. APs with the controller-less preference role are deployed as controller-less APs.

Syntax

Example

The following command deploys all APs as controller-less APs:

(host) #ap redeploy controller-less all

Command History

Command Information

When attempting to run this command on an IAP-275 I received an error stating that this command is not supported on this AP model.

I have reviewed the very latest code version (8.3) and there is an addendum added to this command which states that this command only works on Unified APs. 

This is quite misleading as there is no mention of the unified AP limitiations in any of the 6.5 documentation. The outcome is that you can't confirm anything other than newer unified APs from CAP to IAP using this command. 

Hopefully someone at Aruba can fix up the documentation to make this clearer

That is because a little known "feature" of Instant 6.5.2 is if you load it on an Instant AP and factory reset it, every instant AP becomes a UAP. That behavior has since changed.

Most APs SOLD as UAPs (except for two models) require 8.x to function.

Hi Colin, it would be great if these caveats were documented. i've now got a customer facing  a very expensive exercise to factory reset over 50 access points which are all pole mounted.  this command had it worked as documented would have saved them thousands of $$

Scott

if i was to downgrade my contorller to 6.5.2.0 would that allow me to redeploy the IAP-275 which are already running as CAP or is this only if the Instant firmware is installed first?

I don't know, but it is definitely a corner case  situation that was reverted.

could be my saving grace !  will suggest it to TAC! thanks

Why would they need to factory reset APs?  Is this controller-based or an Instant Cluster?

existing setup centrallised model with IAP-275 running as CAP on 7210 controllers. Customer moving to distributed Instant model and most of the internal APs are being replaced but the external IAP-275 are remaining and need to be converted from CAP to IAP so they can work with the local IAP cluster instead of the central controller. 

They should use the wifi console to get into the APs console and attempt to factory reset it there.

Hi colin,

when you say wifi console are you referring to some inband method of accessing the AP console (i.e. not USB)?

i tried clearing boot params using the ap provision command but that just brought it up as default CAP. 

Scott

You should be able to enable the wifi console in the AP system profile by using the bkup-mode parameter:  https://www.arubanetworks.com/techdocs/ArubaOS_83_Web_Help/content/arubaframestyles/1commandlist/ap_system_profile.htm

And then you should be able to reboot the AP, use wifi to get into the console (enter the console password) and then possibly use the factory_reset parameter here:  https://www.arubanetworks.com/techdocs/ArubaOS_83_Web_Help/content/arubaframestyles/ap_config/mngng_ap_conso_sett.htm?Highlight=console

I would test this out before doing it to an outdoor AP so you understand 

Honestly, in terms of "documented", admins should employ some sort of testing hygeine for what they are about to do at scale, especially when it involves outdoor access points and major decisions.  ArubaOS does not provide many guard rails  and it assumes that anyone with a root account knows the consequences of what they are about to do.  A command in a valid format can certainly ruin your day if you have not tested it thoroughly and understand the results and the context.   Even though the commands are in english, they do not always detail all the consequences or the requirements for a single command.  Commands that are commandline-only are that way for a reason and they should be tested in a controlled environment before having any expectations.

agreed, and in this case i tested using an AP-375 which is all the customer could provide. Without knowing of a specific limitation on the process it was hard to know that we also needed to specifically test on the 275 as well. 

thanks for the tips on the wifi console, i hadn't seen that capabiliy before. i'll give it a look. 

scott

For anybody else who runs into this problem, there is a solution!

TAC have the ability to remotely reset a device back to IAP from a CAP through use of a special support shell. 

Once i was in touch with TAC they were able to remotely reset all of my problem devices which all came back up as IAP and joined their respective clusters. If only this could be made a customer facing feature!

Scott