Those are not my first steps with wireless controllers or wireless networking. I had my first touch of enterprise-class wireless networks like 7-8 years ago when Cisco WLC controllers hit the market and lead the evolving world of wireless networking. Working for Cisco Gold Partner back then gave me the opportunity to configure few both autonomous and centrally managed wireless networks at different scale. I also performed a security audit of one quite big installation. Back then there was no virtual vWLC controller back then.
Cisco has released a Virtual Wireless LAN Controller (vWLC), a VM version of a controller that has always been an appliance or hardware module, with 60-day evaluation at installation. Your first thought might be less hardware cost and a WLC can take all the advantages of being a VM. For those of you who like to lab, like myself, but always have difficulty getting your hands on a WLC, this may. Cisco Vwlc Keygen 7/6/2018 How to Configure HA on Cisco WLC using GUI The Cisco Virtual Wireless LAN Controller (vWLC) is available with two types of software images starting with the 8.2 release: small-scale image. All rights reserved. Contacts; Feedback; Site Map; Terms & Conditions; Privacy Statement; Cookie Policy.
Why am I getting back to the Cisco wireless solutions now? I got Cisco AIR-CAP3702 access point lately, so it was excellent opportunity to refresh my knowledge and look at the past few years changes. It is a popular enterprise model that can work either as an autonomous access point or managed via a controller. So this model is for tests and PoC labs for me, so I decided to check what has changed in Cisco wireless world.
My view on enterprise wireless networking
Wireless networking was an area of technology that was not interesting for me. Not that it is boring, useless or not valuable, it is just not the area I positioned myself as a specialist. However, I never ignored it. I looked at how wireless market evolved and how Cisco wanted to adapt to it. In my opinion, Cisco more or less failed (but other top vendors like Juniper failed even more!). I saw their attempts to provide SOHO devices by acquiring Linksys – it was good at the beginning but got worse and worse with every new model. I used three generations of Linksys devices at my home, so I think I was a loyal customer that now has his own opinion. I had little experience with Meraki. Right now thanks to my friends I own and use at home Aerohive access point and it is excellent. If you are not a privacy or security freak, it will suit you and your company in many scenarios. I may write about that other time.
Deploying vWLC controller VM
If you want to get familiar with Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, you need to have at least two things – the controller itself and access point. The WLC software is available as a virtual appliance you can run on ESXi hypervisor or even on VMware Workstation. You can ask your sales representative or Cisco partner for controller image – there is one with 60-days trial license. I got the latest one which is 8.6.101.0. The access point needs to be compatible with the controller version you will use so if you plan to buy used hardware on eBay check first if it is supported by software you get from Cisco.
Installation is straightforward – you just import the OVA or install ISO. There are two things that you need to be aware of if you run in on VMware Workstation:
- The NICs are by default bridged to your LAN adapter. By default, the controller uses subnet 192.168.1.0/24, and have address 192.168.1.1 preconfigured. So if you have the same subnet and gateway in your LAN then booting up the VM will cause problems
- When you boot the VM every time, you will be asked to press any key on the VM console. Try to do this immediately. The bootloader will prompt for this for few seconds, and then it hangs.
If you install vWLC on ESXi then just don’t connect the VM interfaces on vSwitch to LAN where IP addresses will overlap.
Next configuration steps are also straightforward – you need to provide IP addresses or select DHCP, setup NTP server, admin login and password, setup first SSID and enable WLAN interfaces. vWLC reboots to apply those changes.
WLC Panel
The vWLC management panel listens on port 443 on Management Port you had to configure during setup. There is no redirection from port 80. The first surprise for me was that default page is static with only with the ‘Login’ button – you provide credentials in system dialog window. Lately, I prefer logging in the way Microsoft supplied in Azure or Office365 where you have default page to provide username then it redirects you to another page where you enter the password. The second page you can customize with company logo – I treat it as additional security. In WLC you can only customize WebAuth page.
Another surprise was the default dashboard page.
This page contains only essential information on WLC, access points, and performance. There is not much space for customization, all you can do is reorganize or remove dashlets. If you need more detailed information or performing the configuration, you need to click ‘Advanced’ link. The advanced page is a disappointment for me – it looks exactly like years ago when I stopped working with wireless networks. I wonder if I should be happy that it does not require Adobe Flash to work? I expected progress – competitors do it better!
Licensing
There are two licensing models you can use – classic RTU (Right-to-Use) or Cisco Smart-Licensing. In the RTU, you buy licenses for features and hardware you want to use. The Smart-Licensing gives the enterprises more flexibility – you buy tokens that you assign to multiple devices. However, this solution is preferably for larger businesses only. Most users will use RTU licenses which are the default.
Additionally, the RTU licensing gives you 60 days of free trial. To activate trial license go to Management -> Software Activation -> Licenses, then click on the license ap_count, and enable it by accepting the EULA.
You must enable trial license before adding your first access point
Now you are ready to register your first access point and create a wireless network. You should also delete the default SSID that was defined during installation.
Check my other post – Manual upgrade of lightweight access point
Step 3: Activate smart licensing on smart-enabled wireless controllers (please see the installation manual for directions). By default, the 5520, 8540, and vWLC will continue to allow RTU licensing.
2. Smart Licensing (Pooling) Versus Cisco ONE Software (Portability)
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Q: Is smart licensing linked to Cisco ONE Software?
A: Cisco’s Smart licensing and Cisco ONE Software are not replacements of each other, instead they act to supplement each other. Cisco ONE Software is an option for how the client sources the licenses. Smart licensing is an option for how the client can enable the licensing. For 5520, 8540 and vWLC access point licensing, sourcing options available to the client are Cisco ONE Software SKUs, bundle SKUs, and a la carte SKUs. Sourcing options govern whether the license will be moveable across wireless controllers or not. For the Cisco 5520, 8540, and vWLC access point licensing, license activation options available to the client include RTU and smart licensing.
Q:What is the key difference amongst old-style node-locked & RTU licensing and the new Cisco smart licensing?
A: The old-style node-locked and RTU licensing is attached to a serial number and exist on the wireless controller, while smart licensing exists on the cloud portal. For smart licensing, the wireless controller reports only the usage statistics (how many access points are attached to it). Since the licensing is not attached to a serial number, they can be pooled across identical product families.
Q:Since smart licensing is attached to a client and not to single devices, does this imply the client will be able to pool all their wireless controllers’ access point licenses and utilize them on any wireless controller?
A: No. Although with Cisco smart licensing, the licenses are not attached to a specific serial number, the smart licensing portal permits wireless access point licensing to be pooled only inside the same wireless controller product families. Amongst the controllers which are smart license empowered, Cisco reflects the 5520 and 8540 to belong to the same product family, and the vWLC to be a detached product family. So access point licensing can be pooled across all 5520 and 8540 controllers. Access point licensing can also be pooled across all vWLCs. Nevertheless, 5520 and 8540 access point licensing cannot be pooled together with vWLC access point licensing.
Q: Why are there distinct product family pools contained in Cisco smart licensing?
A: Note that the client does not need to pay anything further for smart licensing, and it is chiefly intended to ease license administration and monitoring. It is not developed to supply further privileged advantages. Clients wanting to port licensing across all wireless controllers need to think about sourcing Cisco ONE Software licensing.
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Q: How does this pooling work?
A: All licensing purchased by a client for a specific wireless controller product family are pooled together. A license from this pool will be utilized when an access point connects to a controller which has smart licensing activated and is a member of that product family. As an example, say a client purchases 300 access point licensing for the 5520 and has three 5520 controllers (5520-1, 5520-2, and 5520-3) in the corporate network. If 53 access points are connected to 5520-1, the obtainable licensing pool in the smart portal will go down to 247 (300 – 53). These 247 licenses are obtainable for 5520-2 and 5520-3 to use. If five access points are cut off from 5520-1, 5 licenses will be reverted to the pool and 252 (247 + 5) licenses will be obtainable for 5520-2 and 5520-3 to utilize. If 270 access points are then connected to 5520-2, the client will go out of compliance (utilizing 270 licenses with only 252 accessible) and will be alerted. The network operations, nonetheless, will not stop while the client is out of compliance.
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Q: Does Cisco smart licensing portal differentiate amongst base and adder licensing?
A: No, the smart licensing portal does not differentiate amongst base and adder licensing.
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