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Cisco Mobility Express Deployment Guide Release 8.

8
First Published: 2018-08-20
Last Modified: 2019-07-05

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 Cisco Mobility Express Overview 1


Supported Cisco Aironet® Access Points 1
Master Access Points 2
Subordinate Access Points 3
Cisco Mobility Express Scale Limits 4

CHAPTER 2 Deploying Cisco Mobility Express 5


Pre-requisites for Deploying Mobility Express Solution 5
Connecting Mobility Express capable Access Point to the network 5
Determining image on the Access Point 7
Conversion 8
Converting Access Point from CAPWAP to Cisco Mobility Express 9
Converting Access Point from Cisco Mobility Express to CAPWAP 11

CHAPTER 3 Configuring Cisco Mobility Express controller 13


CLI Setup Wizard 13
Over-the-Air Setup Wizard 14
Network Plug and Play 16
Introduction 16
Pre-requisites 16
APIC-EM discovery options 16

Configuring APIC-EM / Network PnP server 17


Site Pre-Provisioning Workflow 17
Importing Cisco Mobility Express configuration file to Network PnP 17
Creating a Project 18

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Adding Cisco Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Project and associating the controller
config 18
APIC-EM Network Plug and Play Deployment Options with Cisco Mobility Express 19
APIC-EM controller in Private Cloud 20
Cloud Plug and Play Connect redirect to APIC-EM controller 20
Cloud Plug and Play Device Redirect Provisioning Workflow 21
Obtain a Smart Account 21
Create APIC-EM Controller Profile 22
Connecting Cisco Mobility Access Points 28

CHAPTER 4 Using internal DHCP server on Cisco Mobility Express 29

Creating a DHCP Scope 29

CHAPTER 5 TLS Support on Mobility Express 33


TLS Gateway 34
System Requirement for TLS Gateway 34
Deploying TLS Gateway 34
Configuring TLS Gateway 38
Configuring IP Address for Public and Private network interfaces 38
Configure the TLS Gateway configuration file and start the service 42
Configuring the PSK ID-KEY pair 43
TLS Client 44
Pre-Requisites for TLS Client 44
Configuring TLS Tunnel 44

CHAPTER 6 Configuring Cisco Mobility Express for Site Survey 47


Configuring Cisco Mobility Express for Site Survey 47

Pre-requisites 47
Configuring Mobility Express for Site Survey using CLI 48

CHAPTER 7 Creating Wireless Networks 51


WLANs 51
Creating Employee WLANs 52

Creating Employee WLAN with WPA2 Personal 52

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Creating Employee WLAN using WPA2 Enterprise with External Radius Server 52
Creating Employee WLAN with WPA2 Enterprise and Authentication Server as AP 53
Creating Employee WLAN with WPA2 Enterprise/External RADIUS and MAC Filtering 53
Central Web Authentication Support on WLAN 54
Central Web Authentication Support on WLAN 54
Creating Guest WLANs 55
Creating Guest WLAN with Captive Portal on CMX Connect 55
Creating Guest WLAN with Internal Splash Page 56
Creating Guest WLAN with External Splash Page 57
Walled Garden (DNS Pre-Auth ACLs) 58
Internal Splash Page for Web Authentication 59
Using default internal guest portal 59

Using customized internal guest portal 59


Centralized NAT on Guest WLANs 60
Managing WLAN Users 61
Configuring Maximum number of clients on a WLAN 62

Configuring Maximum number of clients on per AP Radio 62


AAA Override on WLAN 63
Bi-Directional Rate Limiting 63
Centralized NAT on WLANs 63
Adding MAC for Local MAC Filtering on WLANs 65
WLAN Passpoint Support 65
RLAN support on Mobility Express 66
Create AP Groups and add 1815W to AP Group 67

CHAPTER 8 Managing Services with Cisco Mobility Express 69


Application Visibility and Control 69
Enabling Application Visibility on WLAN 69
Enabling Application Control on WLAN 70
Adding Application Control from Network Summary Page 70
Adding Application Control from Applications Page 70
iOS Optimized WiFi connectivity and Fast Lane 70
Configuring Optimized WiFi Connectivity 70

Configuring Fast Lane 72

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Cisco Mobility Express with CMX Cloud 72


Cisco CMX Cloud 72
Cisco CMX Cloud Solution Compatibility Matrix 72
Minimum requirements for Cisco CMX Cloud deployment 72
Enabling CMX Cloud Service on Mobility Express for Presence Analytics 73
Configuring Site on CMX Cloud for Presence Analytics 73

CHAPTER 9 Managing the Cisco Mobility Express Deployment 75


Managing Access Points 75
Adding Access Points to Mobility Express Network 77

Optimal Join 78
Configuring SFTP or TFTP for AP Join 79
Configuring Cisco.com for AP Join 79
Configuring Access Point as 802.1x Supplicant 80
Configuring RF Profiles 80
Configuring RF Profiles 81
Configuring Access Point Groups 82
Configuring Access Point Groups 82
Configuring Management Access 83

Managing Admin Accounts 83

Managing TACACS+ and RADIUS Servers 84


Adding TACACS+ Servers 85
Adding RADIUS Servers 85
Configuring AP SSH Credentials 86
Managing Admin User Priority 86
Managing TIME on Cisco Mobility Express 87
Configuring NTP Server 87
Updating Cisco Mobility Express Software 87
Software Update using cisco.com Transfer Mode 88
Software Update using HTTP Transfer Mode 89
Software Update using SFTP Transfer Mode 90
Upgrading from WebUI 90

Software Update using TFTP Transfer Mode 91


Upgrading from WebUI 91

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Upgrading from CLI 92


Passive Client Support Mobility Express 93
Managing Advanced RF Parameters 94
Uploading OUI, EAP Device Cert, EAP CA Cert from UI 95
CALEA Support 95

CHAPTER 10 Master AP Failover and Electing a new Master 97


Master AP Failover 97
Electing a new Master Access Point 98
Efficient AP Join for heterogeneous network 99
Configuring Efficient Join 99

Schedule WLAN 100


Scheduling WLAN 101
Option 43 support for ME 102
mDNS support 102
FQDN support SFTP 105
Configuring SFTP 105
Videostream support (MC2UC) 106
Configuring Videostream 107

Cisco RFID Tag support 110


Configuring Cisco RFID Tag 110

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CHAPTER 1
Cisco Mobility Express Overview
With more devices attaching to the network and more bandwidth-intensive applications in use, mobile usage
continues to rise. How do small and medium-sized businesses with little or no IT staff keep pace with
unexpected growth?
The Cisco Mobility Express Solution is specifically designed to help small and medium-sized businesses
easily and cost-effectively deliver enterprise-class wireless access to both employees and customers. It is a
virtual Wireless LAN controller function embedded on Cisco Aironet® 1560, 1815W, 1815I,1830, 1850,
2800 and 3800 series 802.11ac Wave 2 Access Points. With the Cisco Mobility Express Solution, small and
mid-sized networks can now enjoy the same quality user experiences as large enterprises.
Cisco Mobility Express Solution is an on-premise, managed Wi-Fi solution that:
• Is ideal for small and medium-sized deployments of up to 100 access points.
• Provides an easy, over-the-air deployment in under 10 minutes. In addition, one can use Network Plug
and Play to bring up a new site.
• Removes the need for a physical controller while supporting Cisco's advanced features.
• Is supported on Cisco Aironet® 1560, 1815W, 1815I, 1815M, 1830, 1850, 2800 and 3800 Series 802.11ac
Wave 2 Access Points.
• Can control other Aironet® access points, such as the 1700, 2700, and 3700 Series.
• Can be used to perform Site Survey.
• Is the Next Generation Autonomous. 802.11ac Wave 2 Access Point do not support the legacy autonomous
mode.
• Industry-leading Cisco technology allows small and medium-sized networks to reduce the number of
devices needed to enjoy enterprise-grade Wi-Fi. Advanced features such as Guest, BYOD and Cisco
High Density Experience (HDX) are activated by default for compatible access points, making the
deployment process even easier. CMX can be added to gain presence-based services and deep analytics.

• Supported Cisco Aironet® Access Points, on page 1

Supported Cisco Aironet® Access Points


Cisco Mobility Express solution consists of the following components:

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Cisco Mobility Express Overview
Master Access Points

• Master Access Point - Cisco Aironet® 1560, 1815W, 1815I, 1815M,1830, 1850, 2800 and 3800 Series
802.11ac Wave 2 Access Points running the virtual Wireless LAN Controller function.
• Subordinate Access Points - Cisco Aironet® Access Points which are managed by Master Access Point
similar to how a Wireless LAN Controller manages Access Points.

Note Master Access Point functions as Wireless LAN Controller, manages Subordinate Access Points and also
serves clients at the same time.

Master Access Points


Cisco Aironet® Access Points which support the Wireless LAN Controller function and operate as Master
Access points are listed in the table below:

Table 1: Cisco Aironet® Access Points capable of operating as Master Access Points

Master Access Points Supported Model Numbers


Cisco Aironet® 1540 Series AIR-AP1540I-x-K9
AIR-AP1540D-x-K9

Cisco Aironet® 1560 Series AIR-AP1562I-x-K9


AIR-AP1562E-x-K9
AIR-AP1562D-x-K9

Cisco Aironet® 1815I Series AIR-AP1815I-x-K9C


Cisco Aironet® 1815M Series AIR-AP1815M-x-K9C
Cisco Aironet® 1815W Series AIR-AP1815W-x-K9C

Cisco Aironet® 1830 Series AIR-AP1832I-x-K9C

Cisco Aironet® 1850 Series AIR-AP1852I-x-K9C


AIR-AP1852E-x-K9C

Cisco Aironet® 2800 Series AIR-AP2802I-x-K9C


AIR-AP2802E-x-K9C

Cisco Aironet® 3800Series AIR-AP3802I-x-K9C


AIR-AP3802E-x-K9C

Cisco Aironet® 4800 Series AIR-AP4802I-x-K9C

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Subordinate Access Points

Note The -x- in the other model numbers is a placeholder for the actual letter indicating the model's regulatory
domain. For information on regulatory domains, see http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/assets/prod/wireless/
wireless-compliance-tool/index.html

Subordinate Access Points


Cisco Aironet® Access Points which operate as Subordinate Access Points and serve clients are listed in the
table below:

Table 2: Cisco Aironet® Access Points capable of operating as Subordinate Access Points

Subordinate Access Points Supported Model Numbers


Cisco Aironet® 700i Series AIR-CAP702I-x-K9
Cisco Aironet® 700w Series AIR-CAP702W-x-K9
Cisco Aironet® 1540 Series AIR-AP1540I-x-K9
AIR-AP1540D-x-K9

Cisco Aironet® 1560Series AIR-AP1562I-x-K9


AIR-AP1562E-x-K9
AIR-AP1562D-x-K9

Cisco Aironet® 1700 Series AIR-CAP1702I-x-K9


Cisco Aironet® 1810 Series AIR-AP1810W-x-K9
Cisco Aironet® 1815I Series AIR-AP1815I-x-K9C
Cisco Aironet® 1815M Series AIR-AP1815M-x-K9C
Cisco Aironet® 1815W Series AIR-AP1815W-x-K9C
Cisco Aironet® 1830 Series AIR-AP1832I-x-K9C

Cisco Aironet® 1850 Series AIR-AP1852I-x-K9C


AIR-AP1852E-x-K9C

Cisco Aironet® 2600 Series AIR-CAP2602I-x-K9


AIR-CAP2602E-x-K9

Cisco Aironet® 2700 Series AIR-CAP2702I-x-K9


AIR-CAP2702E-x-K9

Cisco Aironet® 2800 Series AIR-AP2802I-x-K9C


AIR-AP2802E-x-K9C

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Cisco Mobility Express Scale Limits

Subordinate Access Points Supported Model Numbers


Cisco Aironet® 3700 Series AIR-CAP3702I-x-K9
AIR-CAP3702E-x-K9

Cisco Aironet® 3800 Series AIR-AP3802I-x-K9C


AIR-AP3802E-x-K9C

Note The -x- in the other model numbers is a placeholder for the actual letter indicating the model's regulatory
domain. For information on regulatory domains, see http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/assets/prod/wireless/
wireless-compliance-tool/index.html

Cisco Mobility Express Scale Limits


Cisco Mobility Express supports up to 100 Access Points and 2000 Clients in a single deployment. Given
below are the scale limits per Master Access Point.

Table 3: Cisco Mobility Express Scale Limits

Master Access Points # of Access Points Supported # of Clients Supported


Cisco Aironet® 1540 Series 50 1000
Cisco Aironet® 1560 Series 100 2000
Cisco Aironet® 1815I Series 50 1000
Cisco Aironet® 1815M Series 50 1000
Cisco Aironet® 1815W Series 50 1000
Cisco Aironet® 1830 Series 50 1000
Cisco Aironet® 1850 Series 50 1000
Cisco Aironet® 2800 Series 100 2000
Cisco Aironet® 3800 Series 100 2000
Cisco Aironet® 4800 Series 100 2000

Note If there are more than 50 Access Points in a Mobility Express network, the Master AP(running the Wireless
LAN controller function) can service a maximum of 20 clients. This limit only applies to Master AP and not
any other Access Point in the Mobility Express network.

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CHAPTER 2
Deploying Cisco Mobility Express
• Pre-requisites for Deploying Mobility Express Solution, on page 5
• Connecting Mobility Express capable Access Point to the network, on page 5
• Determining image on the Access Point, on page 7
• Conversion, on page 8

Pre-requisites for Deploying Mobility Express Solution


1. You must not have other Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers; neither appliance nor virtual in the same
network during set up or during daily operation of a Cisco Mobility Express network. The Mobility Express
controller cannot interoperate or co-exist with other Wireless LAN Controllers in the same network.
2. Decide on the first Access Point to be configured as a Master Access Point. This Access Point should be
capable of supporting the Wireless LAN Controller function.
3. A DHCP server must be available on the network so that Access Points and clients can obtain an IP
Address. Starting AireOS® Release 8.3.102.0 or later, one can configure a DHCP server on the Master
Access Point as well but this is typically used for Site Survey.

Connecting Mobility Express capable Access Point to the


network
Depending on the deployment, Mobility Express capable Access Points can be connected to an access port
or a trunk port on the switch.
If Access Points and WLANs are all on the same network, Mobility Express capable Access Points can connect
to an access port on the switch as shown below.

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Connecting Mobility Express capable Access Point to the network

On Mobility Express, management traffic is untagged. If Access Points and WLANs are all on different
VLANs, Mobility Express capable Access Points will connect to a trunk port on the switch and traffic for
individual WLANs will be switched locally on individual VLANs. Shown below is a deployment with Access
Points and WLANs on different VLANs.

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Determining image on the Access Point

interface GigabitEthernet1/0/37
description » Connected to Master AP «
switchport trunk native vlan 40
switchport trunk allowed vlan 10,20,30,40
switchport mode trunk

Determining image on the Access Point


The Cisco Aironet® 1540, 1560, 1815, 1830, 1850, 2800 and 3800 series access points can either have
CAPWAP image or the Cisco Mobility Express image which is capable of running the virtual Wireless LAN
controller function on the Access Point.
To determine the image and capability of an Access Point, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Login to the Access Point CLI using a console and type AP#show version and check the full output of show
version. The default login credentials are Username:cisco and Password:cisco.
Step 2 If show version output does not display AP Image Type and AP Configuration parameters as highlighted
below, it means that AP is running the CAPWAP image and a conversion to Cisco Mobility Express is required
if you want to run the controller function on the Access Point. To convert from a CAPWAP Access Point to
Mobility Express, go to Conversion section.

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Conversion

cisco AIR-AP1852E-UXK9 ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v71) with 997184/525160K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID RFDP2BCR021
AP Running Image : 8.2.100.0
Primary Boot Image : 8.2.100.0
Backup Boot Image : 8.1.106.33
AP Image type : MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE
AP Configuration : MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE
0 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
0 802.11 Radios
Radio FW version . 1401b63d12113073a3C08aa67f0c039c0
NSS FW version : NSS.AK.1.0.c4-0Z026-E_cust C-1.24160

If the show version displays AP Image Type: MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE and AP Configuration:
NOT MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE , it means that even though the Access Point has the Cisco Mobility
Express image, it is configured to run as a CAPWAP Access Point. In this case Access Point will not run the
controller function and will not participate in the Master Election process upon failure of the active Master
AP.
cisco AI R-AP1852E-UXK9 ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7I) with 997184/726252K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID RFDP2BCR021
AP Running Image : 8.2.101.0
Primary Boot Image : 8.2.100.0
Backup Boot Image : 8.1.106.33
AP Image type : MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE
AP Configuration : NOT MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE

For this AP to run the controller function, AP Configuration has to be changed to MOBILITY EXPRESS
CAPABLE . To change the AP Configuration, execute the following command from the AP CLI. AP#ap-type
mobility-express tftp://
Access Point will reboot and after it comes up, it will be capable of running the controller function. You can
check the output of show version again to confirm that AP Configuration has changed to MOBILITY
EXPRESS CAPABLE .
If the show version displays AP Image Type: MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE and AP Configuration:
MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE , it means that the Access Point has the Mobility Express image and is
capable of running the controller function. For this scenario, the output of the show version is shown below:
cisco AIR-AP3802I-B-K9 ARMv7 Processor rev 1 (v7l) with 1028384/255032K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID FCW2034NXAV
AP Running Image : 8.4.2.66
Primary Boot Image : 8.4.2.66
Backup Boot Image : 8.4.2.34
AP Image type : MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE
AP Configuration : MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE
1 Multigigabit Ethernet interfaces
1 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
2 802.11 Radios
Radio Driver version : 9.0.5.5-W8964
Radio FW version : 9.1.8.1
NSS FW version : 2.4.18

Conversion
One can convert an Access Point running CAPWAP to Cisco Mobility Express and vice versa.

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Deploying Cisco Mobility Express
Converting Access Point from CAPWAP to Cisco Mobility Express

Converting Access Point from CAPWAP to Cisco Mobility Express


Cisco Mobility Express support on 11ac Wave 2 Access Points is introduced in different AireOS releases and
it is important to note that before an Access Point can be converted to Mobility Express, it must have the
minimum AireOS CAPWAP image which supported Cisco Mobility Express capability for that Access Point.
Given below is the minimum AireOS release for an Access Point which will support conversion from CAPWAP
to Cisco Mobility Express.

Table 4: Minimum AireOS release supporting Cisco Mobility Express

Access Point Minimum AireOS Release with CAPWAP image


Cisco Aironet® 1540Series Release 8.5 or later
Cisco Aironet® 1560 Series Release 8.4 or later
Cisco Aironet® 1815I Series Release 8.4 or later
Cisco Aironet® 1815M Series Release 8.5 or later
Cisco Aironet® 1815W Series Release 8.4 or later
Cisco Aironet® 1830 Series Release 8.1 MR2 or later
Cisco Aironet® 1850 Series Release 8.1 MR2 or later
Cisco Aironet® 2800 Series Release 8.3 or later
Cisco Aironet® 3800 Series Release 8.3 or later
Cisco Aironet® 4800 Series Release 8.8 or later

Note If the CAPWAP image on the Access Point is older than the minimum AireOS release capable of supporting
Cisco Mobility Express, Access Point MUST first join a WLC running the minimum AireOS release or higher
to upgrade its CAPWAP image. After the CAPWAP image of the AP has been upgraded, conversion of AP
from CAPWAP to Mobility Express can be performed.

To perform a conversion on an Access Point running CAPWAP to Mobility Express, follow the procedure
below:

Procedure

Step 1 Download the conversion image for the Access Point from cisco.com to the TFTP server. It is a tar file. Do
not untar the file. The following table lists the Cisco Mobility Express software for Cisco Wireless Release
8.7.102.0.

Table 5: Conversion tar file for Access Points

Access Points supported as Master AP Software to be used only for Conversion from Unified
Wireless Network Lightweight AP Software to Cisco
Mobility Express
Cisco Aironet® 1540 Series AIR-AP1540-K9-8-7-102-0.tar

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Converting Access Point from CAPWAP to Cisco Mobility Express

Access Points supported as Master AP Software to be used only for Conversion from Unified
Wireless Network Lightweight AP Software to Cisco
Mobility Express
Cisco Aironet® 1560 Series AIR-AP1560-K9-8-7-102-0.tar
Cisco Aironet® 1815I Series AIR-AP1815-K9-8-7-102-0.tar
Cisco Aironet® 1815M Series AIR-AP1815-K9-8-7-102-0.tar
Cisco Aironet® 1815W Series AIR-AP1815-K9-8-7-102-0.tar
Cisco Aironet® 1830 Series AIR-AP1830-K9-8-7-102-0.tar
Cisco Aironet® 1850 Series AIR-AP1850-K9-8-7-102-0.tar
Cisco Aironet® 2800 Series AIR-AP2800-K9-8-7-102-0.tar
Cisco Aironet® 3800 Series AIR-AP3800-K9-8-7-102-0.tar

Step 2 Login to the Access Point.


Step 3 Execute AP#show version on the Access Point CLI. From the show version output, you can determine the
AP Image type and AP Configuration and can then proceed with the conversion
Case 1: If the AP Image type is MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE and AP configuration is NOT
MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE, enter the command below to change the AP Configuration to
MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE .
AP#ap-type mobility-express
Note Since the Access Point has AP Image type: MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE, a new image will
not be downloaded. After the command is executed, the Access Point will reboot and after it comes
up, the AP Configuration will be changed to MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE.

Case 2 : If the AP Image type and AP Configuration are not available, it means that the AP is running
CAPWAP image. To do the conversion, execute the command below:
AP#ap-type mobility-express tftp://<TFTP Server IP>/<path to tar file>
Example:
AP#ap-type mobility-express tftp://10.18.22.34/AIR-AP1850-K9-8.7.102.0.tar

Starting the ME image download...


It may take few minutes to finish the download.

Image downloaded, writing to flash...


do PREDOWNLOAD, part1 is active part
sh: CHECK_ME: unknown operand
Image start 0x40355008 size 0x01dae41a file size 0x01dae7ca
Key start 0x42103422 size 0x00000230
Sinature start 0x42103652 size 0x00000180
Verify returns 0
btldr rel is 16 vs 16, does not need update
part to upgrade is part2
activate part2, set BOOT to part2
AP primary version: 8.1.105.37
Archive done.
Oe as AP needs to boot up with ME image

The system is going down Now!


sent SIGTERM to all processes

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Converting Access Point from Cisco Mobility Express to CAPWAP

sent SIGKILL to all processes

Requesting system reboot79]


[07/24/2015 18:19:43.0887] Restarting system.
[07/24/2015 18:19:43.1257] Going down for restart now

Note After the image download is complete, it will be written to the flash followed by a reboot. After the
AP comes up, AP Image type will be MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE and AP Configuration
will MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE .

Step 4 If this is the first Access Point in the network, it will start the controller function and will broadcast the
CiscoAirProvison SSID.

Converting Access Point from Cisco Mobility Express to CAPWAP


There are typically two reasons why one would want to convert an Access Point running Mobility Express
image to CAPWAP. There are as follows:
1. You want to keep the Access Point in a Mobility Express deployment but do not want the Access point
to participate in the Master election process upon a failover of the Master AP.
2. You want to migrate one or more Access Points with Mobility Express to an appliance or vWLC based
deployment.
1. If your reason to convert to CAPWAP is 1 above, follow the procedure below:
1. Login to the Access Point CLI either through console or ssh and go to exec mode. If you are trying
to convert the Master AP to CAPWAP, connecting a console will lead you to the controller CLI. To
get to the AP CLI, type apciscochell at the controller prompt and login to the Access Point shell.
2. Execute ap#ap-type capwap CLI. This will change the AP Configuration to NOT MOBILITY
EXPRESS and the Access Point will no longer participate in the Master election process.

2. If your reason to convert to CAPWAP is 2 above, follow the procedure below:


1. Login to the Access Point CLI either via console or ssh and go to exec mode.
2. Execute the following CLI.

(Cisco Controller) >config ap unifiedmode <switch_name> <switch_ip_address>

<switch_name> and <switch_ip_address> is the name and IP address respectively of the WLC
to which the APs need to be migrate.

Note The above command converts all connected Access Points with AP Configuration: MOBILITY EXPRESS
CAPABLE to AP Configuration: NOT MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE . When this command is
issued, the APs are reloaded, and they come back up and look for the controller (switch_ip_address) to join.

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Converting Access Point from Cisco Mobility Express to CAPWAP

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CHAPTER 3
Configuring Cisco Mobility Express controller
There are multiple ways one can configure a Cisco Mobility Express controller. They are as follows:
1. CLI Setup Wizard
2. Over–the–Air Setup Wizard
3. Network Plug and Play
• CLI Setup Wizard, on page 13
• Over-the-Air Setup Wizard, on page 14
• Network Plug and Play, on page 16
• APIC-EM Network Plug and Play Deployment Options with Cisco Mobility Express, on page 19
• Connecting Cisco Mobility Access Points, on page 28

CLI Setup Wizard


To use the Setup Wizard from CLI, you must connect to the console port of the Access Point. The default
parameters for the console ports are 9600 baud, eight data bits, one stop bit, and no parity. The console ports
do not support hardware flow control.
After connecting to the console port on the Access Point, power up the Access Point. After a few minutes,
Access Point will start the Controller.
To configure the Mobility Express controller, follow the steps as shown in the example below:
System Name [Cisco_2c:3a:40] (31 characters max): me-wlc
Enter Country Code list (enter 'help' for a list of countries) [US]:

Configure a NTP server now? [YES][no]: no


Configure the system time now? [YES][no]: no

Note! Default NTP servers will be used

Management Interface IP Address: 40.40.40.10


Management Interface Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Management Interface Default Router: 40.40.40.1
Cleaning up Provisioning SSID
Create Management DHCP Scope? [yes][NO]: yes
DHCP Network : 40.40.40.0
DHCP Netmask : 255.255.255.0
Router IP: 40.40.40.1
Start DHCP IP address: 40.40.40.11
Stop DHCP IP address: 40.40.40.254
DomainName :

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Over-the-Air Setup Wizard

DNS Server : [OPENDNS][user DNS]


Create Employee Network? [YES][no]: YES
Employee Network Name (SSID)?: WestAutoBody-Employee
Employee VLAN Identifier? [MGMT][1-4095]: MGMT
Employee Network Security? [PSK][enterprise]: PSK
Employee PSK Passphrase (8-38 characters)?: Cisco123
Re-enter Employee PSK Passphrase: Cisco123
Create Guest Network? [yes][NO]: YES
Guest Network Name (SSID)?: WestAutoBody-Guest
Guest VLAN Identifier? [EMPLOYEE][1-4095]: EMPLOYEE
Guest Network Security? [WEB-CONSENT][psk]: WEB-CONSENT
Create Guest DHCP Scope? [yes][NO]: NO
Enable RF Parameter Optimization? [YES][no]: YES
Client Density [TYPICAL][Low][High]: TYPICAL
Traffic with Voice [NO][Yes]: Yes

Configuration correct? If yes, system will save it and reset. [yes][NO]: yes
Cleaning up Provisioning SSID

Note The Access Point will reboot and after it comes back up, login to the Mobility Express controller WebUI from
the browser using https://<mangement_ip_address> Cisco Mobility Express controller uses a self-signed
certificate for HTTPS. Therefore, all browsers display a warning message and asks whether you wish to
proceed with an exception or not when the certificate is presented to the browser. Accept the risk and proceed
to access the Mobility Express Wireless LAN Controller login page.

Over-the-Air Setup Wizard


Over-the-air is a simple and easy way to configure Mobility Express out of the box. Over-the-Air provisioning
can be done using a WiFi enabled device or the Cisco Wireless app which can be downloaded from App
Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android Devices. The Cisco Wireless app provides a minimum set
of configurable options to deploy Mobility Express in just a few minutes.

Procedure

Step 1 When the LED on the Access Point chirps green, connect a WiFi enabled laptop to the CiscoAirProvision
SSID. The default password is password. The laptop will get an IP address from subnet 192.168.1.0/24.
Note CiscoAirProvision SSID is broadcast at 2.4GHz.

Step 2 Open a web browser and browse to http://mobilityexpress.cisco. This will redirect to configuration wizard
and the admin account page will appear.
Step 3 Create an admin account on the controller by specifying the following parameters and then click on the Start
button.
• Enter the admin username. Maximum up to 24 ASCII characters.
• Enter the password. Maximum up to 24 ASCII characters. When specifying a password, ensure that:
• The password must contain characters from at least three of the following classes – lowercase letters,
uppercase letters, digits, special characters.

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Over-the-Air Setup Wizard

• No character in the password can be repeated more than three times consecutively.
• The new password must not be the same as the associated username and the username reversed.
• The password must not be cisco, ocsic, or any variants obtained by changing the capitalization of
letters of the word Cisco. In addition, you cannot substitute 1, I, or ! for i, 0 for o, or $ for s.

Step 4 In the Set up Your Controller section, configure the following:


• Enter the System Name
• Select the Country from the drop-down list
• Date and Time should be auto-filled but one can manually configure it as well
• Select the Timezone from the drop-down list
• Enter the IP address of NTP Server if there is one available. If left blank, NTP Pools will be automatically
configured
• Enter the Management IP Address of the controller
• Enter the Subnet Mask
• Enter the Default Gateway

Step 5 Disable Enable DHCP Server(Management Network) if an external DHCP server is being used. If internal
DHCP server on the Mobility Express controller has to be used, specify the DHCP server related information.
Step 6 Click Next.
Step 7 In the Create Your Wireless Network, under Employee Network, configure the following:
• Enter the Network Name
• Select Security as WPA2 Personal or WPA2 Enterprise from the drop-down list
• If WPA2 Personal is selected, enter the Passphrase

Step 8 One can also enable RF Parameter Optimization and configure the following:
• Move the Client Density slider as needed
• From the Traffic Type, select Data or Data and Voice

Step 9 Click Next.


Step 10 Confirm the settings on the page and click on the Apply button. The Access Point will reboot and after it
comes up, it will run the controller.
Note The Access Point will reboot and after it comes back up, login to the Mobility Express controller
WebUI from the browser using https:<management_ip_address>. Cisco Mobility Express controller
uses a self-signed certificate for HTTPS. Therefore, all browsers display a warning message and
asks whether you wish to proceed with an exception or not when the certificate is presented to the
browser. Accept the risk and proceed to access the Mobility Express Wireless LAN Controller login
page.

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Configuring Cisco Mobility Express controller
Network Plug and Play

Network Plug and Play


Introduction
The Cisco Network Plug and Play solution provides a simple, secure, unified, and integrated offering for
enterprise network customers to ease new site rollouts for provisioning Cisco Mobility Express. The solution
allows use of Cloud Redirection service, on-prem, or combination which provide a unified approach to
provision enterprise networks comprised of Cisco Mobility Express, Cisco routers, switches, with a near zero
touch deployment experience.
You can use the Cisco Network Plug and Play application to pre-provision the site and add Cisco Mobility
Express capable access points to the site. This includes entering access point information and uploading a
controller configuration file for virtual controller which will run on Mobility Express capable access points.
When an installer installs and powers up the Cisco Mobility Express capable access points, it auto-discovers
the Cisco APIC-EM controller by using the DHCP, DNS or cloud redirection service. After the auto-discovery
process is complete, the AP downloads the controller configuration file from local PnP server, or communicates
with the cloud redirection service for direction to target PnP server.

Pre-requisites
1. APIC-EM Release 1.4 or later with Cisco Network Plug and Play, virtually hosted in a Cisco UCS or
equivalent server.
2. Access Points–Cisco 802.11ac Wave 2 access points running Cisco Mobility Express software.
3. Controller Configuration–Cisco Mobility Express controller configuration file to be uploaded on Network
PnP.

APIC-EM discovery options


1. DHCP server configured with option 43 to allow Cisco Mobility Express capable access points to
auto-discover the APIC-EM controller (option 43 is not required if only testing cloud redirection). DHCP
option 43 consists of a string value that is a configured DHCP server: option 43 ascii
"5A1N;B2;K4;I192.168.1.123;J80"

Note 192.168.1.123 is the IP address of the APCI-EM Server

2. On–prem PnP server can be added to DNS using ‘pnpserver.yourlocal.domain’ If DHCP discovery fails
to get the IP address of the APIC-EM controller, for example, because option 43 is not configured, the
Cisco Plug and Play Agent falls back on a DNS lookup method. Based on the network domain name
returned by the DHCP server, it constructs a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the APIC-EM
controller, using the preset hostname pnpserver. For example, if the DHCP server returns the domain
name " customer.com ", the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent constructs the FQDN "pnpserver.customer.com
". It then uses the local name server to resolve the IP address for this FQDN

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Configuring APIC-EM / Network PnP server

3. Cloud redirection service requires a connection to the internet, and valid DNS server that can resolve
‘devicehelper.cisco.com’. The cloud redirection service redirect Cisco Mobility Express Access Point to
APIC-EM.

Configuring APIC-EM / Network PnP server


Site Pre-Provisioning Workflow
Cisco Network Plug and Play allows you to pre-provision and plan for new sites. When you create a new site,
Cisco Network Plug and Play enables you to pre-provision Cisco Mobility Express access point(s) controller,
configuration file, product ID, and product serial # for selected Access Points. This simplifies and accelerates
the time that it takes to get a site fully functional.
For detailed info pm PnP Config about other functionality, see http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/
cloud-systems-management/one-enterprise-network-controller/
products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html
To pre-provision a site on your network, perform these steps:
1. Importing Cisco Mobility Express controller configuration file to Network PnP
2. Creating a Project
3. Adding Cisco Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Project and associating the controller config.

Importing Cisco Mobility Express configuration file to Network PnP

Procedure

Step 1 Login to APIC-EM controller and navigate to Network Plug and Play > Configurations
Step 2 Click on Upload to upload the controller configuration
Step 3 Select a controller configuration file from your local machine

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Creating a Project

Creating a Project

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Network Plug and Play > Projects.


Step 2 Enter the name for the Project and click on the Add button.

Step 3 Click on the Create button to create the Project.

Adding Cisco Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Project and associating the controller
config

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Network Plug and Play > Projects.


Step 2 Click on Add button under Project Devices.
Step 3 In the Add Device window, enter the following:
• Device Name–Enter the device name; unique for each site
• Product ID–Select the Access Point device ID from the drop-down list

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APIC-EM Network Plug and Play Deployment Options with Cisco Mobility Express

• Serial Number–Enter the Serial Number of the Mobility Express Access Point
• Config–You can either upload a new configuration or select the configuration file which was added
earlier

Step 4 Click on the Add button.

APIC-EM Network Plug and Play Deployment Options with


Cisco Mobility Express
There are two deployment options supported for deploying Cisco Mobility Express with Network Plug and
Play.
APIC-EM controller in Private Cloud
Cloud Plug and Play Connect redirect to APIC-EM controller

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Configuring Cisco Mobility Express controller
APIC-EM controller in Private Cloud

APIC-EM controller in Private Cloud


In this deployment option, there will be an On-Prem APIC-EM controller which can be discovered by Cisco
Mobility Express Access Points using option 43 or DNS discovery.
Figure 1: APIC-EM controller in Private Cloud flow

Option 43 points to APIC-EM controller IP address. To configure DHCP scope with Option 43, it is important
follow the format as shown below. In the example below, 192.168.1.123 is the IP address of APIC-EM
controller
ip dhcp pool pnp_device_pool
network 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0
default-router 192.168.1.1
option 43 ascii "5A1N;B2;K4;I192.168.1.123;J80"

To discover APIC-EM controller using the DNS discovery options, configure the DNS server and domain
name on the DHCP scope.
ip dhcp pool pnp_device_pool
network 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0
default-router 192.168.1.1
domain-name cisco.com
dns-server 172.20.229.8

Cloud Plug and Play Connect redirect to APIC-EM controller


Cloud re-direction service uses Cisco public hosted cloud to re-direct Cisco Mobility Express capable access
points to APIC-EM controller. The minimal requirement is that the Mobility Express Access Points network
have DHCP and DNS, and connectivity reachable to Cisco public cloud. There is no need to configure Option
43 on DHCP scope with this deployment option. A simple test would be to obtain DHCP address and ping
'devicehelper.cisco.com' from where the Mobility Express AP will be deployed.

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Cloud Plug and Play Device Redirect Provisioning Workflow

Figure 2: Cloud Plug and Play Device Redirect to APIC-EM controller flow

Cloud Plug and Play Device Redirect Provisioning Workflow


This section describes the steps to redirect Cisco Mobility Express Access Points to APIC-EM controller
using Cloud Plug and Play Connect service.
To configure cloud Plug and Play connect redirect service, perform the following steps:
1. Obtain a Smart Account
2. Create APIC-EM Controller Profile
3. Adding Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Devices list
4. Associate Mobility Express capable Access Point to APIC-EM Controller profile
For detailed info on PnP Config about other functionality, see https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/
cloud-systems-management/one-enterprise-network-controller/
products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html

Obtain a Smart Account

Procedure

Step 1 Go to http://software.cisco.com
Step 2 Request a Smart Account or Log In (existing Smart Account holders)

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Create APIC-EM Controller Profile

Create APIC-EM Controller Profile

Procedure

Step 1 Go to http://software.cisco.com and login


Step 2 Navigate to Provisioning > Plug and Play Connect

Step 3 Click on Controller Profiles. Select a Virtual Account. If you do have one, create a Virtual Account first.
Step 4 Click on the Add Profile to create a new controller profile.

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Create APIC-EM Controller Profile

Step 5 Select Controller Type as PNP Server from the drop-down list and click on Next.

Step 6 Enter the following and click Next.


1. Profile Name
2. Description
3. Select IPv4 or IPv6, HTTP or HTTPS and enter the IP address if the PNP Server

Note If you select HTTPS, then you would have import a SSL certificate. Also, optionally one can enter
information of the secondary controller.

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Create APIC-EM Controller Profile

Step 7 Review the entries and click on Submit button to add the Controller Profile and finally click Done.

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Adding Cisco Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Devices list

Adding Cisco Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Devices list

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Provisioning > Plug and Play Connect. Click on Devices.
Step 2 Click on Devices. Select a Virtual Account. If you do have one, create a Virtual Account first.
Step 3 Click on Add Devices button to add a new device (Mobility Express Access Point).

Step 4 Import a csv file with the Device info or select Enter Device info manually. Click Next.

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Adding Cisco Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Devices list

Step 5 Click on Identify Device button. The Identify Device window will pop up. Enter Serial Number, select Base
PID, and Controller Profile(created earlier). Click on the Save button followed by Next button.

Step 6 Review the entries and click on Submit button to add the Device. Finally, click Done.

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Adding Cisco Mobility Express capable Access Point to the Devices list

Step 7 Verify that the Device has been added and the status is Pending (Redirection).

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Connecting Cisco Mobility Access Points

Connecting Cisco Mobility Access Points


To bring up a new Mobility Express site, make sure that Plug and Play service has been configured with
Mobility Express Access Points with related controller configuration. If APIC-EM controller in Private Cloud
deployment option is used, Option 43 or DNS discovery on DHCP scope must be configured. If Cloud Plug
and Play Connect redirect to APIC-EM controller deployment option is used, make sure all the related
configuration on Cloud Plug and Play Connect has also been done for successful redirect to APIC-EM
controller.
Now, it is time to connect the Mobility Express Access Points at the site. One may connect one or more Access
Points at a site. It is important to note that if multiple Mobility Express Access Points are connected at a site,
Master Election will happen first and only after Master Access Point has been elected, it will initiate
communication with the Network Plug and Play service and download the controller configuration file
regardless of the deployment option. The other Access Points will not initiate communicate with the Network
Plug and Play service. After the controller configuration file has been downloaded on the Access Point, it will
reboot and after it comes up, it will run the controller. The rest of the Access Points at the site will join this
Master Access Point as Subordinate Access Points.

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CHAPTER 4
Using internal DHCP server on Cisco Mobility
Express
Starting Release 8.3.102.0, one can enable internal DHCP Server and create scopes for Access Points and
WLANs. A total of 17 DHCP scopes are supported on Cisco Mobility Express. Using the internal DHCP
server also enables Cisco Mobility Express to be used for performing Site Survey without the need of an
external DHCP server.

Note Using a mix of Internal DHCP server and External DHCP server at the same time in a Mobility Express
Deployment is not supported at this time.

• Creating a DHCP Scope, on page 29

Creating a DHCP Scope


Internal DHCP server can be enabled and DHCP scope created during Day 0 from Setup Wizard as well as
in Day 1 using the controller WebUI. Typically, one would create DHCP scopes in Day 1 if they want to
associate the scopes with WLANs.
To create a scope and associate it to a WLAN using the controller WebUI, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > DHCP Server > Add new Pool . The Add DHCP Pool window will pop
up.
Step 2 On the Add DHCP Pool window. Enter the following fields:
• Enter the Pool Name for the WLAN
• Enable the Pool Status
• Enter the VLAN ID for the WLAN
• Enter the Lease Period for the DHCP clients. Default is 1 Day
• Enter the Network/Mask

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Creating a DHCP Scope

• Enter the Start IP for the DHCP pool


• Enter the End IP for the DHCP pool
Note If the scope is for client devices connecting to the Centralized NAT, one must select Mobility
Express Controller for Default Gateway

• Enter the Default Gateway for the DHCP pool


• Enter the Gateway IP for the DHCP pool
• Enter the Domain Name (Optional) for the DHCP pool
• For Name Servers, select User Defined if one needs to enter IP addresses of Name Servers or select
OpenDNS in which case OpenDNS Name Server IP addresses are automatically populated

Step 3 Click Apply.


Step 4 After creating the scope, it is time to assign the VLAN mapped to the DHCP scope to the WLAN. To assign
a VLAN to WLAN, navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs .
Step 5 If the WLAN does not exist, create a WLAN or if one does exist, edit the existing WLAN and click on the
VLAN and Firewall tab.
Step 6 On the VLAN and Firewall tab, configure the following:
• Select Network(Default) for Client IP Management or Mobility Express Controller if this scope is
for Centralized NAT'ed WLAN
• Select Yes to Use VLAN Tagging
• Enter the Native VLAN ID
• Select the DHCP Scope which was created previously for the WLAN. VLAN ID should be automatically
populated after the DHCP scope is selected

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Creating a DHCP Scope

Step 7 Click Apply.

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Using internal DHCP server on Cisco Mobility Express
Creating a DHCP Scope

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CHAPTER 5
TLS Support on Mobility Express
Cisco Mobility Express is a virtual wireless controller function embedded on 802.11ac Wave 2 Access points.
With the flexibility of running a wireless LAN controller function on an access point, customers can deploy
an Enterprise wireless solution on a single site or multiple sites with up to 100 Access Points at each site. In
a multi-site deployment, customers can manage each of the sites using Cisco Prime Infrastructure which would
typically be deployed in a central site. However, if the individual sites are connected to the internet via an ISP
and are not connected via a dedicated WAN, managing these multi-site deployments can pose a challenge.
To overcome this challenge, starting AireOS Release 8.6, Cisco Mobility Express, customers can now manage
the multi-site deployment using Cisco Prime Infrastructure over a TLS Tunnel. In addition to managing these
sites, they can also aggregate their DOT1x authentication request to a RADIUS(ISE) which can be deployed
along site CPI at the central site.
Please note that only SNMP, RADIUS and SSH traffic flows on the TLS tunnel to the central site and data
traffic is still switched locally at individual sites.
TLS Tunnel has two components
1. TLS Client–Starting AireOS Release 8.6, TLS Client has been embedded in the Cisco Mobility Express
code and will run on the Master AP
2. TLS Gateway –This is a Virtual Machine which is deployed at the central site to establish the TLS Tunnel.
TLS Gateway has two network interfaces
1. Public Network–This is the public IP which is reachable from every Master AP. The TLS client
establishes a TLS tunnel between Master AP and TLS Gateway using this address.
2. Private Network–This the IP address of the private network behind the TLS Gateway where the Cisco
Prime Infrastructure, RADIUS and other network devices are deployed.

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TLS Gateway

• TLS Gateway, on page 34


• TLS Client, on page 44

TLS Gateway
TLS Gateway is virtual machine and is deployed at the central site.

System Requirement for TLS Gateway


1. Hypervisor: VMware–ESXi 5.5.0/ESXI 6.0
2. VM Resources
1. 4 vCPU
2. 8GB RAM
3. 100 GB Storage
4. 2 NICs (One for Public network and one Private network)

3. IP routing requirements
1. Routing enabled from TLS-GW Private network towards Prime-infra(SNMP), ISE(Radius), DHCP
servers, SSH, Monitoring system and vice-versa

4. TLS-GW public IP should be Reachable from Management IP of ME-AP

Deploying TLS Gateway


Please follow the steps below to deploy a TLS Gateway at the central site.

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Deploying TLS Gateway

Procedure

Step 1 Secure the TLS Gateway OVA File


Step 2 Navigate to File > Deploy OVF Template on the vSphere Client UI.

Step 3 Browse to the TLS Gateway OVA file on your local machine. Click Next.

Step 4 Check the OVF Template details and click Next.

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Deploying TLS Gateway

Step 5 Specify the name for the TLS Gateway Virtual Machine.

Step 6 For Disk Format, stay with the default and click Next.

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Deploying TLS Gateway

Step 7 For Network Mapping, select the Destination Network for the Public Network interface. Click on Next.

Step 8 Verify the Deployment Settings. Enable the 'Power On after deployment' check box and click Finish.

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Configuring TLS Gateway

Configuring TLS Gateway


Configuring the TLS Gateway comprises of 3 things:
1. Configure the IP address for Public and Private network interfaces
2. Configure the TLS Gateway configuration file and start the service
3. Configuring the PSK ID-KEY Pair

After the OVA for TLS Gateway is deployed and powered up, follow the steps below to configure the TLS
Gateway.

Configuring IP Address for Public and Private network interfaces


Procedure

Step 1 Open a console session to the TLS Gateway VM and login using the following credentials:
username: tlsgw
password: tlsgw

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Configuring IP Address for Public and Private network interfaces

Step 2 Type ifconfig to verify the IP address of the Public and Private interfaces as shown below.

Note ens160 corresponds to the Public network interface and in the above example it has got the IP of
10.10.10.11 from the DHCP server. One can also statically assign the IP address which will be
shown the steps ahead. Also, there is no interface for the Private network in the ifconfig output
above. We can also manually configure this and is shown in the steps ahead.

Step 3 At the tlsgw@msp-tls-gw: prompt type sudo bash and enter tlsgw as the [sudo] password for tlsgw.
Step 4 To configure IP address for Public and Private network interface go to /etc/network directory by typing cd
/etc/interfaces at the shell.
Step 5 Open the interfaces file using vi editor by typing vi interfaces at the shell.

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Configuring IP Address for Public and Private network interfaces

Note : ens160 is Public network interface and is configured for DHCP by default. If you want to statically
configure the IP address of Public network interface, replace the ens160 setting with the following
as shown below in the example.

auto ens160
iface ens160 inet static
address 10.10.10.11
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 10.10.10.0

Step 6 To configure the Private network interface IP address, add the following in the interfaces file as shown
below and save the file.
auto ens192
iface ens192 inet static
address 172.20.229.60
netmask 255.255.255.192
network 172.20.229.0

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Configuring IP Address for Public and Private network interfaces

Step 7 To restart the network service, go to /etc/init.d and type ./networking restart . Now, do a ifconfig and you
should see both the Public interface IP address and Private interface IP address. Ping both Public and Private
IP address to verify connectivity.

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Configure the TLS Gateway configuration file and start the service

Configure the TLS Gateway configuration file and start the service
Procedure

Step 1 : Go to /opt/cisco/msp-tls-gw/bin/ and edit the tlsgw_config.txt with the following:


server_listening_ipv4_address=10.10.10.11 // Public IP of TLS Gateway
server_listening_port=443 // Port
server_private_ipv4_address=172.20.229.45 // Private IP of TLS Gateway
prefix_subnet=172.20.229.0 // Private IP network of TLS Gateway
prefix_length=26
debug_level=4 // Loglevel for TLS Gateway
dhcp_static_pool_ipv4=20.1.0.0:255.255.0.0 // Local IP pool configured for TLS Client IP
allocation
dpd_interval=60 // Dead Pear Detection timer value for client
rekey_interval=3600 // Rekey timer value for client
retry_interval=20 // Retry timer value for client

Note If you are using a DHCP server behind the TLS Gateway, do not configure dhcp_static_pool_ipv4
in tlsgw_config.txt file. This is because broadcast is sent via Private IP of tls-gw and if DHCP server
exists behind the TLS Gateway, it should assign TLS Client an IP address.

Step 2 Save the file.


Step 3 Go to /home/tlsgw and start the TLS Gateway service with script ./startSecureServer.sh
Step 4 To verify that the TLS Gateway service is running successfully, go to /opt/cisco/msp-tls-gw/bin/ and run
./tlsgw_cli as shown below.

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Configuring the PSK ID-KEY pair

Configuring the PSK ID-KEY pair


Configure the Pre Shared Key(PSK) on the TLS Gateway. This will be used by the TLS client on the Master
AP to authenticate with the TLS Gateway.

Note A maximum of 3 PSK ID-KEY pairs can be set for TLSGW. PSK-ID can be any character string of length
(3-50), PSK password(or key) can be any character string of length (5-256) , Character ':' or 'space' or 'tab'
are not allowed for both psk-id and psk-key.

To configure, follow the steps below:

Procedure

Step 1 : Go to /opt/cisco/msp-tls-gw/bin/ and run ./tlsgw_cli


Step 2 Configure the PSK using the following CLI:
tlsgw-cli# set-psk=cisco
Setting PSK ID-KEY pair
Enter the PSK key for this ID:
TLS-GW RESP:
OK

Step 3 Verify that the PSK ID is configured using the following CLI:
tlsgw-cli# get all psk-id
TLS-GW RESP:
List of stored psk-ids: cisco

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TLS Client

TLS Client
TLS Client is integrated in the AireOS Release 8.6 and is natively present in the code. For TLS client to
establish a TLS tunnel with TLS Gateway, Master AP should be able to communicate with the Public IP of
the TLS Gateway.

Pre-Requisites for TLS Client


1. Cisco Mobility Express AireOS release 8.6 or higher
2. TLS Gateway Public IP address should be reachable from the Master AP. If TLS Gateway FQDN is used
then, TLS_GW FQDN should be configured in the local DNS server, and same DNS server IP should be
configuring on ME controller to Resolve the FQDN of TLS Gateway

Configuring TLS Tunnel


There are two ways to configure the TLS Tunnel between TLS Client and TLS Gateway. They are as follows:
Option 1: Zero touch provisioning using Network PnP
During Day 0, one can download the controller configuration from Network PnP. The TLS Tunnel configuration
can also be included in the controller configuration file such that after the Master AP downloads the
configuration file, reboots, and comes back up, it will automatically establish a TLS Tunnel with the TLS
Gateway.
Option 2: Manually configure the TLS Tunnel from WebUI
To configure the TLS Tunnel from the ME WebUI, follow the steps below:

Procedure

Step 1 Switch to Expert View on the Controller WebUI


Step 2 Navigate to Services > TLS from the menu on the left
Step 3 On the TLS Tunnel page, configure the following parameters:
1. Enter the TLS Gateway Public IP address or FQDN
2. Enter the port number. Default is 443
3. Enter the PSK ID
4. Enter the PSK Key
5. Enable RADIUS and SNMP

Note RADIUS would be used for ISE and SNMP would be used for Prime Infrastructure.

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Configuring TLS Tunnel

Step 4 Click Apply.


Step 5 Finally, enable the TLS Tunnel at the top of the page. If all pre-requisites are met, a tunnel would be created
from the Master AP to the Public interface if TLS Gateway.

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Configuring TLS Tunnel

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CHAPTER 6
Configuring Cisco Mobility Express for Site
Survey
• Configuring Cisco Mobility Express for Site Survey , on page 47

Configuring Cisco Mobility Express for Site Survey


Cisco 802.11ac Wave 2 access points are capable of running Cisco Mobility Express which a virtual wireless
controller function embedded on an Access Point.
Cisco Mobility Express access point running the wireless controller function will also provide wireless
connectivity to the clients. It also supports internal DHCP server which enables Access Point to be used for
Site Survey.

Pre-requisites
1. Access Points–Cisco 802.11ac Wave 2 access points running Cisco Mobility Express software. The
following APs support Cisco Mobility Express:

Access Point Release supporting Site Survey capability


1540 Series AireOS® Release 8.5 and later
1560 Series AireOS Release 8.3.111.0 and later
1815I Series AireOS Release 8.4 and later
1815M Series AireOS® Release 8.5 and later
1815W Series AireOS Release 8.4 and later
1830 Series AireOS Release 8.3.111.0 and later
1850 Series AireOS Release 8.3.111.0 and later
2800 Series AireOS Release 8.3.111.0 and later
3800 Series AireOS Release 8.3.111.0 and later

2. Power Source–Depending on the Access Point being used for Site Survey, one can use a power adapter
or a battery pack capable of providing sufficient power to the Access Point.

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Configuring Mobility Express for Site Survey using CLI

3. Console Cable(Optional)–Cisco Mobility Express can be configure using the CLI or Over-the-air. For
configuring Cisco Mobility Express via CLI, a console connect to the Access Point would be required.

Configuring Mobility Express for Site Survey using CLI


Procedure

Step 1 Connect to the console of the Access Point.


Step 2 Power up the Access Point using a power adapter or battery pack.
Step 3 Wait for the Access Point to boot up completely such that it is running the Wireless Controller and is waiting
to be configured.
Step 4 Configure the Wireless Controller using the CLI Setup Wizard:
Note For Site Survey, a DHCP server is required and is supported on Cisco Mobility Express. DHCP
Server configuration highlighted below is mandatory if you want to enable DHCP server on Cisco
Mobility Express.

Would you like to terminate autoinstall? [yes]:yes


Enter Administrative User Name (24 characters max):admin
Enter Administrative Password (3 to 24 characters max):Cisco123
Re-enter Administrative Password: Cisco123
System Name:[Cisco_3a:d2:b4] (31 characters max):me-wlc
Enter Country Code list(enter ‘help’ for a list of countries)[US]:US
Configure a NTP server now?[YES][no]:no
Configure the system time now?[YES][no]:yes
Enter the date in MM/DD/YY format:02/28/17
Enter the time in HH:MM:SS format:11:30:00
Enter timezone location index(enter ‘help’ for a list of timezones):5
Management Interface IP Address: 10.10.10.2
Management Interface Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Management Interface Default Router: 10.10.10.1
Create Management DHCP Scope?[yes][NO]:yes
DHCP Network: 10.10.10.0
DHCP Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Router IP: 10.10.10.1
Start DHCP IP address: 10.10.10.10
Stop DHCP IP address: 10.10.10.250
DomainName: mewlc.local
DNS Server:[OPENDNS][user DNS]OPENDNS
Create Employee Network?[YES][no]:yes
Employee Network Name(SSID)?:site_survey
Employee VLAN Identifier?[MGMT][1-4095]:MGMT
Employee Network Security?[PSK][enterprise]:PSK
Employee PSK Passphrase (8-38 characters)?: Cisco123
Re-enter Employee PSK Passphrase: Cisco123
Re-enter Employee PSK Passphrase: Cisco123
Create Guest Network? [yes][NO]:NO
Enable RF Parameter Optimization?[YES][no]:no
Configuration correct? If yes, system will save it and reset.[yes][NO]:yes

Step 5 Wait for the Access Point to boot up completely. After the Wireless controller has started, log back in to the
controller using administrative username or password configured during the initial setup wizard.
Step 6 (Optional): During the CLI setup wizard, Employee Network Security was configured to PSK. This can be
disabled for easy association of clients and also disable SSID broadcast to avoid unwanted clients from joining
the SSID. To disable PSK and SSID broadcast, enter the following commands in the Controller CLI.

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(Cisco Controller)>config wlan disable 1


(Cisco Controller)>config wlan security wpa disable 1
(Cisco Controller)>config wlan broadcast-ssid disable wlan 1
(Cisco Controller)>config wlan enable 1
(Cisco Controller)>save config

Step 7 To configure channel, TX power, and channel bandwidth for the radios, disable the radio first, make the
changes and then re-enable it.
To change the 2.4GHz radio to channel 6, follow the steps below:
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11b disable <ap name>
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11b channel <ap name> <ap name> 6
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11b enable <ap name>

To change the 2.4GHz radio Transmit Power to power level 3, follow the steps below:
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11b disable <ap name>
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11b txPower <ap name> <ap name> 3
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11b enable <ap name>

To change the 5 GHz radio to channel 44, follow the steps below:
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a disable <ap name>
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a channel <ap name> <ap name> 44
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a enable <ap name>

To change the 5 GHz radio Transmit Power to level 5, follow the steps below:
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a disable <ap name>
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a txPower <ap name> <ap name> 5
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a enable <ap name>

To change the 5 GHz radio channel width to 40MHz, follow the steps below:
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a disable <ap name>
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a chan_width <ap name> 40
(Cisco Controller)>config 802.11a enable <ap name>

If 2800 and 3800 series access points are being used for Site Survey, please note the following with respect
to the XOR radio.
1. Default operation state of XOR radio is 2.4GHz.
2. One can configure the XOR radio on internal (I) Access Points from 2.4GHz to 5 and vice versa. On an
external (E) Access Point, one must have an external antenna plugged into the DART connector prior to
changing any configuration on the XOR radio.
3. When the XOR (2.4 GHz) radio is configured to operate at 5GHz, 100MHz frequency separation is
required from dedicated 5GHz radio.
4. When the XOR radio is configured to operate in 5GHz mode on an internal (I) Access Points, the Transmit
power (tx) power will be fixed and cannot be modified.

To configure the XOR (2.4GHz) radio to operate at 5GHz on 2800 and 3800 Series Access Points, follow
the steps below:
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn disable ap
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn role ap manual client-serving
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn band ap ap 5GHz
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn enable ap

To configure the XOR radio operating at 5 GHz to channel 40, follow the steps below:

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(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn disable ap


(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn channel ap ap 40
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn enable ap

To configure the XOR radio operating at 5 GHz channel width to 40MHz, follow the steps below:
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn disable ap
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn chan_width ap 40
(Cisco Controller) >config 802.11-abgn enable ap

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CHAPTER 7
Creating Wireless Networks
• WLANs, on page 51
• Creating Employee WLANs , on page 52
• Central Web Authentication Support on WLAN, on page 54
• Central Web Authentication Support on WLAN, on page 54
• Creating Guest WLANs, on page 55
• Walled Garden (DNS Pre-Auth ACLs), on page 58
• Internal Splash Page for Web Authentication, on page 59
• Managing WLAN Users, on page 61
• Configuring Maximum number of clients on a WLAN , on page 62
• Configuring Maximum number of clients on per AP Radio, on page 62
• AAA Override on WLAN, on page 63
• Bi-Directional Rate Limiting, on page 63
• Centralized NAT on WLANs, on page 63
• Adding MAC for Local MAC Filtering on WLANs, on page 65
• RLAN support on Mobility Express, on page 66
• Create AP Groups and add 1815W to AP Group, on page 67

WLANs
Cisco Mobility Express solution supports a maximum of 16 WLANs. Each WLAN has a unique WLAN ID
(1 through 16), a unique Profile Name, SSID, and can be assigned different security policies.
Access Points broadcast all active WLAN SSIDs and enforce the policies that you define for each WLAN.
A number of WLAN Security options are supported on Cisco Mobility Express solution and are outlined
below:
1. Open
2. WPA2 Personal
3. WPA2 Enterprise (External RADIUS, AP)

For Guest WLAN, a number of capabilities are supported:


1. CMX Guest Connect

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2. WPA2 Personal
3. Captive Portal (AP)
4. Captive Portal (External Web Server)

Creating Employee WLANs


Creating Employee WLAN with WPA2 Personal
Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and then click on Add new WLAN button. The Add new WLAN
Window will pop up.
Step 2 In the Add new WLAN window, on the General page, configure the following:
a) Enter the Profile Name.
b) Enter the SSID.
Step 3 Click on the WLAN Security and configure the following:
a) Select Security as WPA2 Personal.
b) Enter the Passphrase and Confirm PassPhrase.
Step 4 Click Apply.

Creating Employee WLAN using WPA2 Enterprise with External Radius Server
Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and then click on Add new WLAN button. The Add new WLAN
Window will pop up.
Step 2 In the Add new WLAN window, on the General page configure the following:
a) Enter the Profile Name.
b) Enter the SSID.
Step 3 Click on the WLAN Security and configure the following:
a) Select Security Type as WPA2 Enterprise.
b) Select Authentication Server as External Radius.
Step 4 Add the Radius server and configure the following:
• Enter the Radius IP
• Enter the Radius Port

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• Enter the Shared Secret


• Click on tick icon

Step 5 Click Apply.

Creating Employee WLAN with WPA2 Enterprise and Authentication Server


as AP
Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and then click on Add new WLAN button. The Add new WLAN
Window will pop up.
Step 2 In the Add new WLAN window, on the General page configure the following:
a) Enter the Profile Name.
b) Enter the SSID.
Step 3 Click on the WLAN Security and configure the following:
a) Select Security as WPA2 Enterprise.
b) Select Authentication Server as AP.
Note AP is the Master AP running the controller function. In this use case, controller is the
Authentication Server and therefore Local WLAN user account must exist to onboard the clients.

Step 4 Click the Apply.

Creating Employee WLAN with WPA2 Enterprise/External RADIUS and MAC


Filtering
Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and then click on Add new WLAN button. The Add new WLAN
Window will pop up.
Step 2 In the Add new WLAN window, on the General tab, configure the following:
• Enter the Profile Name
• Enter the SSID

Step 3 Click on the WLAN Security tab and configure the following:
• Enable MAC Filtering

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• Select Security Type as WPA2 Enterprise


• Select Authentication Server as External RADIUS
• Select RADIUS Compatibility from the drop-down list
• Select MAC Delimiter from the drop-down list

Step 4 Add the Radius server and configure the following:


• Enter the Radius IP
• Enter the Radius Port
• Enter the Shared Secret
• Click on tick icon.

Step 5 Click Apply.

Central Web Authentication Support on WLAN


The user associates to the web authentication SSID, which is in fact open+macfiltering and no layer 3 security.
1. The user opens the browser.
2. The WLC redirects to the guest portal.
3. The user authenticates on the portal.
4. The ISE sends a RADIUS Change of Authorization (CoA - UDP Port 1700) to indicate to the controller
that the user is valid, and eventually pushes RADIUS attributes such as the Access Control List (ACL).

Central Web Authentication Support on WLAN


Central Web Authentication allows capability for Guest users to be redirected to portals for device registration
and self-provisioning before they can be granted access on the network. The flow for the CWA includes the
following:
1. The user associates to the web authentication SSID, which is in fact open+macfiltering and no layer 3
security.
2. The user opens the browser.
3. s
The WLC redirects to the guest portal.
4. The user authenticates on the portal.
5. The ISE sends a RADIUS Change of Authorization (CoA - UDP Port 1700) to indicate to the controller
that the user is valid, and eventually pushes RADIUS attributes such as the Access Control List (ACL).

To create a WLAN with Central Web Authentication, follow the steps below:

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Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and click Add new WLAN/RLAN.
Step 2 Select the Security Type as Central Web Auth.
Step 3 Click on the Add the RADIUS Authentication Server which is hosting the portal for device registration.
Step 4 Click Apply.
Note Create the pre-authentication ACL under security policies section and apply the ACL to the required
WLAN.
Note You would still need to configure the ISE for CWA to work.

Creating Guest WLANs


Mobility Express controller can provide guest user access on WLANs which are specifically designated for
use by guest users. To set this WLAN exclusively for guest user access, enable the Guest Network under the
WLAN Security tab.

Creating Guest WLAN with Captive Portal on CMX Connect


Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and then click on Add new WLAN button. The Add new WLAN
Window will pop up.
Step 2 In the Add new WLAN window, on the General tab, configure the following:
• Enter the Profile Name
• Enter the SSID

Step 3 Enable the Guest Network under the WLAN Security tab.
Step 4 Select Captive Portal as CMX Connect.
Step 5 Enter Captive Portal URL.
Note Captive Portal URL must have the following format: https://yya7lc.cmxcisco.com/visitor/login
where yya7lc is your Account ID.

Step 6 Click Apply.


Note Additional steps are required on CMX Cloud to create the Captive Portal, Site with Access Points
and associating Captive Portal to the Site.

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Creating Guest WLAN with Internal Splash Page


There is an internal splash page built into the Mobility Express controller which can be used to onboard the
clients connecting to Guest WLANs. This internal splash page can also be customized by uploading a
customized bundle. To upload a customized internal splash page, navigate to Wireless Settings > Guest
WLANs. Select Page Type as Customized and click on the Upload button to upload a customized page
bundle.
For internal splash page, Cisco Mobility Express supports multiple options for Access Type. They are as
follows:
1. Local User Account
2. Web Consent
3. Email Address
4. RADIUS
5. WPA2 Personal

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and then click on Add new WLAN button. The Add new WLAN
Window will pop up.
Step 2 In the Add new WLAN window, on the General tab, configure the following:
• Enter the Profile Name
• Enter the SSID

Step 3 Enable the Guest Network under the WLAN Security tab.
Step 4 Select Captive Portal as Internal Splash Page.
Step 5 Select one of the following Access Type as needed:
1. Local User Account–Splash Page will present the user to enter username and password which must be
authenticated by the controller before network access is granted. Local WLAN users must be created on
the controller to onboard the Guest clients.
2. Web Consent–Splash Page will present the user to acknowledge before network access is granted.
3. Email Address–Splash Page will present the user to enter the email address before network access is
granted.
4. RADIUS–Splash Page will present the user to enter username and password which must be authenticated
by the RADIUS server before network access is granted. Select Access Type as RADIUS and enter the
RADIUS server configuration.
5. WPA2 Personal–This is an example of L2 + L3 (Web Consent). Layer 2 PSK security authentication
will happen first followed by Splash Page which will present the user to acknowledge before network
access is granted. Select Access Type as WPA2 Personal and enter the Passphrase.

Step 6 Click Apply.

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Creating Guest WLAN with External Splash Page


An external splash page is one which resides on an external Web Server. Similar to the internal splash page,
Cisco Mobility Express supports multiple options for Access Type with external splash page. They are as
follows:
1. Local User Account
2. Web Consent
3. Email Address
4. RADIUS
5. WPA2 Personal

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and then click on Add new WLAN button. The Add new WLAN
Window will pop up.
Step 2 In the Add new WLAN window, on the General tab, configure the following:
• Enter the Profile Name
• Enter the SSID

Step 3 Enable the Guest Network under the WLAN Security tab.
Step 4 Select Captive Portal as External Splash Page.
Step 5 Select one of the following Access Type as needed:
1. Local User Account–Splash Page will present the user to enter username and password which must be
authenticated by the controller before network access is granted. Local WLAN users must be created on
the controller to onboard the Guest clients.
2. Web Consent–Splash Page will present the user to acknowledge before network access is granted.
3. Email Address–Splash Page will present the user to enter the email address before network access is
granted.
4. RADIUS–Splash Page will present the user to enter username and password which must be authenticated
by the RADIUS server before network access is granted. Select Access Type as RADIUS and enter the
RADIUS server configuration.
5. WPA2 Personal–This is an example of L2 + L3 (Web Consent). Layer 2 PSK security authentication
will happen first followed by Splash Page which will present the user to acknowledge before network
access is granted. Select Access Type as WPA2 Personal and enter the Passphrase.

Step 6 Click Apply.

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Walled Garden (DNS Pre-Auth ACLs)


When a client connects to a Guest WLAN, typically, Splash Page or Guest Portal is configured to block
Internet access until authentication is successful but certain domains and IP addresses have to be added to
allow websites in order for authentication to complete.
Starting release 8.7, one can configure DNS Pre-Auth ACLs as well as IPv4 based pre-auth ACLs on a WLAN.
A maximum of 20 URL rules per ACL are supported and size of each URL is maximum of 255 characters.
Wildcards are supported in the URL as well.

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs > Add new WLAN/RLAN
Step 2 Under General tab, enter the WLAN values as needed.
Step 3 Under the WLAN Security tab, enable Guest Network. Select Captive Portal as External Splash Page and
enter the Captive Portal URL. Select Access Type as Web Consent. To add DNS Pre-Auth ACLs, click on
the Add URL Rules button and add the URL(s) you want to permit/deny.

Step 4 Click Apply.

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Internal Splash Page for Web Authentication


Cisco Mobility Express supports a default internal guest portal that comes built-in and also a customized page,
which can be imported by the user.

Using default internal guest portal


To use the default Guest Portal Page or import a customized Guest Portal page, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > Guest WLANs.


Step 2 Configure the following on the Guest WLAN page:
• Page Type–Select as Internal (Default).
• Preview–You can Preview the page by clicking on the Preview button.
• Display Cisco Logo–To hide the Cisco logo that appears in the top right corner of the default page, you
can choose No. This field is set to Yes by default.
• Redirect URL After Login–To have the guest users redirected to a particular URL (such as the URL
for your company) after login, enter the desired URL in this text box. You can enter up to 254 characters.
• Page Headline–To create your own headline on the login page, enter the desired text in this text box.
You can enter up to 127 characters. The default headline is Welcome to the Cisco Wireless Network.
• Page Message–To create your own message on the login page, enter the desired text in this text box.
You can enter up to 2047 characters. The default message is Cisco is pleased to provide the Wireless
LAN infrastructure for your network. Please login and put your air space to work.

Step 3 Click Apply.

Using customized internal guest portal


If a customized guest portal has to be presented to guest users, a sample page can be downloaded from
cisco.com which can then be edited and imported to the Cisco Mobility Express controller. After the page has
been edited and ready to be uploaded to the Cisco Mobility Express controller, follow the steps below.

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > Guest WLANs.


Step 2 Configure the following on the Guest WLAN page:
• Page Type–Select as Customized.

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• Customized page Bundle–Click on the Upload button to upload the he customized page bundle to the
Mobility Express controller.
• Preview–You can Preview the Guest portal by clicking on the Preview button.
• Redirect URL After Login–To have the guest users redirected to a particular URL (such as the URL
for your company) after login, enter the desired URL in this text box. You can enter up to 254 characters.

Step 3 Click Apply.

Centralized NAT on Guest WLANs


Managed Service Providers provide managed WiFi services at Hotels, Retail locations with 1 - 70 APs on
site with up 300 or more concurrent wireless clients. In such locations aggregate throughput is limited by
WAN connectivity and is typically less than 250 Mbps. Use of external DHCP server for clients is limited to
back office devices/clients due to scale limitations. For Guest devices, expectation is to use internal DHCP
server on Master AP so that and all guest traffic can be routed via the Master Access Point.

To configure centralized NAT on Guest WLANs, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Add a DHCP Pool for the WLAN which has to bed NAT'ed. To create the scope, navigate to Wireless Settings
> DHCP Server > Add new Pool. The Add DHCP Pool window will pop up. On the Add DHCP Pool
window, configure the following:
• Enter the Pool Name for the WLAN
• Enable the Pool Status
• Enter the VLAN ID for the WLAN
• Enter the Lease Period for the DHCP clients. Default is 1 Day

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• Enter the Network/Mask


• Enter the Start IP for the DHCP pool
• Enter the End IP for the DHCP pool
• Enter the Default Gateway for the DHCP pool
Note If the scope is for client devices connecting to the Centralized NAT, one must select Mobility
Express Controller for Default Gateway.

• Enter the Domain Name (Optional) for the DHCP pool


• For Name Servers, select User Defined if one needs to enter IP addresses of Name Servers or select
OpenDNS in which case OpenDNS Name Server IP addresses are automatically populated
• Click Apply.

Step 2 To create WLAN, navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs. On the Add new WLAN or Edit WLAN window,
click on the VLAN and Firewall tab and configure the following:
• For Client IP Management, select Mobility Express Controller
• Check the Peer to Peer Block to disable communication between two clients on that WLAN
• Enter the Native VLAN ID
• Select the DHCP Scope which was created for Guest clients on the Mobility Express controller

Note : The VLAN for this WLAN should be configured on all the switch ports to which APs are connected.

Step 3 Click Apply.

Managing WLAN Users


Cisco Mobility Express supports creation of local user accounts. These users can be authenticated for WLANs
configured to use Security as WPA2 Enterprise with Authentication Server set to AP or Guest WLANs
configured to use internal or external splash page with Access Type as Local User Account.
To create local user accounts, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLAN Users and then click on Add WLAN User button.
Step 2 Configure the following for the WLAN user:
• User Name–Enter the username
• Guest User–For Guest user, enable the Guest User checkbox
• Lifetime–For Guest User, define the user account validity. Default is 86400 seconds (or, 24 hours) from
the time of its creation.

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• WLAN Profile–Select the WLAN to which the user will connect


• Password–Enter the password for the user account
• Description–Additional details or comments for the user account
• Click on tickicon.

Configuring Maximum number of clients on a WLAN


Mobility Express supports a maximum of 100 APs and 2000 clients. To limit the maximum number of clients
which can connect to a WLAN, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View.


Step 2 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs > Add new WLAN/RLAN.
Step 3 Under the Advanced tab, enter a value for Maximum Allowed Clients or select a number from the drop-down
list.
Step 4 Click Apply.

Configuring Maximum number of clients on per AP Radio


Mobility Express supports a maximum of 200 clients per radio. To limit the maximum number of clients
which can connect to a radio, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View.


Step 2 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs > Add new WLAN/RLAN
Step 3 Under the Advanced tab, enter a value for Maximum Allowed Clients per AP Radio.
Step 4 Click Apply.

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AAA Override on WLAN


AAA Override option of a WLAN enables you to configure the WLAN for identity networking. It enables
you to apply VLAN, Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Quality of Service (QoS) to individual WLANs on the
returned RADIUS attributes from the AAA server.

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View.


Step 2 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs > Add new WLAN/RLAN
Step 3 Under the Advanced tab, enable the Allow AAA Override.
Step 4 Click Apply.

Bi-Directional Rate Limiting


Starting AireOS 8.7, Bi-Directional Rate limiting is supported on the following:
• Per Client
• Per BSSID
• Per WLAN

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View.


Step 2 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs > Add new WLAN/RLAN
Step 3 Under the Traffic Shaping tab, configure the Rate Limits as required.
Step 4 Click Apply.

Centralized NAT on WLANs


Managed Service Providers provide managed WiFi services at Hotels, Retail locations with 1 - 70 APs on
site with up 300 or more concurrent wireless clients. In such locations aggregate throughput is limited by
WAN connectivity and is typically less than 250 Mbps. Use of external DHCP server for clients is limited to
back office devices/clients due to scale limitations. For Guest devices, expectation is to use internal DHCP
server on Master AP so that and all guest traffic can be routed via the Master Access Point.

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To configure centralized NAT on WLANs, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Add a DHCP Pool for the WLAN which has to bed NAT'ed. To create the scope, navigate to Wireless Settings
> DHCP Server > Add new Pool. The Add DHCP Pool window will pop up. On the Add DHCP Pool
window, configure the following:
• Enter the Pool Name for the WLAN
• Enable the Pool Status
• Enter the VLAN ID for the WLAN
• Enter the Lease Period for the DHCP clients. Default is 1 Day
• Enter the Network/Mask
• Enter the Start IP for the DHCP pool
• Enter the End IP for the DHCP pool
• Enter the Default Gateway for the DHCP pool
Note If the scope is for client devices connecting to the Centralized NAT, one must select Mobility
Express Controller for Default Gateway.

• Enter the Domain Name(Optional) for the DHCP pool


• For Name Servers, select User Defined if one needs to enter IP addresses of Name Servers or select
OpenDNS in which case OpenDNS Name Server IP addresses are automatically populated
• Click Apply

Note When creating DHCP Pool, one must select Mobility Express Controller for the Default Gateway
if this scope has to be used for WLAN configured for Centralized NAT.

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Adding MAC for Local MAC Filtering on WLANs

Step 2 To create WLAN, navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs. On the Add new WLAN or Edit WLAN window,
click on the VLAN and Firewall tab and configure the following:
• For Client IP Management, select Mobility Express Controller
• Check the Peer to Peer Block to disable communication between two clients on that WLAN
• Enter the Native VLAN ID
• Select the DHCP Scope which was created for Guest clients

Note The VLAN for this WLAN should be configured on all the switch ports to which APs are connected.

Step 3 Click Apply.

Adding MAC for Local MAC Filtering on WLANs


Cisco Mobility Express supports MAC Filtering on WLANs on controller as well as with external RADIUS.
MAC addresses can be added to the controller and be either Whitelisted or Blacklisted. To add MAC addresses
to the controller, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLAN Users and click on Local MAC Addresses.
Step 2 Click Add MAC Address.
Step 3 In the Add MAC Address window, configure the following:
• MAC Address–Enter the MAC Address of the device
• Description–Enter the description
• Type–Select whether this MAC has to be WhitleList of BlackList
• Profile Name–Select the WLAN to which the user will connect

Step 4 Click Apply.

WLAN Passpoint Support


Starting Release 8.5, Cisco Mobility Express will add support for Passpoint on WLANs. Access Points which
supports IEEE 802.11u-based network information and phone client devices that are certified for WiFi
Alliance's are able to work together to support the Passpoint functionality.
The 802.11u enabled phone client devices discover and select target AP based on the information gathered
during the pre-association stage from an 802.11u-enabled AP/Cisco Mobility Express controller. A phone
client device has pre-provisioned network information such as home OI Information, realm name and domain
name, presented as configuration file inside the phone client device. In addition, the phone client device may
obtain home network information using the IMSI data derived from the inserted SIM/USIM card.

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The 802.11u AP provides various information listings that provide the HotSpot owner details, roaming partners,
realm list, 3GPP cellular information, and domain name. The realm list also provides listings of the realm
name and its associated EAP authentication type mappings. Knowing this information is essential for the
phone client device so that correct EAP credential exchange may take place.
Through the WLAN configuration, single SSID and multiple SSID will be configured with necessary Passpoint
information. This additional Passpoint information will be added on beacon or probe response information,
so that Passpoint-enabled phone client device can detect and query AP to get further information. During the
query process, standard protocol format called ANQP-Access Network Query Protocol-is followed. Here, the
protocol describes the standard 2-way or 4-way handshake process to get enough information from the AP
and ANQP server to determine the best AP that the phone client device can authenticate and associate with.
This handshake process is called GAS-Generic Advertisement Service-protocol that is defined on IEEE
802.11u standard.
To configure Passpoint, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert View is available on the top banner of the Cisco
Mobility Express WebUI as shown below. This will enable the 802.11u and Hotspot 2.0 tabs on the WLANs.

Step 2 To configure 802.11u and Hotspot 2.0 on WLAN, navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs. On the Add
new WLAN or Edit WLAN window, click on the 802.11u tab and Hotspot 2.0 tab to enter the relevant
configuration.
Step 3 Click Apply.

RLAN support on Mobility Express


Starting Release 8.7, one can create RLANs on Cisco Mobility Express allowing the Wired Ports on the
1810W and 1815W to be managed.
Since Mobility Express supports local switching of Data Traffic, RLAN data traffic will also be locally
switched. In the example below, we will configure RLAN for local switching using 802.1x authentication
and associate them to Ethernet LAN ports on the AIR-AP1815W for Wired Access. The following are the
tasks which we will configure:
1. Create RLANs with 802.1x Authentication
2. Create AP Groups, associate RLAN to AP Group, add APs to AP Group and finally associate Wired Ports
to RLANs.
To create RLAN with 802.1x Authentication , follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and click on Add new WLAN/RLAN button.

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Step 2 Under the General tab, select RLAN for Type drop down list.
Step 3 Enter the Profile Name.
Step 4 Under the RLAN Security, select 802.1x for Security Type.
Step 5 Since we are using 802.1x authentication for wired clients, enter the RADIUS server by clicking on the Add
RADIUS Authentication Server.
Step 6 Under the VLAN & Firewall tab, enable Use VLAN Tagging, and enter the Native VLAN ID as well as
the VLAN ID which will be used for Data traffic.
Step 7 Click Apply.

Create AP Groups and add 1815W to AP Group


To create AP Groups and add 1815W to AP Group, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > Access Point Groups and click on Add new group button.
Step 2 Under the General tab, enter the AP Group Name, description.
Step 3 Under the WLANs tab, click on the Add new WLAN/RLAN button and select the RLAN to be added to
the AP Group.
Step 4 Under the Access Points tab, select the Wall Plate APs to be added to this AP Group.
Step 5 Under the Ports Tab, enable the required LAN ports, and select the RLAN for the port.
Step 6 Click Apply.

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CHAPTER 8
Managing Services with Cisco Mobility Express
There are a number of services supported in a Cisco Mobility Express deployment. In this section, the following
Services will be covered.
• Application Visibility and Control, on page 69
• iOS Optimized WiFi connectivity and Fast Lane, on page 70
• Cisco Mobility Express with CMX Cloud, on page 72

Application Visibility and Control


Network Based Application Recognition (NBAR) provides application-aware control on a wireless network
and enhances manageability and productivity. It also extends Cisco's Application Visibility and Control (AVC)
as an end-to-end solution, which gives a complete visibility of applications in the network and allows the
administrator to take some action on the same.
NBAR is a deep-packet inspection technology, which supports stateful L4 - L7 classification. The key use
cases for NBAR are capacity planning, network usage base lining and better understanding of what applications
are consuming bandwidth. Trending of application usage helps network admin improve quality of experience
by protecting key applications from bandwidth-hungry applications when there is congestion on the network,
capability to prioritize or de-prioritize, and drop certain application traffic. The AVC/NBAR2 engine
interoperates with QoS settings on the specific WLAN.

Enabling Application Visibility on WLAN


To configure Application Visibility on a WLAN, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

To enable Application Visibility on WLAN, navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs. On the Add new
WLAN or Edit WLAN window, click on the Traffic Shaping tab. To enable Application Visibility on this
WLAN, select Enabled for Application Visibility Control.

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Enabling Application Control on WLAN

Enabling Application Control on WLAN


After Application Visibility has been enabled on the WLAN, one can add control for various applications.
There are two way to add control for applications. One can either add control directly from the Applications
widget on the Network Summary page or one can navigate to Monitoring > Applications and add control
for applications as needed.

Adding Application Control from Network Summary Page

Procedure

Step 1 Add the Applications widget on the Network Summary Page. To add the Applications widget, click on the
+ icon on the right of the Network Summary banner. Select the Applications widget. The Applications
widget will display the top 10 applications being browsed by the clients in the Mobility Express network.
Step 2 Click on the application you wish to add control. The Add AVC Rule window will pop up. Select the Action.
Action can be Mark, Drop or Rate Limit. For Mark, one can select DSCP as Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze
or Custom. If custom is selected, one has to specific he DSCP value. For Rate Limit, one can specify the
Average Rate and Burst Rate for the application.
Step 3 Select one or more AVC Profile/SSID combinations.
Step 4 Click Apply.

Adding Application Control from Applications Page

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Monitoring > Applications Page.


Step 2 Click on the application you wish to add control. The Add AVC Rule window will pop up. Select the Action.
Action can be Mark, Drop or Rate Limit. For Mark, one can select DSCP as Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze
or Custom. If custom is selected, one has to specific he DSCP value. For Rate Limit, one can specify the
Average Rate and Burst Rate for the application.
Step 3 Select one or more AVC Profile/SSID combinations.
Step 4 Click Apply.

iOS Optimized WiFi connectivity and Fast Lane


Configuring Optimized WiFi Connectivity
802.11r enabled WLAN provides faster roaming for wireless client devices. It is desired that iOS devices
running iOS 10 will be able to join a WLAN with 11r enabled for better roaming experience. However, if 11r
is enabled on a WLAN, the legacy devices that do not recognize the FT AKM's beacons and probe responses
will not be able to join the WLAN. We need a way to identify the Client device capability and allow 11r

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capable device to join on the WLAN as an FT enabled device and at the same time to allow legacy device to
join as an 11i/WPA2 device.
Cisco Mobility Express Release 8.4 will enable 802.11r on an 802.11i-enabled WLAN selectively for iOS
devices. The capable iOS devices will identify this functionality and perform an FT Association on the WLAN.
The Cisco Wireless infrastructure will allow FT association on the WLAN from devices that can negotiate
FT association on a non-FT WLAN. In addition, with Mobility Express running AireOS 8.4, 802.11k and 11v
features are enabled by default on an SSID. These features help clients roam better by telling them when to
roam and providing them with information about neighboring APs so that no time is wasted scanning when
roaming is needed. Since iOS devices support dual band, the 802.11k neighbor list is updated on dual-band,
adaptively for iOS devices.
To configure 11k, r, v on a WLAN, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert View is available on the top banner of the Cisco
Mobility Express WebUI as shown below and enabled various configurable parameters which are not available
in Standard view.

Step 2 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs. On the Add new WLAN or Edit WLAN window, click on the
Advanced tab. Configure 802.11k, r, v as needed on this page.

Step 3 Click Apply.

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Configuring Fast Lane

Configuring Fast Lane


Apple iOS device mark QoS as per IETF recommendations. With Mobility Express running AireOS 8.5, one
can enable the Fastlane feature from CLI, which enables several beneficial functions:
• Your WLC QoS configuration is optimized globally to better support real-time applications
• iOS 10 devices can send upstream voice traffic without the requirement to perform WMM TSPEC/TCLAS
negotiation. The infrastructure will honor the voice marking for these devices.
• You can apply a QoS profile to your iOS 10 devices, and decide which applications should receive QoS
marking upstream, and which applications should be sent as best effort or background.
To configure Fast Lane on a WLAN from UI, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 To enable Application Visibility on WLAN, navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs. On the Add new
WLAN or Edit WLAN window, click on the Traffic Shaping tab. To enable Fastlane on this WLAN, select
Enabled for Fastlane.
Step 2 Click Apply.

Cisco Mobility Express with CMX Cloud


Cisco CMX Cloud
Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Cloud (Cisco CMX Cloud) is an simple and scalable offering which
enables delivery of wireless guest access and in-venue analytics, integrating seamlessly with Cisco wireless
infrastructure.
This cloud-delivered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering is quick to deploy and intuitive to use. It is based
on CMX 10.x code and is compatible with Cisco Mobility Express Release 8.3. It offers the following services:
• Connect for Guest Access-Providing an easy-to-use guest-access solution for visitors through a custom
portal using various authentication methods including social, self-registration, and Short Message Service
(SMS).
• Presence Analytics-Detecting all Wi-Fi devices (the "devices") in the venue and providing analytics on
their presence, including dwell times, new vs. repeat visitors, and peak time.

Cisco CMX Cloud Solution Compatibility Matrix


• Cisco Mobility Express running AireOS Release 8.3 and later
• All Cisco Mobility Express supported Access Points

Minimum requirements for Cisco CMX Cloud deployment


Below are the minimum requirements for CMX Cloud deployment:
1. Verify Cisco CMX Cloud Solution Compatibility Matrix above.

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2. Recommended browser is Chrome 45 or later.


3. Signup at https://cmxcisco.com for 60 day trial or go to Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW) and purchase
license for your choice of CMX Cloud service

Enabling CMX Cloud Service on Mobility Express for Presence Analytics


After CMX Cloud Account has been created, next step is to configure and enable the CMX Cloud Service on
Master Access Point so that it can send data to the CMX Cloud. To configure, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 On Cisco Mobility Express WebUI, navigate to Advanced > CMX.


Step 2 Enter the CMX Server URL (Site URL).
Step 3 Enter the CMX Server Token (Account Token).
Step 4 Click Apply.
Tip Click the Test Link button to verify connectivity from Master AP to CMX Cloud Site using the
configured information.

Configuring Site on CMX Cloud for Presence Analytics


To create a site and add Access Points to the site in CMX Cloud for Presence Analytics, follow the procedure
below:

Procedure

Step 1 Login to CMX Cloud account at https://cmscisco.com/


Step 2 Navigate to Manage > Cloud Enabled WLC and verify that the IP address of the WLC shows up on the list.
Step 3 Navigate to PRESENCE ANALYTICS > Manage. You should be in the Sites pane. Click on the Add Site
button to create a site.
Step 4 In the NEW SITE window, configure the following details:
• Enter the Name for the site
• Enter the Address for the site
• Select Timezone from the drop-down list
• Select the Signal Strength Threshold for Ignore, Passerby, and Visitors
• Enter the Minimum Dwell Time for Visitor (minutes)

Step 5 Click Save to create the Site.


Step 6 After the Site is created, click on Access Points under PRESENCE ANALYTICS > Manage.

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Step 7 Select the Access Points and add them to the Site by clicking on Add to Site button and selecting the Site
from the drop-down list.
Step 8 Finally, navigate to Presence Analytics dashboard. Select the Site you created. Within a few minutes, you
should begin to see Presence data get populated.

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CHAPTER 9
Managing the Cisco Mobility Express
Deployment
• Managing Access Points, on page 75
• Adding Access Points to Mobility Express Network , on page 77
• Optimal Join, on page 78
• Configuring SFTP or TFTP for AP Join, on page 79
• Configuring Cisco.com for AP Join, on page 79
• Configuring Access Point as 802.1x Supplicant, on page 80
• Configuring RF Profiles, on page 80
• Configuring Management Access , on page 83
• Managing Admin Accounts , on page 83
• Managing TACACS+ and RADIUS Servers, on page 84
• Managing TIME on Cisco Mobility Express, on page 87
• Updating Cisco Mobility Express Software, on page 87
• CALEA Support, on page 95

Managing Access Points


Starting Release 8.4, Cisco Mobility Express supports up to 100 Access Points. To view the list or modify
parameters on an Access Points, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > Access Points.


Note The first Access Point with the P icon is the Master AP and the rest of them are Subordinate Access
Points.

Step 2 To modify the parameters on an access point, click on the Edit button. The Access Point window will come
up displaying the General parameters about the Access Point.
• Operating Mode(Read only field)-For a master AP, this field displays AP & Controller. For other associated
APs, this field displays AP only.

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• AP Mac(Read only field)–Displays the MAC address of the Access Point.


• AP Model(Read only field)-Displays the model details of the Access Point.
• IP Configuration–Choose Obtain from DHCP to allow the IP address of the AP be assigned by a DHCP
server on the network, or choose Static IP address. If you choose Static IP address, then you can edit the
IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway fields.
• AP Name–Edit the name of access point. This is a free text field.
• Location–Edit the location for the access point. This is a free text field.

Step 3 Under the Controller tab (Available only for Master AP), one can modify the following parameters:
• System Name–Enter the System Name for Mobility Express
• IP Address–IP address decides the login URL to the controller's web interface. The URL is in https://<ip
address> format. If you change this IP address, the login URL also changes.
• Subnet Mask–Enter the Subnet Mask.
• Country Code–Enter the Country Code.

Step 4 Under Radio 1 (2.4 GHz) and Radio 2 (5 GHz), one can edit the following parameters:
• Admin Mode–Enabled/Disabled. This enables or disables the corresponding radio on the AP (2.4 GHz
for 802.11 b/g/n or 5 Ghz for 802.11 a/n/ac).
• Channel–Default is Automatic. Automatic enables Dynamic Channel Assignment. This means that
channels are dynamically assigned to each AP, under the control of the Mobility Express controller. This
prevents neighboring APs from broadcasting over the same channel and hence prevents interference and
other communication problems. For the 2.4GHz radio, 11 channels are offered in the US, up to 14 in
other parts of the world, but only 1-6-11 can be considered non-overlapping if they are used by neighboring
APs. For the 5GHz radio, up to 23 non-overlapping channels are offered. Assigning a specific value
statically assigns a channel to that AP.
• 802.11 b/g/n–1 to 11.
• 802.11 a/n/ac –40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157,
161, 165.

• Channel Width - 20 MHz for 2.4GHz and for 20, 40 and 80 for 5 GHz.
• Transmit Power - 1 to 8. The default value is Automatic.

This is a logarithmic scale of the transmit power, that is the transmission energy used by the AP, 1 being the
highest,2 being half of it, 3 being 1/4th and so on. Selecting Automatic adjusts the radio transmitter output
power based on the varying signal level at the receiver. This allows the transmitter to operate at less than
maximum power for most of the time; when fading conditions occur, transmit power will be increased as
needed until the maximum is reached.

Step 5 Click Apply.

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Adding Access Points to Mobility Express Network


When adding Access Points to Cisco Mobility Express network, the following have to be considered:
Software Version on the Access Point - If the software code of the access point, which is being added, is
different than what is on the Master AP, software download of the code running on the Master AP has to
happen on the Access Point being added. For the new Access Point to download the code that is running on
the Master AP, one of the following has to be configured:
• Optimal Join–Optimal Join is a feature which enables downloading of the code from the Master AP if
the if the AP being added is of the same AP model as the Master AP. For this feature, you do not need
any external server to host the code running on the Master AP.

Note This feature is supported on 2800, 3800 and 1560 series Access Points.

• SFTP or TFTP server details and the Access Point images path information has to be configured on the
Software Update page.
• If the Master AP has 8.3.102.0 or later code, one can configure the Cisco.com login credentials on the
Software Update page and the code on the new Access Point will be automatically downloaded from
cisco.com when an Access Point joins.

Note For Software download to take place directly from Cisco.com, Master AP should be the one with the
SMARTNet Contract.

Optimal Join–To enable Optimal join, follow the procedure below-

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Software Update. Select TFTP or SFTP for Transfer Mode and configure the
SFTP or TFTP Parameters.
Step 2 Enable Optimal Join as shown below.

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Optimal Join

Step 3 Click Save.

Optimal Join
To enable Optimal join, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Software Update. Select TFTP or SFTP for Transfer Mode and configure the
SFTP or TFTP Parameters.
Step 2 Enable Optimal Join as shown below.

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Step 3 Click Save.

Configuring SFTP or TFTP for AP Join


Procedure

Step 1 Download the Access Point image zip file from cisco.com on a TFTP server. The bundle version must be the
same as the one running on the Master AP. Unzip the file to extract the individual Access Point images.
Step 2 Navigate to Management > Software Update. Select SFTP or TFTP for Transfer Mode and configure the
SFTP or TFTP Parameters.

Configuring Cisco.com for AP Join


Procedure

Navigate to Management > Software Update. Select Cisco.com as the Transfer Mode and configure
parameters related to the Cisco.com user account.

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Configuring Access Point as 802.1x Supplicant

Note During the image download, there is no service interruption. After the image download is complete,
the AP automatically re-boots and join the Master AP.

Configuring Access Point as 802.1x Supplicant


Starting AireOS Release 8.7, one can configure Access Points running Cisco Mobility Express as a 802.1x
supplicant. Mobility Express APs can act as the 802.1x supplicant and is authenticated by the switch against
the ISE that using EAP-FAST, and EAP-TLS and PEAP. Once the port is configured for 802.1x authentication,
the switch does not allow any traffic other than 802.1x traffic to pass through the port until the device connected
to the port authenticates successfully. An AP can be authenticated either before it joins the ME-WLC or after
it has joined an ME-WLC, in which case you configure 802.1x on the switch after the Access Point joins the
WLC.

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > Access Points.


Step 2 Click on the Global AP Configuration button and configure the following under the Credentials(802.1x)
tab:
• Username
• Password
• Enable Password

Step 3 Select EAP Method and LSC AP Auth State.


Step 4 Click Apply.

Configuring RF Profiles
Starting AireOS Release 8.6, Cisco Mobility Express will support six pre-built RF Profiles as well as creation
of RF Profiles.
RF Profiles allows you to tune groups of APs that share a common coverage zone together and selectively
change how RRM will operates the APs within that coverage zone. For example, a university might deploy
a high density of APs in an area where a high number of users will congregate or meet. This situation requires
that you manipulate both data rates and power to address the cell density while managing the co-channel
interference. In adjacent areas, normal coverage is provided and such manipulation would result in a loss of
coverage. Using RF profiles and AP groups allows you to optimize the RF settings for AP groups that operate
in different environments or coverage zones. RF profiles are created for the 802.11 radios. RF profiles are
applied to all APs that belong to an AP group, where all APs in that group will have the same profile settings.
The RF profile gives you the control over the data rates and power (TPC) values. One can either associate a
build in RF Profile with AP Groups or create a new RF Profile and then associate that with the AP Group.

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Configuring RF Profiles
To configure RF Profiles, enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert View is available on
the top banner of the Cisco Mobility Express WebUI as shown below and enabled various configurable
parameters which are not available in Standard view.

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Advanced > RF Profiles


Step 2 Click on the Add new RF Profile button.
Step 3 Under the General tab, configure the following:
• RF Profile Name
• RF Profile Description
• Band
• Maximum clients per radio
• RxSOP Threshold
• Multicast datarates

Step 4 Under the 802.11 tab, configure the following:


• Data rates
• MCS Settings

Step 5 Under the RRM tab, configure the following:


• Channel Width
• Select DCS Channels

Step 6 Under the Client Distribution tab, configure the following:


• Window (0 to 20 clients)
• Denial (1 to 10)

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Configuring Access Point Groups


To configure AP Groups, enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert View is available on the
top banner of the Cisco Mobility Express WebUI as shown below and enabled various configurable parameters
which are not available in Standard view.

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > Access Point Groups.


Step 2 Click on the Add new group button.
Step 3 Under the General tab, configure the following:
• AP Group Name
• AP Group Description
• NAS-ID (Optional
• Venue Group (Optional)
• Venue Type (Optional

Step 4 Under the WLANs tab, click on the Add WLAN button to add the WLAN to the AP Group
Step 5 Under the Access Points tab, select the Access Points which must be added to the AP Group
Step 6 Under the RF Profiles tab, select the RF Profile for 2.4 and 5.0 GHz band. The RF Profile will be applied to
this AP Group.
Step 7 Click Apply.

Configuring Access Point Groups


Starting AireOS Release 8.6, Cisco Mobility Express will support upto 100 AP Groups depending on model
of the AP running the Wireless controller function.
AP Group is a logical grouping of Access Points in the wireless network. AP Groups enable location based
services i.e. if you want to broadcast an SSID on a set of Access Points and a another SSID on different set
of Access Points, you can do so by creating AP Groups and adding the Access Points accordingly.

Note Maximum of 50 AP Groups are supported on Mobility Express and a maximum of 100 APs can be added to
a single AP Group.

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Configuring Management Access


The Management Access Interface on the Mobility Express controller is the default interface for in-band
management of the controller and connectivity to enterprise services. It is also used for communications
between the controller and access points.
There are four types of Management Access supported on the Mobility Express controller.
1. HTTP Access–To enable HTTP access mode, which allows you to access the controller GUI using
http://<ip-address> through a web browser, choose Enabled from the HTTP Access drop-down list.
Otherwise, choose Disabled. The default value is Disabled. HTTP access mode is not a secure connection.
2. HTTPS Access–To enable HTTPS access mode, which allows you to access the controller GUI using
http://ip-address through a web browser, choose Enabled from the HTTPS Access drop-down list.
Otherwise, choose Disabled. The default value is Enabled. HTTPS access mode is a secure connection.
3. Telnet Access–To enable Telnet access mode, which allows remote access to the controller's CLI using
your laptop's command prompt, choose Enabled from the Telnet Access drop-down list. Otherwise, choose
Disabled. The default value is Disabled. The Telnet access mode is not a secure connection.
4. SSHv2 Access–To enable Secure Shell Version 2 (SSHv2) access mode, which is a more secure version
of Telnet that uses data encryption and a secure channel for data transfer, choose Enabled from the SSHv2
Access drop-down list. Otherwise, choose Disabled. The default value is Enabled. The SSHv2 access
mode is a secure connection.
To enable or disable the different types of management access to the controller, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Access.


Step 2 For the various Access Types, select either Enabled or Disabled.
Note There must be at least one access enabled else admin user will locked out of Mobility Express
Controller and will have to use console to make changes to provide access again.

Step 3 Click Apply to submit changes.

Managing Admin Accounts


Cisco Mobility Express Cisco Mobility Express supports creation of admin accounts to prevent unauthorized
users from reconfiguring the controller and viewing configuration. It supports the following three access levels
for Admin user accounts:
1. Read/Write–Accounts with read and write privilege have full provisioning and monitoring capability
2. Read only–Accounts with Read only privilege only have monitoring capability and can browse all screens
3. Lobby Ambassador–A Lobby Ambassador can create and manage guest user accounts on the Cisco
Mobility Express. The lobby ambassador has limited configuration privileges and can access only the
web pages used to manage the guest accounts.

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Managing TACACS+ and RADIUS Servers

Note The local user database is limited to a maximum of 2048 entries, which is also the default value. This database
is shared by local management users (including lobby ambassadors), local network users (including guest
users), MAC filter entries, exclusion list entries. Together they cannot exceed the maximum value.

To create admin users, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Admin Accounts and click on the Add New User button.
Step 2 Enter the following to configure the admin user account.
• Account Name–Enter the admin user name. Username is case-sensitive and can contain up to 24 ASCII
characters. Username cannot contain spaces and must be unique.
• Access - Select Read/Write, Read Only or Lobby Ambassador access for the admin account.
• New Password & Confirm Password - Enter a password for the admin user account, in-keeping with
the following rules:
• Passwords are case sensitive and cannot contain spaces
• The password should contain a minimum of 8 characters from ALL of the following classes:
• Lowercase letters
• Uppercase letters
• Digits
• Special characters
• No character in the password can be repeated more than three times consecutively
• The password should not contain the word Cisco or a management username. The password
should also not be any variant of these words, obtained by reversing the letters of these words,
or by changing the capitalization of letters, or by substituting 1, |, or ! or substituting 0 for o
or substituting $ for s.

Step 3 Click tick icon.

Managing TACACS+ and RADIUS Servers


Starting Release 8.5, Cisco Mobility Express will support up to Six RADIUS and Three TACACS Servers.
To configure RADIUS and TACACS+ Servers, enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert
View is available on the top banner of the Cisco Mobility Express WebUI as shown below and enabled
various configurable parameters which are not available in Standard view.

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Adding TACACS+ Servers


Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Admin Accounts.


Step 2 To add TACACS+ servers, click on TACACS+ tab. Click on the Add TACACS+ Authentication Server
button and enter the following:
• Server Index–Select 1 through 3
• State–Enable the state
• Server IP Address–Enter the IPv4 address of the TACACS+ server
• Shared Secret–Enter the shared secret
• Port Number–Enter the port number being used for communicating with the TACACS+ server
• Server Timeout–Enter the server timeout

Step 3 Do the same of the RAIDUS Authorization Servers.

Adding RADIUS Servers


Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Admin Accounts.


Step 2 To add RADIUS servers, click on RADIUS tab. Click on the Add RADIUS Authentication Server button
and enter the following:
• Server Index–Select 1 thru 6
• State–Enable the state
• Server IP Address–Enter the IPv4 address of the RADIUS server
• Shared Secret–Enter the shared secret
• Port Number–Enter the port number being used for communicating with the RADIUS server
• Server Timeout–Enter the server timeout

Step 3 Do the same of the RAIDUS Authorization Servers.

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Configuring AP SSH Credentials

Configuring AP SSH Credentials


On Cisco Mobility Express, AP SSH credentials are configured as controller credentials by default. To change
the AP SSH credentials on all the APs, follow the procedure below.

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > Access Points.


Step 2 Click on the Global AP Configuration button and configure the following under the Credentials(SSH) tab:
• Username
• Password
• Enable Password

Step 3 Click Apply.

Managing Admin User Priority


Prior to Release 8.5, admin accounts on Cisco Mobility Express were created locally on the controller. In
Release 8.5 TACACS+ and RADIUS servers can also be used for authentication admin users.
When multiple databases are configured, it is important to configure the admin account user priority. To
configure the priority, follow the Procedure below.

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert View is available on the top banner of the Cisco
Mobility Express WebUI as shown below and enables various configurable parameters which are not available
in Standard view.

Step 2 Navigate to Management > Admin Accounts and click on the Management User Priority Order.
Note By default, the local database is always queried first. If the username is not found, the controller
switches to the RADIUS server if configured for RADIUS or to the TACACS+ server if configured
for TACACS+. The default setting is local and then RADIUS.

Step 3 To change the priority, between TACACS+ and RADIUS, click on either and move UP or DOWN. Please
note Local Admin Accounts cannot be moved to Priority 3. It can only be either 1 or 2.

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Managing TIME on Cisco Mobility Express

Managing TIME on Cisco Mobility Express


The system date and time on the Cisco Mobility Express controller is typically configured when running the
initial Wireless Express setup wizard.

Configuring NTP Server


Up to three Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers can be configured to sync date and time if one was not
configured during the Wireless Express setup. Time Zone can be configured to offset the clock.
To configure Time Zone and NTP servers, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Time.


Step 2 Choose the desired Time Zone .
Step 3 Enter the NTP Polling Interval. The polling interval ranges from 3600 to 604800 seconds.
Step 4 To add an NTP server, click Add NTP Server button and configure the following:
• NTP Index–It can be 1, 2 or 3.
• NTP Server - This can be the NTP Server IP address, NTP Server Name or pool. A maximum of three
NTP Servers are supported.
• Click tick icon.

Note Synchronization of the date and time with the NTP Server occurs each time the controller reboots
and at each user-defined polling interval.

Updating Cisco Mobility Express Software


Cisco Mobility Express controller software update can be performed using the controller's web interface.
Software update ensures that both the controller software and all the Access Points associated are updated.
An AP joining the controller compares its software version with the Master AP version and incase of mismatch,
the new AP requests for a software update. For software update, one must configure the Transfer Mode and
corresponding details on the Software Update page.

Note Master AP does not have AP images. It facilitates the transfer of new software from the configured Transfer
Mode to the Access Points requesting for Software Update.

Software download on the Access Points is automatically sequenced to ensure that not more than 5 APs are
downloading the software simultaneously and the queue refreshes till all the Access Points requiring upgrade
have downloaded the new image.

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Software Update using cisco.com Transfer Mode

Cisco Mobility Express supports the following Transfer Mode for Software Update:
1. Cisco.com
2. HTTP
3. SFTP
4. TFTP

Note There is no service interruption during pre-image download. After pre-image download is complete on all
APs, a Manual or scheduled reboot of Mobility Express network can be triggered.

Software Update using cisco.com Transfer Mode


Software Update via Cisco.com works for all Access Points supported in a Cisco Mobility Express Deployment.
Below requirements must be met to initiate a Software Update from cisco.com.
• Internet access is required for software download from cisco.com to APs. However, no proxy is required.
• A valid cisco.com (CCO) account with username & password required.
• EULA acceptance on a per user basis. Only Master AP (not all APs in the network) must have SMARTNet
contract else Software Update will not start.

Note Software Update from cisco.com is supported via GUI only.

In order to perform Software Update using cisco.com Transfer Mode, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 To perform Software Update via Cisco.com, navigate to Management > Software Update and configure the
following:
• Select Cisco.com for Transfer Mode.
• Enter Cisco.com Username.
• Enter Cisco.com Password.
• Enable Automatically Check for Updates. Check is done once in 30 days.
• Click on the Check Now button to retrieve the Latest Software Release and the Recommended Software
Release from Cisco.com.

Step 2 Click Apply.


Step 3 Click Update to initiate software update wizard.
Step 4 In the Software Update Wizard, select the Recommended Software Release or Latest Software Release. Click
Next.
Step 5 Select Update Now to initiate software update immediately or Schedule the Update for Later.
Note If Schedule the Update for Later is selected, configure the Set Update Time field.

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Software Update using HTTP Transfer Mode

Step 6 Click on the Auto Restart checkbox if automatic restart of all access points in the network is desired after
the software update is finished. Click Next.
Step 7 Click Confirm to start the software update.
To monitor the download progress on individual Access Points, expand the Predownload image status.

Software Update using HTTP Transfer Mode


If you have the same model of Access Points in the Mobility Express deployment, HTTP Transfer mode can
be used to perform Software Update. For HTTP Transfer mode, one can simply upload the Access Point
upgrade image from the local machine. To perform Software Update using HTTP Transfer Mode, follow the
procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Download the AP Image bundle from cisco.com to the local machine. The table below points to Release
8.7.102.0 images.

Access Point Access Point image bundle. Contains individual AP


images to be used for Software Update
Step 2 Cisco Aironet® 1540 Series AIR-AP1540-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 1560 Series AIR-AP1560-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 1815I Series AIR-AP1815-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 1815M Series AIR-AP1815-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 1815W Series AIR-AP1815-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 1830 Series AIR-AP1830-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 1850 Series AIR-AP1850-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 2800 Series AIR-AP2800-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip
Cisco Aironet® 3800 Series AIR-AP3800-K9-ME-8-7-102-0.zip

Note The above images are for AireOS Release 8.4.100.0. The image bundle would be different for
different releases.

Step 3 Unzip the AP Image bundle to extract individual AP Images. Mapping of Access Points to their corresponding
images is shown below:

Access Point Access Point Image


Cisco Aironet® 1540 Series ap1g5
Cisco Aironet® 1560 Series ap3g3
Cisco Aironet® 1815I Series ap1g5
Cisco Aironet® 1815M Series ap1g5

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Software Update using SFTP Transfer Mode

Access Point Access Point Image


Cisco Aironet® 1815W Series ap1g5
Cisco Aironet® 1830 Series ap1g4
Cisco Aironet® 1850 Series ap1g4
Cisco Aironet® 2800 Series ap3g3
Cisco Aironet® 3800 Series ap3g3

Step 4 To perform Software Update via HTTP Transfer Mode, navigate to Management > Software Update and
configure the following:
• Select HTTP for Transfer Mode
• Browse to the local AP image, corresponding to the Access Point in your network
• Click on the Auto Restart checkbox if automatic restart of all access points in the network is desired after
the software update is finished

Step 5 Click Apply.


Step 6 Click on Updateto initiate software update.

Software Update using SFTP Transfer Mode


Software Update through SFTP Transfer Mode works for all Access Points supported in a Cisco Mobility
Express Deployment. You would need a SFTP server which can communicate with the Master Access Point
to use this upgrade method. This update method is supported from controller WebUI as well as CLI.

Upgrading from WebUI


To perform Software Update using SFTP Transfer mode from WebUI, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Download the AP Image bundle from cisco.com to the SFTP server.
Step 2 Unzip the AP Image bundle to extract individual AP Images.
Step 3 To perform Software Update via SFTP Transfer Mode, navigate to Management > Software Update and
configure the following:
• Select SFTP for Transfer Mode
• Enter the IP Address and Port Number of the SFTP server.
• Enter the File Path to the unzipped AP images on the SFTP Server.
• Enter the Username and Password of the SFTP Server

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Note The most common mistake made is entering this path correctly. It is important that this path be
entered correctly before going to the next step. Do not point to individual AP image. You need to
only point to the directory which contains the AP images.

Step 4 Click on the Auto Restart checkbox if automatic restart of all access points in the network is desired after
the software download is finished.
Step 5 Click Apply.
Step 6 Click on Update Now button to initiate software update.
Note To Schedule Update at a later time, user must select a date and time in Set Update Time field and
then click on the Schedule Later button. It is recommended that the Set Reboot Time should be at
least 2 hours from the time pre-image download was initiated. This will ensure that pre-image
download on all Access Points in the Mobility Express Network has completed.

Software Update using TFTP Transfer Mode


Software Update via TFTP Transfer Mode works for all Access Points supported in a Cisco Mobility Express
Deployment. You would need a TFTP server which can communicate with the Master Access Point to use
this upgrade method. This update method is supported from controller WebUI as well as CLI.

Upgrading from WebUI


To perform Software Update using TFTP Transfer mode from WebUI, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Download the AP Image bundle from cisco.com to the TFTP server.
Step 2 Unzip the AP Image bundle to extract individual AP Images.
Step 3 To perform Software Update via TFTP Transfer Mode, navigate to Management > Software Update and
configure the following:
• Select TFTP for Transfer Mode.
• Enter the IP Address of the TFTP server in the IP Address (IPv4) field.
• Enter the File Path to the unzipped AP images on the TFTP Server.

Note The most common mistake made is entering this path correctly. It is important that this path be
entered correctly before going to the next step. Do not point to individual AP image. You need to
only point to the directory which contains the AP images.

Step 4 Click Apply.


Step 5 Click Update Now to initiate software update.

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Upgrading from CLI

Note To Schedule Update at a later time, user must select a date and time in Set Update Time field and
then click on the Schedule Later button. It is recommended that the Set Reboot Time should be at
least 2 hours from the time pre-image download was initiated. This will ensure that pre-image
download on all Access Points in the Mobility Express Network has completed.

Upgrading from CLI

Procedure

Step 1 Login to AP running Mobility Express controller via SSH or Telnet(if it is enabled).
Step 2 Specify the datatype.
(Cisco Controller) >transfer download datatype ap-image

Step 3 Specify the transfer mode.


(Cisco Controller) >transfer download ap-images mode tftp

Step 4 Specify the IP address of the TFTP server.


(Cisco Controller) >transfer download ap-images serverIp <IP addr>

Step 5 Specify the path of the AP images on the TFTP server.


(Cisco Controller) >transfer download ap-images imagePath <path to AP images>

Note The most common mistake made is entering this path correctly. It is important that this path be
entered correctly before going to the next step. Do not point to individual AP image. You need to
only point to the directory which contains the AP images.

Step 6 Start pre-downloading of the image on the APs.


(Cisco Controller) >transfer download start
Mode........................................... TFTP
Data Type...................................... ap-image
TFTP Server IP................................. 10.1.1.77
TFTP Packet Timeout............................ 10
TFTP Max Retries............................... 10
TFTP Path...................................... ap_bundle_8.1.112.30/
This may take some time.
Are you sure you want to start? (y/N) y
TFTP Code transfer starting.
Triggered APs to pre-download the image.
Reboot the controller once AP Image pre-download is complete

Step 7 Check the pre-download status by executing the CLI below.


(Cisco Controller) >show ap image all

Total number of APs............... 3


Number of APs
Initiated.........................1
Predownloading....................2
Completed predownloading..........0
Not Supported.....................0
Failed/BackedOff to Predownload...0

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Passive Client Support Mobility Express

Primary Backup Predownload Predownload Next Retry Retry Failure


AP Name Image Image Status Version Time Count Reason
–––––––––––––– –––––––––– –––––––-- –––––––– ––––––––– ––––––– –––– –––––
AP6412.256e.0e78 8.1.112.21 8.1.112.21 Predownloading –– NA NA
APAOEC.F96C.D640 8.1.112.21 8.1.112.21 Predownloading –– NA NA
3600-gemini 8.1.112.21 8.1.112.21 Predownloading –– NA

Step 8 Wait for the pre-image download to complete on the Access Points.
(Cisco Controller) >show ap image all
Total number of APs............... 3
Number of APs
Initiated.........................1
Predownloading....................2
Completed predownloading..........0
Not Supported.....................0
Failed/BackedOff to Predownload...0

Primary Backup Predownload Predownload Next Retry Retry Failure


AP Name Image Image Status Version Time Count Reason
–––––––––––––– –––––––––– –––––––-- –––––––– ––––––––– ––––––– –––– –––––
AP6412.256e.0e78 8.1.112.21 8.1.112.21 Complete –– NA NA
APAOEC.F96C.D640 8.1.112.21 8.1.112.21 Complete –– NA NA
3600-gemini 8.1.112.21 8.1.112.21 Complete –– NA

Step 9 After the pre-download is complete, issue a reset system as shown below.
(Cisco Controller) >reset system
The system has unsaved changes.
Would you like to save them now? (y/N) y
Configuration Saved!
System will now restart!

Passive Client Support Mobility Express


Passive clients are wireless devices, such as scales and printers that are configured with a static IP address.
These clients do not transmit any IP information such as IP address, subnet mask, and gateway information
when they associate with an access point.
For FlexConnect APs with locally switched WLANs, passive client feature enables the broadcast of ARP
requests and the APs respond on behalf of the client.

Note Passive Client support is not available for Guest and CWA WLANs.

To enable Passive Client on AP, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View.


Step 2 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and click on Add new WLAN/RLAN button.
Step 3 Under the Advanced tab, enable Passive Client for the WLAN.

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Managing Advanced RF Parameters

Step 4 Enter the Multicast IP.


Step 5 Click Apply.

Managing Advanced RF Parameters


Cisco Mobility supports a number RF Parameters which can be configured the administrator to optimize their
network deployment. To manage advanced RF Parameters, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert View is available on the top banner of the Cisco
Mobility Express WebUI as shown below and enabled various configurable parameters which are not available
in Standard view.

Step 2 Under Advanced RF Parameters, the following parameters are available:


• 2.4 GHz Band - This is a global setting and can be enabled or disabled.
• 5.0 GHz Band - This is a global setting and can be enabled or disabled.

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• Automatic Flexible Radio Assignment - If there are 2800 and 3800 series access points in the Cisco
Mobility Express deployment which supports Flexible Radio Assignment, one can choose to enable or
disable it.
• Optimized Roaming–This is a global setting and can be enabled or disabled.
• Event Driven RRM–This is a global setting and can be enabled or disabled.
• CleanAir Detection–CleanAir is supported on 2800 and 3800 series access points and one can choose
to enable or disable it.
• 5.0 GHz Channel Width–Global setting is configured to best but one can select 20, 40, 80 or 160 MHz
for channel width.
• 2.4 GHz Data Rates–Move the slider to disable/enable data rates in the 2.4 GHz band
• 5.0 GHz Data Rates–Move the slider to disable/enable data rates in the 5.0 GHz band
• Select DCA Channels–One can select (click on individual channels) the channels to be included in DCA
for both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz band

Note Green with an underline below the channel indicates that it is selected.

Step 3 Click Apply.

Uploading OUI, EAP Device Cert, EAP CA Cert from UI


Prior to 8.7, uploading OUI file, EAP Device Certificate and EAP CA Certificate was only available from
CLI. Starting 8.7, this functionality is available from WebUI via using local file upload(HTP), FTP or TFTP.
To upload, follow the procedure below:

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Advanced > Controller Tools > Upload File


Step 2 Select the File Type to upload. This can be OUI file, EAP Device Cert, and EAP CA Cert.
Step 3 Select HTTP, FTP or TFTP for Transfer Mode and provide applicable details.
Step 4 If the Transfer Mode is HTTP(Local Machine), click on the Browse button and upload the file.
Step 5 Click Apply settings and Import.

CALEA Support
Support for The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) is available in Cisco Mobility
Express starting Release 8.5. To configure CALEA Server, follow the procedure below:

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Procedure

Step 1 Enable Expert View on Cisco Mobility Express. Expert View is available on the top banner of the Cisco
Mobility Express WebUI as shown below.

Step 2 Navigate to Advanced > Controller Tools. Click on the CALEA Tab and configure the following:
• Enable the CALEA status
• Enter the CALEA server IP address and Port
• Enter the Sync interval in minutes
• Enter the Venue information

Step 3 Click Apply.

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CHAPTER 10
Master AP Failover and Electing a new Master
Cisco Mobility Express is supported on Cisco 1560, 1815I, 1815M, 1815W, 1830, 1850, 2800 and 3800 series
Access Points. If you have a mix of these Access Points in a Cisco Mobility Express deployment, the Master
AP election process determines which of the supported Access Point will be elected to run Mobility Express
controller function in case of a Failover of the Active Master AP. VRRP is used to detect the failure of Master
AP which initiates the election of a new Master.

Note Mobility Express uses MAC 00-00-5E-00-01-VRID where VRID is 1 so if there are other instances of VRRP
running in the environment, use VRID other than 1 for those instances.

• Master AP Failover, on page 97


• Electing a new Master Access Point, on page 98
• Efficient AP Join for heterogeneous network, on page 99
• Schedule WLAN, on page 100
• Option 43 support for ME, on page 102
• mDNS support, on page 102
• FQDN support SFTP, on page 105
• Videostream support (MC2UC), on page 106
• Cisco RFID Tag support, on page 110

Master AP Failover
To have redundancy in the Mobility Express network, it must have two or more Mobility Express capable
Access Points. These Access Points should have AP Image type as MOBILITY EXPRESS IMAGE and AP
Configuration as MOBILITY EXPRESS CAPABLE. In an event of a failure of Master AP, another Mobility
Express capable AP is elected as a Master automatically. The newly elected Master AP has the same IP and
configuration as the original Master AP.

Note Given Access Point models support different scale limits in terms of the number of Access Points supported,
it is highly recommended to have at least two or more Access Points which support the same scale limits. For
example, if you need to support scale of 100 Access Points, you should have at least two or more of either
3800, 2800 or a combination of both.

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Electing a new Master Access Point

Note Access Points, which have the Mobility Express Image but AP Configuration, is NOT MOBILITY EXPRESS
CAPABLE, will not participate in the Master AP election process.

Electing a new Master Access Point


Master election process is based on a set of priorities. When an active Master Access Point fails, the election
process gets initiated and it elects the Access Point with the highest priority as the Master AP.

Note During the Master Election process, even though the Master AP running the controller function is down, the
remaining Access Points will fall into Standalone mode and will continue to service connected clients and
switch data traffic locally. After the new Master is elected, the Standalone Access points will move to connected
mode.

As mentioned above, Master Access Point election is based on a set of priorities. The priorities are as follows:

Procedure

Step 1 User Defined Master–User can select an Access Point to be the Master Access Point. If such a selection is
made, no new Master will be elected in case of a failure of the active Master. After five minutes, if the current
Master is still not active, it will be assumed dead and Master Election will begin to elect a new Master. To
manually define a Master, follow the procedure below:
a) Navigate to Wireless Settings > Access Points.
b) From the list of Access Points, click Edit icon of the Access Point which you would like to select as the
Master AP.
c) Under the General tab, click on Make me Controller button.
d) Click Yes on the Confirmation window.
Note The previous Master will reboot and the selected Access Point will immediately launch the
controller and become the active Master.

Step 2 Next Preferred Master–Admin can configure the Next Preferred Master UI and CLI. When this is configured
and the active Master AP fails, the one configured as the Next Preferred Master will be elected as a Master.
To configure the Next Preferred Master, follow the procedure below:
Note Only one Next Preferred Master can be configured on Cisco Mobility Express.

a) Navigate to Wireless Settings > Access Points.


b) Edit the AP which you would like to make it as a Next Preferred Master
c) In the Edit AP window, enable the Set as Preferred Master toggle.
d) Click Apply.
To configure the Next Preferred Master from the controller CLI, please follow the steps below:
To configure the Next Preferred Master, execute the following CLI:

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(Cisco Controller) >config ap next-preferred-master <Cisco AP>


<Cisco AP> Enter the name of the Cisco AP

To see the Next Preferred Master, execute the following CLI:


(Cisco Controller) >show ap next-preferred-master

To clear the Next Preferred Master, execute the following CLI:


Cisco Controller) >clear ap next-preferred-master

Step 3 Most Capable Access Point– If the first two priorities are not configured, Master AP election algorithm will
select the new Master based on the capability of the Access Point. For example, 3800 is the most capable
followed by 2800, 1850, 1830 and finally the 1815 Series.
Note All 1815 Series Access Points have the same capability.

Step 4 Least Client Load– If here are multiple Access Points with the same capability i.e. multiple 3800 Access
points, the one with least client load is elected as the Master Access Point.
Step 5 Lowest MAC Address–If all of the Access Points are the same and have the same client load, then Access
Point with the lowest MAC will be elected as a Master.

Efficient AP Join for heterogeneous network


Efficient Join is a feature which enables downloading of the code from the Master AP if the if the AP being
added is of the same AP model as the Master AP. For this feature, you do not need any external server to host
the code running on the Master AP.

Configuring Efficient Join


Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Management > Software Update. Select TFTP or SFTP for Transfer Mode and configure the
SFTP or TFTP Parameters
Step 2 Enable Efficient Join as shown below and click Apply.

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Schedule WLAN

Schedule WLAN
ME supports an option to schedule availability of each and every WLAN. By default, all WLANs are available
24/7 when they are initially created. Each WLAN would present the user options to create a scheduler as
follows:
• Predefined:
• Mon – Fri 8am to 5pm ON, all else OFF
• Sat – Sun 8am to 8pm ON, all else OFF

• User-defined:
• User can select each day of the week and check whether the WLAN would be ON for hourly intervals

Configuration can be defined from UI or CLI. Schedule WLAN configuration will also be included in
configuration file that can be delivered to ME through PnP.

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Scheduling WLAN

Scheduling WLAN
Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Wireless Settings > WLANs and select WLAN required for setting WLAN schedule.

Step 2 Click on the Scheduling tab you will have the option to Disable or Enable Schedule on the WLAN.

Step 3 In the screen shot below, an example of scheduling the WLAN to be enabled on Monday only is shown.

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Option 43 support for ME

Option 43 support for ME


DHCP option 43 is a vendor specific option and is used for providing WLC IP addresses to the Access Point.
Without this option all Mobility Express APs will start the controller function but with this Option 43 with
sub type option, one can have the Mobility Express AP convert to CAPWP and join a WLC appliance. After
receiving the DHCP option 43 and sub type 0xF2 by the AP at bootup, it will convert the AP type to CAPWAP
AP and follow the regular joining process.
DHCP Configuration on the switch is shown below.
3750-SWITCH(dhcp-config)#option 43 hex F2056464645801

mDNS support
Bonjour protocol is an Apple service discovery protocol which locates devices and services on a local network
with the use of multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) service records. The Bonjour protocol operates on
service announcements and service queries. Each query or advertisement is sent to the Bonjour multicast
address ipv4 224.0.0.251 (ipv6 FF02::FB). This protocol uses mDNS on UDP port 5353.
The address used by the Bonjour protocol is link-local multicast address and therefore is only forwarded to
the local L2 network. Routers cannot use multicast routing to redirect the traffic because the time to live (TTL)
is set to 1. This meant that all the service providers/sources (which advertise the service) and Bonjour
clients(which ask for service) had to be in the same subnet. This lead to scalability problems.

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mDNS support

In order to address this issue, the Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) acts as a Bonjour Gateway. The
WLC listens for Bonjour services, caches these Bonjour advertisements (AirPlay, AirPrint etc.) from the
source/host. For example, Apple TV and responds back to Bonjour clients when they ask/request for a service.
This way you can have the sources and clients in different subnets.

Cisco WLC works as a Bonjour gateway in local mode today. The WLC listens for Bonjour services and by
caching those Bonjour Advertisements (AirPlay, AirPrint etc.) from the source/host e.g. AppleTV and
responding back to Bonjour clients when they ask/request for a service.

Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Services > mDNS and Enable mDNS Global Snooping as shown below.

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mDNS support

Step 2 Navigate to Wireless Setting > WLANs and create a WLAN for clients with any security type and Enable
mDNS on the WLAN. By default mDNS Profile set as the default-mdns-profile to allow the Bonjour services
that you require to be advertised on a particular WLAN.

(Cisco Controller) >config wlan mdns enable <wlan ID>

Step 3 Create another WLAN for services as shown and enable mDNS as we dids in step 2.
Step 4 Check if ipad/iphone and Apple TV are connected to the correct SSIDs and make sure they have ip addresses
assigned from two different subnets.

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FQDN support SFTP

FQDN support SFTP


User provided domain name of the SFTP server is resolved and used for transfer download method. In this
release we added the support domain name along with ipv4 address for the SFTP server configuration.

Configuring SFTP
Navigate to management and select SFTP as your transfer method. Specify SFTP ip address and
username/password configured.

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Videostream support (MC2UC)

Videostream support (MC2UC)


Cisco Unified Wireless Network (CUWN) release 8.0 introduces a new feature—VideoStream for Local
Switching, for branch office deployments. This feature enables the wireless architecture to deploy multicast
video streaming across the branches, just like it is currently possible for enterprise deployments. This feature
recompenses the drawbacks that degrade the video delivery as the video streams and clients scale in a branch
network. VideoStream makes video multicast to wireless clients more reliable and facilitates better usage of
wireless bandwidth in the branch.
Multicast to Unicast
By enabling 802.11n data rates and providing packet error correction, multicast-to-unicast capabilities of
Cisco VideoStream enhances reliability of delivering streaming video over Wi-Fi beyond best-effort features
of traditional wireless networks. A wireless client application subscribes to an IP multicast stream by sending
an IGMP join message. With reliable multicast, this request is snooped by the infrastructure, which collects
data from the IGMP messages. The AP checks the stream subscription and configuration. A response is sent
to the wireless client attached to the AP in order to initiate reliable multicast once the stream arrives. When
the multicast packet arrives, the AP replicates the multicast frame and converts it to 802.11 unicast frames.
Finally, a reliable multicast service delivers the video stream as unicast directly to the client.

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Configuring Videostream

Higher Video Scaling on Clients


With Cisco VideoStream technology, all of the replication is done at the edge (on the AP), thus utilizing the
overall network efficiently. At any point in time, there is only the configured media stream traversing the
network, because the video stream is converted to unicast at the APs based on the IGMP requests initiated by
the clients. Some other vendor implementations do a similar conversion of multicast to unicast, but do it
inefficiently as evidenced by the load put on the wired network to support the stream.

Configuring Videostream
Procedure

Step 1 Navigate to Services > Media Stream and enable Global Multicast mode and Multicast Direct as shown
below

Step 2 Click on Add new Stream to add multicast stream to controller. Choose Stream Name and select multicast
range.

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Configuring Videostream

Step 3 To enable VideoStream on WLAN One or all WLANs/SSIDs configured can be enabled for streaming video
with VideoStream. This is another configuration step that can control the enabling of the VideoStream feature.
Enabling or disabling the VideoStream feature is non-disruptive.

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Configuring Videostream

All wireless clients requesting to join a stream will be assigned video QoS priority on admission.
Wireless client streaming video prior to enabling the feature on the WLAN will be streaming using normal
multicast. Enabling the feature switch the clients to multicast-direct automatically on the next IGMP snooping
interval. Legacy multicast can be enabled on the WLAN by not checking the Multicast Direct feature. This
will show that wireless clients streaming video are in Normal Multicast mode.

Step 4 Make sure the wireless clients are associated to the access point(s), and are configured for a correct interface.
As seen in the Figure , there are two clients associated to one AP. The two clients have an IP address from
VLAN X (SSID name—enjoy).The associated clients have an IP address and good uplink connectivity to the
AP.

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Cisco RFID Tag support

Enable streaming on the wired side by connecting a video server with a configured multicast address
229.77.77.28. Refer the following link to know how to stream from a Video Sever: https://wiki.videolan.org/
Documentation:Streaming_HowTo_New/#Streaming_using_the_GUI
The Wireshark capture on the client shows the Multicast to Unicast Video Stream. The Ethernet header contains
the MAC address of the client as the Destination MAC address, for example, 7c:d1:c3:86:7e:dc.

Cisco RFID Tag support


The Cisco ME supports tracking of active RFIDs. This helps customers track valued assets. When the active
RFID is in range the WLC will add information to its database. Mobility Express support 3000 RFIDs.

Configuring Cisco RFID Tag


Procedure

Step 1 RFID Tag data Collection is enabled by default, CLI shown below should show default configuration.
RFID Tag data Collection......................... Enabled
RFID timeout.................................... 1200 seconds
RFID mobility....................................
RFID Rate limit................................. 1000

Step 2 Place RFID tag near AP, “show rfid summary” should show RFID tags.
(Cisco Controller) >show rfid summary

Total Number of RFID : 2


----------------- -------- ------------------ ------ ---------------------
RFID ID VENDOR Closest AP RSSI Time Since Last Heard
----------------- -------- ------------------ ------ ---------------------

00:0c:cc:4f:5b:62 Aerosct APB026.80E4.8DC0 -52 456 seconds ago


00:12:b8:0a:c5:f6 G2 APB026.80E4.8DC0 -37 1011 seconds ago

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Configuring Cisco RFID Tag

Step 3 To show RFID details, use CLI as shown below:

“show rfid detail <mac>” should show RFID tag details


(Cisco Controller) >show rfid detail 00:0c:cc:0b:c0:79
RFID address..................................... 00:0c:cc:0b:c0:79
Vendor........................................... Aerosct Last
Heard....................................... 24 seconds ago
Packets Received................................. 7 Bytes
Received................................... 399
Detected Polling Interval........................ 35 seconds Cisco
Type.......................................
Content Header
=================
CCX Tag Version.................................. 1
Tx Power......................................... 19 dBm
Channel.......................................... 11
Reg Class........................................ 6
Burst Length..................................... 2
CCX Payload ===========
Last Sequence Control............................ 0
Payload length................................... 22
Payload Data Hex Dump
00 02 00 33 02 07 42 02 80 00 00 00 e1 04 07 00 0c cc 00 00 13 00
Nearby AP Statistics: APA0EC.F96C.D510(slot 0, chan 11) 23 se.... -66 dBm

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