Yes, it's time to talk about the more legacy,
Arrow-esque wireless LAN controllers.
Why are we still talking about these even though Cisco no longer sells them?
Well, there's two primary reasons.
First of all, the reality is that there are still probably hundreds of
thousands of these
things in production that works around the globe.
So you're very likely to run into this at some point if you don't already
actively
manage one.
However, the other reason is simply because Cisco wants us to be sure that we WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
However, the other reason is simply because Cisco wants us to be sure that we
can support
them and therefore it's within scope of this exam and therefore of this course.
And so whether it's a situation of, hey, we need to manage one of these in
production,
or simply I need to make sure that I understand all of the topics within the
blueprint, either
way, it's a pretty good reason to go ahead and study it.
So as we know, iOS XE is the modern platform for wireless LAN controllers.
This is what runs on our catalyst, 9800s. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
This is what runs on our catalyst, 9800s.
Again, catalyst now can mean pretty much anything Cisco has decided and
therefore we're going
to see it running our wireless LAN controller architecture now.
However, before this, we had the old Air OS.
This came from an acquisition that Cisco made right around the time I entered
into the industry.
So it's been a couple of years to say the least.
They acquired a company called AirSpace spelled like this and AirSpace had WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
They acquired a company called AirSpace spelled like this and AirSpace had
created the concept
of lightweight architecture along with the tunneling mechanism that eventually
became
CapWap.
And so these ran on more legacy wireless LAN controller hardware, including
things like
the 5500s and the 3500s and even going back a little bit further, the 2500s.
And this is the wireless LAN controller that I'm going to be using to demo Air
OS in our
lab today.
Now by and large, when Cisco developed iOS XE architecture, they borrowed most WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
Now by and large, when Cisco developed iOS XE architecture, they borrowed most
of what
happens on the AirOS side.
However, they still changed the way that we do the configuration.
And so it's important for us to still figure out exactly how we can do the same
things in
AirOS.
One of the biggest differences is that Cisco created the concept of tags for
iOS XE and
we just don't have tags on the AirOS side.
And another major difference is that while we use SVIs on the iOS XE side, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
And another major difference is that while we use SVIs on the iOS XE side,
because it's
an iOS XE device, it's basically a catalyst switch we can use VLAN interfaces.
Well on the AirOS side, we're not going to use that either.
So what do we use over here?
Well instead of tags, we're going to use the concept of AP groups.
AP groups are going to allow us to take a collection of APs and group them
together,
as the name implies, and take a configuration and apply it to all of the APs in WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
as the name implies, and take a configuration and apply it to all of the APs in
a single
group.
So we'll use those instead of tags in order to bring our configuration together
on the
AirOS side.
And instead of using SVIs, we're going to use the concept of dynamic interfaces
.
The whole conversation about interfaces on AirOS is very, very important.
We have virtual interfaces, management interfaces, redundancy interfaces.
And so this is a conversation that showed up in our CCNA course.
If you need to refresher on how interfaces come together on AirOS, I highly WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
If you need to refresher on how interfaces come together on AirOS, I highly
recommend
taking a look at those topics within CCNA.
However, we are going to need to rely on these.
And so we'll take a look at the configuration of dynamic interfaces and
management interfaces
here on AirOS.
So as we explore the similarities now, we're going to still find that Cisco
likes to use
WLANs.
This concept of wireless LANs or WLANs is a combination of our SSID and our SS WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
This concept of wireless LANs or WLANs is a combination of our SSID and our SS
ID configurations.
And so this is going to remain the same between iOSXE and AirOS.
But there is a little bit of a nuanced difference between how we do it on AirOS
versus iOSXE.
Specifically on iOSXE, I'm going to apply my WLAN via the policy tag and the
policy
profile. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
profile.
And so this is an important part of how we bring the configuration together on
iOSXE.
And this is how we ultimately apply the VLAN because we're going to map it to
an SVI,
which directly maps it to a VLAN on iOSXE.
Well, we've already said on AirOS that we don't have the ability to create SVIs
and
we're not using tags.
So instead, what we're going to find is that we're going to take a WLAN and we
're just
going to directly map it to one of those interfaces. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
going to directly map it to one of those interfaces.
In production networks, for the most part, we're going to map this to a dynamic
interface.
The dynamic interface is going to have a VLAN associated with it.
However, in smaller environments, especially remote sites and, hey, lab
environments such
as mine, we can also apply this to the management interface.
And oftentimes this is going to be an untagged VLAN.
It doesn't have to be, but we at least have that choice.
We'll say one or the other. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
We'll say one or the other.
But this, in this way, we're going to take the SSID and get it to a VLAN.
So we see that either way.
We get it to a VLAN on iOSXE via the policy tag and the policy profile, whereas
in AirOS,
we're going to do it via our dynamic, really, either one, our dynamic interface
mapping
or our management interface mapping.
Now, let's have a quick note on this concept of dynamic interfaces.
So a dynamic interface we're going to find is very similar to an SVI. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
So a dynamic interface we're going to find is very similar to an SVI.
In that, we're going to have to provide it with a VLAN ID.
And this VLAN ID is going to get mapped to the trunk that connects to the
wireless LAN
controller.
So that's pretty handy.
It's also going to have IP address information.
So it's going to have an IP address.
It's going to have a mask.
But interestingly, it's also going to have a gateway address.
So we need to create this dynamic interface almost as if we're creating a WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
So we need to create this dynamic interface almost as if we're creating a
little subnet,
a little network of our own.
And so once again, for the most part, our AirOS, WLANs end up getting mapped to
one
of these.
And that is ultimately how we get mapped to our VLAN ID.
So I want to point this out because it is just a little bit different from an S
VI, but
it will end up feeling very similar to how we bring that configuration together
on the
iOS XE side.
Now furthermore, we have to worry about our CAPWAP termination. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
Now furthermore, we have to worry about our CAPWAP termination.
And our CAPWAP tunnels are going to get terminated onto the wireless LAN
controller.
So our APs are going to form CAPWAP here to the wireless LAN controller.
But the question is, what are we landing on with the wireless LAN controller
here?
How exactly are we going to allow CAPWAP termination to happen?
Well with our iOS XE, we allowed this to happen on an SVI.
With our wireless LAN controller, we're going to also allow this to happen on a WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
With our wireless LAN controller, we're going to also allow this to happen on a
dynamic
interface.
So this is a dynamic interface.
And once again, we can either discover this via broadcast or via some kind of
layer three
mechanism, either DHCP option 43 or DNS.
So either way, we'd be connecting to an IP address.
And the dynamic interface does have an IP address.
But again, broadcast will work in a small environment or lab environment.
And we are also bound to a VLAN. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
And we are also bound to a VLAN.
And so we just need to think through how those access points are going to land
on one
of those dynamic interfaces.
However, we also need to make sure that we have an option enabled on the
dynamic interface.
And that option is going to be known as dynamic AP management.
We'll see that we have to enable this in order to allow for CAPWAP termination.
If we don't have that enabled, the access points will not be able to attach on
that WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
that
interface, even if they try to do so.
Now even though we can do this on the dynamic interface, we can also do this on
the management
interface.
The only difference between the dynamic and management interface is that the
management
interface is how I access the graphical user interface.
And generally speaking, how I SSH or otherwise interface with the wireless LAN
controller.
And so do we want to use the management interface to also terminate access
points?
Usually not.
Again, not in large scale production networks, but in small environments like WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
Again, not in large scale production networks, but in small environments like
the lab environment,
that is exactly what we're going to probably end up doing in a lot of
situations.
But with all that said, let's take a quick tour, I suppose, of the wireless LAN
controller
interface for AROS.
As we see, it's very, very different.
And it definitely starts to feel a little bit legacy with the configuration
here, with
the interface.
It feels like a graphical user interface from 10 or 15 years ago. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
It feels like a graphical user interface from 10 or 15 years ago.
And that's how it should feel because that's how long ago it was created.
So as far as navigating the user interface, for the most part, we're going to
pay attention
to all of these different tabs at the top.
For example, the monitor tab is the default tab.
It's going to allow us to look and see, hey, what's the IP address of the
controller?
What's the current situation?
Number of rogues out there, number of access points that are up right now.
We don't have anything online and so on and so forth.
I can look at my access points over here and drill into some other WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
I can look at my access points over here and drill into some other
configurations.
But for the most part, this landing dashboard page is going to give us a lot of
information.
I can also click on WLANs here and then see my list of WLANs, which is
currently empty.
We're going to fill that by the end of this skill and we can just create a new
one right
here.
Controller is an interesting tab.
This is where we're going to be able to configure our interfaces, which will be
very important,
as we've mentioned a few times.
We can figure our mobility group and RF group here as well. WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
We can figure our mobility group and RF group here as well.
And generally speaking, we're going to see things like our ability to deploy
lag, which
is port channeling or link aggregating.
That's what lag stands for.
The front facing ports on our wireless LAN controller.
That's an important configuration as well there.
And then wireless is going to allow us to configure our individual band
networks as well
as radio resource management.
We've got the ability to do a lot of network configuration for 5 GHz and 2.4
GHz in here.
Lots to do on the wireless tab, as we might imagine, on a wireless LAN WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
Lots to do on the wireless tab, as we might imagine, on a wireless LAN
controller.
We is not where we decide how to encrypt or authenticate individual wireless
networks.
Instead, it's where we perform our AAA configuration.
So setting up a radius or tacac server.
That is where we would perform that configuration.
And then management is where we can set up individual users, allow for telnet
and SSH,
as well as HTTP/HETPS, into the controller itself.
Lastly commands.
This is where we can perform a software upgrade or for that matter just to WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
This is where we can perform a software upgrade or for that matter just to
reboot the controller.
So there's a little bit of a flyover as far as the configuration is concerned.
But as we go into individual components like the WLANs tab here when we're
coming in here
to do the configuration, we'll start to get a sense of how all of this
configuration comes
together.
Most of our configuration time will be spent on WLANs controller and a little
bit of wireless.
But even then mostly wireless LANs and controller, especially those interfaces,
is where we're WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
is where we're
going to spend a lot of our time.