Cisco 5760 IOS Wireless LAN Controller Configuration Best Practices

Requirements

Cisco recommends that you have knowledge of these topics:

• Knowledge of how to configure the Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) and Lightweight Access Point (LAP) for basic operation
• Basic knowledge of Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) protocol and wireless security methods
• Cisco IOS Command Line Interface
• Cisco CT5760 Controller Deployment Guide

Components Used

The information in this document is based on these software and hardware versions:

• Cisco Series WLC 5760 that runs firmware Release 3.3 and later
• Cisco 802.11n/ac series Access Points

Note Any reference to WLCs is based on firmware Release 3.3 and later.

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

New Operating System

The CT5760 controllers use the Cisco IOS-XE software as its operating system. The CLI is different from the CLI used in the AireOS platforms. For a complete list of the wireless Cisco IOS-XE software CLI commands, refer to the Cisco 5700 Series Wireless LAN Controllers Command References document.

Licenses

Licenses are based on the Right-To-Use license model (per AP license price for the CT5760).

You must add the AP licenses you have purchased and accept the EULA before connecting your APs. This is how you can do it:

WLC5760#license right-to-use activate apcount 510 slot 1 acceptEULA

Once you apply them, you can check the AP license information using:

WLC5760#show license right-to-use

Slot# License name Type Count Period left

----------------------------------------------------------

1 apcount adder 510 Lifetime

You can also add evaluation licenses for testing purposes:

WLC5760#license right-to-use activate apcount evaluation acceptEULA

For additional license information, refer to the Cisco Right to Use Licensing FAQ

Enable Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Setup Time

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is very important for several features. It is mandatory to use NTP synchronization on controllers if you use any of these features: Location, SNMPv3, access point authentication, or MFP. The WLC will support synchronization with NTP using authentication.

You can setup NTP during the Initial Wizard Config. The following CLI enables the NTP server:

WLC5760(config)#ntp server <ip_address>

Controller Time

It is important to setup the correct time on the controller so that AP can join the controller.

WLC5760#clock set hh:mm:ss day month year

Wireless Management Interface

Configuring the Wireless management interface enables the APs to join the controller. Wireless management interface can be configured as part of the Startup Wizard or can be configured by issuing the following command:

WLC5760(config)#wireless management interface vlan 100

Note You do not need to configure AP Manager or dynamic interfaces on the 5760 controller.

Use PortFast on AP Connected Switch Ports

For APs in local mode, configure the switch port with portfast. To do this, set the port to be connected as a “host” port (switchport host command) or directly with the portfast command. This allows a faster join process for an AP. There is no risk of loops because the CAPWAP APs never bridges between VLANs.

Default Gateway

The 5760 controller does not support routing. You need to define a default gateway on the controller pointing to the default gateway responsible for routing in the network.

Here is how to define a default gateway:

WLC5760(config)#ip default-gateway <gateway_ip_addr>

Link Aggregation and Port Redundancy

The Cisco 5760 WLC has no restrictions on the number of APs per port, but Cisco recommends using LAG or EtherChannel on each 10GE port to automatically balance the load.

Link Aggregation (LAG) or Etherchannel can be configured on the 5760 Controller. It bundles all of the controller's distribution system ports into a single port channel. The Cisco 5760 Controller supports Cisco Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) and industry-standard IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP). When LAG is enabled, the system dynamically manages port redundancy and load balances APs transparently to the user.

LAG simplifies controller configuration because you no longer need to configure primary and secondary ports for each interface. If any of the controller ports fail, traffic is automatically migrated to one of the other ports. As long as at least one controller port is functioning, the system continues to operate, APs remain connected to the network, and wireless clients continue to send and receive data.

Port-Channel configuration example on the 5760 controller:

WLC5760(config)#interface port-channel 1

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport trunk allowed vlan 70,80,90,100

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport mode trunk

WLC5760(config)#interface tenGigabitEthernet 1/0/1

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport trunk allowed vlan 70,80,90,100

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport mode trunk

WLC5760(config-if)#channel-group 1 mode active

WLC5760(config)#interface tenGigabitEthernet 1/0/6

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport trunk allowed vlan 70,80,90,100

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport mode trunk

WLC5760(config-if)#channel-group 1 mode active

Note You might be required to enable “ip dhcp snooping trust” on the port-channel interface. Refer to the DHCP snooping section for additional details.

Port-Channel configuration should be done on the neighboring switch configuration to match the configuration on the controller.

• You can configure LAG or Multi-LAG between the controller and the distribution switches for port redundancy and load balancing.
• AP manager interfaces are supported on the CT5760 WLAN controller similar to the AireOs controller. However, Cisco recommends using LAG for redundancy and load balancing instead of AP manager.

Multicast Forwarding Mode

You should enable the CAPWAP multicast forwarding mode as multicast even if the multicast forwarding is not enabled. This mode is called Multicast Multicast (MCMC). To use this mode, you must configure a multicast group on your controller. Each AP connected to the controller subscribes to this multicast group, and can receive the multicast flow. You can enable MCMC and configure the multicast group with this command:

WLC5760(config)#ap capwap multicast 239.3.3.3

• The multicast address is used by the controller to forward traffic to access points. The multicast address must not match with another address in use on your network by other protocols. For example, if you use 224.0.0.251, it breaks mDNS used by some third party applications. It is recommended that the address be in the private range (239.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255, which does not include 239.0.0.x and 239.128.0.x.). It is also important that the multicast IP address be set to a different value on each WLC. You do not want a WLC that speaks to its access points to reach the APs of another WLC.
• If the access points are on a different subnet than the one used on the management interface, your network infrastructure must provide multicast routing between the management interface subnet and the AP subnet.

Note Do not enable wireless multicast unless it is needed. You might need to enable multicast forwarding in certain networks with heavy multicast application such as Video Streaming, or Bonjour without mDNS proxy and with large IPV6 client counts.

This is how to configure multicast forwarding on the WLC:

WLC5760(config)#wireless multicast

This is how to verify the multicast configuration:

WLC5760#show wireless multicast

Multicast : Enabled

mDNS : Disabled

AP Capwap Multicast : Multicast

AP Capwap Multicast group Address : 239.3.3.3

AP Capwap Multicast QoS Policy Name : unknown

AP Capwap Multicast QoS Policy State : None

Wireless Broadcast : Disabled

Wireless Multicast non-ip-mcast : Disabled

Vlan Non-ip-mcast Broadcast MGID

------------------------------------------------------

1 Enabled Enabled Disabled

5 Enabled Enabled Disabled

10 Enabled Enabled Enabled

DHCP Snooping Configuration

DHCP snooping configuration is required on the controller for proper client join functionality. DHCP snooping needs to be enabled on each client VLAN including the override VLAN if override is applied on the WLAN.

Here is an example how to configure DHCP snooping.

Global DHCP Snooping Config:

WLC5760(config)#ip dhcp snooping

WLC5760(config)#ip dhcp snooping vlan 100

Enable bootp-broadcast command. It is needed for clients that send the DHCP messages with broadcast addresses and broadcast bit is set in the DHCP message.

WLC5760(config)#ip dhcp snooping wireless bootp-broadcast enable

On the Interface:

Note This command should not be used on a Guest Anchor.

Note If upstream is via a port channel, the trust Config should be on the port channel interface as well.

WLC5760(config)#interface TenGigabitEthernet1/0/1

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport trunk allowed vlan 100

WLC5760(config-if)#switchport mode trunk

WLC5760(config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust

Note DHCP snooping should be configured on the Guest Anchor controller for guest access similar to the Config above.

Enable Band Selection

Band selection enables client radios that are capable of dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) operation to move to a less congested 5 GHz access point. The 2.4 GHz band is often congested. Clients on this band typically experience interference from Bluetooth devices, microwave ovens, and cordless phones as well as co-channel interference from other APs because of the 802.11b/g limit of three non-overlapping channels. To prevent these sources of interference and improve overall network performance, you can configure band selection on the controller:

• Band selection is enabled/disabled globally by default.
• Band selection works by regulating probe responses to clients. It makes 5 GHz channels more attractive to clients by delaying probe responses to clients on 2.4 GHz channels.
• Do not use band selection for voice because it can slow down roaming.
• Some client types do not work well with band selection enabled.
• Most new clients prefer 5 GHz by default.
• Do not use band selection on high-density designs.

Enter this command to verify:

WLC5760#show wireless band-select

Band Select Probe Response : per WLAN enabling

Cycle Count : 2

Cycle Threshold (millisec) : 200

Age Out Suppression (sec) : 20

Age Out Dual Band (sec) : 60

Client RSSI (dBm) : -80

To enable or disable band selection on specific WLANs:

WLC5760(config-wlan)#band-select

Enable Fast SSID Changing

When fast SSID changing is enabled, the controller allows clients to move faster between SSIDs. When fast SSID is enabled, the client entry is not cleared and the delay is not enforced. This is very important to have for supporting Apple IOS devices.

Note that the fast SSID change is enabled globally on the controller. To enable fast SSID change:

WLC5760(config)#wireless client fast-ssid-change

Lower the Number of SSIDs

It is recommended to limit the number of service set identifiers (SSIDs) configured at the controller. You can configure 16 simultaneous SSIDs (per radio on each access point (AP)), but as each WLAN/SSID needs separate probe responses and beaconing, the RF pollution increases as more SSIDs are added. Furthermore, some smaller wireless stations like PDA, Wi-Fi Phones, and bar code scanners cannot cope with a high number of basic SSID (BSSID) information. This results in lockups, reloads, or association failures. Also the more SSIDs, the more beaconing needed, so less RF time is available for real data transmits. For example, the recommendation is to have 1 to 3 SSIDs for corporate, and 1 SSID for high-density designs. AAA override can be leveraged for per user VLAN/ settings on a single SSID scenario.

Enter this command to verify:

WLC5760#show wlan summary

Number of WLANs: 7

WLAN Profile Name SSID VLAN Status

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 employee employee 10 UP

2 guest guest 20 UP

3 contractors contractors 30 UP

4 avc avc 40 UP

5 11ac 11ac 50 UP

6 lync lync 70 UP

7 test test 90 UP

Disable Unnecessary SSIDs

To disable unnecessary SSIDs, issue the following command:

WLC5760(config)#no wlan avc

WLC5760(config)#no wlan 11ac

WLC5760(config)#no wlan test

Voice WLAN

Here are the best practices for Voice WLAN configurations:

Enable Voice acm and sip CAC on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands under global Config:

For 2.4 GHz band:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz shutdown

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz cac voice acm

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz cac voice sip

WLC5760(config)#no ap dot11 24ghz shutdown

For 5 GHz band:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz shutdown

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz cac voice acm

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz cac voice sip

WLC5760(config)#no ap dot11 5ghz shutdown

Applying Policy to WLAN

WLC5760(config-wlan)##service-policy output platinum

WLC5760(config-wlan)##service-policy input platinum-up

Enable SIP Snooping under the WLAN if SIP calling is required:

WLC5760(config-wlan)#call-snoop

Note Refer to CAC configuration Document if CAC is required in your network.

Disable Low Data Rates

You must carefully plan the process to disable or enable data rates. If your coverage is sufficient, it is a good idea to incrementally disable lower data rates one by one. Management frames like ACK or beacons will be sent at the lowest mandatory rate (typically 1 Mbps), which slows down the whole throughput (the lowest mandatory rate consumes the most airtime).

It is also good to try not to have too many supported data rates so that clients can downshift their rate faster when retransmitting. Typically, clients try to send at the fastest data rate they can and if the frame does not make it through, will retransmit at the next lowest data rate and so on until the frame goes through. The removal of some supported rates means that clients who retransmit a frame directly downshift several data rates, which increases the chance for the frame to go through at the second attempt.

• Beacons are sent at the lowest mandatory rate, defining roughly the cell size.
• Multicast is sent on the range between lowest and highest priority, depending on associated clients.
• If your design does not require low data rates, consider disabling the 802.11b data rates (1, 2, 5.5, and 11) and leave the rest enabled.
• You might make a conscious decision to not disable all rates below 11Mbps in order to not stop the support of 802.11b-only clients.

The following example serves only as an example as it should not be viewed as solely optimal for every design (do not use as a strict guideline). These changes are sensitive and heavily dependent on your RF coverage design.

• For example, if designing for hotspot, have the lowest data rate enabled, because the goal is to have coverage gain versus speed.
• Conversely, if you are designing for a high-speed network, with already good RF coverage, disable the lowest data rate.

Example to disable low data rates (5 GHz and 2.4 GHz):

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz shutdown

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz dot11n

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_6M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_9M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_12M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_18M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_24M mandatory

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_36M supported

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_48M supported

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rate RATE_54M supported

WLC5760(config)#no ap dot11 5ghz shutdown

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz shutdown

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz dot11g

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz dot11n

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_24M mandatory

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_1M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_2M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_5_5M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_6M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_9M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_11M disable

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_12M supported

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_18M supported

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_36M supported

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_48M supported

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rate RATE_54M supported

WLC5760(config)#no ap dot11 24ghz shutdown

Enable CleanAir

To effectively detect and mitigate RF interference, enable CleanAir whenever possible. There are recommendations to various sources of interference to trigger security alerts, such as generic DECT phones, jammer, and so on.

CleanAir is disabled by default. To configure Cisco CleanAir functionality to receive spectrum data on the 802.11 network:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz cleanair

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz cleanair

To enable interference detection specifically for jammer, for example:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz cleanair device jammer

To verify CleanAir is enabled on the 802.11 networks:

WLC5760#show ap dot11 24ghz cleanair config

CleanAir Solution................................ : Enabled

Air Quality Settings:

Air Quality Reporting........................ : Enabled

Air Quality Reporting Period (min)........... : 15

Air Quality Alarms........................... : Enabled

Air Quality Alarm Threshold.................. : 10

Interference Device Settings:

Interference Device Reporting................ : Enabled

Bluetooth Link........................... : Enabled

Microwave Oven........................... : Enabled

802.11 FH................................ : Enabled

Bluetooth Discovery...................... : Enabled

TDD Transmitter.......................... : Enabled

Jammer................................... : Enabled

Continuous Transmitter................... : Enabled

DECT-like Phone.......................... : Enabled

Video Camera............................. : Enabled

Dynamic Channel Assignment (DCA)

When a wireless network is first initialized, all radios participating require a channel assignment to operate interference free. Optimizing the channel assignments to allow for interference free operation is DCA’s job. It does this using over the air metrics reported by each radio on every possible channel and providing a solution that maximizes channel bandwidth and minimizes RF interference from all sources – Self (signal), other networks (foreign interference), and Noise (everything else).

DCA is enabled by default and provides a global solution to channel planning for your network.

• Let RRM automatically configure all 802.11a or 802.11b/g channels based on availability and interference:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rrm channel dca global auto

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rrm channel dca global auto

Channel Widths

802.11n can operate in a 40 MHz channel by bonding two 20 MHz channels together and this significantly increases throughput. Not all 802.11n devices support 40 MHz bonded channels (clients). 802.11ac allows for bonding of 20 Mhz channels into an 80 MHz wide channel for 802.11ac usage – and all Clients must support 80 MHz. This is not practical for 2.4 GHz as there are a very limited number of non overlapping 20 MHz channels available. However, in 5 GHz, this can represent a significant increase in throughput and speed provided you have enough 20 MHz channels (see DFS below).

Use this command to set DCA assigned channel width to all capable radios:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rrm channel dca chan-width <20 | 40 |80>

Enter this command to configure the channel width for a particular access point to 40 MHz or 80 MHz:

WLC5760#ap name AP<Cisco AP> dot11 5ghz channel width 40/80

Channel Width Overview

• Channel width of 20 permits the radio to communicate using only 20 MHz channels.
• Choose this option for legacy 802.11a radios, 20 MHz 802.11n radios, or 40 MHz 802.11n radios that you want to operate using only 20 MHz channels. This is the default value.
• Channel width of 40 permits 40 MHz 802.11n radios to communicate using two adjacent 20 MHz channels bonded together. The radio uses the primary channel that you choose as the anchor channel (for beacons and so on.) as well as its extension channel for faster data throughput. Each channel has only one extension channel (36 and 40 are a pair, 44 and 48 are a pair, and so on). For example, if you choose a primary channel of 44, the Cisco WLC would use channel 48 as the extension channel. If you choose a primary channel of 48, the Cisco WLC would use channel 44 as the extension channel.

Note This parameter can be configured only if the primary channel is statically assigned.

• Channel width of 80 sets the channel width for the 802.11ac radios to 80 MHz.

Note Statically configuring an AP’s radio for 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz mode overrides the globally configured DCA channel width setting (configured using the WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rrm channel dca chan-width <20 | 40 |80> command). If you ever change the static configuration back to global on the access point radio, the global DCA configuration overrides the channel width configuration that the access point was previously using. It can take up to 30 minutes (depending on how often DCA is configured to run) for the change to take effect.

Note Channels 116,120, 124, and 128 are not available in the U.S. and Canada for 40 MHz channel bonding.

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS)

Not all channels are created equal. Dynamic Frequency Selection was created to increase the availability of more channels in the 5 GHz spectrum. Depending on regulatory domain this can mean from 4 to 12 additional channels. More channels = more capacity.

DFS detects radar signals and ensures that there is no interference with weather radar that may be operating on our frequency. The DFS specification also designates the Master (our AP) as the monitor for the group that will steer clients and the AP away from any signals that are detected. Traditionally there has been some misgivings in North America about using DFS channels – but then we have 8 that are not DFS. In the ETSI regulatory domain (Europe) – they have 4 non DFS channels and have been using DFS channels successfully for many years.

Although the 5 GHz band offers more channels, care should be given in the overall design as the 5 GHz channels have varying power and indoor/outdoor deployment restrictions. For example, in North America, the U-NII-1 can only be used indoors and it has power restriction of 50 mW maximum power, both U-NII-2 and U-NII-2e are subject to Dynamic Frequency Selection.

• By default U-NII-2e channels are disabled in the DCA channel list, check what channels are being used using this command:

WLC5760#show ap dot11 5ghz channel

<snip>

802.11a 5 GHz Auto-RF Channel List

Allowed Channel List : 36,40,44,48,52,56,60,64,149,153,157,161

Unused Channel List : 100,104,108,112,116,132,136,140,165

• Enable the U-NII-2e channels for more channels in your regulatory domain using this command:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rrm channel dca add <channel>

Available channels in North America and Europe are 100 - 140 (8 additional channels). Channels 120, 124, and 128 are disabled in the US, and severely penalized in ETSI DFS rules and are not supported.

DCA Restart

Once you have made selections for channels and channel widths, or in the case of a new network, completed installing all APs, DCA will manage the channels dynamically and make adjustments as needed over time and changing conditions. However, if this is a new installation, or you have made major changes to DCA such as changing channel widths or adding new APs, then it is advisable to restart the DCA process which initializes an aggressive search mode (startup), and provides an optimized starting channel plan.

In order to determine which WLC is currently the group leader run this command:

WLC5760#show ap dot11 5ghz group

WLC5760#show ap dot11 24ghz group

From the identified group leader re-initialize DCA by running this command:

WLC5760#ap dot11 5ghz rrm dca restart

WLC5760#ap dot11 24ghz rrm dca restart

Verify the restart by running this command:

WLC5760#show ap dot11 5ghz channel

<snip>

Last Run : 28 seconds ago

DCA Sensitivity Level : STARTUP (5 dB)

DCA 802.11n/ac Channel Width : 80 MHz

Note Startup mode will run for 100 minutes – reaching a solution generally within 30 - 40 minutes. This can be disruptive to clients (lots of channel changes) if you have made significant changes (channel width, numbers of APs). Do this step last – as changes during the startup change the question you are asking.

WPA2 + 802.1X WLAN

Although the controller and APs support WLAN with SSID using Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2 simultaneously, it is very common that some wireless client drivers cannot handle complex SSID settings. Whenever possible, we recommend WPA2 only with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), however due to standards and mandatory Wi-Fi Alliance certification process, TKIP support is required across future software versions. It is a good idea to keep the security policies simple for any SSID such as a separate WLAN/SSID with WPA and Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), and a separated one with WPA2 and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Since TKIP is being deprecated, it is recommended to use TKIP together with WEP, or migrate out of TKIP completely and use PEAP if possible.

This is how to create a WLAN with WPA2 and 802.1X enabled:

WLC5760(config-wlan)#security wpa

Configure RADIUS authentication server on specified WPA2/802.1X WLAN:

WLC5760(config-wlan)#security dot1x authentication-list method_list_name

Configure RADIUS accounting server on specified WPA2/802.1X WLAN:

WLC5760(config-wlan)#accounting-list <name>

Note For detailed security and AAA configuration, refer to the Security Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE Release 3SE (Cisco WLC 5700 Series).

Identity Design Tip - Use AAA Override

If designing for identity based networking services, where the wireless clients should be separated in several sub-networks for security reasons, such as each one with different security policies, it is a good idea to use one or two WLANs together with the AAA-Override feature. This feature allows you to assign per user settings. For example, move the user to either a specific dynamic interface in a separated VLAN or apply a per user Access Control List (ACL).

This is how to configure:

WLC5760(config-wlan)#aaa-override

Confirm WLAN configuration:

WLC5760#show wlan name <WLAN id>

Identifier : 3

Network Name (SSID) : avcwpa

Status : Disabled

Broadcast SSID : Enabled

Max Associated Clients per WLAN : 0

Max Associated Clients per AP per WLAN : 0

Max Associated Clients per AP Radio per WLAN : 0

AAA Policy Override : Enabled

Network Admission Control

NAC-State : Disabled

Use Faster RADIUS Timeout

It is recommended to have the lowest configured RADIUS timeout as possible for a big or busy network. Since the longer the timeout is defined, the longer a frame re-transmission for the queue for RADIUS is held. Depending on the capacity of the network, and how busy the queue may be, a longer timeout may increase chance of retransmission failure rate. For most network deployment with high authentication count, a smaller timeout is better to improve capacity handling in the controller.

The timeout, retransmission, and encryption key values can be configured globally for all RADIUS servers, on a per-server basis, or in some combination of global and per-server settings.

This is how to configure globally for all radius servers:

WLC5760(config)#radius-server timeout 1 (in sec)

This is how to configure for a specific radius server:

WLC5760(config)#radius server TEST

WLC5760(config-radius-server)#timeout 1 (in sec)

EAP Identity Request Timeout

In the controllers, the default timeout for the EAP Identity request may need to increase for some situations similar to when implementing One Time Passwords (OTP) or Smart Card, where the user interaction is needed in answering the identity request.

WLC5760(config)#wireless security dot1x identity-request timeout <seconds>

TACACS+ Management Timeout

It is best practices to increase the retransmit timeout value for TACACS+ authentication, authorization, and accounting servers if you experience repeated re-authentication attempts or the controller falls back to the backup server when the primary server is active and reachable. This is especially true when implementing for use with One Time Password (OTP).

To configure TACACS+ retransmit timeout globally for all TACACS servers:

WLC5760(config)#tacacs-server timeout 1 <seconds>

To configure TACACS+ retransmit timeout for a specific TACACS Server:

WLC5760(config)#tacacs server Cisco

WLC5760(config-server-tacacs)#timeout 1 <seconds>

Create SNMP Community and Users

By default, the controller does not have an SNMP user or community configured. Keep in mind that your SNMP settings must match between the controller and the Prime Infrastructure (PI). Also, you should use encryption and hash keys that match your security policies.

This is how to configure SNMP community:

WLC5760(config)#snmp-server community TEST ro | rw

This is how to configure SNMP users:

WLC5760(config)#snmp-server user admin IT v3 auth md5 password

SNMP Best Practices for Prime and IOS-XE Controllers

If you have controllers added to Prime and your network consists of more than 250 APs, then it is a best practice to reduce SNMP traffic between the controller and Prime.

The recommendations below are general guidelines for reducing SNMP traffic between Prime and IOS-XE controllers using Background Task settings in Prime. Consider the recommendations carefully based on your network size and needs before taking any action.

To disable or change Background Tasks Interval in Prime, go to the Administration tab and select Background Task under System Settings:

• Disable Mesh Stream Clients and Mesh Link Performance Background tasks because the IOS-XE controllers do not support MESH mode currently.
• Increase Clean Air Background Tasks Interval to 60 minutes.
• If Voice over WLAN is not used in your network, disable Radio Voice Performance and Traffic Stream Metrics Background Tasks.
• If unmanaged APs are not a concern in your network, disable the task.
• Under Wireless Configuration Audit Background Task, uncheck the RRM Audit Box check box, if it is not required.
• Increase the Rogue AP background task interval to 4 hours if Rogue APs are not a concern within the network.
• In Prime version 2.2, under the Radio Performance task details page, select the tasks that apply to your network to be included in the report.

Note It is not recommended to change the timeout and retries values for SNMP Parameters in Prime for WLCs.

It is recommended to periodically monitor CPU utilization and check for spikes in some processes such as snmp_subagent. The following is an example of how to monitor CPU utilization:

Monitor the sorted CPU utilization of the processes to the thread level:

WLC5760#show processes cpu sorted detailed | exclude 0.00

Monitor the CPU utilization history for the past 72 hours:

WLC5760#show processes cpu history

AP Stateful Switchover (AP SSO)

IOS XE 3.3 SE release for Cisco 5700 Series Wireless Controller introduces 1:1 Active-Standby redundancy model for High Availability (HA) with the CT5760 controllers using the StackWise-480 technology. HA in Cisco 5700 Series Wireless Controller is enabled using Cisco StackWise-480 technology. StackWise-480 identifies active and standby members in the stack as per the Cisco IOS Software SSO technology. All the control plane activities are centralized and synchronized between the active and standby units. The Active Controller centrally manages all the control and management communication. The network control data traffic is transparently switched from the standby unit to the active unit for centralized processing. The 12 ports of the CT5760 HA redundant pair can be connected to the infrastructure network either through a single switch or two switches.

Bulk and Incremental configuration is synced between the two controllers at run-time and both controllers share the same IP address on the management interface. The CAPWAP state of the Access Points that are in Run State is also synced from the active WLC to the Hot-Standby WLC allowing the APs to be state-fully switched over when the Active WLC fails. The APs do not go to the Discovery state when Active WLC fails, and Standby WLC takes over as the Active WLC to serve the network.

HA with AP SSO is supported in Cisco 5700 Series Wireless Controllers. IOS XE 3.3 release only supports AP SSO i.e. APs will not disconnect and continue to be associated to the controller after a switchover. However, all clients will be de-authenticated and forced to rejoin the new Active WLC because Client SSO is not supported with this release.

StackWise-480 Connectivity for HA

A CT5760 HA Pair is a special case of a switch stack that can have up to two CT5760 controllers connected through their StackWise-480 ports. The stack members work together as a unified system. A third CT5760 cannot join the switch stack or HA pair. A switch stack always has one active controller and one standby controller. If the active controller becomes unavailable, the standby assumes the role of the active, and continues to the keep the stack operational. The active controller controls the operation of the HA pair, and is the single point of stack-wide management. The term switch is loosely used in the document to refer to the CT5760 WLC for this reason.

StackWise-480 has a stack bandwidth of 480 Gbps and uses SSO to provide resiliency within the HA Pair. The Active CT5760 WLC creates and updates all the wireless information and constantly synchronizes that information with the standby controller. If the active WLC fails, the standby WLC assumes the role of the active WLC and continues to the keep the HA Pair operational. APs continue to remain connected during an active-to-standby switchover.

The StackWise-480 Cable is available in lengths of 50 cm, 1 m, and 3 m.

HA Configuration

There is no need for HA AP SSO configuration. All what you need to do is to connect the Stackwise HA cables between the two 5760 controllers and taking into consideration the best practices for HA pairing process outlined below:

• Adding a powered-on CT5760 WLC (merging) to an existing Active Controller causes both WLCs to reload and elect a new active controller from among themselves.
• Ensure that the controller to be paired is powered down before connecting it to the existing Active Controller by using Stack Cables. Once the Stack Cables are connected, power on the new controller. The newly introduced controller will take up its role as a Hot-Standby controller because an Active Controller already exists.
• Similarly, removing a powered-on WLC causes both WLCs to reload. Power down the controller that needs to be removed before disconnecting the Stack Cables to avoid this.

Once HA cable is connected and both controllers are up, one controller will be elected as Active and the other as Standby. Issue the following command to verify HA pairing:

WLC5760#show switch

Switch/Stack Mac Address : 44ad.d902.3500 - Local Mac Address

Mac persistency wait time: Indefinite

H/W Current

Switch# Role Mac Address Priority Version State

----------------------------------------------------------------------

*1 Active 44ad.d902.3500 1 A0 Ready

2 Standby 44ad.d902.3b00 1 A0 Ready

Initiate a manual switchover by entering this command to verify HA AP SSO functionality:

WLC5760#redundancy force-switchover

Run this command only when you require a manual switchover.

Note Refer to the High Availability AP SSO Deployment Guide on cisco.com for more detailed explanation and configuration.

Rogue Detection

There are good reasons to use rogue detection to minimize security risks, such as in a corporate environment. Note that it is critical to evaluate (or avoid altogether) rogue auto-containment, as there are potential legal issues and liabilities if left to operate automatically.

To verify rogue detection on AP:

WLC5760#show ap config general

Cisco AP Name : AP3700-1

=================================================

Cisco AP Identifier : 8

Country Code : US - United States

Regulatory Domain Allowed by Country : 802.11bg:-A 802.11a:-A

AP Country Code : US - United States

AP Regulatory Domain

Slot 0 : -A

Slot 1 : -A

...

Administrative State : Disabled

Operation State : Registered

AP Mode : Rogue Detector

To enable rogue detection on an AP:

WLC5760#ap name <Cisco AP> mode rogue

Min-RSSI

A rogue with a weak RSSI does not provide any valuable information to the network administrator other than it has been heard. A rogue with a weak RSSI also poses less threat to the wireless network than a rogue with a stronger signal. Too many weak signaled rogues could clutter the Prime Infrastructure GUI, making rogue mitigation difficult. This can be avoided by limiting the minimum RSSI value (Minimum RSSI for Rogue Classification) that the AP needs to report the rogue at.

To configure rogue detection based on minimum RSSI of -70dBm:

WLC5760(config)#wireless wps rogue detection min-rssi -70

Rogue Rules

Create a rogue rule for additional conditions set, for example, rule1:

WLC5760(config)#wireless wps rogue rule rule1 priority 1

WLC5760(config-rule)#classify malicious

To verify rule summary:

WLC5760#show wireless wps rogue rule summary

Priority Rule Name State Type Match Hit Count

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 rule1 Enabled Malicious Any 0

Up to 6 conditions can be added to a Rogue Rule.

Adding condition-based rules can help to easily detect people spoofing on your network. To configure condition rule based on a managed SSID:

WLC5760(config-rule)#condition infrastructure ssid

Add condition based on specific SSID name:

WLC5760(config-rule)#condition ssid <SSID_name>

Add condition based on minimum RSSI, for example, -70dBm:

WLC5760(config-rule)#condition rssi -70

Add condition based on duration (in seconds) the rogue has been detected, for example, 120 seconds:

WLC5760(config-rule)#condition duration 120

Confirm rogue rule conditions:

WLC5760#show wireless wps rogue rule detailed rule1

Priority : 1

Rule Name : rule1

State : Enabled

Type : Malicious

Match Operation : Any

Hit Count : 249

Total Conditions : 3

Condition :

type : Duration

value (seconds) : 120

Condition :

type : Managed-ssid

value : Enabled

Condition :

type : Rssi

value (dBm) : -70

Wi-Fi Direct

Wi-Fi Direct allows Wi-Fi devices to make direct connections to one another quickly and conveniently to perform action such as print, sync, and share content. A security concern can arise for the wireless network if the device is connected to both the infrastructure and a Personal Area Network (PAN) at the same time. It is recommended to disallow Wi-Fi direct clients to prevent a security hole.

To disallow Wi-Fi direct clients from associating with the WLAN:

WLC5760(config-wlan)#wifidirect policy deny

Channels Scanning for Rogues

For a local/Monitor mode AP, there is an option under RRM configuration, which allows the user to choose which channel is scanned for rogues. Depending on the Config, the AP scans all channel/country channel/DCA channels for rogues. The following points are quick explanations on benefits of each:

• For higher security, choose all channel.
• Choose DCA channels for performance because system will scan as least as possible.
• For a balance of performance and security, choose country channel option.

This is an example to configure 5 GHz channel scanning for Rogue Detection for all channels:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 5ghz rrm monitor channel-list all

This is an example to configure 2.4 GHz monitor channel scanning in configured country code:

WLC5760(config)#ap dot11 24ghz rrm monitor channel-list country

Transient Rogue Interval

Using the transient interval values, you can control the time interval at which APs should scan for rogues. APs can also filter rogues based on their transient interval values.

This feature has the following advantages:

• Rogue reports from APs to the controller are shorter.
• Transient rogue entries are avoided in the controller.
• Unnecessary memory allocation for transient rogues is avoided.

Configure transient rogue interval of 2 min (120 seconds):

WLC5760(config)#wireless wps rogue detection min-transient-time 120

Enable Adhoc Rogue Detection

Similar to general rogue detection, adhoc rogue detection may be ideal in certain scenarios, such as corporates where security is justifiable. However, in scenarios such as open venues/stadiums, citywide, and public outdoors, it is not of value.

Enable ad hoc rogue detection and reporting by entering this command:

WLC5760(config)#wireless wps rogue adhoc

Enable Rogue Clients AAA Validation

A good reason to enable AAA validation for rogue clients is so that the WLC will reliably and continuously check for a client to exist on the AAA server, then marking it either valid or malicious.

WLC5760(config)#wireless wps rogue client aaa

Enable Rogue Clients MSE Validation

If there is a Mobility Services Engine (MSE) available and integrated, it can share information in its learned clients database to compliment the WLC in validating whether a client is valid or a threat.

To enable the use of MSE (if available) to check if rogue clients are valid,

WLC5760(config)#wireless wps rogue client mse