User Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, 2.7 - Managing Devices [CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine (WLSE)]

Table Of Contents

Managing Devices

Devices Tab Functions

Getting Started with Device Management

Specifying Device Credentials

Enter or Modify SNMP Community Strings for All Devices

Recommendations For Configuring SNMP Credentials

Enter HTTP Usernames and Passwords—Non-IOS Access Points

Enter Telnet/SSH Usernames and Passwords—IOS Access Points

Entering IP Addresses

Enter HTTP Port Settings—IOS Access Points

Enter WLCCP Credentials for Wireless Domain Services

Managing AAA Servers

About AAA Servers

Adding an AAA Server

Removing an AAA Server

Modifying an AAA Server

Using Enhanced (WDS) Client Tracking

Configuring Enhanced Client Tracking

About WDS Client Tracking

Prerequisites for Enhanced Client Tracking

Client Tracking vs. Client Polling

Wireless Client Reports

Managing Device Discovery

About Discovery

Understanding Discovery and Management

Understanding WLSE Discovery Methods

About CDP-Based Discovery

About WLCCP/WDS Discovery

About Alternatives to CDP

Pre-Discovery Checklist

About the Discovery Wizard

Using the Discovery Wizard

Running CDP Discovery

Select the Type of CDP Discovery

Specify the Schedule

Enter SNMP Communities

Enter Initiating IP Addresses

Verify Your Settings and Finish—Run Now

Verify Your Settings and Finish—Modify Schedule

Importing Devices from a File

Select the File and Set SNMP Parameters

Finish the Import

Importing Devices from a CiscoWorks Server

Schedule the Import and Finish

Setting Advanced Options

Enable Reverse DNS Lookup

Enable Auto-Management

Enable MAC Address Auto-Manage Filtering for Access Points

Using Discovery IP Address Filtering

Viewing Discovery Logs

Discovery Run Details Display

Diagnosing Common Discovery Problems

Managing and Unmanaging Devices

Understanding Device Details

Limitation on the Number of Managed Devices

Managing Device Inventories

About Inventories

Changing the Polling Intervals for Automatic Inventories

Guidelines For Choosing Inventory Intervals

Running Immediate Inventories

Managing Polling Parameters

Polling Parameter Details

About Trending and Aggregation Data

Viewing Inventory Logs

Run Log Details—Inventory

Diagnosing Common Inventory Problems

Exporting Devices

Exporting Devices to a CiscoWorks Server

Exporting Devices to a CSV File

Managing Groups

About Groups

System-Defined Groups

User-Defined Groups

Using the Group Details Window

Creating a Static Group

Creating a Rule-Based Group

Creating a Static Group by Copying a Static or Rule-Based Group

Copying a Rule-Based Group

Editing a Static Group

Editing a Rule-Based Group

Deleting a Static or Rule-Based Group

Managing Devices

The Devices tab provides options for basic device management on the WLSE. The options in this tab allow you to discover and manage devices and organize devices into easily manageable groups.

The topics covered in this chapter are:

•Devices Tab Functions

•Getting Started with Device Management

•Specifying Device Credentials

•Managing AAA Servers

•Managing Device Discovery

•Managing and Unmanaging Devices

•Managing Device Inventories

•Using Enhanced (WDS) Client Tracking

•Exporting Devices

•Managing Groups

Devices Tab Functions

The Devices tab provides the facilities for basic device management on the WLSE. The options under this tab allow you to discover and manage devices, inventory devices, and organize devices into easily manageable groups. After devices are discovered and managed, you can use all of the other WLSE management features. For a detailed guide to using these options, see Getting Started with Device Management.

Managed devices can be exported to a file and to CiscoWorks Resource Manager Essentials.

Note These subtabs may not be visible to some users; what you see under the Devices tab depends on your login.

The options under the Devices tab are:

•Discover subtab:

–Managed Devices—See Managing and Unmanaging Devices

–Discover—See Managing Device Discovery

–Device Credentials—See Specifying Device Credentials

–Inventory—See Managing Device Inventories

–Export Devices—See Exporting Devices

–AAA Server—See Managing AAA Servers

–Client Tracking—See Using Enhanced (WDS) Client Tracking

•Group Management subtab—See Managing Groups

Getting Started with Device Management

Before you can use the WLSE to manage newly added devices, you must set up the devices, configure the WLSE, discover the devices, and move the devices to the managed state. Optionally, you can set up your own device groupings to make management easier. To get started, follow the steps listed in the following illustration and explained in the following paragraphs:

Step 1: Set up devices

Before devices can be discovered and managed by the WLSE, they must be properly configured. In addition, if you are using WLSE radio management, IOS access points must be configured for Wireless Domain Service (WDS) and for LEAP authentication. For information on the minimum requirements for device setup, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7. This guide is shipped with each WLSE, or you can view it online on Cisco.com at

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/rtrmgmt/cwparent/cw_1105/wlse/2_7/index.htm.

Step 2: Log in to the WLSE

Log in to the Web interface.

Step 3: Enter device credentials

Enter device credentials on the WLSE:

•Community strings for all managed devices—see Enter or Modify SNMP Community Strings for All Devices.

•HTTP usernames and passwords for non-IOS access points—see Enter HTTP Usernames and Passwords—Non-IOS Access Points.

•Telnet/SSH credentials for IOS access points—see Enter Telnet/SSH Usernames and Passwords—IOS Access Points.

•HTTP ports for IOS access points—see Enter HTTP Port Settings—IOS Access Points.

•WLCCP credentials—Enter WLCCP Credentials for Wireless Domain Services.

•Information about AAA servers—see Managing AAA Servers.

Step 4: Discover devices

Initiate discovery from the WLSE or import devices:

•Add seed devices and run discovery—see Managing Device Discovery.

•Import devices—see Importing Devices from a File and Importing Devices from a CiscoWorks Server.

Step 5: Verify discovery

Verify that devices were discovered—see Viewing Discovery Logs.

Step 6: Move devices to managed state

Before you can use configuration, reporting, and monitoring features, you must either move devices to the managed state on the WLSE, or specify that all discovered devices be automatically managed—see Managing and Unmanaging Devices.

Step 7: Run inventory

After the devices are in the managed state, an immediate inventory runs automatically to obtain device information needed to use such WLSE features as reports and automatic grouping—see Managing Device Inventories.

You can also run inventory polling on demand for one or more devices. When new devices are discovered and managed, basic inventory and client reports are not populated until the next inventory polling occurs. However, you can use the on-demand inventory to populate these reports before the next inventory cycle starts. You can also use on-demand polling when configuration changes are made on network devices and you want the changes quickly reflected in the basic and client inventory reports.

Step 8: Create users and user roles

A user's role determines the tabs and subtabs the user can access. Users who have access to a subtab can perform all of the tasks under the subtab.

The WLSE provides several predefined roles, which you can use to control which features staff members are allowed to access. Although you cannot delete predefined roles, you can edit them or create new, user-defined roles—see Managing Users.

Step 9: Create device groups

The WLSE grouping feature lets you organize managed devices into logical subsets and hierarchies. Using device grouping, you can quickly configure, upgrade, and view reports for a set of access points as a single operation—see Managing Groups.

Now you can use fault monitoring, reports, firmware upgrade, and configuration, and radio management. You can also export devices, monitor AAA servers, and use Wireless Domain Services.

Specifying Device Credentials

Before the WLSE device discovery or device polling can successfully communicate with the network devices, the WLSE must be aware of the appropriate device SNMP credentials to use.

The Device Credentials option lets you enter the following required device credentials:

•For all managed devices, you must enter SNMP credentials.

•For access points, the following additional credentials are required:

–For IOS-based access points, you must enter Telnet or SSH credentials and IOS HTTP port settings.

–For non-IOS access points, you must enter HTTP credentials.

•If you are using Wireless Domain Services (WDS), you must enter RADIUS credentials and configure the WDS access point.

The Device Credentials options are:

•SNMP Communities—Specify community strings for managed devices. Using this option, you can specify device community strings, other required device credentials, and ports. Community strings are required for discovery, and community strings and other credentials are required for other WLSE functions. See Enter or Modify SNMP Community Strings for All Devices.

•HTTP User/Password—Specify the HTTP usernames and passwords for configuring non-IOS access points. See Enter HTTP Usernames and Passwords—Non-IOS Access Points.

•Telnet/SSH User/Password—Specify the Telnet usernames and passwords for IOS access points. See Enter Telnet/SSH Usernames and Passwords—IOS Access Points.

•IOS HTTP Port Settings—Specify the HTTP ports for IOS access points. See Enter HTTP Port Settings—IOS Access Points.

•WLCCP Credentials—Specify the RADIUS credentials for Wireless Domain Service (WDS). See Enter WLCCP Credentials for Wireless Domain Services.

Enter or Modify SNMP Community Strings for All Devices

The Wireless LAN Solution Engine uses SNMP community strings to discover devices and enable other WLSE options, such as firmware updates, configuration, and radio management. If community strings are not entered correctly, the WLSE cannot communicate with the device. Both read-only and read/write community strings are required.

The default community string covers all devices and uses public for both the read-only string and the read-write string. If the community strings on your devices differ from the default, you must specify the community strings on the WLSE before devices can be discovered and managed. For guidelines on configuring community strings on your devices, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7 on Cisco.com.

If you are importing devices from a file or CiscoWorks (instead of using the discovery mechanism), the community strings will also be imported. You do not need to enter the community strings here; however, if you import the strings and want to edit them, you can use this screen to do so. Also, if you imported devices and you want to customize the timeouts and retries, you can use this screen. For information about importing devices, see Importing Devices from a File and Importing Devices from a CiscoWorks Server.

If you are using the Discovery Wizard to run CDP discovery, you can enter community strings in the wizard. For more information, see Using the Discovery Wizard.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Device Credentials > SNMP Communities.

Note The SNMP Communities dialog box contains a default entry that covers all devices, provided that device community strings are set to the default (public). This entry is also used when none of the specified rules match a given IP address. This entry cannot be deleted.

Note For information on guidelines for entering community strings, click Learn more about community strings guidelines.

Step 2 To add an entry:

a. Enter data in the individual text boxes: IP address, Read Community, SNMP Timeout, SNMP Retries, and Write Community. Table 3-1 describes the community string variables. For more guidelines, see Recommendations For Configuring SNMP Credentials.

b. Click Add.

Result: The community string appears in the list of entries.

Table 3-1 Community String Variables

Variable

Description

Notes

IP Address

IP address of a device or range of devices that use these community strings.

If you do not specify an IP address, the default community strings apply to all devices in the network.

Read Community

Password allowing read-only access to the devices.

You must specify the read community string. Otherwise, the default value of public is used.

SNMP Timeout

Length of time (seconds) the server waits for a response from the device before performing the first retry.

The default is 10 seconds. If you increase the timeout period, discovery could take significantly longer to complete. The minimum is one and the maximum is 60.

SNMP Retries

Number of attempts the server makes to communicate with the device before declaring that the device has timed out.

The default is one retry. If you increase the number of retries, discovery takes significantly longer to complete. The default retry policy doubles the previous timeout value for retry.

Write Community

Password that allows write access to the devices.

You must specify the write community string. Otherwise, the default value of public is used.

Step 3 To modify an entry:

a. Select the entry in the list of entries.

b. Change the desired fields in the individual text boxes.

c. Click Modify.

Note The IP Address field of an existing entry cannot be changed.

Step 4 To delete an entry:

a. Select the entry in the list of entries.

b. Click Delete.

Note The default entry cannot be deleted.

Step 5 Click Save to apply your changes.

Related Topics

•Community String Format

•Recommendations For Configuring SNMP Credentials

Recommendations For Configuring SNMP Credentials

This section contains the following information:

•Community String Format

•Multiple Entries and Order of Use

•SNMP Timeouts and Retries

Community String Format

Use these guidelines when constructing entries:

•You can assign community strings to any of the following:

–Complete IP address; for example, 172.20.4.9

–Wild cards based on IP addresses; for example:

*.*.*.*

172.*.*.*

–Address ranges, which can include wild cards; for example:

27.20.[4-55].*

172.[21-30].[44-88].*

172.*.*.[121-255]

•All printable characters, except for colons (:), are allowed in community strings.

•Spaces are not allowed in community strings.

•Comments are not allowed.

Multiple Entries and Order of Use

When there are multiple potential entries, the WLSE will use the best (longest) matching community string. Matching is done from left to right on the IP address field. In case of conflicts caused by overlapping address specifications, the entry listed first will be used. It is strongly recommended that you remove any ambiguity by breaking the address into non-overlapping sets.

The order in which you add entries does not matter.

The default entry (*.*.*.*) is used when none of the specified rules match a given IP address. The default entry cannot be removed.

SNMP Timeouts and Retries

Use caution in configuring the SNMP timeouts and retries because the timeout/retry mechanism uses an exponential back-off algorithm. Follow these guidelines:

•In almost all circumstances, the default timeout of 10 seconds should not be changed.

•Because SNMP is UDP-based and UDP packets can easily be lost in normal network conditions, it is usually advisable to increase the number of retries to two.

However, if you are managing devices across high latency links (for example, thin or congested WAN links) or you encounter problems with SNMP timeouts, you might need to increase the timeouts or retries. If you need to change the default timeout and retries settings, the only way to arrive at optimal settings is through experimentation. One recommended procedure is to incrementally increase the timeout settings without increasing the retries until SNMP timeouts cease:

1. Validate that the devices have the proper SNMP configuration and that the correct SNMP credentials are entered into the WLSE.

2. Increase the timeout by a small amount of time, perhaps 5 seconds.

3. Use the SNMP connectivity tool (see Using Network Tools) to check if SNMP requests time out. If they do, increase the timeout and test reachability again.

Continue the process until SNMP requests no longer time out. Then leave the timeout setting in place, allowing the WLSE to operate normally with these settings. If you continue to see SNMP timeouts, you might need to increase the timeout setting or increase the retries settings again.

Related Topics

Community String Format

Enter HTTP Usernames and Passwords—Non-IOS Access Points

HTTP usernames and passwords are required for downloading configuration files to non-IOS access points. The password must be set on each access point, and you can enter as many usernames and passwords as necessary on the WLSE. For more information about setting passwords on access points, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Device Credentials > HTTP User/Password.

Step 2 To add a username and password:

a. Enter the access point IP address or range of IP addresses that will use this username and password.

For information on using ranges and wildcards in IP addresses, click Learn More or see Entering IP Addresses.

b. Enter the username.

c. Enter the password.

d. Click Save. The IP address and username are added to the Current Entries text box.

Step 3 To modify an entry:

a. Select the entry from the Current Entries text box.

b. Modify fields as needed and click Save.

Step 4 To delete an entry, select it from the Current Entries text box and click Delete.

Enter Telnet/SSH Usernames and Passwords—IOS Access Points

Telnet or SSH (SSH1 only) usernames and passwords are required for applying configuration templates to IOS access points and for upgrading firmware on IOS access points. You can enter as many usernames and passwords as necessary on the WLSE. For more information about setting passwords on IOS access points, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

The Telnet/SSH credentials you enter in this dialog must match the login sequence on the IOS access points. For example:

•If the device prompts for a password but not a username, do not provide a username.

•If the device prompts for a username and password and logs you directly into enable mode without asking for an enable password, do not provide an enable password.

•If the device prompts for an enable password only, enter the enable password only. Do not enter a username or user password.

If the credentials and login sequence do not match the device, the WLSE will not be able to open a session on the device. Match the credentials and login sequence as follows:
Device Login Sequence

Telnet Credential Fields Required
Username:
Password:
prompt >enable
Password:
enable prompt #
User Name

User Password

Enable Password
Password:
prompt > enable
Password:
enable prompt #
User Password

Enable Password
Username:
Password:
enable prompt #
User Name

User Password
enable prompt #
No credentials required.
Username:
prompt > enable
Password:
enable prompt #
User Name

Enable Password
prompt> enable
Password:
enable prompt#
Enable Password
Username:
prompt#
User Name
Username:
Password:
prompt>enable
Username:
Password:
enable prompt#
User Name

User Password

Enable User Name

Enable Password
Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Device Credentials > Telnet/SSH User/Password.

Step 2 When adding credentials:

•Always enter the IP address information.

•Enter only the username and password information that matches the credentials requested by the access points that use the IP address or range of IP addresses.

Field

Description

IP address

IP address or range of IP addresses for access points using this username and password. For details on entering address ranges and using wildcards, see Entering IP Addresses.

Username

Telnet/SSH username.

Note If the device is configured for a Telnet password only, enter a user password but leave the Username field blank.

User Password

Telnet/SSH password.

Confirm Password

Enable Password

Telnet/SSH enable password.

Confirm Enable Password

Step 3 To add more entries, repeat Step 2.

Step 4 To modify an entry:

a. Select the entry from the Current Entries text box.

b. Modify fields as needed and click Save.

Step 5 To clear the current entry, click Clear Fields.

Step 6 To delete an entry, select it from the Current Entries text box and click Delete.

Entering IP Addresses

IP addresses can consist of the following:

•A complete IP address; for example, 172.20.4.9.

•An IP address with * wildcards; for example:

–*.*.*.*

–172.*.*.*

•An IP address with ranges [x - y], where x is less than y, and wildcards; for example:

–27.20.[4-55].*

–172.[21-30].[44-88].*

–172.*.*.[121-255]

Note When two or more entries match the IP address of a device, the most specific entry will be used.

Enter HTTP Port Settings—IOS Access Points

HTTP port settings are required for reports on IOS access points; the port settings are used for the links from reports to the Web interfaces of access points. The port you should supply for each device is the port for accessing the access point's Web interface.

Note For non-IOS access points, there is no need to specify HTTP ports. Port information is collected during inventory.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Device Credentials > IOS HTTP Port Settings.

Step 2 To add a port:

a. Enter the IP address or range of IP addresses that use this port number.

For information on using ranges and wildcards in IP addresses, click Learn More, or see Entering IP Addresses.

b. Enter the port number.

c. Click Save.

Step 3 Repeat Step 2 to add more IP addresses and ports.

Enter WLCCP Credentials for Wireless Domain Services

If you are using the WLSE to monitor Wireless Domain Services (WDS) on your network, you must enter WLCCP credentials on the WLSE for the access points that provide WDS or an AAA server providing LEAP authentication services.

Note WLCCP credentials are required for WDS discovery. For more information about this method of discovery, see About WLCCP/WDS Discovery.

For other configuration requirements for radio management, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

To enter WLCCP credentials on the WLSE:

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Device Credentials > WLCCP Credentials.

Step 2 In the Radius Username and Radius Password fields, enter the username and password for LEAP authentication that you set for the WLSE on the WDS access point or the AAA server.

Step 3 To modify the WLCCP credentials, change the fields as needed.

Step 4 To save the credentials, click Save.

To clear all fields and remove the WLCCP credentials, click Clear Fields.

Managing AAA Servers

The options in this screen allow you to:

•Add AAA servers—See Adding an AAA Server.

•Remove AAA servers—See Removing an AAA Server.

•Edit AAA server entries—See Modifying an AAA Server.

Related Topics

•About AAA Servers

About AAA Servers

Before adding Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) servers to the WLSE, configure the servers to add the WLSE as a client. For information on adding the WLSE as a client on AAA servers, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

After you add AAA servers to the WLSE, the WLSE automatically performs periodic logins on each server to monitor the server's response time and availability and displays this information under Reports > Trends.

The WLSE can monitor AAA services provided by Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) or Cisco Access Registrar (AR). For the versions of these products supported by the WLSE, see the Supported Devices Table for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, 2.7, on Cisco.com.

If you are using Wireless Domain Services (WDS), you will also use an AAA server to allow the WLSE to authenticate with the WDS access point. For more information, see Enter WLCCP Credentials for Wireless Domain Services.

The services supported by the WLSE are:

•EAP-MD5

•LEAP

•PEAP (EAP-GTC only)

•RADIUS

For information about changing the polling interval and response time fault thresholds for AAA server monitoring, see Setting Fault Thresholds.

Adding an AAA Server

Note Before the WLSE can monitor your AAA servers, you must configure the servers to add the WLSE as a client. For information on adding the WLSE as a client on AAA servers, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

There is no limitation on the number of AAA servers you can add.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > AAA Server.

Step 2 Enter the following data:

Field

Description

Show List

Select the server type from the pulldown list:

•EAP-MD5

•LEAP

•PEAP (EAP-GTC only)

•RADIUS

Server Name

Hostname or IP address of the AAA server.

Server Port

Port on the server that is used for authentication; this should always be 1645.

Username

Client username that you entered on the AAA server.

Password

Client password that you entered on the AAA server.

Secret

Shared secret key that you entered on the AAA server.

Step 3 Click Save.

Step 4 To discard your entries, click Cancel.

Removing an AAA Server

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > AAA Server.

Step 2 Select the server type from Show List; all servers of that type are displayed.

Step 3 Select the server to be removed.

Step 4 Click Remove.

Modifying an AAA Server

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > AAA Server.

Step 2 Select the server type from Show List; all servers of that type are displayed.

Step 3 Select the server to be modified.

Step 4 Modify any of the following characteristics of the server:

Field

Description

Server Port

Port on the server that is used for authentication; this should always be 1645.

Username

Client username that you entered on the server.

Password

Client password that you entered on the server.

Secret

Shared secret key that you entered on the server.

Step 5 Click Save.

Step 6 To discard your entries, click Cancel.

Using Enhanced (WDS) Client Tracking

The WLSE can track clients of IOS-based access points by querying Wireless Domain Service (WDS) for all client associations. You can use the following procedure to enable or disable this type of client tracking globally or enable it on selected WDS devices (access points or other devices that support WDS). By default, client tracking is globally disabled.

In addition to enabling client tracking, you must configure access points and the WLSE. See Prerequisites for Enhanced Client Tracking for more information.

For more information on client tracking and client polling, see About WDS Client Tracking.

For information on the IOS firmware versions that support enhanced client tracking, see the Supported Devices Table for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, 2.7 on cisco.com.

Configuring Enhanced Client Tracking

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Client Tracking. The client tracking options are displayed.

Step 2 Select an option:

•Enable client tracking on all WDS devices—client tracking will be enabled on all WDS access points.

•Disable client tracking on all WDS devices—this is the default state.

•Enable client tracking only on selected WDS devices:

–A list of the configured and managed WDS devices appears. The information in the list is described in Table 3-2.

–Select the WDS devices on which you want to enable client tracking.

Table 3-2 Client Tracking Devices

Field

Description

Name

Name and IP address of an active WDS device that is being managed by the WLSE.

Note Although only active WDS devices are listed, the configuration settings of an active WDS will be applied automatically to the backup WDS when the backup becomes active.

IP Address

Subnet

Subnet to which the WDS is assigned.

Version

Firmware image on the WDS device.

Backup Count

Number of WDS devices (in the same subnet) that are acting as backup for this active WDS device.

Registered Node Count

Number of access points registered with this WDS device.

WNM Authentication State

Status of the authentication of the WLSE with the WDS device.

WDS Tracking Status

Current state of client tracking for the WDS device:

•Enabled—the WLSE is receiving client tracking events from this WDS device.

•Disabled—the WLSE is not receiving client tracking events from this WDS device.

Step 3 To reset to the previous setting, click Reset. To save your changes, click Apply.

Related Topics

•About WDS Client Tracking

•About Inventories

•Displaying Wireless Client Reports

About WDS Client Tracking

This section contains information about the following:

•Prerequisites for Enhanced Client Tracking

•Client Tracking vs. Client Polling

•Wireless Client Reports

Prerequisites for Enhanced Client Tracking

In addition to enabling client tracking on the WLSE, you must configure the following for WDS-based client tracking to work:

•Configure the WLSE for WLCCP—See Enter WLCCP Credentials for Wireless Domain Services.

WLCCP messages are required for the WDS to perform client tracking.

•Configure primary and (optional) backup WDS devices for each subnet—See the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

This feature is not available on all IOS firmware versions. All WDS access points must be upgraded to IOS firmware version 12.2(15)JA or later. See the WLSE 2.7 Supported Device Table on Cisco.com for the latest information.

If the WDS devices have firmware earlier than 12.2(15)JA, enhanced client tracking is not available. However, client tracking via client polling is available. For more information, see Client Polling.

•Configure infrastructure access points for WDS—See the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

These access points need not necessarily be upgraded.

•(Strongly recommended) Configure Network Time Protocol (NTP) on the network.

Client tracking event reports include a WDS timestamp, which is used to display the order of events at the WDS. If all clocks are not NTP synchronized, events from different WDS devices may not be ordered correctly. You should ensure clock synchronization by configuring NTP service on the WDS and the WLSE. The NTP server should be a network NTP server that is used by all WDS devices. For information on enabling NTP on the WLSE, see Setting Time, Time Servers, Name Servers, and Web Session Timeout. For information on enabling NTP on WDS devices, see the device documentation.

Client Tracking vs. Client Polling

The WLSE obtains client data in two ways:

•Automatic client inventory polling—see Client Polling.

•WDS client tracking—see Client Tracking.

Client Polling

The WLSE automatically collects client data by polling all access points, using a configurable polling interval. Data obtained from client polling is detailed and includes traffic statistics. Polling data is only as timely as the last client polling cycle, which means that the client polling interval greatly affects the accuracy of client reports:

•In environments where clients are highly mobile, such as health care and retail deployments, you should set the client polling interval to the minimum if the network can tolerate the polling traffic.

•In enterprise deployments, most WLAN users have laptops and tend to be stationary for long periods of time, so client polling should be less frequent.

Wireless client polling is a fairly heavyweight process. If you have many access points to poll for client associations, polling should be less frequent. As a result, the client data will not be as accurate. Wireless client reports are updated every 51 minutes by default. To reset the client polling interval, see Changing the Polling Intervals for Automatic Inventories.

Note You can also obtain detailed client information by running on-demand or scheduled inventories on one or more specific access points. See Running Immediate Inventories.

Client Tracking

With client tracking, the WLSE obtains client data from WDS devices, instead of from all of the individual infrastructure access points. Client tracking provides only historical information.

Any clients that have associated with a managed access point are reported and tracked by a corresponding managed, active WDS device which is serving the same subnet as the managed access point.

WDS devices send notifications to the WLSE when certain events occur about any client associated with access points that are registered with that WDS. Each WDS maintains an updated active cache of all clients that are associated with each registered access point within the WDS domain. These events are recorded by the WLSE and can be viewed from the Client Historical Association Report and Client Access Failure Report. These events also keep the current client association information up to date. For performance reasons, there is approximately a 2-minute delay between when the event occurs and when the event is available in reports. The reported events are:

•Refresh—Occurs when the WLSE synchronizes with the WDS. This happens when the WLSE reboots and when the WDS-to-WLSE management link is established or restored. During this phase, the WLSE learns about all of the registered clients within a specific WDS domain.

•Registration with WDS—When a client successfully registers with the WDS for the very first time.

•Detachment from WDS—When the WDS cleans up the internal cache of a stale client or the associated access point indicates to the WDS that a client has become inactive.

•Roam—When a client roams to another access point within the same WDS domain.

•Access failure—When a client fails to access an access point during EAP authentication.

Even when client tracking is enabled, the wireless client polling described in Client Polling is still required to obtain other information about client activity, such as client as client traffic statistics.

If you have a high volume of client roaming or client activity, enabling client tracking will add extra overhead and WLSE performance may be affected. However, client tracking events are optimized to consume very little network traffic and WLSE processing resources.

Although client polling occurs automatically, client tracking must be enabled on WDS devices by selecting Devices > Discover > Client Tracking. To enable client tracking and view the current state of client tracking, see Using Enhanced (WDS) Client Tracking.

Wireless Client Reports

Wireless client reports provide information about the type of client that is associating with an access point, how much bandwidth the client is using, which access points the client has associated with, and the kind of client activity.

For information on displaying wireless client reports, see Displaying Wireless Client Reports.

Managing Device Discovery

By default, the WLSE runs Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) discovery every 24 hours. You can use the options under Devices > Discover > DISCOVER to:

•Run additional CDP discoveries and modify the default schedule.

–For more information, see About Discovery.

–To run CDP discoveries, see Using the Discovery Wizard.

•Discover devices by importing them from a file or from a CiscoWorks server.

–For more information, see About Discovery.

–To run device imports, see Using the Discovery Wizard.

Note After devices are discovered, they must be put under management—see Managing and Unmanaging Devices. Unmanaged devices do not appear in WLSE displays.

•Set advanced options that modify the behavior of discovery and device management—See Setting Advanced Options.

•Set up IP address filtering for discovery—See Using Discovery IP Address Filtering.

•View discovery job details—See Viewing Discovery Logs.

About Discovery

The topics covered in this section are:

•Understanding Discovery and Management

•Understanding WLSE Discovery Methods

•About CDP-Based Discovery

•About WLCCP/WDS Discovery

•About Individual Device Seeding

•About Device Import From a File

•About Device Import From CiscoWorks

•About CSV Files

Understanding Discovery and Management

Network devices are interrogated by the WLSE by multiple processes: discovery and inventory polling.

Device discovery is a periodic process that finds new devices and possibly topology and network changes. The WLSE can discover Cisco wireless access points and bridges, and Cisco switches or routers that have Cisco wireless devices attached to them. The discovery process can be run at scheduled intervals or on-demand.

Discovered devices can exist in one of two states: managed and unmanaged. By default, newly-discovered devices are in the unmanaged state and will not be polled until manually moved to the managed state.

You can enable an auto-manage feature that automatically moves newly discovered devices to the managed state when they are discovered. You can also apply a default device configuration to auto-managed wireless devices. Figure 3-1 illustrates the managed/unmanaged state machine.

Assuming the discovery process is successful, the WLSE discovery footprint is approximately 2500 bytes per device per discovery cycle. This is just the discovery footprint. The 2500 bytes represent a single SNMP get-request and a single SNMP get-response. This footprint may be larger if the SNMP get-response needs to be broken up across multiple protocol data units (PDU), which often happens if the device receiving the SNMP get-request has a large CDP neighbor table.

After a device is discovered for the first time and the device is auto-managed, an immediate inventory will run. However, inventory is not run automatically when discovery is run on a device that was already discovered (even if the device is automanaged). You can run an immediate inventory to update device information on the WLSE or wait for the next regular scheduled inventory.

Figure 3-1 Device Management State Machine

Understanding WLSE Discovery Methods

Before the WLSE can manage devices, it must discover them. There are several discovery techniques:

•CDP-based discovery—See About CDP-Based Discovery.

•WLCCP/WDS discovery—See About WLCCP/WDS Discovery.

•Individual device seeding—See About Individual Device Seeding.

•Device import from a file—See About Device Import From a File.

•Device import from CiscoWorks Resource Manager Essentials (RME)—See About Device Import From CiscoWorks.

Use the following table to help you decide which technique to use:

Note AAA servers must be input individually regardless of discovery method. See About AAA Servers.

Table 3-3 Discovery Options

Discovery Method

Use This Method When...

CDP-based discovery

Use this method when wireless devices are attached to Cisco switches or routers running Cisco discovery protocol. For more information, see About CDP-Based Discovery.

Individual device seeding

If the wireless devices are connected to switches or routers that don't run CDP (for example, non-Cisco switches), this is one option.

Note This method forces the user to input each device IP address, so it may not scale.

For more information, see About Individual Device Seeding.

Device import from a file

If the wireless devices are connected to switches or routers that don't run CDP (for example, non-Cisco switches), this is an option. This technique adds an entry for each device for SNMP credentials.

Note Using this method, you might need to create a large CSV file listing each device.

For more information, see About Device Import From a File.

Device import from CiscoWorks Resource Manager Essentials (RME)

Use this technique if you have already inventoried the wireless devices using RME. This technique adds an entry for each device for SNMP credentials.

For more information, see About Device Import From CiscoWorks.

About CDP-Based Discovery

When the WLSE runs a CDP-based discovery, it begins by using SNMP to retrieve the list of devices in the CDP neighbor table of each seed device. It then retrieves the devices in the CDP neighbor tables from each of the CDP neighbors of the seeds. This process continues until all devices in the network are discovered for the CDP distance is reached.

Note Only Cisco wireless devices and Cisco switches or routers attached to properly configured access points are recognized by the discovery process.

The CDP distance determines the depth of the discovery. With a CDP distance of 1, only the immediate neighbors of the seed device are discovered. With a CDP distance of 2, devices A and B that are directly connected to the seed device are discovered, and the immediate neighbors of A and B are also discovered.

You can specify multiple seed devices to:

•Shorten the discovery time.

•Discover "disconnected" networks; that is, discover devices across links on which CDP is disabled or discover devices outside the firewall.

Note Supported access points, bridges, routers, and switches are all valid seed devices. PCs and workstations are not valid seed devices.

Interesting devices from the perspective of the WLSE are:

•Cisco wireless bridges and access points

•Cisco routers or switches that are CDP neighbors of a Cisco wireless device.

Because the WLSE keeps only interesting devices, try to select seed devices in a way that minimizes unnecessary WLSE discovery traffic on the network by selecting devices so that the discovery process will only touch interesting devices. This is usually not possible, but by selecting seeds wisely, a minimum number of uninteresting devices will be touched by the discovery process.

Note To configure a scheduled or recurring CDP-based discovery process, or to run a CDP-based discovery on-demand, see Using the Discovery Wizard.

CDP-based discovery can be run on-demand, at a scheduled time, or at recurring intervals. Typically, you only need to run discovery when you initially deploy the WLSE and when you deploy new wireless devices.

By default, CDP discovery is enabled and runs every 24 hours. The discovery wizard allows you to:

•Run additional immediate CDP discoveries

•Change the default CDP schedule

Devices must be properly configured for access by the WLSE before they can be discovered and managed (see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7).

If CDP is disabled, you can still discover devices by entering their IP addresses as seed values in the discovery dialogs or by importing them. However, the connectivity between access points and switches will not be discovered and switch-related reports will be empty. For more information, see About Individual Device Seeding.

About WLCCP/WDS Discovery

All of the IOS access points in a subnet register with the Wireless Domain Service (WDS), and the WDS sends this data to the WLSE via WLCCP. The WLSE checks whether these devices are in the WLSE database. If not, a regular CDP discovery is run, using each device as a seed. So, new devices that register with the WDS will be automatically discovered.

These WDS discoveries do not appear in the discovery log. These discoveries are affected by any discovery filters that you have set. See Setting Advanced Options and Using Discovery IP Address Filtering.

For WLCCP discovery to work:

•WDS devices and infrastructure APs must be properly configured for network management and radio management—See the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7 on Cisco.com.

•The WDS devices must be in the managed state.

About Alternatives to CDP

Instead of enabling CDP and using it for discovery, you can use the following methods of discovering devices:

•About Individual Device Seeding

•About Device Import From a File

•About Device Import From CiscoWorks

About Individual Device Seeding

Although CDP-based discovery is usually the preferred option, in some network environments a CDP-based discovery is undesirable or impossible. For example, the wired network infrastructure may have non-Cisco switches or hubs that do not support CDP, or IT security policies may prohibit the use of CDP in the network.

As an alternative to using Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) to run discovery, you can seed each device IP into the WLSE. The WLSE setup process is similar to the regular CDP-based discovery, and is treated as such by the WLSE discovery process. Rather than using a few, well-chosen seed devices:

1. Enter each device to be managed as a seed device prior to running discovery.

2. Set the CDP distance to 1.

3. Use either the on-demand discovery or the scheduled discovery options from Devices > Discover > DISCOVER.

Note This technique will not discover switches or routers attached to wireless devices unless the wireless devices and switches and/or routers are CDP-enabled. Because the WLSE cannot establish a neighbor relationship between switches or routers and the wireless devices if the switches or routers are not CDP-enabled, they will not be included as manageable by the WLSE.

Note Because this technique requires that you enter each device as a seed, it may add significant overhead to the WLSE discovery setup time.

About Device Import From a File

When a CDP-based discovery is undesirable or impossible, importing a list of devices from a file is another option in many environments. For example, the wired network infrastructure may have non-Cisco switches or hubs that do not support CDP or IT security policies may prohibit the use of CDP in the network.

Using an import file in comma separated variable (CSV) format is an alternative to individual device seeding. Because the import file may be obtained from another network inventory management application, this technique may be more practical than individual device seeding.

Use the option Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Import From File to import devices from a CSV file. You can choose to discover some devices and import others, however devices not supported by the WLSE are ignored during device import.

A one-time discovery job starts immediately after you import devices from a CSV file. This means the following discovery options affect device import:

•Advanced Options—See Setting Advanced Options.

•IP Filter Rules—See Using Discovery IP Address Filtering.

When you import the devices from a CSV file, the WLSE:

1. Treats each entry as a seed device and uses a CDP distance of 1.

2. Attempts to retrieve the CDP neighbor table of each entry, discarding any devices in the CSV file that are not interesting. Interesting devices from the perspective of the WLSE are:

•Cisco wireless bridges and access points

•Cisco routers or switches that are CDP neighbors of a Cisco wireless device.

If CDP is not enabled on the wireless devices or if there are no CDP neighbors, then the WLSE will only discover the wireless devices and the WLSE cannot be used to manage the neighboring switch or router.

Note Because the WLSE will attempt to determine the device type and CDP neighbors of each device imported from the CSV file, a large number of uninteresting (to the WLSE) devices may add significant time to the discovery process and add unnecessary traffic to the network. To minimize discovery time, you should edit the CSV file to contain only devices of interest.

3. Adds a row in the SNMP device credentials fields (see Enter SNMP Communities) for each device during the import process. The WLSE will do this even if there are already entries that qualify for the devices configured.

This is not a required step because the WLSE will choose the most specific entry when looking up SNMP credentials for a device, but it is recommended because it will make managing device credentials easier.

4. Imports the following information:

•IP addresses are accepted as is, and hostnames are resolved to obtain the IP address. Hostnames that cannot be resolved are ignored.

•Read-only and read/write community strings are inserted into the SNMP Communities table (Devices > Discover > Device Credentials).

The community strings that you import will overwrite the information already entered on the WLSE. You can view the information already entered in Devices > Discover > Device Credentials > SNMP Communities. Community strings that contain wildcards will not be overwritten unless these entries are exactly matched by entries in the CSV file.

•SNMP timeout and retry settings are not imported but you can specify values, while setting up the discovery job.

The timeouts and retries that you enter will overwrite information already entered on the WLSE.

During the subsequent discovery:

•All WLSE-supported devices in the file are used as seed devices with a CDP distance of 1. These devices are listed in the Discovery Run Log.

•In the discovery logs (see Viewing Discovery Logs), the name of the import from file is shown as CDPDiscovery_Import_Devices.

About CSV Files

The file used for imports is an ASCII CSV (comma-separated values) file with a .txt filename suffix. You can create a CSV file by exporting devices from CiscoWorks or by creating the file with a text editor. You can also view a sample CSV file from the Discovery Wizard screens for file import, or see the following example.

A CSV file can contain the following device information:

Note Only the device name or IP address and the community strings are used by the WLSE.

•Full device name or IP address (required). Include the domain in the device name unless your site has unqualified device names registered in the name service.

•Read-only community string (required).

•Read-write community string (optional).

•Serial number (optional).

•User Fields 1, 2, 3, and 4 (optional).

•Telnet password, enable password, enable secret, TACACS user, TACACS password, TACACS enable user, TACACS enable password, local user, local password, and RCP (remote copy protocol) user.

•RCP password (not used).

An example file follows.
;
; The possible columns in the CSV file are listed below.
;
; For importing to WLSE, columns 1,2,3 are required and the 
; rest are optional.
;
; Col# = 1:  Name = Device name (include domain unless your site 
;                   has unqualified device names registered in 
;                   the name services)
;                   - or -
;                   IP Address in dotted decimal notation
;
; Col# = 2:  Name = RO community string
; Col# = 3:  Name = RW community string
; Col# = 4:  Name = Serial Number
; Col# = 5:  Name = User Field 1
; Col# = 6:  Name = User Field 2
; Col# = 7:  Name = User Field 3
; Col# = 8:  Name = User Field 4
; Col# = 9;  Name = Telnet password
; Col# = 10; Name = Enable password
; Col# = 11; Name = Enable secret
; Col# = 12; Name = Tacacs user
; Col# = 13; Name = Tacacs password
; Col# = 14; Name = Tacacs enable user
; Col# = 15; Name = Tacacs enable password
; Col# = 16; Name = Local user
; Col# = 17; Name = Local password
; Col# = 18; Name = Rcp user
; Col# = 19; Name = Rcp password; Comment = Not used, leave blank
;
; Here are examples of rows of data:
;
1.2.3.4,public,public,,
1.2.2.5,public,public,,,,,,telnetpwd
bigrouter.yourcompany.com,public,private,,,,,,telnetpwd
dev-2501.yourcompany.com,"Not so, "" public as, thought",private,sn2501,
dev-2502.yourcompany.com,public,"private",sn2502,
dev-2503.yourcompany.com,public,private,sn2503,""
dev-2510.yourcompany.com,public,private,sn2510,
dev-4000.yourcompany.com,public,private,,Big Boys
dev-2517.yourcompany.com,public,private,,,nm 25xx
dev-2520.yourcompany.com,public,private,,,mylabel2
dev-4700.yourcompany.com,public,private,,yourlabel1,,yourlabel3,yourlabel4
dev-7206.yourcompany.com,public,private,,
dev-7505.yourcompany.com,public,private,,,,,yourlabel4
About Device Import From CiscoWorks

If you are using CiscoWorks Resource Manager Essentials (RME) to manage your wireless devices, you can import the devices from RME to the WLSE without configuring, scheduling, or running WLSE discovery. This process is analogous to using a CSV file to import a list of devices. Use the option Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Discovery Wizard > Import From CiscoWorks to import devices from RME.

Immediately after a successful import, the WLSE runs discovery on all of the imported devices. Therefore, the following discovery options affect device import:

•Advanced Options—See Setting Advanced Options.

•IP Filter Rules—See Using Discovery IP Address Filtering.

You can specify an immediate import, schedule an import for a future time, or schedule recurring imports. The time required to import devices depends on the response from the CiscoWorks server and the number of devices imported. You can check the status of the operation while it is running.

When you import the devices from CiscoWorks, the WLSE:

1. Interrogates the RME server for its device list and credentials, and then treats each device retrieved from RME as a seed device.

2. Attempts to determine the CDP neighbors of each device, discarding devices from RME that are not interesting. Interesting devices from the perspective of the WLSE are:

•Cisco wireless bridges and access points

•Cisco routers or switches that are CDP neighbors of a Cisco wireless device.

Note Because the WLSE will attempt to determine the device type and CDP neighbors of each device imported from RME, a large number of uninteresting (to the WLSE) devices may add significant time to the discovery process and add unnecessary traffic to the network.

If CDP is not enabled on the wireless devices or if there are no CDP neighbors, the WLSE will only discover the wireless devices.

3. Adds a row in the SNMP device credentials fields for each device during the import from RME process. This process may result in duplicate entries for SNMP credentials. You can choose to delete the specific entries and leave the general entries.

This is not a required step because the WLSE will choose the most specific entry when looking up SNMP credentials for a device, but it is recommended because it will make managing device credentials easier.

Note Only the device's hostname or IP address and the read and write community strings are imported from a CiscoWorks server. The SNMP timeout and retry settings are not imported (the WLSE default settings are used).

4. During the subsequent discovery, two items are listed in the discovery log for each import from CiscoWorks:

•Cisco Works Device Import—Click this item to display a run log that shows the information imported for each device found on the CiscoWorks server. The WLSE uses only the hostname or IP address and the community strings.

•CDPDiscovery_Import_Devices—Click this item to display a run log that shows the results of the discovery that was run by using the information imported from the CiscoWorks server.

The WLSE provides scheduled, automated inventory imports from RME. Many customers prefer keeping a master Cisco device inventory on the RME server. Using the scheduled, automated inventory import allows customers to keep their WLSE device list in sync with the master list.

Most networks have a fairly static inventory. That is, new devices are typically added in planned roll-outs. So there really is no need to have the recurring RME import interval set very frequently. In most cases, once a week is more than frequent enough.

Pre-Discovery Checklist

The following checklist will help you confirm that the prerequisites for successful discovery have been met.

Note This list is only the requirements for successful device discovery. To use other WLSE features, other configuration requirements exist. For other configuration requirements, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

•CDP enabled on network devices (for CDP-based discovery).

•SNMP communities configured on network devices.

–Read-only SNMP community strings configured on switches and routers.

–Correct access capabilities for SNMP communities on non-IOS-based wireless access points and bridges.

–Read-only SNMP community strings configured for IOS-based wireless access points.

•SNMP community strings entered into WLSE device credentials fields.

•WLSE configured as network access server (NAS) for CiscoSecure Access Control Server (ACS) (for RADIUS, LEAP, EAP-MD5 server monitoring) or equivalent in other AAA servers.

•WLSE synthetic transaction user created on AAA server.

About the Discovery Wizard

From Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Discovery Wizard, you can use all of the discovery methods. To start using the wizard, see Using the Discovery Wizard. The discovery methods are:

•CDP discovery—see Running CDP Discovery

•Device import from a file—see Importing Devices from a File

•Device import from a CiscoWorks server Importing Devices from a CiscoWorks Server

Using the Discovery Wizard

The discovery wizard provides the following choices for discovering devices.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Discover > Discovery Wizard.

Step 2 Select a discovery option.

Option

Description

Reference

Automatic Device Discovery based on Cisco Discovery Protocol

Run immediate or scheduled discovery by using Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP).

About Discovery

Import from File

Import devices from a file.

Import from CiscoWorks

Import devices from a CiscoWorks server (using Resource Manager Essentials), on an immediate or scheduled basis.

Step 3 Click Next.

Note In the following screens, you can click Back to modify a previous screen or Cancel to cancel the discovery or import.

Running CDP Discovery

This section provides procedures for using the Discovery Wizard screens for CDP discovery. To get started, select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Discovery Wizard > Automatic Device Discovery based on Cisco Discovery Protocol.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

The tasks for running CDP discovery are:

Table 3-4 Tasks for CDP Discovery

Type Discovery

Task

Reference

Run Now

Select Run Now.

Select the Type of CDP Discovery

Specify SNMP communities.

Enter SNMP Communities

Specify initiating IP addresses (seeds).

Enter Initiating IP Addresses

Verify your settings and finish.

Verify Your Settings and Finish—Run Now

View discovery run details.

Modify Schedule

Select Modify Schedule

Select the Type of CDP Discovery

Modify the schedule

Specify the Schedule

Specify SNMP communities

Enter SNMP Communities

Specify initiating IP addresses (seeds)

Enter Initiating IP Addresses

Verify your settings and finish

Verify Your Settings and Finish—Modify Schedule

View discovery run details

Select the Type of CDP Discovery

The Select Type of CDP Discovery screen provides choices for running CDP Discovery.

Note By default, discovery runs once every 24 hours.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose an option:

•To run a one-time discovery now, select Run Now.

•To modify the default discovery schedule, select Modify Periodic.

Step 2 Click Next to continue.

Related Topics

About CDP-Based Discovery

Specify the Schedule

In this screen, you can modify the discovery schedule.

Procedure

Step 1 Select the Start Date and Start Time from the pulldown lists.

Do not schedule a discovery to begin within 5 minutes of the current time. Otherwise, the first discovery might not run. Use the Run Now option instead.

Step 2 To repeat discovery at specified intervals, click Enable. Then enter a number in the Every text box and select the interval from the list.

Step 3 Click Next.

Enter SNMP Communities

The community strings for all devices to be discovered by using CDP must be entered on the WLSE.

Procedure

Step 1 If you have not yet entered community strings for the devices in this discovery job or you need to change the community strings, you can do it now.

Step 2 There are two methods for entering community strings:

•Enter community strings directly in the large text box.

•Use the individual text boxes and click Add after entering the data for each string.

Note The large text box lists all SNMP credentials that have been entered on the WLSE.

Step 3 For guidelines on community string syntax, click Learn more about community string guidelines.

You can also find details on entering community strings and the community string requirements for discovery in Enter or Modify SNMP Community Strings for All Devices.

Step 4 Click Next.

Enter Initiating IP Addresses

You must enter at least one initiating IP address (seed device).

Procedure

Step 1 Add seed devices by entering comma-separated IP addresses or device names in the Add Values text box and click >>.

Note Seed devices entered during Run Now are not retained after the discovery. Seed devices added during Modify Schedule are retained and you can use them for subsequent discoveries.

Device names must resolve to your local DNS in order to translate device names to IP addresses during discovery. The requirements for entering device names are:

•Blank spaces are not allowed.

•The first character in a name must be alphanumeric.

•The only valid characters are the alphanumeric characters, the minus sign (-), and the period (.).

•The last character cannot be a minus or a period.

Step 2 Set the CDP distance by selecting a number from the list.

Set this value appropriately to discover the entire wireless network or the set of devices you are discovering. A CDP distance of 1 only discovers the immediate neighbors of the seed devices.

Routers and switches that do not have access points attached to them are used when computing CDP distance. However, these routers and switches will not be discovered.

Step 3 Click Next.

Verify Your Settings and Finish—Run Now

Procedure

Step 1 Verify that your settings are correct.

Step 2 If not, click Back to make changes.

Step 3 When settings are correct, click Finish.

Discovery will begin immediately and the Discovery Run Details screen will appear, showing the details of the discovery job.

For more information about Discovery Run Details, see Viewing Discovery Logs.

Related Topics

Viewing Discovery Logs

Verify Your Settings and Finish—Modify Schedule

Procedure

Step 1 Verify that your settings are correct.

Step 2 If not, click Back to make changes.

Step 3 When settings are correct, click Finish.

Discovery will begin at the Start Time you selected.

Note If a warning message appears saying that WLSE server is ahead of or behind your local time, see Understanding Time Discrepancy Problems in Job Scheduling.

Related Topics

Viewing Discovery Logs

Importing Devices from a File

This section gives procedures for using the Discovery Wizard screens for importing devices from a file.

To get started, select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Discovery Wizard > Import From File.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

The tasks for importing devices from a file are:

Table 3-5 Tasks for Import from File

Task

Reference

Specify the file and set the SNMP retry and timeout (optional)

Select the File and Set SNMP Parameters

Verify your settings and finish

Finish the Import

View import details

Select the File and Set SNMP Parameters

To import devices from a file, you can create the file by using a text editor or by exporting devices from a CiscoWorks server that is running Resource Manager Essentials.

For information about CSV files, see About CSV Files.

Procedure

Step 1 To see a sample CSV device file, click See Sample CSV File.

Step 2 Enter a pathname for the file in the Select File dialog box or click Browse to find the file on the desktop or another network system.

Step 3 The read and write community strings for the imported devices will be imported and will overwrite existing community strings. Existing entries that use wildcards will not be overwritten unless they are exactly matched by entries in the CSV file.

To see or edit the existing community strings on the WLSE, select Devices > Discover > Credentials > SNMP Communities.

Step 4 The timeout and retry settings in a CSV file are not imported. If you do not specify timeout and retries, the default settings (10 seconds and 1 retry) will be assigned to the imported devices. The timeouts and retries you enter here will overwrite any timeouts and retries already entered for existing community strings. To specify the timeout and retries for the imported devices:

•Enter the number of seconds in the SNMP Timeouts text box.

•Enter the number of retries in the SNMP Retries text box.

Step 5 To view the status of the last import, if any, click Check Last Status. Details on the latest import are shown.

Step 6 To import devices from the file you selected, click Next. The file will be imported and a one-time discovery will begin immediately.

Finish the Import

Procedure

Step 1 This screen shows the devices that will be imported.

Step 2 To view the status of this import, click Check Last Status.

Step 3 Click Finish. The Import from File Status screen will appear, showing the job details.

Related Topics

Viewing Discovery Logs

Importing Devices from a CiscoWorks Server

This section provides procedures for using the Discovery Wizard screens for importing devices from CiscoWorks server that is running Resource Manager Essentials.

To get started, select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Discovery Wizard > Import from CiscoWorks.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

The tasks for importing devices from CiscoWorks are:

Table 3-6 Tasks for Import from CiscoWorks

Task

Description

Specify the CiscoWorks server

Schedule the Import and Finish

Schedule the import

View import details

Schedule the Import and Finish

This screen allows you specify a CiscoWorks server as the source of the devices to be imported. You can run a one-time import or schedule imports. For more information about importing devices from a CiscoWorks server, see About Device Import From CiscoWorks.

Procedure

Step 1 Enter the following information. All fields are required; if any fields are left blank, the display will clear when you try to save your settings.

Field

Description

Host

CiscoWorks server IP address.

Port

Port number on which the CiscoWorks server listens for HTTP requests. You may need to contact the administrator of the CiscoWorks server to obtain this information.

User

Username and password of any user who has the authority to export and import device credentials on the CiscoWorks server.

Password

Confirm Password

Step 2 To run a one-time import:

a. Select Run Now.

b. Click Finish. The import will begin immediately.

Step 3 To schedule a one-time import or repeated imports:

a. Select the start date from the Start Date pulldown lists.

b. Enter the start time from the Start Time pulldown lists.

c. To schedule repeated imports, click Enable Repeat and set the interval by entering a number after Every and selecting Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, or Months from the pulldown list.

d. Click Finish. A one-time import will begin immediately.

Note If a warning message appears saying that WLSE server is ahead of or behind your local time, see Understanding Time Discrepancy Problems in Job Scheduling.

Step 4 To view the status of the last import from CiscoWorks, click Check Last Status. Details on the latest import (if any) are shown. Click Refresh to update the display. You might see the error messages listed in Table 3-7.

Table 3-7 Device Import Status Messages

Message

Meaning

Related Topics

Viewing Discovery Logs

Setting Advanced Options

This window provides the following options for discovery and device management:

•Reverse DNS lookup—See Enable Reverse DNS Lookup.

•Automatic management of newly discovered devices—See Enable Auto-Management.

•Filtering for time-based access point management—See Enable MAC Address Auto-Manage Filtering for Access Points.

Note Your login determines whether you can use these options.

Enable Reverse DNS Lookup

Enabling reverse DNS lookup affects hostname (device name) display on the WLSE as follows:

Reverse DNS lookup enabled?

Effect on Display

Yes

If the lookup succeeds, the device name is displayed.

If the lookup fails, the device IP address is displayed.

No

If the device's SNMP sysName is set, the sysName is displayed.¹

If the sysName is not set, the device IP address is displayed.

¹If a device's sysName contains a single quote (`) and DNS is not enabled, the IP address will be displayed instead of the sysName.

Note The hostname (device name) is not updated during every inventory cycle. This information is updated only after the device is rediscovered.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Advanced Options.

Step 2 If DNS is configured on devices, you can enable reverse DNS lookup by selecting Use reverse DNS lookup.

Step 3 Click Save to save all of your settings in the Advanced Options screen.

Related Topics

Understanding WLSE Discovery Methods

Enable Auto-Management

Enabling this option causes all discovered devices to be automatically managed.

Procedure

To enable automatic management for all discovered devices:

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Advanced Options.

Step 2 Select Auto-Manage Devices without Filtering.

All discovered devices will be automatically placed in the Managed folder.

Note If you are using the automatic device configuration feature, make sure you enable auto-management. Access points and bridges that you add to the network will be automatically configured only if Auto-Manage is enabled. For more information, see Automating Configurations.

Step 3 To use the option for auto-managing selected access points within specified time limits, see Enable MAC Address Auto-Manage Filtering for Access Points.

Step 4 Click Save to save all of your settings in the Advanced Options screen.

Related Topics

•Understanding WLSE Discovery Methods

•Managing and Unmanaging Devices

Enable MAC Address Auto-Manage Filtering for Access Points

This option allows you to specify access points that you want to auto-manage during a specified time interval.

Filtering affects devices discovered through Wireless Domain Service (WDS). For more information, see About WLCCP/WDS Discovery.

Auto-management affects all discovered devices. Access point filtering affects only access points. See the following table for details on how these two options affect each other.

Table 3-8 Access Point Filtering Outcomes

Auto-Manage selected?

MAC Filtering selected?

Result

No

No

All discovered devices must be manually moved to the managed state.

Yes

No

All discovered devices are automatically moved to the managed state.

Yes

Yes

Only access points listed in Access Points to Auto-Manage will be auto-managed and they will be auto-managed only during the specified interval.

Note If the time interval expires, newly discovered access points will not be auto-managed. Any access points that you have manually placed in the Managed folder will still be managed.

You can specify the access points to auto-managed by entering Ethernet MAC addresses in the screen or importing a file containing Ethernet MAC addresses. For example files, see Example MAC Address Files.

To enable MAC address filtering:

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Advanced Options.

Step 2 Select Auto-Manage Devices without Filtering.

Step 3 Select Enable Filtering for Auto-Manage devices.

Step 4 In the Filters Valid From and To fields, specify the time period for auto-management.

Note When the time period expires, you must deselect Enable Filtering. Otherwise, no newly discovered access points will be auto-managed.

Step 5 To enter Ethernet MAC addresses in the screen:

a. Remove the default * entry before beginning. Otherwise, all access points will be auto-managed regardless of the MAC addresses you enter.

b. Enter an Ethernet MAC address in the Enter MAC Address of access point text box (in hexadecimal format) and click >>. For example, 000b46fd0286. You can use the asterisk (*) as a wildcard; for example, *b46fd0286.

c. Repeat Step b to add more addresses.

Step 6 To import a list of Ethernet MAC addresses from a file:

a. Create an ASCII file consisting of one address per line or a comma-separated list (.txt file). For sample files, see Example MAC Address Files.

b. Enter the path to the file in the Import From File text box or click Browse to find the file.

c. Click Import.

Step 7 To remove an address, select it in the Valid MAC Addresses text box and click <<.

Step 8 Click Save to save all of your changes in the Advanced Options screen.

Example MAC Address Files

You can use either of the following file formats to import MAC addresses for limited discovery of access points:

•One address per line. For example:
0040965b611f 
000a41047e3b 
0040965b5f75 
004096588420 
004096543a84 
000bbe6d8bd4 
000af4fb658a 
•Comma-separated list. For example:
000b466e482,0000bbe8190c2,0040965b611f,000a41047e3b,0040965b5f75, 
004096588420,004096543a84,000bbe6d8bd4
Using Discovery IP Address Filtering

You can limit discovery to selected devices by setting up filter rules to include or exclude devices. Filter rules consist of device IP addresses with optional wildcards and ranges.

IP address filtering also affects devices discovered through Wireless Domain Service (WDS). For more information, see About WLCCP/WDS Discovery.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > IP Filter Rules. For details on creating rules, click Learn more about IP filter rules.

Step 2 Add IP addresses to the Include Rules or Exclude Rules text boxes, one entry per line. Use standard IP address format (four octets separated by periods) in which any octet can be:

•A value between 0 and 255.

•An asterisk (*) wildcard, denoting any number from 0 to 255; for example, 10.20.*.*.

•A range in which the first number is less than the second; for example, 10.20.30[50-60].

Rules cause discovery to be limited as described in the following table.

Note Exclude rules take precedence over include rules.

Table 3-9 Effects of Include and Exclude Rules in Discovery Filters

Include Rules Defined?

Exclude Rules Defined?

Result

No

No

All devices are discovered.

No

Yes

All devices are discovered, but devices that match the Exclude Rules are discarded.

Yes

No

Only devices that match the Include Rules are discovered.

Yes

Yes

Only devices that match the Include Rules are discovered. Devices that match the Exclude Rules are discarded.

For example, assume the IP addresses of the devices in a network are from 10.10.10.1 through 10.10.10.200:

•The include rule is 10.10.10.[40-80]

•The exclude rule is 10.10.10.[60-70]

All of the devices with the IP addresses 10.10.10.[40-80] are discovered, but those with IP addresses 10.10.10.[60-70] are discarded. Therefore, the devices discovered and retained have IP addresses 10.10.10.[40-59] and 10.10.10.[71-80].

Step 3 Click Save. Your rules will take effect for all subsequent discoveries.

Related Topics

Understanding WLSE Discovery Methods

Viewing Discovery Logs

This option displays details on the results of discoveries and imports.

Note WDS discoveries are not logged.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Logs.

A table of inventory jobs is displayed.

Step 2 The names of the jobs indicate the type of discovery that was run, as explained in the following table:

Table 3-10 Discovery Job Log

Field

Description

Name

Type of discovery that was run:

•Periodic CDP Discovery—scheduled discovery

•Run Now CDP Discovery—on-demand discovery

•CDPDiscovery_Import_Devices—device import from a file or CiscoWorks server

•CiscoWorks Device Import—device import from a CiscoWorks server¹

Start Time

When the discovery started.

Recurring

•Yes—scheduled job that repeats at regular intervals.

•No—on-demand or scheduled for one time only.

State

Scheduled—Discovery will occur in the future.

Not scheduled—Run Now discoveries

User

User name—Name of the user who ran the job or who was the last user to modify the job.

WLSE—Automatic, scheduled discovery that has not been modified by a user.

End Time

When the discovery ended.

¹Two items are listed in the discovery log for each import from a CiscoWorks server: CDPDiscovery_Import_Devices and CiscoWorks Device Import.

Step 3 To view details about a job, select the job and click Discovery Run Detail. The Discovery Run Detail window shows the start and end times of the job run, whether it succeeded, and other details. For scheduled discoveries, there will be several runs listed.

•To view the next page, click the arrow.

•To view the next 8 rows or all rows, click 8 or All.

•To close the window click Close.

•To refresh the display click Refresh.

For more information on data shown in the Discovery Run Detail window, see Discovery Run Details Display.

If the log files show that problems occurred while running discovery, see Diagnosing Common Discovery Problems.

Step 4 To filter the list of jobs, select All, Running, or Scheduled from the Discovery Job State list.

Step 5 To refresh the display, click Refresh.

Discovery Run Details Display

A typical, healthy discovery process run produces a log file similar to the following:
Seed value entered: 10.2.8.3
Hop count defined: 1
CDP Discovery started at 2003-03-27 22:40:11.437 (UTC)
New device discovered:10.2.8.3 ( AP1200-CHAR-NET ) 
Number of devices (re)discovered: 1
CDP Discovery completed at 2003-03-27 22:40:11.737 (UTC)
The log in the Discovery Run Details window shows the following information:

•Start and end times.

•The hop count (CDP distance) that was specified.

When you import devices, each imported device is listed as a "Seed value entered" in the log, and the "Hop count defined" value is 1.

•The seed devices that were entered or imported.

•Devices that were previously discovered and are being updated.

•Devices that were discovered for the first time.

•Devices that are being auto-managed. An immediate inventory collection will run automatically on auto-managed devices.

•Number of devices discovered or rediscovered.

Note An immediate inventory does not run automatically after a device is rediscovered. You can run an immediate, on-demand inventory or wait for the next regularly scheduled inventory. For more information, see Managing Device Inventories.

The following messages may appear in the Discovery Run Details display.
Table 3-11 Messages—Discovery Run Log
Message

Meaning
172.19.12.39,public,private,14,1
.3.6.1.4.1.9.1.507, 
!{[NOVALUE]}!,...
Messages similar to this are informational and show data obtained during device import from CiscoWorks.
CDP Discovery completed
Periodic CDP discovery end time.
Number of devices (re)discovered 
number
Number of devices discovered or rediscovered.
No seeds defined.
Although discovery is initially enabled and runs every 24 hours, it will not run unless you add seed devices. See Using the Discovery Wizard.
ip_address Device updated 
(sysname)
Device was previously discovered and information is being updated.
Inventory collection was not run 
for updated devices, run 
on-demand inventory or wait for 
the next scheduled inventory
An automatic inventory does not run for rediscovered devices. Run an on-demand inventory or wait for the next scheduled inventory. This is an informational message.
ip_address New device discovered (sysname)

Device was discovered for the first time.

ip_address Device being auto-managed (sysname)

Auto-management is enabled.
Inventory collection will run 
immediately for auto-managed 
devices.
Auto-management is enabled; therefore, inventory collection will run immediately for the auto-managed devices.
ip_address is SNMP unreachable, 
unable to read CDP cache.
The community strings may be set up incorrectly. See the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7.

This message might indicate a network problem, or the device might be an invalid seed device (not running CDP and SNMP), such as a PC or workstation.

For more information on troubleshooting SNMP problems, see Diagnosing Common Discovery Problems.
No logs available. Waiting for 
resources to start job.
Other running jobs are using all available resources. Information on this job will be displayed when resources are available.
x.x.x.x is reachable but unable 
to provide the information you 
requested. For IOS access 
points, make sure the SNMP 
community does not have an 
object identifier associated 
with it.
The community string associated with the device might not have an SNMP ISO view associated with, and the WLSE cannot poll some attributes. Configure the community string in the AP as follows:
# snmp-server view iso iso included
# snmp-server community community_string view iso RO
where community_string is the AP's read-only community string.
x.x.x.x does not respond to 
ieeedot11 attributes.
Make sure the SNMP community has a proper view associated.

The IOS access point has not been configured with an IOS view. To correct this, you can configure the device manually (see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7) or create a configuration job to correct it (see Managing Configuration Jobs). Affected devices are placed in the Misconfigured Devices system group. After the device is properly configured, you can run discovery or wait for the next scheduled discovery. After discovery, the device will be placed in the proper group(s). See Managing Device Discovery.
IP conflict for ip_address 
(hostname). Identifier or 
ethernet MAC is identifier or 
MAC address. A device already 
exists under this IP address. If 
the original device was 
replaced, please delete it first 
and run discovery again.
A newly discovered device has the same IP address as a previously discovered device. The new device will not be discovered until the conflict is resolved. The identifier shown is for the previously discovered device. For access points, the identifier shown is the Ethernet MAC address.

If you want both devices to be managed, assign a different IP address to the newly discovered device. If you substituted a new device for a previous device and want to retain the IP address, delete the old device. In either case, run discovery again or wait for the next scheduled discovery. See Managing Device Discovery.
Unable to auto-manage device: 
x.x.x.x due to MAC filter values 
or time period for 
auto-management has expired.
A new device is being discovered but could not be auto-managed because the MAC filter values exclude the device or the time period selected for auto-management has expired. See Enable MAC Address Auto-Manage Filtering for Access Points.
Related Topics

•Running CDP Discovery

•Diagnosing Common Discovery Problems

Diagnosing Common Discovery Problems

This section contains information on:

•Troubleshooting SNMP Connectivity Problems

•Obtaining Detailed Discovery Logs

Note For more troubleshooting information and FAQs, see the Troubleshooting Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, 2.7 on Cisco.com.

Troubleshooting SNMP Connectivity Problems

The most common discovery problems are related to SNMP connectivity. This type of message indicates that the WLSE attempted to retrieve the CDP neighbor table of the device, but was unable to do so because of an SNMP connectivity issue:
172.20.98.230 is SNMP unreachable, unable to read CDP cache.
Typical causes of SNMP connectivity issues are:

•No IP connectivity to the device

•SNMP community misconfigurations and/or mismatch

•SNMP agent is not running on devices

•SNMP timeouts, retries need to be adjusted

To determine the cause of the problem:

1. Confirm IP connectivity from the WLSE to the unreachable devices with the Ping Connectivity Tool (see Using Network Tools). Note that the WLSE Ping Connectivity Tool will attempt reverse name resolution on the IP address. If your network does not support reverse name resolution for the devices, you typically see 80% ICMP packet loss using the Ping Connectivity Tool unless you enter the -n flag in the Device field. If your network does not support reverse name resolution for your devices, enter -n dvc_IP_address in the Device field before clicking on the Ping button.

Note Cisco's Technical Assistance Center (TAC) has published a number of useful hints and documents on network troubleshooting. Visit the Cisco.com TAC web-site for more information.

2. After IP connectivity has been confirmed, use the SNMP Connectivity Tool (see Using Network Tools) to verify SNMP connectivity to the devices in question. This tool retrieves a single object—the SNMP sysObjectID of the device.

One common problem with both IP and SNMP connectivity is the presence of access control lists (ACLs) or firewalls in the network between the WLSE and the managed devices that might reject management traffic. Verify that management traffic is permitted from the WLSE to each of the managed devices.

3. If SNMP connectivity can be confirmed using the SNMP Connectivity Tool and devices cannot be discovered (the log lists the devices as SNMP unreachable), you might need to adjust the SNMP timeout and retries. See Recommendations For Configuring SNMP Credentials.

The SNMP Connectivity Tool retrieves a single object, whereas the discovery retrieves multiple objects. You can use the SNMP Query Tool (see Using the SNMP Query Tool) to retrieve a larger SNMP table. Then, if you have SNMP connectivity for one variable but not for the larger table, it is likely that the issue is related to the timeout and retry settings. See Step 5.

4. If SNMP connectivity cannot be confirmed using the SNMP Connectivity Tool, verify that:

•The SNMP agent is running on the devices.

•The SNMP communities are correctly configured on the devices.

•The SNMP credentials are correctly configured on the WLSE.

If the SNMP configuration is not correct, reconfigure the devices and WLSE as necessary and re-run the discovery.

5. If the SNMP configuration is correct and IP connectivity has been confirmed, you may need to adjust the SNMP timeout and retries (see Devices > Discover > Device Credentials). Increase the timeouts and retries in small increments, re-running discovery after each adjustment, until the devices are no longer SNMP unreachable.

Obtaining Detailed Discovery Logs

If the procedures in the preceding section do not solve your discovery problems, open a case with the Cisco TAC. You might be able to assist the Cisco TAC by getting more detailed discovery logs. To increase the level of logging:

Note You must be logged in with admin privileges to use this interface.

1. Navigate to the WLSE interface at http://wlse_ip:1741/debug/logging.jsp.

2. Select Debug.

3. Click Save.

4. Run the discovery again to get more logging details.

After the discovery runs:

1. Navigate back to WLSE interface at http://wlse_ip:1741/debug/logging.jsp.

2. Select Default.

3. Click Save.

Note Except for troubleshooting purposes, do not run any logging level other than Default for any task. Running at a level higher than Default might impact the performance of the WLSE.

Managing and Unmanaging Devices

Discovered devices can exist in one of two states: managed and unmanaged. By default, newly-discovered devices are in the unmanaged state and will not be polled until manually moved to the managed state.

The Manage/Unmanage window provides a view of newly discovered devices, managed devices, and unmanaged devices, allows you to manually change the management status of devices, and provides details about all devices. You can also delete devices from this window. Devices must be placed under management before you can use the WLSE to monitor and configure them.

Note There is a limitation on the number of access points and bridges that can be managed by a single Wireless LAN Solution Engine. For more information, see Limitation on the Number of Managed Devices.

•To manually place devices under management or unmanage them, use the following procedure.

•To delete devices, see the following procedure.

•To arrange for devices to be automatically managed, see Setting Advanced Options.

•To filter access point auto-management, see Setting Advanced Options.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Managed Devices > Manage/Unmanage. The following folders are displayed:

•Newly discovered devices (New folder).

•Managed devices (Managed folder)

•Unmanaged devices (Unmanaged folder).

Step 2 To modify the status of devices in a folder:

a. Click the folder name. You can search for devices; for information on how to search, see Using the Device Selector and Search.

b. Select the devices you want to change.

c. To manage devices, click Manage. Devices will be moved into the Managed folders.

–Only managed devices appear in WLSE displays.

–After you move devices to the managed state, an immediate inventory is run for those devices. This ensures that device attributes appear in displays, such as reports and system-defined groups without waiting for the next scheduled inventory.

d. To unmanage devices, click Unmanage. Devices will be moved into the Unmanaged folder.

e. To delete devices, click Delete.

Step 3 To view details about an individual device or modify its status, select the device from the device selector. You can search for devices; for information about searching, see Using the Device Selector and Search.

•For information on the device details displayed, see Understanding Device Details.

Note Some details are not displayed unless the corresponding parameters are set on the device; for example, location and contact information.

•To change a device's status:

–To manage a device, click Manage.

–To unmanage, click Unmanage.

–To delete a device, click Delete.

Related Topics

•Managing Device Discovery

•Device Name and IP Address Display

Understanding Device Details

The details shown in the Device Details panel are:

Table 3-12 Device Details Pane

Field

Description

Device Name

Hostname, IP address, or SNMP sysname.

State

Whether the device is new, managed, or unmanaged.

Description

Detailed device description.

Version

Software version installed on the device.

Device Family

Device type.

SysName¹

The system name.

SysObjectId

Unique identifier that identifies the device type.

Location

Where the device is located.

IP Address

Device IP address.

Subnet

Subnet in which the device is located.

Network Segment

The network segment in which the device is located.

Contact

The person to contact for this device.

Profile

Name of the profile that contains threshold values and policy settings for fault management.

¹If a device's sysName contains a single quote (`) and DNS is not enabled, the IP address will be displayed instead of the sysName.

Limitation on the Number of Managed Devices

Limits on the number of managed devices are enforced according to the type of WLSE hardware you have.

Note Limits are based on the number of radios; therefore, if you have dual-radio devices, the number of managed devices must be reduced accordingly.

•The WLSE 1130 and WLSE 1130-19 can manage 2500 access points and wireless bridges. After you have placed 2500 of these devices under management, warning messages are displayed each time you place more devices in the folder. After 2550 devices are under management, no additional devices can be placed in the Managed folder.

•The WLSE 1105 can manage 500 access points and wireless bridges. After you have placed 500 of these devices under management, warning messages are displayed each time you place more devices in the folder. After 525 devices are under management, no more devices can be placed in the Managed folder. Installing WLSE 2.7 software on a WLSE 1105 does not increase the number of devices you can manage.

Note Device discovery continues after the absolute limit is reached, but no additional devices can be placed under management.

Managing Device Inventories

During inventory, the WLSE retrieves device attributes in order to populate its displays (such as reports) and place devices in groups.

The WLSE automatically runs basic inventories on all managed devices and inventories on client associations and trends for specific types of devices. For information about automatic inventories, see About Inventories.

You can use the inventory options to:

•Run immediate inventories of specified devices—See Running Immediate Inventories.

•Reset the polling intervals for automatic inventories, job retention, and report data retention—See Changing the Polling Intervals for Automatic Inventories.

•View details on all inventory jobs—See Viewing Inventory Logs.

Related Topics

About Inventories

About Inventories

Periodic device inventory polling processes retrieve key data from managed devices. Polling processes support these features:

•Inventory-related polled data populate WLSE current and inventory reports.

•Aggregated inventory polled data populate WLSE trending reports.

•Inventory polling is typically run at regular intervals, but can also be run on-demand.

•Other polled data are processed and compared against fault, performance, and configuration policy thresholds.

•Device polling and data aggregation intervals are configurable.

Automatic Scheduled Inventories

The WLSE runs 3 types of automatic inventories on a regularly scheduled basis:

•Basic inventories of all devices that collect all the information required by the WLSE to populate displays, such as reports, and to place devices in system-defined groups.

In the inventory log, these inventories are named Periodic.

Note An automatic basic inventory runs immediately after a device is discovered for the first time if the device is auto-managed. Inventory does not run automatically after a device is rediscovered.

•Client inventories that collect only information about associations of clients to access points.

In the inventory log, these inventories are named Client Inventory.

•Performance inventories that collect only the performance attributes used in trend reports for access points, bridges, and AAA servers.

In the inventory log, these inventories are named Performance Inventory.

You can reset the polling intervals for automatic inventories. See Changing the Polling Intervals for Automatic Inventories. You can run immediate or scheduled inventories. See Running Immediate Inventories.

Immediate Inventories

You can run immediate inventories. You select the devices for these inventories.

In the inventory log, these inventories are named Run Now.

Note The radio management module of the WLSE runs periodic immediate inventories. These inventories appear in the log as normal immediate inventories.

Changing the Polling Intervals for Automatic Inventories

Use the following procedure to change intervals for automatic inventories. For guidelines on choosing intervals, see Guidelines For Choosing Inventory Intervals.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Inventory > Polling.

Step 2 Reset polling intervals as follows:

•To reset the interval for the scheduled complete inventory, use the Inventory Poll Interval parameter.

•To reset the interval for the scheduled client inventory, use the Wireless Client Poll Interval parameter.

•To reset the interval for the scheduled performance inventory, use the Performance Attributes Poll Interval parameter.

Step 3 To save your changes, click Apply.

Related Topics

•Managing Polling Parameters

•Guidelines For Choosing Inventory Intervals

Guidelines For Choosing Inventory Intervals

Following are some suggestions for deciding how to set the polling intervals.

At each interval, the WLSE runs basic, performance, and client inventory. If the actual inventory data collection time exceeds the interval, the WLSE will skip an inventory polling cycle. The next inventory polling will start at the next expected time.

For example, if the recurring scheduled inventory interval is configured to run every 30 minutes and the inventory polling begins at 10:00AM and runs for 32 minutes, the next polling will not begin until 11:00AM. This means that the data may not be as granular as expected.

A second potential problem occurs when the inventory polling takes just slightly less than the interval. In this case, the WLSE will almost always be running inventory polling processes. For example, suppose the recurring scheduled inventory interval is configured to run every 30 minutes, but inventory polling takes just under 30 minutes. In this case, if an inventory polling cycle begins at, for example, 10:00AM and runs until 10:29AM, the next inventory polling begins almost immediately at 10:30AM. This situation may be completely acceptable if the network can tolerate almost constant management polling from the WLSE and if the WLSE CPU and memory utilization do not become overtaxed.

Running Immediate Inventories

You can run immediate inventories of devices that you specify. The inventories you run are basic inventories that collect all the information required by the WLSE to populate displays, such as reports, and to place devices in defined groups.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

When new devices are discovered and managed, basic inventory and client reports are not populated until the next inventory polling occurs. However, you can use this option to populate these reports before the next inventory cycle starts.

This feature can also be useful when configuration changes are made on network devices and you want the changes quickly reflected in the basic and client inventory reports.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Inventory.

Step 2 Select a group from the device selector in the left pane. For information on how to use the device selector and search for devices, see Using the Device Selector and Search.

Step 3 All of the devices in the group are added to the list in the Run Inventory Now window. From the list of devices in the group, select the devices you want to inventory.

Step 4 Click Run Inventory. The inventory job starts immediately. Managed devices are polled and information is collected. WLSE displays are updated accordingly.

Step 5 To view details of an inventory, see Viewing Inventory Logs.

Managing Polling Parameters

The Polling option allows you to reset global parameters that affect inventory polling intervals, job history retention, and retention of data used in reports.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Inventory > Polling. The parameters described in Polling Parameter Details are displayed.

Step 2 To change parameter values, select new values from the pulldown lists.

Step 3 To reset parameters to their previous values, click Reset before clicking Apply.

Step 4 To save your changes, click Apply. To return to the System Parameters window, click Back.

Related Topics

About Trending and Aggregation Data

Polling Parameter Details

The following tables describe the WLSE's polling parameters.

•Polling Interval Parameters—Control the intervals during which inventory, wireless client, and performance data will be collected (see Table 3-13).

•Fault and Job Truncation Parameters—Control the amount of data displayed in fault history tables and job history tables (see Table 3-14).

•Data Retention Parameters—Control how long to retain the aggregated data used in trend reports (see Table 3-15).

For general information about polling intervals and data retention parameters and guidelines for choosing the appropriate settings, see About Inventories.

Table 3-13 Polling Interval Parameters

Parameter

Description

Values

Inventory Poll Interval

Interval during which configuration data will be collected from the devices for inventory. This is the data shown in any Web interface device detail table.

Tip For more accurate trending, set this parameter at a lower interval than the Performance Attributes Poll Interval.

Default: 12 hours

Minimum: 1 hour

Maximum: 7 days

Wireless Client Poll Interval

Interval during which data is collected for client inventory. Also, the interval at which Wireless Client reports are updated. Decreasing the interval provides more data points in reports.

Tip When managing more than 1,000 access points, you should increase this parameter. The default polling interval generates too much traffic when large numbers of access points are being managed. To poll a set of clients at frequent intervals, use the Scheduled Inventory feature instead of decreasing this parameter; see Running Immediate Inventories.

Default: 51 minutes

Minimum: 17 minutes

Maximum: 7 days

Performance Attributes Poll Interval

Interval during which performance and utilization data are collected from the devices for the performance inventory.

Default: 13 minutes

Minimum: 13 minutes

Maximum: 7 days

Table 3-14 Fault and Job Truncation Parameters

Parameter

Description

Values

Fault History Truncation Interval

How long displayed fault data is retained. This is the data shown in Fault displays.

Default: 30 days

Minimum: 15 days

Maximum: 60 days

Job History Truncation Interval

How long displayed job data is retained. This is the data shown in Configure > Jobs, Firmware > Jobs, and Reports > Scheduled Email Jobs.

Note Recurring jobs are truncated every day to retain the last 30 runs.

Default: 30 days

Minimum: 15 days

Maximum: 60 days

Table 3-15 Data Retention Parameters

Parameter

Description

Values

Hourly Aggregated Data

How long to retain the reports data that is aggregated hourly.

Default: 7 days

Minimum: 1 day

Maximum: 15 days

Daily Aggregated Data

How long to retain the reports data that is aggregated daily.

Default: 30 days

Minimum: 8 days

Maximum: 30 days

Weekly Aggregated Data

How long to retain the reports data that is aggregated weekly.

Default: 6 months

Minimum: 1 month

Maximum: 12 months

Monthly Aggregated Data

How long to retain the reports data that is aggregated monthly.

Default: 12 months

Minimum: 1 month

Maximum: 48 months

About Trending and Aggregation Data

Raw trending data retrieved from inventory polling is placed in database trending tables as follows:

•Every hour, this trending table data is processed into an hourly aggregation table.

•Every 24 hours, the first level aggregated data is processed into the daily aggregation table.

•The daily aggregation table data is aggregated every seven days into a weekly aggregation table.

•The weekly aggregation table is aggregated every 30 days into the monthly aggregation table.

The data in the trending and aggregation tables is periodically purged. For the minimum, default, and maximum data retention intervals, see Polling Parameter Details.

Data retention intervals are configurable globally through the system parameters interface. Under almost all circumstances, there is no reason to change the defaults. In some large WLAN deployments, however, the WLSE database may begin to grow so large that it makes sense to purge data more often. Because it may affect the accuracy of the data in the trending reports, be careful when you change the data retention intervals.

Viewing Inventory Logs

This option allows you to view historical information about inventories.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Inventory > Logs.

Step 2 The names of inventory jobs indicate the type of inventory that was run, as explained in the following table.

Table 3-16 Inventory Job Log

Field

Description

Name

Type of inventory:

•Periodic—basic automatic, scheduled inventory of all devices.

•Client Inventory—automatic inventory or client associations with access points.

•Performance Inventory—automatic inventory of performance attributes for trend reports.

•Run Now Inventory—on-demand inventory of selected devices run by a user, or generated by the radio management module.

Start Time

When the inventory started.

Recurring

Yes—automatic scheduled inventory or inventory scheduled by a user.

No—on-demand inventory run by a user or the radio management module.

State

Scheduled—scheduled to run at a later time.

Blank field—a Run Now inventory.

User

Username—User who ran the inventory.

WLSE—Automatic, scheduled inventory or inventory run by the radio management module.

Step 3 To view details about a job, select the job. The Run Log shows the start and end times of the job and type of data that was collected. The Run Log for immediate inventories shows which devices you selected for inventory. For more information, see Run Log Details—Inventory.

Related Topics

Diagnosing Common Inventory Problems

Run Log Details—Inventory

Most inventory run log messages show the start and end time, the type of data collected, and the devices that were inventoried.

You may also see error messages, such as the following:

•No logs available. Waiting for resources to start job—Other jobs are running. Information on your job will be displayed when resources are available.

This message also appears if there are many SNMP timeouts on the network or devices are not reachable through SNMP. In that case, the inventory job will take much longer to finish, and the next scheduled inventory will not run until the current job finishes.

Related Topics

Diagnosing Common Inventory Problems

Diagnosing Common Inventory Problems

You can view the inventory process log files using the interface in Devices > Discover > Inventory > Logs. Open the appropriate folder within the Inventory sub-tree—the tree leaves correspond to the inventory runs. The logs are sorted in each folder by start time, with the most recent runs at the top.

If you have problems with your inventory processes and you open a case with the Cisco TAC, they may ask you for the jobvm log, which you can retrieve by selecting Administration > Appliance > Status > View Log File.

You might be able to assist the Cisco TAC by getting more detailed information than what normally appears in the logs. To increase the level of logging:

Note You must be logged in as an administrative user to use this interface.

1. Navigate to the WLSE interface at http://wlse_ip:1741/debug/logging.jsp.

2. Select Debug.

3. Click Save.

4. Run the inventory again to get more logging details.

After the inventory runs:

1. Navigate back to WLSE interface at http://wlse_ip:1741/debug/logging.jsp.

2. Select Default.

3. Click Save.

Note Except for troubleshooting purposes, do not run any logging level other than Default for any task. Running at a level higher than Default might impact the performance of the WLSE.

Exporting Devices

You can export all managed devices (access points, routers, switches, and AAA servers) to:

•A CiscoWorks server running Resource Manager Essentials—see Exporting Devices to a CiscoWorks Server.

•A comma-separated values (CSV) file—see Exporting Devices to a CSV File.

Note Unmanaged devices are not exported.

Exporting Devices to a CiscoWorks Server

This option allows you to export all managed devices (access points, switches, and routers) and any AAA servers you have added to a CiscoWorks server. Unmanaged devices are not exported.

The information exported consists of the IP addresses and credentials.

The time required to export devices depends on the number of devices exported and the response from the CiscoWorks server. The following procedure explains how to check the status of the operation.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Export Devices, then select To CiscoWorks.

Step 2 Enter the following information:

•The CiscoWorks server IP address.

•The CiscoWorks server port number. You may need to contact the administrator of the CiscoWorks server.

•The username and password of any user who has the authority to export and import device credentials on the CiscoWorks server.

Step 3 Click Export.

Step 4 To see the export status log, click the Status or Last Status.

If the Last Status button is displayed, you can review the results of a previous export.

The following information is included in the export status log:

Table 3-17 Messages—Export Status Log

Type of Information or Message

Description

Device information

Name of the device, device status, and device status details.

The string !{[NO VALUE]}! does not indicate an error; it means information was not available to the CiscoWorks server while it was sending a response to the WLSE.

Error: Could not connect to CiscoWorks server: ip_address on port: port_number.

Either the host or the port specified in the WLSE export dialog was wrong.

Error: Connected to CiscoWorks server: ip_address on port: port_number successfully, but server returned error after connection.

Either the username or the password specified in the WLSE export dialog was wrong.

Step 5 After you export devices, you can view them in CiscoWorks Resource Manager Essentials (RME) (see the RME online help for details).

Exporting Devices to a CSV File

This option allows you to export all managed devices (access points, switches, and routers) and any AAA servers you have added to a CSV file. Devices that are unmanaged are not exported.

The information exported for each device is:

•IP address or hostname

•Community strings

•Telnet password

•Enable password

For more information on CSV files, see About CSV Files.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Discover > Export Devices, then select To CSV File.

Note Device credentials are exported to a plain text file.

Step 2 For added security during the transmission of credentials, you can switch your browser to HTTPS and use HTTPS for downloading the file.

To launch an HTTPS session, enter the following URL:
https://wlse_ip/
where wlse_ip is the IP address of the WLSE. Note that you do not append a port number to the IP address when using HTTPS.

•If you did not create an unsigned certificate when you initially configured the WLSE, a Security Client dialog box appears, telling you that there is no valid certificate. For information about creating a certificate, see Managing SSL (HTTPS).

•If you created a certificate but have not previously logged in via HTTPS, a Security Client dialog box appears. Enter the following information when prompted:

–Click Yes.

–Click View Certificate.

–Click Install Certificate.

–Click Next on remaining screens, then click Finish

–Click OK.

–Log out of the HTTP session on the browser and log back in to an HTTPS session.

–Click Yes in the Security Client window that appears after you log in.

–Select Devices > Discover > Export Devices, then select To CSV File.

Step 3 Click Download CSV File, then click Save. Specify the filename and location if different from the default.

Note The filename should have a .txt extension.

Result: The file is saved to your desktop.

Managing Groups

When you select Devices > Group Management, the Group Details window appears. Both system-defined and user-defined groups appear in the device selector. System-defined groups cannot be edited or deleted. For detailed information on system-defined and user-defined groups, see About Groups.

The group management window allows you to:

Task

Reference

View system and user-defined groups and their details

Using the Group Details Window

Create a new static group

Creating a Static Group

Create a new dynamic (rule-based) group

Creating a Rule-Based Group

Create a new static or rule-based group by copying an existing group

Creating a Static Group by Copying a Static or Rule-Based Group

Copying a Rule-Based Group

Edit a group

Editing a Static Group

Editing a Rule-Based Group

Delete a group

Deleting a Static or Rule-Based Group

Related Topics

•Managing Device Discovery

•Managing Device Inventories

About Groups

The WLSE grouping feature lets you organize managed devices into logical subsets and hierarchies. Using device grouping, you can quickly configure, upgrade, and view reports for a set of access points as a single operation.

Note Only managed devices can become members of groups.

The Group Details window allows you to view the existing device groups and categorize devices into named groups. A group is a named entity that can contain devices, other groups, or a combination of devices and groups. There are two types of groups:

•System-defined groups—See System-Defined Groups.

•User-defined groups—See User-Defined Groups.

The device selector lists all the current groups, both system-defined groups and user-defined groups. The number after a group name or folder shows how many objects it contains (devices and other groups) or how many groups are in the folder. Every managed device appears in one or more of the system-defined groups, and may also appear in one or more user-defined groups.

Groups can be dynamic or static:

•In dynamic groups, devices are added as they are discovered or as polling indicates key parameters have changed. Dynamic groups are either the pre-configured, system-defined groups or user-defined groups that have rules assigned to them (rule-based groups).

•Static groups are user-created groups that must have devices added or deleted from them manually.

System-Defined Groups

You cannot edit or delete a system-defined group. The system-defined groups are dynamic (rule-based), and are automatically populated by reading information from the devices during discovery and inventory collection. Any changes to devices are reflected in the system-defined groups only after the next discovery or inventory collection has completed.

If devices are not configured correctly, they may not appear in the system-defined groups. For example, a WDS access point that is not correctly configured will not be included in the Active WDS or Backup WDS system groups.

Tip A complete listing of supported devices can be found in the Supported Devices Table for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, 2.7 on Cisco.com.

Table 3-18 describes the system-defined groups.

Table 3-18 System-Defined Groups

Group Type

Folder Name

Groups and Devices Included

Device Type

Device Type

A group for each device type:

•AAA servers—LEAP, RADIUS, EAP-MD5, and PEAP groups. Groups appear and servers are added to groups after you add the servers to the WLSE (see Managing AAA Servers).

•Bridge 1300

•Bridge 1400

•AP 1100

•AP 1200 (also contains AP 1220 devices)

•AP 1210 (also contains AP 1230 devices)

•AP 340

•AP 350

Note Cisco Aironet 4800 access points being managed by the WLSE will appear in the AP 350 group.

•AP 350-IOS

•Bridge 350

•Routers

•Switches

More System Groups

SSID

Group for each radio service set ID (SSID) configured on access points. For information about configuring SSIDs on access points, see the "Setting Up Devices chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7 on Cisco.com.

Software Version

Group for each software version installed on access points.

Subnet

Group for each subnet configured in the network.

Physical Location

Physical Location

Group for each building defined by users in the Location Manager.

•To create, modify, and delete Physical Location groups, use the Location Manager.

•To add devices to Physical Location groups or remove them from Physical Location groups, use the Location Manager. If you delete devices from the WLSE by using Devices > Discover > Managed Devices, those devices are automatically removed from the Physical Location groups.

Wireless Domain Services (WDS)

WDS

Groups for WDS devices:

•Active WDS—Contains the access point or Wireless Access Module (WSM) that is actively providing WDS services.

•Backup WDS—Contains the backup WDS access points or WSMs.

Misconfigured Devices

Misconfigured Devices

IOS access points that do not have an ISO view configured. If a dot11 mib view fault is generated, the device is automatically placed in this group.

•To manually correct this problem on an access point, see the "Setting Up Devices" chapter in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7 on Cisco.com.

•To correct the problem by creating a configuration job, see Managing Configuration Jobs.

Scanning APs

Scanning AP

Access points that are configured for scanning mode only or that have an interface configured for scanning mode.

User-Defined Groups

You can define any number of groups, and set up hierarchies of groups which can contain subgroups and devices.

Tip Although there is no limit on the number of levels in a group hierarchy, we recommend that you define no more than four levels. With too many levels, system performance degrades and navigation becomes difficult.

User-defined groups can either be static or rule-based:

•You add devices manually to static groups. Static groups can be subgroups of other static groups or can be placed at the top (root) level.

•For rule-based groups, you specify a set of rules that determine which devices are to be included in the group. The membership in rule-based groups is dynamic; when devices that match the defined rules become managed, they automatically become members of the group. All user-defined rule-based groups are placed at the top (root) level. You cannot create a subgroup of a rule-based group.

Useful user-created groups in a WLAN greatly depend on the structure of the network and the application demands. Table 3-19 contains examples of groups that might be worthwhile in a typical wireless LAN environment.

Table 3-19 Sample Useful Groups

Main Group

Sub-Groups

Campus

Main, Library, Dormitory, Athletic Field

RF Power

1mw, 2mw, 5.5mw, 30mw, 100mw

Radio Combinations

802.11a&b, 802.11a&g, 802.11b only

Department

Accounting, Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing

Operating System

non-IOS, IOS

Special Features

Proxy Mobile IP, Wireless Domain Services

Antenna Type

Patch, Omni

Channels

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11

Using the Group Details Window

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

To view details about a group and use group management functions:

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management.

Step 2 Select a group from the device selector. The following details about the group are displayed.

Table 3-20 Group Details Window Fields

Field

Description

Description

Description entered when the group was created or edited (if any). Can be up to 256 characters long.

Created by

Username of the creator of the group.

Type

System Group, Static Group, or Rules-Based Group.

Group Members

Member Type

Device—A device, such as access point or switch.

Subgroup—A subgroup of the group you selected.

Name

Hostname of a member device or name of a subgroup.

•Click a device name to display a window containing links to available reports and (for access points) a link to the AP's web interface. For a list of the items displayed, see Links to Reports from the Group Details Display.

•Click a subgroup name to see details for the subgroup in a separate window.

IP Address

IP address of a member device.

Device Type

Device type of a member device

Software Version

Software version installed on a member device.

Step 3 Depending on the type of group you selected, the following buttons appear at the bottom of the window.

Table 3-21 Group Details Window Buttons

Button Name

Function

Reference

Create Static Group

Create a static group.

Creating a Static Group.

Create Rule-Based Group

Create a rule-based group.

Creating a Rule-Based Group.

Copy

Copy a static or rule-based group.

Creating a Static Group by Copying a Static or Rule-Based Group

Copying a Rule-Based Group

Copy Static

Make a static copy of a rule-based group.

Copying a Rule-Based Group

Edit

Edit a static or rule-based group.

Editing a Static Group or Editing a Rule-Based Group

Delete

Delete a static or rule-based group.

Click Delete to delete the group.

Links to Reports from the Group Details Display

The following reports can be displayed from the Group Details window by clicking the name of a device in the current group. A window opens displaying links to the following reports and a link to the Web interface of the access point.

Device Type

Reports Displayed

Reference

Access point

Summary Report

Displaying an AP Summary Report

Detailed Report

Displaying a Detailed Report

Fault Status

Viewing the Fault Status Report

Device History

Viewing Device History

Config History

Viewing Config History

Firmware History

Viewing Firmware History

AP Web Page

Opens a browser window to the AP and displays Summary Status.

AP Config

Current configuration of the access point.

Switch

Summary Report

Displaying a Switch Summary Report

Fault Status

Viewing the Fault Status Report

Device History

Viewing Device History

Router

Summary Report

Displaying a Router Summary Report

Fault Status

Viewing the Fault Status Report

Device History

Viewing Device History

AAA Server

Summary Report

Displaying a Server Summary Report

WDS

Summary Report

Viewing the WDS Summary Report

Creating a Static Group

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

To create a new static group:

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management.

Step 2 Click Create Static and enter the following information:

•Enter a name in the Name text box. Names can be up to 64 characters long.

•Enter a description in the Description text box (optional). Descriptions can be up to 256 characters long.

For information about the characters allowed in group names and descriptions, see Naming Guidelines.

Step 3 The new group becomes the subgroup of whatever choice you make from the Subgroup Of list. To place the group at the top level of the tree, select root.

Note Your new group will be added to the Subgroup Of list.

Step 4 Select a group or device from the device selector in the left pane. For information on how to use the device selector or search for devices, see Using the Device Selector and Search.

The group or device is added to the Available Devices list in the Create Group dialog.

Step 5 To add devices to the group, select the group or individual devices from the Available Devices list and click >>.

Note After a device or group is added to the Devices in Group list, it is removed from Available Devices. Clicking on the device or group adds it back to the Available Devices list.

Step 6 To add more devices, repeat Step 5.

Step 7 To remove devices from the group, select them from the Devices in Group list and click <<.

Step 8 To save the group, click Save. The new group is displayed in alphabetical order in the group list.

To cancel the group creation and discard your changes, click Cancel.

Related Topics

Creating a Static Group by Copying a Static or Rule-Based Group

Copying a Rule-Based Group

Creating a Rule-Based Group

To create a new rule-based group:

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management.

Step 2 Click Create Rule-Based Group and enter the following:

•Enter a name in the Name text box. Names can be up to 64 characters long.

•(Optional) enter a description in the Description text box. Descriptions can be up to 256 characters long.

Note New groups are always added at the top level ([root]).

For information about the characters allowed in group names and descriptions, see Naming Guidelines.

Step 3 The new group becomes the subgroup of whatever choice you make from the Subgroup Of list. To place the group at the top level of the tree, select root.

Note Your new group will be added to the Subgroup Of list.

Step 4 Define the rules for determining the devices that will be added to the group.

The available rules are described in the following table. You can use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to match any number of characters.

•You must select at least one rule. A rule determines which devices are in the group or which devices are excluded from the group:

–If you select Equals, devices that match the rule definition will be included in the group.

–If you select Not Equals, devices that match the rule definition will be excluded from the group.

Rule Name

Data to Select or Enter

Software Version

The name of the software version; for example, 12.01T1, 12.2(4)JA1, or 12*

sysLocation

The sysLocation defined on devices, if any. The sysLocation null matches all devices that do not have this variable set.

Device Type

Select an access point type from the list, if this group contains access points. If you select AP350, BR 350 devices will be included in the group as well.

Subnet

A subnet, in decimal-dot format; for example 172.10.10.10 or 172.*

SSID

An SSID defined on devices.

VLAN ID

The existing VLANs configured on managed access points.

All of the rules you select are added together (logical and). For example, if you select the following Equals rules: Device Type AP1100, subnet 171.69.* and Software Version 12.2*, only the AP1100 access points in the specified subnet and running the specified firmware will be part of the group.

If you need to group devices that match more than one parameter in a given rule you can create a group that contains subgroups. For example, a group consisting of the AP1100 access points at two different sysLocations could be constructed by creating a group that contains a subgroup for each sysLocation.

Step 5 To preview the group, click Preview. The rule(s) you defined and any currently managed devices that match the rule(s) are displayed.

Step 6 To reset the window to its contents before this session, click Reset.

Step 7 To save the group, click Save. The new group is added, in alphabetic order, to the list of groups.

All currently managed devices that match the group rules will be added to the group. All devices that become managed later and match the rules will also be added to the group.

Related Topics

Copying a Rule-Based Group

Creating a Static Group by Copying a Static or Rule-Based Group

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Use this procedure to create a new static group by copying an existing static or rule-based group (including system-defined groups).

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management. The group selector pane and group dialog box are displayed.

Step 2 Select any group:

•For system-defined groups and other rule-based groups, click Copy as Static.

•For static groups, click Copy.

Step 3 Edit the name and description. The description is optional.

Names and descriptions can be up to 64 characters in length. For information about the characters allowed in group names and descriptions, see Naming Guidelines.

Step 4 To change the place of the group in the hierarchy, select a group from the Subgroup Of list. The group you are editing becomes a subgroup of whatever group you choose. To place the group at the top level of the tree, select root.

Step 5 The devices in the group you copied appear in the Devices in Group list.

Step 6 To add more devices, you can search for devices or select a group or device from the device selector in the left pane. For information on how to use the device selector or search for devices, see Using the Device Selector and Search.

a. The device or group is added to the Available Devices list in the Create Group dialog.

b. Select the group or individual devices from the Available Devices list and click >>.

c. To add more devices, select another group.

Step 7 To remove devices from the group, select them from the Devices in Group list and click <<.

Step 8 To save the new group, click Save. The group is added, in alphabetic order, to the list of groups.

By default, new static groups are placed under the same parent as the group you are copying; you can select another parent from the Subgroup of list. New static groups are added to the Subgroup of list.

To cancel group creation and discard your changes, click Cancel.

Related Topics

•Editing a Static Group

•Deleting a Static or Rule-Based Group

•About Groups

Copying a Rule-Based Group

By copying an existing rule-based group (a user-defined group or a system group), you can create a new rule-based group or a new static group.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management.

Step 2 Select the group you want to copy and click Copy to create a rule-based group or Copy Static to create a static group.

•If you selected Copy Static to create a new static group, see Creating a Static Group by Copying a Static or Rule-Based Group.

•If you are creating a new rule-based group, continue to Step 3. The new group will be placed at the top (root) level.

Step 3 Edit the group name and description, if desired. A description is optional.

Names and descriptions can be up to 64 characters in length. For information about the characters allowed in group names and descriptions, see Naming Guidelines.

Step 4 To change the place of the group in the hierarchy, select a group from the Subgroup Of list. The group you are editing becomes a subgroup of whatever group you choose. To place the group at the top level of the tree, select root.

Step 5 Add rules as follows:

Rule Name

Data to Select or Enter

Software Version

The name of the software version; for example, 12.01T1, 12.2(4)JA1, or 12*.

sysLocation

The sysLocation defined on devices, if any. The sysLocation null matches all devices that do not have this variable set.

Device Type

Select an access point type from the list, if this group contains access points. If you select AP350, BR 350 devices will be included in the group as well.

Subnet

A subnet, in decimal-dot format; for example 172.10.10.10, or 172.*.

SSID

An SSID defined on devices.

VLAN ID

An existing VLAN configured on managed access points.

Step 6 To save the group, click Save. The new group is displayed and added to the top (root) level in alphabetic order.

To reset the window to its contents before this session, click Reset.

To cancel group creation and discard your changes, click Cancel.

Editing a Static Group

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

To edit a static group:

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management.

Step 2 Select the group and click Edit.

Step 3 Change the Name or Description by editing the text in the relevant text boxes.

Names can be up to 64 characters long, and descriptions can be up to 256 characters long. For information about the characters allowed in group names and descriptions, see Naming Guidelines.

Step 4 To change the place of the group in the hierarchy, select a group from the Subgroup Of list. The group you are editing becomes a subgroup of whatever group you choose. To place the group at the top level of the tree, select root.

Step 5 To add devices to the group, select a group or device from the device selector in the left pane. For information on how to use the device selector or search for devices, see Using the Device Selector and Search.

a. Select the group or individual devices from the list and click >>. Devices are placed in the Devices in Group list.

b. To add more devices, select another group.

Step 6 To delete devices from the group, select one or more devices from the Devices in the Group list and click <<.

Step 7 To save your changes, click Save. The edited group is displayed. To discard your changes, click Cancel.

Related Topics

•Creating a Static Group

•Deleting a Static or Rule-Based Group

•About Groups

Editing a Rule-Based Group

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

To edit a user-defined rule-based group:

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management.

Step 2 Select the group and click Edit.

Step 3 Change the Name or Description by editing the text in the relevant text boxes. A description is optional.

Names can be up to 64 characters long, and descriptions can be up to 256 characters long. For information about the characters allowed in group names and descriptions, see Naming Guidelines.

Step 4 To change the place of the group in the hierarchy, select a group from the Subgroup Of list. The group you are editing becomes a subgroup of whatever group you choose. To place the group at the top level of the tree, select root.

Step 5 Edit rules as follows:

Rule Name

Data to Select or Enter

Software Version

The name of the software version; for example, 12.01T1, 12.2(4)JA1, or 12*

sysLocation

The sysLocation defined on devices, if any. The sysLocation null matches all devices that do not have this variable set.

Device Type

Select an access point type from the list, if this group contains access points. If you select AP350, BR 350 devices will be included in the group as well.

Subnet

A subnet, in decimal-dot format; for example, 172.10.10.10, or 172.*.

SSID

An SSID defined on devices.

VLAN ID

The existing VLANs configured on managed access points.

Step 6 To save your changes, click Save. The edited group is displayed.

To reset the window to its contents before this session, click Reset.

To discard your changes, click Cancel.

Deleting a Static or Rule-Based Group

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

To delete a user-defined (static or rule-based) group:

Procedure

Step 1 Select Devices > Group Management.

Step 2 Select the group from the group selector list.

Step 3 Click Delete.

Step 4 Click OK in the popup window. The group will be deleted.

Related Topics

•About Groups

•Editing a Static Group

•Creating a Static Group