Table Of Contents
Getting Started
Overview of the Wireless LAN Solution Engine
WLSE Integration with Network Management Systems
Understanding the Web Interface
Supported Browsers
The WLSE Dashboard
Device Name and IP Address Display
Understanding WLSE Time Displays
General Time Displays
Understanding Time Discrepancy Problems in Job Scheduling
Using the Device Selector and Search
Using the Device Selector
Using Search
Understanding the Icons
Sorting Table Data
Logging In and Out
Customizing the Web Interface
Setting the Default Tab and Subtab
Adding a Message to the Splash Screen
Next Steps
Getting Started
The following topics provide an overview of the Wireless LAN Solution Engine (WLSE), information about WLSE displays, and assistance with getting started:
•
Overview of the Wireless LAN Solution Engine
•WLSE Integration with Network Management Systems
•Understanding the Web Interface
•Logging In and Out
•Customizing the Web Interface
•Next Steps
Note Before using the procedures in this guide, you must install and configure the WLSE 1130 or WLSE 1130-19 and set up the devices to managed, as described in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7. This guide is shipped with the product and is also available online on Cisco.com.
Caution The WLSE does not support Network Address Translation (NAT).
Overview of the Wireless LAN Solution Engine
The WLSE is a hardware and software solution for managing Cisco wireless devices. The WLSE has the following major features:
•Configuration and Firmware
The configuration feature allows you to apply a set of configuration changes to access points and bridges and to archive configurations. Using the firmware feature, you can upgrade the firmware on access points and bridges.
•Reporting
Allows you to display reports for tracking device, client, and security information. Reports can be emailed, printed, and exported.
•Fault and Policy Monitoring
Provides device monitoring for fault and performance conditions, monitoring of authentication server responses, and monitoring of policy misconfigurations.
•Radio Management
Helps you manage your WLAN radio environment. All the device information shown under this tab is polled from the managed devices in your network. Radio Manager features simplify the deployment, expansion, and day-to-day management of the WLAN.
The WLSE works by gathering fault, performance, and configuration information about Cisco devices that it discovers in your network. The devices must be properly configured for discovery. After devices are discovered, you decide which devices to manage with the WLSE.
WLSE Integration with Network Management Systems
You can integrate the WLSE with other network management systems as follows:
•Add a link to a WLSE from a CiscoWorks server, using CiscoWorks Management Connection—See the document Integrating CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine with a CiscoWorks Server on Cisco.com.
•Launch a CiscoWorks server's desktop from the WLSE—See Creating Links.
•Use the WLSE's fault notification interface to forward WLSE faults as SNMP traps—See Notification Settings.
Note The WLSE supports only SNMP v2c traps. SNMP v1 traps are not supported. Only network management systems that support v2c traps can integrate with the WLSE.
Understanding the Web Interface
When you log into the WLSE through the World Wide Web, the set of features (tabs and subtabs) displayed in the UI depends on the roles assigned to your user login. A user with system administrator privileges can access the features in all of the tabs and subtabs, while other users may see only a subset of features. For more information about user roles, see Managing Roles.
Caution Disable pop-up blockers while using the WLSE Web interface.
This section describes the following aspects of the UI:
•The supported browsers and versions and browser configuration—See Supported Browsers.
•The dashboard, including the tabs, subtabs, and buttons in the upper right corner—See The WLSE Dashboard.
•How device names and IP addresses are displayed in the WLSE GUI—See Device Name and IP Address Display.
•How the WLSE displays time—See Understanding WLSE Time Displays.
•How to use the device selector and Search—See Using the Device Selector and Search.
•How to sort table data—See Sorting Table Data.
Supported Browsers
The supported browsers and versions are listed in Table 1-1.
Note Using earlier, unsupported versions of Internet Explorer compromises the security of the WLSE.
Table 1-1 Supported Browsers
Client Operating System
|
Supported Browsers
|
Windows 2000, Windows NT, and Windows XP
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 with Service Pack 1
Netscape Navigator 7.02
|
Japanese Windows 2000, Windows NT, and Windows XP
|
Japanese Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 with Service Pack 1
Japanese Netscape Navigator 7.02
|
Solaris 8 and 9
|
Netscape Navigator 7.01
|
For the WLSE's Web interface to function correctly, all browsers require configuration. To configure a browser:
Procedure
Step 1 Enable JavaScript.
Step 2 Configure the browser to accept all cookies.
Step 3 Change the default font to sans serif for improved readability.
Step 4 Windows XP does not come with the Java Plugin installed on Internet Explorer 6.0. This causes problems when updating the software on a WLSE. If you plan to use a Windows XP client or server to update WLSE software, see the following references:
•Using a Windows XP client and Internet Explorer 6.0—See Installing the Software Update.
•Using a Windows XP server and Internet Explorer 6.0—See Creating a Repository on a Windows Server.
For more detailed information on configuring browsers, see the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7or the browser's documentation.
The WLSE Dashboard
The WLSE dashboard consists of:
•Tabs and subtabs that provide access to WLSE functions (see Tabs and Subtabs).
•Buttons in the upper right corner that provide general functions (see Buttons).
Tabs and Subtabs
The dashboard contains the following tabs and subtabs:
Table 1-2 Tabs and Subtabs
Main Tab
|
Subtabs
|
For information, see...
|
Faults
|
•Display Faults—display device faults.
•Manage Fault Settings—use profiles to set thresholds and policies.
•Manage Network-Wide Profiles—assign network wide settings.
•Notification Settings—send fault information (traps, syslog messages, and emails).
|
Fault Monitoring.
|
Devices
|
•Discover—enable discovery options and run discoveries, reset polling intervals, enter device credentials, put devices under management, run inventories, view inventory and discovery logs, import and export devices, enter AAA servers to be monitored, and enable enhanced (WDS) client tracking.
•Group Management—manage device grouping by setting up static and dynamic groups.
|
Managing Devices
|
Configure
|
•Templates—create configuration templates for IOS and non-IOS access points.
•Archives—view and manage archived configurations.
•Jobs—apply configuration templates to access points and retrieve configurations for archiving.
•Auto Update—automate initial configuration of access points.
|
Using IOS Templates.
Using Non-IOS Templates.
Managing Device Configurations.
|
|
Firmware
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•Images—import firmware for access points and bridges from the desktop or from Cisco.com to the WLSE.
•Jobs—upload firmware to access points.
|
Upgrading Device Firmware.
|
Reports
|
•Device Center—view reports for a device.
•Radio Manager—view radio management reports.
•Wireless Clients—view reports about client associations with access points.
•Current—view, export, and email reports.
•Trends—view, export, and email reports about current trends.
•Realtime—view current reports.
•Scheduled Email Jobs—manage email jobs.
|
Using Reports.
|
Radio Management
|
•Radio Monitoring—monitor WLAN and collect channel measurements for radio configuration, rogue AP discovery, and interference detection.
•AP Radio Scan—collect rogue location estimates, radio parameter generation (RPG) data, and coverage data.
•Client Walkabout—collect radio measurements and report them to the serving AP as you walk a client station throughout the coverage area.
•RM Assisted Configuration—configure APs using measurement data collected from client walkabouts and AP radio scans.
|
Managing Your WLAN Radio Environment
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Location Manager
|
Display graphical view of WLAN environments, including AP locations, radio configurations, and estimated location of unknown APs.
|
Viewing Your WLAN Radio Environment with Location Manager
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Administration
|
•Appliance—manage the WLSE system (view diagnostics, manage WLSE software, manage WLSE security, backup and restore data, configure WLSE redundancy, configure the login screen, set current time, specify NTP servers and name servers, set up routing for email jobs, use connectivity tools, and use the SNMP query tool.
•System—view information about supported device firmware versions, and import information about newly supported firmware versions.
•User Admin—manage users and user profiles.
•My Profile—reset your password and email address and configure your login environment.
•Links—set up and activate links to other systems (such as other WLSEs and CiscoWorks servers) and run ACS failed login reports.
|
Managing the WLSE System.
|
Buttons
The buttons in the upper right corner of the user interface have the following functions:
•Overview—Displays an overview of the tabs and their functions.
•Help—Displays online help for the subtab or option you are using and a table of contents and index for online help.
In the online help screens, you can also display the User Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7 by clicking View PDF.
You can also display the FAQ and Troubleshooting Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine by clicking Troubleshooting.
•About—Displays information about the WLSE software and hardware versions.
•Logout—Logs you out of the WLSE and displays the login screen.
Device Name and IP Address Display
Many WLSE displays include a field for the device name. The data displayed in this field differs depending upon the following:
•If reverse DNS lookup is enabled on the WLSE, the device name is displayed in this field if the lookup succeeds. If the lookup fails, the device IP address is displayed.
•If you do not enable reverse DNS lookup and the sysName is set, the sysName SNMP variable is displayed. If sysName is not set, the device IP address is displayed.
•If the sysName contains a single quote and DNS resolution is not enabled, the IP address will be used instead of the sysName.
In some displays there are separate fields for device name, sysName, and IP address.
To enable DNS lookup on the WLSE, select Devices > Discover > DISCOVER > Advanced Options and select Use reverse DNS lookup.
Understanding WLSE Time Displays
It is recommended that you check the current local time on the WLSE the first time you log in. If you need to reset the time, see Set the Current Local and UTC Time.
This section contains information on:
•How time appears in WLSE displays—See General Time Displays.
•A warning message that may appear when you are running WLSE jobs—See Understanding Time Discrepancy Problems in Job Scheduling.
General Time Displays
The WLSE uses browser (client) time in most of its displays. The current WLSE server time, in your local timezone, is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen.
The format of timestamps depends on the browser you are using:
•In Internet Explorer, the timestamp usually consists of the browser time (hours:minutes:seconds) and date; for example:
14:17:16 10/12/2004
In some displays the timestamp is the day of the week, month and day, browser time, timezone, and year; for example:
Sat Oct 12 11:15:01 PDT 2004
•In Netscape Navigator, the timestamp usually consists of the browser time (hours:minutes:seconds) and date; for example:
14:17:16 10/12/2004
In some displays the timestamp is the day of the week, time, offset from GMT/UTC, timezone, and year; for example:
Mon Mar 25 13:29:21 GMT-0800 (Pacific Standard Time) 2004
The WLSE's internal system time is Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), and UTC is displayed in certain logs, such as the discovery run log.
Understanding Time Discrepancy Problems in Job Scheduling
When you schedule a job based on your local time, the scheduled time that you select in the job wizard is converted to the appropriate WLSE server time by using the timezone in which the client system is located.
If a significant time difference is discovered (more than 5 minutes), a warning message is displayed in the final step of the job scheduling wizard. The message displays the offset and whether the WLSE is ahead of or behind your local time.
Note The WLSE server time, in your local timezone, is always displayed in the upper right corner of the screen, so you can compare your local time with the server time.
Procedure
If a time offset warning message appears:
Step 1 Select an action:
•If you click Cancel, the job is not saved. The wizard remains at the scheduling screen so you can reschedule the job, if desired.
•If you click OK, the wizard will finish and the job will be scheduled. The actual time that the job is run will be ahead of or behind the scheduled time.
Step 2 To synchronize your local time with WLSE server time, see Set the Current Local and UTC Time.
Note Resetting the local time also resets the server time.
Using the Device Selector and Search
The WLSE contains a device selector and Search that can be used to select a group or devices or an individual device:
•Device Selector—See Using the Device Selector
•Search—See Using Search
The search results, as well as the folders in the device selector, display icons indicating the alarm status of the devices. For an explanation of the icons, see Understanding the Icons.
Using the Device Selector
To select a group of devices or individual device for which you want to run a report, use the device selector in the left pane.
Procedure
Step 1 Click to expand the desired folder.
Step 2 Click to select the group of devices or an individual device.
Using Search
To search for a device, use the dialog box in the left pane above the device selector.
Note Not all of the following search methods are available on all of the screens.
Procedure
Step 1 From the list, select the method you want to use to search for the device, then enter the search information.
•Device Name—The name of the device.
•IP Address—The IP address of the device.
•APs Based on Client MAC—The MAC address of a known client. For both IOS and non-IOS access points.
•APs Based on Client Name—The name of a known client.
•APs Based on Client IP—The IP address of a known client.
•Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to denote numbers and letters.
Step 2 Click Search. The requested device appears in the Search Results folder.
Understanding the Icons
Search results and folders in the device selector display the following icons indicating the alarm status of the devices:
•Red X—Indicates a P1 or P2 fault or the device is unreachable.
•Yellow exclamation—Indicates a P3, P4, or P5 fault and the device is reachable.
•Green check—Indicates the device has no faults and is reachable.
The icons on the folders reflect the status of the highest severity fault for any of the devices or folders within that folder.
Sorting Table Data
To sort table data, click on the column heading by which you want to sort the data:
•A triangle indicates ascending order.
•An upside-down triangle indicates descending order.
•No triangle indicates that the data is not sorted.
Logging In and Out
After initial setup, only the admin user can log into the WLSE, using the reserved username admin and the password specified during initial setup. When you create other logins, you assign one or more roles to each user. Roles define which tabs and subtabs are visible to the user and, therefore, which features users can access. There are predefined roles, which can be edited but not removed; and you can create new roles.
To set up access for other users, see Managing User Accounts and Managing Roles. The WLSE supports up to 10 simultaneous users.
Note The WLSE Web interface times out after 30 minutes of inactivity. You will be logged out after that time. To change the timeout period, see Set the Web Timeout Period.
Procedure
To log into the Web interface:
Step 1 Access the WLSE through a browser by entering the WLSE's IP address or hostname, followed by :1741 (for example: http://209.165.128:1741).
Note The default HTTP port is 1741, but the administrator can configure the WLSE to use port 80 instead. In that case, use the WLSE's IP address or hostname followed by :80.
If you using HTTPS to log in, do not append a port number to the IP address or hostname.
Tip For information on supported browsers, see Supported Browsers.
Step 2 Enter your username and password and click Login.
If you do not see the features you need to use, log out and log back in as a user with those privileges. Contact the system administrator for information about the features you can access.
To log out, click Logout in the upper right corner of the window.
Customizing the Web Interface
You can customize the Web interface by:
•Setting the Default Tab and Subtab
•Adding a Message to the Splash Screen
Setting the Default Tab and Subtab
By default the overview screen appears when you log in. This screen provides a brief description of each of the main tabs. When you select a tab, the overview describes each of the subtabs.
Use the following procedure to customize the initial display.
Procedure
Step 1 Select Set Tab Defaults in the upper right corner of the overview screen, or select Administration > My Profile > Set Tab Defaults.
Step 2 Select a tab from the list.
Step 3 Select a subtab or the Overview from the pulldown list.
Step 4 Click Save.
Result: The next time you log in, your home page will be the tab and subtab that you selected.
Adding a Message to the Splash Screen
Use the following procedure to add a message to the splash screen that appears just before the login prompt.
Procedure
Step 1 Select Administration > Appliance > Splash Screen.
Step 2 Enter your message.
Step 3 Select Enable. The message will be displayed in the splash screen. Users must click Agree in the splash screen before the login prompt will appear.
Next Steps
The following list shows the order in which you can access WLSE features:
1. Before you can use WLSE management features, you must configure the WLSE and configure the devices to be managed by the WLSE. These procedures are described in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine, Release 2.7. This guide is shipped with the WLSE and available on Cisco.com at
2. Initiate discovery and move your network devices to the managed state—See "Managing Devices."
3. Now you can use all of the WLSE features for managing your WLAN.
