Converting Autonomous Access Points to Lightweight Mode
You can convert any autonomous mode Cisco Aironet access point, to lightweight mode. When you upgrade one of these access points to lightweight mode, the access point communicates with a controller and receives a configuration and software image from the controller.
See the Upgrading Autonomous Cisco Aironet Access Points to Lightweight Mode document for instructions to upgrade an autonomous access point to lightweight mode:
The following are some guidelines for converting autonomous APs to lightweight mode APs:
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All Cisco lightweight access points support 16 BSSIDs per radio and a total of 16 wireless LANs per access point. When a converted access point associates with a controller, wireless LANs with IDs 1 through 16 are pushed to the access point if the AP is part of the default AP group on the controller. You can use other AP group configurations to push other wireless LANs to the new AP.
When a 802.11ac module (the RM3000AC) is added to a 3600 AP, you can have only 8 wireless LANs on the 802.11a/n/ac radio.
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Access points converted to lightweight mode must get an IP address and discover the controller using DHCP, DNS, or IP subnet broadcast.
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It is not possible to perform archive download while CAPWAP image download is in progress or CAPWAP DTLS is flipping. (CSCvn74377)
This section contains the following subsections:
Restrictions for Converting Autonomous Access Points to Lightweight Mode
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Access points converted to lightweight mode do not support Wireless Domain Services (WDS). Converted access points communicate only with Cisco wireless LAN controllers and cannot communicate with WDS devices. However, the controller provides functionality that is equivalent to WDS when the access point associates to it.
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After you convert an access point to lightweight mode, the console port provides read-only access to the unit.
Converting Autonomous Access Points to Lightweight Mode
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Download the CAPWAP file matching your access point model from Cisco.com. Two types of CAPWAP files are available:
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Fully functional CAPWAP files, identified by the k9w8 string in their name. When booting this image, the AP is fully functional and can join a controller to obtain its configuration.
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Recovery mode CAPWAP files, identified by the rcvk9w8 string in their name. These files are smaller than the fully functional k9w8 CAPWAP files. When booting rcvk9w8 files, the AP can join a controller to download a fully functional image. The AP will then reboot, use the fully functional image and rejoin a controller to obtain its configuration.
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position the image on an FTP server
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Configure the AP to connect to the FTP server as a FTP client. This is done under global configuration mode, with the command ip ftp username , and ip ftp password . For example:
Ap#configure terminal ap(config)#ip ftp username cisco ap(config)#ip ftp password Cisco123 ap(config)#exit
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Once the parameters are configured, you can start the download process on the AP. Use the archive download-sw command, with the /force-reload argument to have the AP reboot at the end of the cycle, and /overwrite to replace the autonomous code with the CAPWAP code. See the following example:
ap#archive download-sw /force-reload /overwrite ftp://10.100.1.31/ap3g2-rcvk9w8-tar.152-4.JB6.tar examining image... Loading ap3g2-rcvk9w8-tar.152-4.JB6.tar extracting info (273 bytes)! Image info: Version Suffix: rcvk9w8- Image Name: ap3g2-rcvk9w8-mx Version Directory: ap3g2-rcvk9w8-mx Ios Image Size: 2335232 Total Image Size: 2335232 Image Feature: WIRELESS LAN|CAPWAP|RECOVERY Image Family: ap3g2 Wireless Switch Management Version: 3.0.51.0 Extracting files... ap3g2-rcvk9w8-mx/ (directory) 0 (bytes) extracting ap3g2-rcvk9w8-mx/ap3g2-rcvk9w8-mx (2327653 bytes)!!!!!!!!! extracting ap3g2-rcvk9w8-mx/info (273 bytes)
The AP reboots into lightweight mode and looks for a controller.
Reverting from Lightweight Mode to Autonomous Mode
After you convert an autonomous access point to lightweight mode, you can convert the access point from a lightweight unit back to an autonomous unit by loading a Cisco IOS release that supports autonomous mode. If the access point is associated to a controller, you can use the controller to load the Cisco IOS release. If the access point is not associated to a controller, you can load the Cisco IOS release using TFTP. In either method, the access point must be able to access a TFTP server that contains the Cisco IOS release to be loaded.
Reverting to a Previous Release (CLI)
Procedure
Step 1 |
Log on to the CLI on the controller to which the access point is associated. |
Step 2 |
Revert from lightweight mode, by entering this command: config ap tftp-downgrade tftp-server-ip-address filename access-point-name |
Step 3 |
Wait until the access point reboots and reconfigure the access point using the CLI or GUI. |
Reverting to a Previous Release Using the MODE Button and a TFTP Server
Procedure
Step 1 |
Configure the PC on which your TFTP server software runs with a static IP address in the range of 10.0.0.2 to 10.0.0.30. |
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Step 2 |
Make sure that the PC contains the access point image file (such as ap3g2-k9w7-tar.152-4.JB4.tar for a 2700 or 3700 series access point) in the TFTP server folder and that the TFTP server is activated. |
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Step 3 |
Rename the access point image file in the TFTP server folder to ap3g2-k9w7-tar.default for a 2700 or a 3700 series access point. |
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Step 4 |
Connect the PC to the access point using a Category 5 (CAT5) Ethernet cable. |
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Step 5 |
Disconnect power from the access point. |
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Step 6 |
Press and hold the MODE button while you reconnect power to the access point.
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Step 7 |
Hold the MODE button until the status LED turns red (approximately 20 to 30 seconds), and release the MODE button. |
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Step 8 |
Wait until the access point reboots as indicated by all the LEDs turning green followed by the Status LED blinking green. |
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Step 9 |
After the access point reboots, reconfigure the access point using the GUI or the CLI. |
Configuring a Static IP Address on a Lightweight Access Point
If you want to specify an IP address for an access point rather than having one assigned automatically by a DHCP server, you can use the controller GUI or CLI to configure a static IP address for the access point. Static IP addresses are generally used only for deployments with a limited number of APs.
An access point cannot discover the controller using domain name system (DNS) resolution if a static IP address is configured for the access point, unless you specify a DNS server and the domain to which the access point belongs.
Note |
If you configure an access point to use a static IP address that is not on the same subnet on which the access point’s previous DHCP address was, the access point falls back to a DHCP address after the access point reboots. If the access point falls back to a DHCP address, enter the show ap config general Cisco_AP CLI command to show that the access point is using a fallback IP address. However, the GUI shows both the static IP address and the DHCP address, but it does not identify the DHCP address as a fallback address. |
Configuring a Static IP Address (GUI)
Procedure
Step 1 |
Choose to open the All APs page. |
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Step 2 |
Click the name of the access point for which you want to configure a static IP address. The All APs > Details for (General) page appears. |
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Step 3 |
Under IP Config, select the Static IP (IPv4/IPv6) check box if you want to assign a static IP address to this access point. The default value is unselected.
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Step 4 |
Enter the static IPv4/IPv6 address of the access point, subnet mask/ prefix length assigned to the access point IPv4/IPv6 address, and the IPv4/IPv6 gateway of the access point in the corresponding text boxes. |
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Step 5 |
Click Apply to commit your changes. The access point reboots and rejoins the controller, and the static IPv4/IPv6 address that you specified in Step 4 is sent to the access point. |
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Step 6 |
After the static IPv4/IPv6 address has been sent to the access point, you can configure the DNS server IP address and domain name as follows:
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Configuring a Static IP Address (CLI)
Procedure
Step 1 |
Configure a static IP address on the access point by entering this command: For IPv4—config ap static-ip enable Cisco_AP ip_address mask gateway For IPv6—config ap static-ip enable Cisco_AP ip_address prefix_length gateway
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Step 2 |
Enter the save config command to save your changes. The access point reboots and rejoins the controller, and the static IP address that you specified in Step 1 is pushed to the access point. |
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Step 3 |
After the static IPv4/IPv6 address has been sent to the access point, you can configure the DNSv4/DNSv6 server IP address and domain name as follows: |
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Step 4 |
See the IPv4/IPv6 address configuration for the access point by entering this command:
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Supporting Oversized Access Point Images
Controller software release 5.0 or later releases allow you to upgrade to an oversized access point image by automatically deleting the recovery image to create sufficient space.
The recovery image provides a backup image that can be used if an access point power-cycles during an image upgrade. The best way to avoid the need for access point recovery is to prevent an access point from power-cycling during a system upgrade. If a power-cycle occurs during an upgrade to an oversized access point image, you can recover the access point using the TFTP recovery procedure.
Recovering the Access Point—Using the TFTP Recovery Procedure
Procedure
Step 1 |
Download the required recovery image from Cisco.com (for example, ap3g2-rcvk9w8-tar.152-4.JB6.tar for 2700 or 3700 APs) and install it in the root directory of your TFTP server. |
Step 2 |
Connect the TFTP server to the same subnet as the target access point and power-cycle the access point. The access point boots from the TFTP image and then joins the controller to download the oversized access point image and complete the upgrade procedure. |
Step 3 |
After the access point has been recovered, you may remove the TFTP server. |