Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.x

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Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.x

Initial controller setup methods

Updated: September 14, 2026

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Outlines methods for initial setup of the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller using both GUI and CLI, and provides instructions for deploying controllers in environments of various sizes to support AP connectivity and wireless services.

The initial configuration wizard in Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller is a simplified, out-of-the-box installation and configuration interface for the controller. This section provides instructions to set up a controller to operate in a small, medium, or large network wireless environment, where access points can join and together as a simple solution provide various services, such as corporate employee or guest wireless access on the network.

Setting up the controller using GUI

To set up the controller using the GUI, see the Configuring Wireless Controller section in Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller Series Web UI Deployment Guide.

Setting up the controller using CLI

To set up the controller using CLIs, see the Performing the Initial Configuration on the Controller section of your respective controller installation guides.

Restrictions for initial controller setup

Network Reset Commands for EWC Devices

Do not use the erase startup-config command if you intend to reset EWC, APs, and EWC-APs in the network to Day0 state. We recommend that you use the wireless ewc-ap factory-reset command.

This restriction applies when resetting an EWC device and all associated APs and EWC-APs in a wireless network to their factory default (Day0) state.

The erase startup-config command only removes the configuration from the local device and does not synchronize the reset across other devices in the network. In contrast, the wireless ewc-ap factory-reset command resets the EWC device and all connected APs and EWC-APs to Day0 state, ensuring network-wide consistency.

Setting up the controller Using GUI

  • To identify remote users in the GUI, the remote authentication server (RADIUS or TACACS) must send the user-type attribute with value 6.

  • If you make configuration changes in the CLI and in the GUI simultaneously, you must click the Refresh button in the GUI to synch both the changes. You should always click the Refresh button in the GUI to update the changes done through the CLI.

  • When you go to the login page, the controller sends a request to the RADIUS server for the banner text. You can view this request on the RADIUS server.

  • When you log in to the Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller GUI, you receive many CPU alerts because of the CPU utilization spikes during log in.

  • Header size refers to the cookies sent from the browser through the controller GUI to the device WebSocket server in a WebSocket header. If the size of the cookie exceeds 4 KB, then any request that is made to the WebSocket server (query or configuration) via the GUI would fail. In such a case, ensure that you clear the browser cookies and cache, periodically.

    The banner text displayed on the browser is fetched from the controller. You can view this request on the RADIUS server.

Synchronize changes across CLI and GUI using Refresh

  • If you make configuration changes in the CLI and in the GUI simultaneously, you must click the Refresh button in the GUI to synchronize the changes.