Assigning Tags to Access Points
You can assign tags from the following sources. The sources are listed in the order of priority.
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Static: You select an AP and assign tags. This configuration is saved on the controller based on the AP’s Ethernet MAC address. When an AP joins the specific controller, it is always assigned the specified tags.
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Location: This is a configuration construct internal to the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller (It is not the AP location that you can configure on each AP.), and is used primarily in the basic setup flow. A location allows you to create a group of three tags (policy, site, and RF) and assign APs to it.
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Filter: You can use a regular expression to assign tags to APs as they join the controller. You can set a filter based only on the AP name, so that this method cannot be used for out-of-the-box APs.
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AP: The AP itself carries the tag information learned through Plug-and-Play (PnP) or pushed from the controller.
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Default: This is the default tag source.
The first two methods of assigning tags (static and location) are static mapping configurations, and hence have the highest priorities. Filter allow you to define a dynamic mapping of APs-to-tags based on regular expressions. When the source is an AP, it means that this information is saved on the AP itself and will be presented to the controller when the AP joins it. If there is no tag mapping configuration on the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller, and if APs do not carry any tag information, these APs are assigned default tags.
Access Points are tagged based on the broadcast domain, the site it belongs to, and the desired RF characteristics. Once tagged, the AP gets a list of WLANs to be broadcast along with the properties of the respective SSIDs, properties of the APs on the local or remote site, and the RF properties of the network. By default, an AP is tagged with the default policy, site, and RF tag unless changed. When a tag associated with an AP is changed, the AP resets its CAPWAP connection.
APs are identified by the Ethernet MAC address, and the association to AP and tag is stored in the controller configuration.
Each AP is assigned three unique tags: a policy, site, and RF tag. By default, when an AP joins the controller, it gets default tags; the default policy tag, default site tag, and default RF tag. You can change to the default tags or create custom tags. Use the WebUI to view the tags configured on each AP.