Profile Adoption (Auto Provisioning) Configuration

Adoption is the process an access point uses to discover an available controller or service platform, pick the most desirable one, establish an association and optionally obtain an image upgrade and configuration. Adoption settings are configurable and supported within a device profile and applied to other access points supported by the profile. Individual attributes of an access point's auto provisioning policy can be overridden as specific parameters require modification.

At adoption, an access point solicits and receives multiple adoption responses from controllers and service platforms available on the network. These adoption responses contain loading policy information the access point uses to select the optimum controller or service platform for adoption. By default, an auto provisioning policy generally distributes AP adoption evenly amongst available controllers and service platforms. Modify existing adoption policies or create a new one as needed to meet access point adoption requirements and profile settings.

Note

Note

A device configuration does not need to be present for an auto provisioning policy to take effect. Once adopted, and the device's configuration is defined and applied by the controller, the auto provisioning policy mapping does not have an impact on subsequent adoptions by the same device.

To define the access point profile‘s adoption configuration:

  1. Select Configuration > Devices > System Profile > Adoption from the web UI.
  2. Define the Preferred Group used as optimal group of controllers for the access point's adoption. The name of the preferred group cannot exceed 64 characters.
    The preferred group is the controller group the access point would prefer to connect upon adoption.
  3. Select the VLAN option to define a VLAN the access point‘s associating Virtual Controller AP is reachable on. VLANs 0 and 4,095 are reserved and cannot be used. This setting is disabled by default.
  4. Set the following Auto-Provisioning Policy settings for access point adoptions:
    Auto-Provisioning Policy Select an auto provisioning policy from the drop-down menu. To create a new auto provisioning policy, select the Create icon or modify an existing one by selecting the Edit icon.
    Learn and Save Network Configuration Select this option to enable allow the controller tor service platform to maintain a local configuration records of devices requesting adoption and provisioning. This feature is enabled by default.
  5. Define the Hello Interval value in seconds.
    The Hello interval is the interval between two consecutive hello keep alive messages exchanged between the access point and the adopting wireless controller. These messages serve as a connection validation mechanism to ensure the availability of the adopting wireless controller. Use the spinner to set a value from 1 - 120 seconds.
  6. Define the Adjacency Hold Time value. This value sets the time after which the preferred controller group is considered down and unavailable to provide services. Use the spinner to set a value from 2 - 600 seconds.
  7. Enter Controller Hostnames as needed to define resources for adoption. Click +Add Row to add controllers. Set the following parameters to define Controller Hostnames:
    Host Use the drop-down menu to specify whether the adoption resource is defined as a (non DNS) IP Address or a Hostname. Once defined, provide the numerical IP or Hostname. A Hostname cannot exceed 64 characters.
    Pool Use the spinner control to set a pool of either 1 or 2. This is the pool the target controller or service platform belongs to.
    Routing Level Define a routing level (either 1 or 2) for the link between adopting devices. The default setting is 1.
    IPSec Secure Enable this option to provide IPSec secure peer authentication on the connection (link) between the adopting devices. This option is disabled by default.
    IPSec GW Select the numerical IP address or administrator defined hostname of the adopting controller resource.
    Force Enable this setting to create a forced link between an access point and adopting controller, even when not necessarily needed. This setting is disabled by default.
    Remote VPN Client Displays whether a secure controller link has been established using a remote VPN client.
  8. Select + Add Row as needed to populate the table with IP addresses or hostnames of adoption resources.
  9. Select OK to save the changes made to the general profile configuration. Select Reset to revert to the last saved configuration.