Changing Operating System Persona for Onboarded APs

From the factory, Universal APs are configured for management by ExtremeCloud IQ and always engage with ExtremeCloud IQ for onboarding. You have the option to deploy your devices locally — on-premise from an ExtremeCloud IQ Controller (or a WiNG controller) — or to deploy your devices from ExtremeCloud IQ.

From ExtremeCloud IQ, onboard and register the Universal AP using either Local Management or Cloud Management.

If local network configuration (DHCP or DNS) is not available to assist the AP to find ExtremeCloud IQ Controller, Enhanced Discovery from ExtremeCloud IQ is supported. The AP takes the IP address or FQDN of ExtremeCloud IQ Controller. For more information, see Enhanced Discovery.

If locally onboarded, ExtremeCloud IQ issues a command to the AP to switch to the WiNG operating system and then issues a delayed reboot command:

For most Universal APs:
- The AP boots into WiNG in discovery mode.
- The AP searches for the controller's DHCP or DNS address, or performs local discovery within the subnet.
- Depending on the controller instance's configuration, the device reboots into either Campus mode or WiNG Distributed mode and then connects to the controller instance.
WiNG Distributed mode is not supported on AP4000 devices. These devices boot directly into WiNG Campus mode for use with ExtremeCloud IQ Controller.
For AP3000/AP4020/AP5020 devices, administrators can set up two controller URLs in ExtremeCloud IQ during onboarding. Once the device switches to WiNG, the device contacts ExtremeCloud IQ to retrieve the controller address assignments.

Tip

Troubleshooting connectivity to ExtremeCloud IQ Controller after switching OS:

The AP must complete a region and country check before OS conversion. If the AP reports Region as World with Country as 998, offboard the AP and re-onboard it to retrigger the region check.
If the AP region and country does not match your Site region and country defined in ExtremeCloud IQ Controller, the AP may not be able to onboard. Place the AP in the site with the correct region and country defined on the AP.