Cisco Wireless AP - LWAPP: How to Recover an AP from Mis-Configuration

I am quickly learning Cisco Wireless. I had a problem with a Cisco LWAPP AP located at a remote office. This AP had not previously registered with a Wireless LAN Controller (WLC). We rely on the DNS discovery method where the AP boots up and does a DNS lookup for CISCO-LWAPP-CONTROLLER or CISCO-CAPWAP-CONTROLLER.

Well this is were the fun began. IP address and name-server was manually configured in the AP, but the name-server IP address was fat-fingered. The APs will save their IP and LWAPP configuration automatically. On a reboot, the AP came up with the same configuration. I was finally able to restore the configuration to factory default and have it discover and join the controller.

To do this a console connection to the AP is required. I had a user at the remote office connect a console cable to a notebook and let me RDP in..

1) I need to clear the static IP address settings, convert to DHCP, and have the AP connect to the WLC. With LWAPP/CAPWAP APs, you can't just go into the config and change things.

"debug lwapp console cli" (if that doesn't work try "debug capwap console cli" )

This allows me to make changes to the running configuration, but these changes can not be saved to what us router-jockeys call "startup-config". The "magic" here is that when a LWAPP/CAPWAP access point connects to a WLC, it saves the controllers address in nvram. Thus when reboted, the AP always knows which WLC to try to connect to.

"interface f0"
"ip address dhcp"

I created a DHCP pool on the core switch and included the correct DNS server. In about 5 seconds, the AP obtained an IP address and the new DNS server. Then it registered with the controller

2) One problem. After rebooting, the Cisco Wireless AP came up with the old static IP addressing and DNS old/wrong DNS server. I was, however able to register with the controller because it had previously registered with that controller.

3) I logged into the Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) and found the AP. I removed the Static IP setting and saved. The AP rebooted and registered, still had the wrong DNS server.

In WCS I went to Configure - Access Point and found the AP, scrolled to the bottom for "set to factory defaults", clicked "clear config".

Finally cleared it!

Home

Who Needs English

Looks like I have encountered a licensing issue. Upgrading Unity Connection, customer is in the United States, Unity gives this error.

"The Cisco Unity Connection license file(s) that are installed do not allow you to use U.S. English for language-specific Connection features, and no other languages are installed. Do one of the following:

Download and install one or more Connection languages. Languages for your version of Connection, as well as documentation on how to install them, are available at http://www.cisco.com/kobayashi/sw-center-sw-voice.shtml.
If you have one or more license files that allow you to use U.S. English, go to the Licensing page and install them now.
If you do not have additional license files and you want to use U.S. English, contact your Cisco account team to purchase a license upgrade that allows you to use U.S. English."

Price of an IPv4 address $11.25

Microsoft has just bought more than half a million IPv4 addresses from Nortel Networks for $7.5 million (or $11.25 per address), as part of Nortel’s bankruptcy proceedings. Internet IPv4 addresses are hard to come by these days, notes ZDNet’s Steven Vaughan, so it’s no surprise that Microsoft bought 666,624 of them as demand for Internet addresses increases.

http://blogs.forbes.com/parmyolson/2011/03/28/morning-tech-wrap-apple-google-firefox/

Google Custom Search Engine - Add it to Chrome and Maybe Other Browsers

As part of this blog page, I created a Google Custom Search Engine. You can too at the Google Custom Search Engine page.. My Google CSE searches (as of tonight) 69 different web sites and domains. I have included sites relating to Cisco, HP, EMC, NetApp, and VMware. These include the vendor sites, related youtube sites, wikipedia, partner and consulting companies sites, and many blog sites. In total, 78 web sites are searched.

You can add the Google Custom Search Engine to your browser. The search URL is:

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-9009433438610720%3Aa8n99q4pp4c&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%s

ps. for those of you who don't hear it enough...Here is the famous Cisco MoH

Virtual Desktop at My House?

As a typical geeky network engineer, I enjoy those times when the awesome technology I work with makes its way home. I remember in the late 90's introducing my wife to the joys of a dial up modem and the Internet. Years later I brought home a Linksys Wireless Router and Comcast Broadband Internet Connection. She wasn't that impressed when I said the cable Internet connection was faster than the T1 I used at work.

I need to preface this with, we have five girls, 10 months to 9yrs. They are very technologically advanced. For Christmas, the four oldest got Apple iPod iTouchs.

The girls like to use our laptops to go to nickjr.com and starfall.com. Ok, we can handle it, we have two laptops, we can all share. Oh No!!! It was World War III in our living room. Four girls, two laptops, "Daaadddd she has been playing for a long time!!"

By the time you read this, we are the proud owners of a 1/4 acre of land with a hole in it. We are building a house. My wife is doing a wonderful job designing the kitchen, selecting flooring, and picking paint colors.

I am working on the technology for the house. Fresh off the girls fighting for laptops, I wondered what could be done. Then the light bulb went off, Virtual Desktop! Why can't we have four Virtual Desktop terminals? I wouldn't have to worry about the kids deleting programs or documents, messing up configurations, and the static nature of having terminals, monitors, keyboard, and mice physically located in their own space.

So I am exploring my home based VDI initiative. I am not sure what I am getting into financially. I can piece together some physical servers with VMware. I need to find some terminals, possible Wyse devices.