Dell PowerConnect W-Airwave 7.6 Deployment Guide
Dell PowerConnect W-Instant in W-AirWave 7.6
Deployment Guide
About this Document
This document describes the Dell PowerConnect W-Instant access point and Virtual Controller system as well as
the procedure to integrate this system with W-AirWave. This document contains the following points:
l "Overview of Dell PowerConnect W-Instant" on page 1
l "Using Dell PowerConnect W-Instant with AirWave" on page 1
l "Setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant" on page 2
l "Remaining Manual Admin Tasks in AirWave" on page 5
l "Adding Additional Instant APs to AirWave" on page 7
l "Changing the Mode to Monitor Only for New Instant Devices" on page 8
l "AirWave Pages with Instant-Specific Features " on page 8
l "Other Available Features" on page 9
l "Optional Tasks" on page 14
l "Best Practices" on page 16
l "Known Issues with the Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Integration with AirWave" on page 17
Overview of Dell PowerConnect W-Instant
Dell PowerConnect W-Instant is a system of access points per Layer 2 subnet. Dell PowerConnect W-Instant IAPs
are controlled by a single IAP that serves a dual role as a primary Virtual Controller, eliminating the need for
dedicated controller hardware. This system can be deployed through a simplified setup process appropriate for smaller
organizations, or for multiple geographically dispersed locations without an on-site administrator.
Only the first IAP/Virtual Controller you add to the network must be configured; the subsequent IAPs will all inherit
the necessary configuration information from the Virtual Controller. Dell PowerConnect W-Instant continually
monitors the network to determine the IAP that should function as the Virtual Controller at any time, and the
Virtual Controller will move from IAP to IAP as necessary without impacting network performance.
The Virtual Controller technology in Dell PowerConnect W-Instant is capable of IAP auto discovery, 802.1X
authentication, role- and device-based policy enforcement, rogue detection, and Adaptive Radio Management
(ARM).
Using Dell PowerConnect W-Instant with AirWave
AirWave can be used to provision and manage a multi-site deployment of Instant networks. For example, if you have
100 retail offices that require Instant to provide WLAN connectivity at each office, AirWave can be used to
provision all the 100 offices from a central site and also give the administrator the ability to monitor these
geographically dispersed Instant networks using an AirWave server (depending on the scalability recommendations
for AirWave).
With a distributed deployment where multiple locations each have a Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Virtual
Controller and IAPs, AirWave serves as a centralized management console. AirWave provides all functionality for
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normal WLAN deployments including long-term trend reporting, PCI compliance, configuration auditing, role-based
administration, location services, RF visualization, and many other features.
Integrating Dell PowerConnect W-Instant systems into AirWave is unique from the setup of any other device class
due to the following considerations:
l Discovery: AirWave does not discover Dell PowerConnect W-Instant devices via scanning (SNMP or HTTP) the
network. Each Dell PowerConnect W-Instant deployment will automatically check-in to the AirWave configured
within the IAP’s user interface. The first Virtual Controller for an organization will automatically appear as a new
device in AirWave. Subsequent IAPs are discovered via the Virtual Controller, just like standard controller/thin
AP deployments.
l Auto-provisioning: The first authorized Virtual Controller requires manual authorization into AirWave via shared
secret to ensure security. Along with the shared secret, the Virtual Controller sends an Organization String which
automatically initializes and organizes the IAPs in AirWave. Unlike the traditional infrastructure of a physical
controller and thin APs, Dell PowerConnect W-Instant automates many tedious steps of developing a complex
hierarchical structure of folders, config groups, templates, admin users, and admin roles for Dell PowerConnect
W-Instant.
l Communication via HTTPS: Because Dell PowerConnect W-Instant devices may be deployed behind NAT-
enabled firewalls, Virtual Controllers push data to AirWave via HTTPS. AirWave initiates no connections to Dell
PowerConnect W-Instant devices via SNMP, TFTP, SSH, and the like. This enables quick remote setup without
having to modify firewall rules.
l Virtual controller listed as separate device: The Virtual Controller is listed as an additional device, even though
it is part of the existing set of IAPs. If you have 10 physical IAPs, AirWave will list 10 Dell PowerConnect WInstant IAPs and one Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Virtual Controller. You can identify the IAP acting as the
Virtual Controller by their identical LAN MAC addresses in APs/Devices > List pages, Device Inventory reports,
and any other AirWave pages that list your network devices.
NOTE: A device that is added as a virtual controller does not count as a license for AirWave.
Refer to the Dell PowerConnect W-Instant data sheet for full operational and regulatory specifications, hardware
capabilities, antenna plots, and radio details.
Setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant
You can set up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant in one of three ways:
l Manually. See "Setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Manually" on page 3.
l Automatically (through DHCP). See "Setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Automatically" on page 4.
l Using Aruba Activate. Refer to the documentation that accompanies Aruba Activate for detailed information.
The automatic setup is most suited for a multi-site Instant deployment. Both options are summarized here, but refer
to the Dell PowerConnect W-Instant documentation for more information on setting up the hardware and
configuring the network.
For each remote location, an on-site installer is required to physically mount the IAPs, connect to the Dell
PowerConnect W-Instant SSID, configure the WLAN, configure the names of the IAPs, and enter the information
in the first IAP’s user interface that will enable communication with AirWave.
An AirWave administrator sends an Organization String and Shared Secret key along with AirWave’s IP address to
the on-site installer. The AirWave admin later validates the first Virtual Controller's Organization String and its
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Shared Secret when it appears in the APs/Devices > New list. The administrator also enables user roles to
administer the Dell PowerConnect W-Instant systems, makes any other changes in AirWave as necessary.
NOTE: The first Instant network that is added to AirWave includes the ‘golden’ configuration that is used as a template to provision
other Instant networks at other locations as the locations are brought online. It is recommended that the ‘golden’ configuration is
validated and pre-tested in a non-production environment prior to applying it to a production network. Users have the option to add
additional devices into managed mode automatically by setting the Automatically Authorized Virtual Controller Mode option to
Manage Read/Write on the AMP Setup > General page. Refer to the Dell PowerConnect W-AirWave 7.6 User Guide for more
information. It is also important to note that any changes that are made to the template variables will have to be manually applied to
each deployed device.
Setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Manually
When setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant manually, you will be requested to provide an Organization string,
the AirWave IP address, and a Shared Key. The steps to create this information are described in the following
sections.
Creating your Organization String
The Organization String is a set of colon-separated strings created by the AirWave administrator to accurately
represent the deployment of each Dell PowerConnect W-Instant system. This string is entered into the Dell
PowerConnect W-Instant UI by the on-site installer.
The format of the Organization String is Org:subfolder1:subfolder2... and so on, up to 31 characters long. Org, the
top-level string, is generally the name of your organization and is used to automatically generate the following (if not
already present) inAirWave:
l AirWave Role: Org Admin (initially disabled)
l AirWave User: Org Admin (assigned to the role Org Admin)
l Folder: Org (under the Top folder in AirWave)
l Configuration Group: Org
Additional strings in the Organization String are used to create a hierarchy of subfolders under the folder named Org:
l subfolder1 would be a folder under the Org folder
l subfolder2 would be a folder under subfolder1
To create your Organization String, consider the plan of how your Dell PowerConnect W-Instant IAPs are to be
physically distributed. As a best practice, the Organization String should mirror your company's geographical or
internal reporting structure. For example, if you plan to deploy Dell PowerConnect W-Instant in four stores in two
different cities for Acme Corporation, your Organization Strings might look like these:
l Acme:New York:Times Square Store
l Acme:New York:Queens Store
l Acme:San Francisco:Sunset Store
l Acme:San Francisco:SOMA Store
The Shared Key
The Shared key is used by the administrator to manually authorize the first Virtual Controller for an organization
that appears in the APs/Devices > New page in AirWave. Any string is acceptable, but this string must be the same
for all devices in your organization.
NOTE: Always ensure the protection of your organiz ation’s shared secret. Knowledge of this shared secret, the organization string,
and communication protocol could allow a rogue device to masquerade as a Dell PowerConnect W-Instant device.
Dell PowerConnect W-Instant in W-Ai rWav e 7.6 | Deployment Guide 3
At this point, the admin in our example should send the Organization String, Shared Secret key, and AirWave IP
address to the on-site installers setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant hardware inside the storefronts.
Entering the Organization String and AirWave Information into the IAP
For the initial IAP/Virtual Controller set up in each location, the on-site installer logs in to the first IAP's web
interface via the Dell PowerConnect W-Instant configuration SSID, and navigates to Settings > AirWave. The
installer then enters the correct Organization String, the AirWave IP address, and the Shared Secret key, as shown in
Figure 1. Perform the following steps to set up AirWave in Instant.
1. Log into your IAP.
2. Click on either the Set up Now at the bottom of the UI or on the Settings tab in the top right corner. This
opens the Settings menu.
Figure 1: Dell PowerConnect W-Instant > Settings page.
3. Locate the AirWave section on the Admin tab.
4. Enter the Organization string, the AirWave IP address, and the Shared key.
5. Click OK when you are finished.
Setting up Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Automatically
Instant can be configured automatically using DHCP options 60 and 43.
The Dell PowerConnect W-Instant Virtual Controller initiates DHCP request with the DHCP option 60 string
‘DellPowerConnect W Instant.’ If the DHCP server is configured to recognize this option 60 string, it will return an
option 43 string containing the organization, AirWave IP, and pre-shared key (Organization is optional). The three
pieces of information should be specified using comma separators without any spaces. For example,
option 43 text "TME-Instant,10.169.240.8,dell123"
The AirWave information in the option 43 will be used to connect to AirWave, if AirWave is not otherwise
configured manually on the Virtual Controller.
The organization string can be hierarchical and define sub-folders for different stores. This supports an architecture
that is required to manage multiple branches or stores where individual stores can be managed by local
administrators.
DHCP server options:
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ip dhcp pool IAP-Pool
default-router 10.169.241.1
option 60 text "DellInstantAP"
option 43 text "Acme:Store1,10.169.240.8,dell123"
network 10.169.241.0 255.255.255.0
authoritative
!
ip dhcp pool IAP-Pool2
default-router 10.169.242.1
option 60 text "DellInstantAP"
option 43 text "Acme:Store2,10.169.240.8,dell123"
network 10.169.242.0 255.255.255.0
authoritative
In the example configuration shown above, the following group and folder structure is created on AirWave:
l A group called Acme is created.
l A top-level folder called Acme is created.
l Two sub-folders called Store1 and Store2 are created which will contain the IAPs.
Remaining Manual Admin Tasks in AirWave
Once the setup is complete, what remains is to verify the shared secret and add the device.
l "Verifying the Shared Secret" on page 5
l "Adding the First Instant Device to AirWave" on page 5
Verifying the Shared Secret
After the role is enabled, the Dell PowerConnect W-Instant device will appear in the APs/Devices > New page, the
admin user should mouse over the value under the Type column to verify the device’s Shared Secret with AirWave,
as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Mouse over the Type column to view the Shared Secret
If the incoming Shared Secret matches the one you created, select Add, then Save and Apply in the confirmation
page.
NOTE: With an Organization specified, you do not have to select any Group or Folder from the drop-down menus on the APs/Devices
> New page. In fact, if you do change the Group/Folder drop-down menus, all Organization-specified Virtual Controllers will ignore
these values and will use the folder/group values from the Organization String instead. If you select Add for some non-Dell
PowerConnect W-Instant devices as well as some Organization-specified Vi rtual Controllers, the drop-down menus will apply to the
non-IAPs but not the Virtual Controllers. If you have any Virtual Controllers with no Organization specified the first time they
communicate with AirWave, then they will be placed in the Folder/Group drop-box val ues you have selected.
Adding the First Instant Device to AirWave
After the first Instant device receives the AirWave server information from the DHCP server or after AirWave server
information is manually configured, the Instant device appear as a new device in AirWave. As shown, this virtual
controller is added in Monitor Only mode.
Dell PowerConnect W-Instant in W-Ai rWav e 7.6 | Deployment Guide 5
Figure 3: A new Instant device in AirWave
1. Click Add to add the device. A Group and Folder do not have to be selected. The Instant device will
automatically get added to the new group that was created.
2. Select Apply Changes Now to add the Instant device to the group.
Resolving Mismatches
The new device will appear in AirWave as two devices: the first is the Virtual Controller for that Instant network,
and the second is the access point itself. In some cases, the Instant device shows up as having Mismatched
configuration. This occurs when the AirWave information was received from Instant via the DHCP server (i.e, was
not manually configured).
Clicking on the mismatched device opens the audit page of the device, showing the reason for the mismatch. The
configuration shows the desired configuration versus the current Instant configuration. As shown in the following
image, the AirWave IP address, shared secret, and organization string has to be provisioned on the Instant device.
Figure 4: APs/Devices > Audit page
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