Replacing a Controller

The procedure below describes the steps to replace an existing stand-alone controller and/or a redundant controller. Best practice is to replace the backup controller first, and replace the active controller only after the new backup controller is operational on the network. When you remove the active controller from the network to replace it, the new backup controller takes over the active controller role. When you add a second controller to the network, the second controller automatically assumes the role of a backup controller.

For information about the Mobility Controller Virtual Appliance, refer to the Aruba Virtual Appliance Installation Guide.

Procedure Overview

The procedure to replace a backup or active controller consists of the following tasks:

Step 1: (Optional) Change the VRRP Priorities for a Redundant Conductor Pair

If your deployment uses VRRP Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol. VRRP is an election protocol that dynamically assigns responsibility for a virtual router to one of the VRRP routers on a LAN. to define the primary Mobility Conductor in a pair of redundant Mobility Conductors and you are replacing only the primary Mobility Conductor, you must change the VRRP Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol. VRRP is an election protocol that dynamically assigns responsibility for a virtual router to one of the VRRP routers on a LAN. priority levels of the controllers so that the primary Mobility Conductor has a lower priority than the backup Mobility Conductor. This allows the configuration from the backup Mobility Conductor to be copied to the new Mobility Conductor, and prevents an old or inaccurate configuration from being pushed to the managed devices.

For details on changing VRRP Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol. VRRP is an election protocol that dynamically assigns responsibility for a virtual router to one of the VRRP routers on a LAN. priorities, see Configuring a Primary and Backup Conductor for Failover Redundancy.

Step 2: Back Up the Flash File System

To start the migration process, access the backup controller or the Mobility Conductor being replaced and create a backup of the flash file system. You can create a backup file using the WebUI or the CLI Command-Line Interface. A console interface with a command line shell that allows users to execute text input as commands and convert these commands to appropriate functions..

To create a flash backup from the command-line interface, access the active controller and issue the backup flash command.

To back up the flash from the WebUI, log in to the current backup controller or active controller and create a flash backup using the procedure below:

1. In the Mobility Conductor node hierarchy, select the device and navigate to the Maintenance > Configuration Management > Backup.
2. For the Select what to backup option, select Flash.

3. Click Create Backup.

   A confirmation message (Backup saved successfully) is displayed.

4. Click Copy Backup to create a copy of the backup file.

   By default, the flash backup file is named flashbackup.tar.gz.

5. Configure the following parameters:
   • Flash file system—Select the flash file system in the Select source file drop-down list.
   • File name—Select the relevant file name in the drop-down list.
   • Select destination file—Select one of the server options to move the flash backup off the controller in the drop-down list.
   • File name—Enter the name of the Flash backup file to be exported in the text box.

6. Click Copy.

   A confirmation message (Files copied successfully) is displayed.

Step 3: Stage the New Controller

Stage the new backup controller or active controller with basic IP connectivity. Power up the new controller, connect a laptop computer to the controller’s serial port, and follow the prompts to configure basic settings, such as the controller name, role, VLAN Virtual Local Area Network. In computer networking, a single Layer 2 network may be partitioned to create multiple distinct broadcast domains, which are mutually isolated so that packets can only pass between them through one or more routers; such a domain is referred to as a Virtual Local Area Network, Virtual LAN, or VLAN., gateway Gateway is a network node that allows traffic to flow in and out of the network., country code, and time zone.

Step 4: Add Licenses to the New Controller

To replace a controller with manually added licenses, you will need to transfer those licenses to the new controller as part of the replacement process.

Issue the license add command in the command-line interface. Alternatively, in the Mobility Conductor node hierarchy, navigate to the Configuration > License page to add new or transferred licenses to the new controller.

Step 5: Backup Newly Installed Licenses

Issue the license export command in the command-line interface to back up the newly installed licenses to the backup license database.

Step 6: Import and Restore the Flash Backup

Import and restore the backup flash file system from the original controller to the new controller.

The following procedure describes how to import and restore a flash backup:

1. Access the new controller.
2. In the Mobility Conductor node hierarchy, select the device and navigate to Diagnostics > Technical Support > Copy Files.
3. Configure the following parameters:
   • Flash file system—Select the flash file system in the Select source file drop-down list.
   • File name —Select the relevant file name in the drop-down list.
   • Select destination file—Select one of the server options to move the flash backup off the controller in the drop-down list.
   • File name—Enter the name of the Flash backup file to be exported in the text box.

4. Click Copy. By default, the flash backup file is named flashbackup.tar.gz.

   A confirmation message (Files saved successfully) is displayed.

5. To restore the backup of the flash file system, navigate to Mobility Conductor > host node hierarchy, and navigate to Maintenance > Configuration Management > Restore.

6. Select Flash and click Restore.

   A confirmation message (Flash restored successfully) is displayed.

To import and restore a flash backup file using the command-line interface, use the copy and restore flash commands. The following example copies a backup file from a USB Universal Serial Bus. USB is a connection standard that offers a common interface for communication between the external devices and a computer. USB is the most common port used in the client devices. drive.

Step 7: Restore Licenses

Execute the license import command in the command-line interface to import licenses from the license database to the new controller.

Step 8: Reboot the Controller

When all the licenses have been restored, issue the reload command in the command-line interface. Alternatively, in the Mobility Conductor node, navigate to Maintenance > Software Management > Reboot in the WebUI to reboot the new controller. After rebooting, the controller should not be on the network (or a reachable subnet Subnet is the logical division of an IP network.) with the controller it will replace. This is to prevent a possible IP address conflict.

Step 9. (Optional) Modify the Host Name

Issue the hostname command in the command-line interface to give the new controller a unique host name. The flash restoration process gives the new controller the same name as the existing controller.

Step 10: Save your Configuration

Save the configuration settings on the new controller. Issue the write memory command in the command-line interface, or in the WebUI navigate to the Managed Network node hierarchy, click the Configuration tab and select Pending Changes at the top of the WebUI page.

Step 11: Remove the Existing Controller

If you are only replacing a backup controller, remove the existing backup controller and then connect the replacement controller to the network. If you are replacing both an active controller and a backup controller, replace the backup controller first.

When the active controller is removed from the network, the backup controller immediately assumes the role of active controller, and all active APs associate to the new active controller within a few seconds. Therefore, when you add another controller to the network, it will, by default, assume the role of a backup controller.

If you changed the VRRP Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol. VRRP is an election protocol that dynamically assigns responsibility for a virtual router to one of the VRRP routers on a LAN. priorities of your redundant Mobility Conductor prior to replacing the primary Mobility Conductor, you may change them back once the new primary Mobility Conductor is active on the network.

Replacing an RMA Device

If the controller being replaced was returned to Aruba as an RMA Return Merchandise Authorization. RMA is a part of the product returning process that authorizes users to return a product to the manufacturer or distributor for a refund, replacement, or repair. The customers who want to return a product within its Warranty period contact the manufacturer to initiate the product returning process. The manufacturer or the seller generates an authorization number for the RMA, which is used by the customers, when returning a product to the warehouse. device, the license keys on the Returned Merchandise Authorization (RMA Return Merchandise Authorization. RMA is a part of the product returning process that authorizes users to return a product to the manufacturer or distributor for a refund, replacement, or repair. The customers who want to return a product within its Warranty period contact the manufacturer to initiate the product returning process. The manufacturer or the seller generates an authorization number for the RMA, which is used by the customers, when returning a product to the warehouse.) controller cannot be directly transferred to a new device, and must be regenerated.

To generate a new license key for a controller that is returned as an RMA Return Merchandise Authorization. RMA is a part of the product returning process that authorizes users to return a product to the manufacturer or distributor for a refund, replacement, or repair. The customers who want to return a product within its Warranty period contact the manufacturer to initiate the product returning process. The manufacturer or the seller generates an authorization number for the RMA, which is used by the customers, when returning a product to the warehouse., complete the following steps:

1. Log in to License Management System (LMS Local Management Switch. In multi-controller networks, each controller acts as an LMS and terminates user traffic from the APs, processes, and forwards the traffic to the wired network. ) at lms.arubanetwroks.com.
2. In the License Management page, click Transfer Licenses. Alternatively, click on Licenses menu and then, click Transfer License.

   The Transfer License page is displayed.

3. In the Product page, select the type of product you wish to initiate the license transfer and then, click Next.
4. In the Source page, select the source system from the list from which you wish to transfer the license and then, click Next.
5. In the License(s) Selection page, select the license(s) that are associated with the selected source system and then, click Next.
6. In the Destination page, enter the serial number or passphrase of the destination system in the Installation Info text box for which you wish to transfer the license.
7. In the Summary page, review the summary of the license(s) to be transferred and then, click Transfer.

   A new license key is generated, which you can apply to the controller.