Discovery Logic Workflow

The following figure describes the AP discovery logic workflow.

Figure 1  AP Discovery Logic

The following steps describe the AP discovery logic:

1. When an AP boots up, it connects to Activate to obtain a provisioning rule.
2. If provisioning is already done by AirWave or Central, verify if a provisioning rule exists. If yes, the provisioning rule is saved in the flash memory. Compare the saved provisioning rule with the rule in Activate. If the rule in Activate is new, save the new provisioning rule in flash. For example, if the conductor and member Instant APs obtain different AirWave addresses or if the conductor and member Instant APs obtain a different AirWave or Central rule, the conductor Instant AP rule takes higher precedence.

3. If the rule is to perform a mandatory upgrade of the Instant AP, ensure to upgrade the Instant AP to the desired version. The conductor Instant AP executes the upgrade after a cluster is formed.
4. If the rule is to convert the Instant AP to Campus AP Campus APs are used in private networks where APs connect over private links (LAN, WLAN, WAN or MPLS) and terminate directly on controllers. Campus APs are deployed as part of the indoor campus solution in enterprise office buildings, warehouses, hospitals, universities, and so on. or Remote AP Remote APs extend corporate network to the users working from home or at temporary work sites. Remote APs are deplyed at branch office sites and are connected to the central network on a WAN link., the conversion takes effect for every Instant AP regardless of whether it is a conductor or a member. This requires a manual registration of every conductor and member Instant AP with Activate.
5. If there is no rule from Activate or if conversion to Campus AP Campus APs are used in private networks where APs connect over private links (LAN, WLAN, WAN or MPLS) and terminate directly on controllers. Campus APs are deployed as part of the indoor campus solution in enterprise office buildings, warehouses, hospitals, universities, and so on. or Remote AP Remote APs extend corporate network to the users working from home or at temporary work sites. Remote APs are deplyed at branch office sites and are connected to the central network on a WAN link. fails, the conductor AP conducts local provisioning detection to check the local AirWave configuration.
   • If the AirWave server is configured and is in the configuration file, apply the server details. Otherwise, conduct a DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A network protocol that enables a server to automatically assign an IP address to an IP-enabled device from a defined range of numbers configured for a given network.  based AirWave or Central detection.
   • If DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A network protocol that enables a server to automatically assign an IP address to an IP-enabled device from a defined range of numbers configured for a given network. -based AirWave is not found and the Instant AP is in factory default status, perform a DNS Domain Name System. A DNS server functions as a phone book for the intranet and Internet users. It converts human-readable computer host names into IP addresses and IP addresses into host names. It stores several records for a domain name such as an address 'A' record, name server (NS), and mail exchanger (MX) records. The Address 'A' record is the most important record that is stored in a DNS server, because it provides the required IP address for a network peripheral or element. based AirWave discovery.
   • If none of the above methods can detect the AirWave server and if the Instant AP cannot connect to Activate, use the provisioning rule in flash.

6. If the AirWave or Central server is not found, or if the Instant AP is a member, verify if the following conditions for local controller discovery are met:
   • The Instant AP is factory reset.
   • The uap_controller_less mode is not set.
   • There is no provision rule saved in flash.

7. If the controller is found, the Instant AP sends a hello message to the controller and converts to a Campus AP Campus APs are used in private networks where APs connect over private links (LAN, WLAN, WAN or MPLS) and terminate directly on controllers. Campus APs are deployed as part of the indoor campus solution in enterprise office buildings, warehouses, hospitals, universities, and so on..
8. When a conductor failover happens, the new conductor Instant AP connects to Activate to retrieve the provisioning rule. If the new conductor successfully obtains the provisioning rule, it applies this rule to the cluster.

Manual Upgrade

APs running in unprovisioned mode broadcast a special provisioning SSID Service Set Identifier. SSID is a name given to a WLAN and is used by the client to access a WLAN network. to which users can connect to upgrade the AP manually. Upon connecting, users can access a local provisioning page in the WebUI to upgrade the AP to an AOS-8 or Instant image. See “Controller-based AP using Manual Campus AP/Remote AP Conversion” on page 1 and “Controller-less AP using Manual Instant AP Conversion” on page 1 for more details on upgrading APs manually.