Replacing a Controller

The procedures below describe the steps to replace an existing stand-alone controller and/or a redundant controller. Best practices are 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, that second controller automatically assumes the role of a backup controller.

For information on the virtual mobility controller (VMC), refer to the Aruba Mobility Master and VMC Installation Guide.

Replacing an RMA Device

If the controller being replaced was returned to Aruba as a Return Merchandize Authorization (RMA) device, the license keys on the RMA 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:

1. Access the My Networking Portal (MNP) at http://hpe.com/networking/mynetworking/.
2. Log in to MNP using the HPE Passport.
3. Click View licenses or Transfer licenses to new platform. All available licenses are displayed.
4. Select the >> icon at the right end of the record to verify the license details before transferring it.
5. Click Transfer License at the bottom of the page.
6. Select a controller from the AOS Controller Type drop-down list.
7. Enter the serial number of the mobility controller in the Serial number text box; or enter the passphrase of the Mobility Master in the PassPhrase text box.
8. Select the license to be transferred.
9. Click Transfer at the bottom of the page. A new license key is generated, which you can apply to the controller.

Procedure Overview

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

1. Step 1: (Optional) Change the VRRP Priorities for a Redundant Master Pair
2. Step 2: Back Up the Flash File System
3. Step 3: Stage the New Controller
4. Step 4: Add Licenses to the New Controller
5. Step 5: Backup Newly Installed Licenses
6. Step 6: Import and Restore the Flash Backup
7. Step 7: Restore Licenses
8. Step 8: Reboot the Controller
9. Step 9. (Optional) Modify the Host Name
10. Step 10: Save your Configuration
11. Step 11: Remove the Existing Controller

 

If your controller does not have any manually added licenses, skip steps 3, 4, and 6 of the following procedure.

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

If your deployment uses VRRP to define the primary Mobility Master in a pair of redundant Mobility Masters, and you are replacing only the primary Mobility Master, and you must change the VRRP priority levels of the controllers so that the primary Mobility Master has a lower priority than the backup Mobility Master. This will allow the configuration from the backup Mobility Master to be copied to the new Mobility Master, and prevent an old or inaccurate configuration from being pushed to the managed devices.

For details on changing VRRP priorities, see Configuring a Primary and Backup Master for Failover Redundancy.

Step 2: Back Up the Flash File System

To start the migration process, access the backup controller or Mobility Master being replaced and create a backup of the flash file system. You can create a backup file using the WebUI or command-line interfaces.

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 Master > host node hierarchy, navigate to Maintenance > Configuration Management > Backup.
2. Select Flash and click Create Backup.
3. ClickCopy Backup to create a copy of the backup file. By default, the flash backup file is named flashbackup.tar.gz.
4. Next, to move the backup of the flash file system to an external server, in the Mobility Master > host node hierarchy, navigate to Diagnostics > Technical Support > Copy Files.
5. In the Source Selection section, select Flash File System.
6. In the Destination Selection section, select one of the server options to move the flash backup off the controller, and enter the name of the flash backup file to be exported.
7. Click Apply.
8. The status of the copy operation is displayed under the Destination Selection section.

Step 3: Stage the New Controller

The next step in the procedure is to 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, gateway, 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.

Use the license add command in the command-line interface. Alternatively, in the Mobility Master node hierarchy, navigate to Configuration > System > Licensing > Controller Licenses to add new or transferred licenses to the new controller.

 

Do not reboot the controller at the end of this step. Do not save the configuration or write it to memory. Reboot only after the flash memory and the licenses have been restored.

Step 5: Backup Newly Installed Licenses

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

(host)[mynode] #license export <filename>

 

Do not reboot the controller at the end of this step. Do not save the configuration or write it to memory. Reboot only after the flash memory and the licenses have been restored.

Step 6: Import and Restore the Flash Backup

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

 

Do not reboot the controller at the end of this step. Do not save the configuration or write it to memory. Reboot only after the flash memory and the licenses have been restored.

To import and restore a flash backup using the WebUI:

1. Access the new controller.
2. In the Mobility Master > host node hierarchy, navigate to Diagnostics > Technical Support > Copy Files.
3. In the Source Selection section, select any of the source options, or select a method for uploading the file.
4. In the Destination Selection section, selectFlash File System.
5. Enter the filename of the flash backup and click Apply. By default, the flash backup file is named flashbackup.tar.gz.
6. Next, to restore the backup of the flash file system, navigate to Mobility Master > host node hierarchy, navigate to Maintenance > Configuration Management > Restore.
7. Select Flash and click Restore.
8. The status of the copy operation is displayed under the Destination Selection section.

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 drive.

(host)[mynode] #copy usb: Partition 1 flashbak2_3600.tar.gz flash: flashbackup.tar.gz

....File flashbak2_3600.tar.gz copied to flash successfully.

(host)[mynode] #restore flash

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.

(host)[mynode] #license import <filename>

 

Do not save the configuration or write to memory at the end of this step.

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 Master 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) with the controller it will replace. This is to prevent a possible IP address conflict.

 

Do not save the configuration or write to memory at the end of this step.

(host)[mynode] #reload

Do you want to save the configuration(y/n): n

Do you really want to restart the system(y/n): y

System will now restart!

Step 9. (Optional) Modify the Host Name

Execute 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.)

 

Do not save the configuration or write to memory at the end of this step.

Step 10: Save your Configuration

Now, you must save the configuration settings on the new controller. Execute the write memory command in the command-line interface, or in the Managed Network node, 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, 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 priorities of your redundant Mobility Master prior to replacing the primary Mobility Master, you may wish to change them back once the new primary Mobility Master is active on the network.

 

When the new controller uses the same IP address of the controller that is being replaced, it is recommended to issue the apboot command after the APs connect to the controller. If the APs were already rebooted before connecting to the controller, the apboot command need not be issued.