Quick Start—Onboarding Mobility Gateways

This topic describes the steps for onboarding Mobility Gateways in HPE Aruba Networking Central. For the list of supported gateways, see Supported Gateway Platforms.

Note:

Before you begin, you must create or log in to your HPE GreenLake cloud workspace, provision the HPE Aruba Networking Central service, and activate your device subscriptions.

Automatic configuration migration from Classic Central group to HPE Aruba Networking Central group is currently not supported.

Onboarding gateways in HPE Aruba Networking Central requires an additional step of clicking Reset Config in the Configuration Audit > Local Overrides page in Classic Central WebUI.

If a gateway device enters a configuration failure state due to an invalid configuration, refer to the Configuration Health Card and Audit Trail to troubleshoot and resolve the issue.

To onboard a gateway, complete the following steps:

Log in to HPE GreenLake:
1. Open a web browser and navigate to the HPE GreenLake portal at https://common.cloud.hpe.com.
2. Enter your credentials.
  
  Note:
  If you do not have an HPE GreenLake account, see Getting started with GreenLake platform for detailed information.
Connect the gateway to HPE Aruba Networking Central:
1. In HPE GreenLake, navigate to Devices > Device Inventory.
  
  The Inventory page is displayed containing all the devices in your inventory.
2. Click Add Devices to open the wizard.
3. Select Networking Devices from Device Type drop-down list.
4. Under Add Devices via, select one of the following radio buttons:
  - Serial Number & MAC Address—Enter the serial number and MAC address for the gateway.
    
    Note:
    The serial number and MAC address details are usually available on the device label.
  - CSV File—To add multiple gateways, upload the device serial number and MAC address from a CSV file.
5. (Optional) Add Location Name and Service Delivery Contact when prompted.
  
  Figure 1: Serial Number & MAC Address Page
Assign the gateway to the Central service and desired region:
1. Select one or more gateways using the checkbox to the left of the device entry.
2. From the Actions menu, select Assign to Service.
  
  Use the search and filter options in the list view as needed to find specific devices for the remaining steps.
3. Select the Central service and the required region.
Assign licensing to the gateway:
1. Select one or more gateways using the check box to the left of the device entry.
2. From the Actions menu, select Apply Subscription.
(Optional) Add or Edit location and Service Delivery Contact:
1. Select one or more gateways using the check box to the left of the device entry.
2. From the Actions menu, select Location and Service Delivery Contact to add or edit the details.
  
  Figure 2: Add/Edit Location and Service Delivery Contact
Assign Group and Site:
1. Create a group to organize the gateway.
  
  Note:
  You must create the group in HPE Aruba Networking Central and enable the Allow New Central to overwrite all configuration for this group toggle. For more information, see Groups.
2. Assign the gateway to the previously created group within HPE Aruba Networking Central.
3. Create a site to assign the gateway. For more information on how to create a site, see Sites.
4. Assign the gateway to the previously created site within HPE Aruba Networking Central.
To pre-provision the gateway, assign the gateway to HPE Aruba Networking Central group directly and assign the device to site. The following profiles need to be configured for gateway pre-provisioning:
1. Under Library > VLANs & Network, create a VLAN profile and assign scope to the profile with Enable L3 option selected. The VLAN profile will be controller-IP VLAN for the gateway. For more information, see VLAN Profile.
2. Under Library > System, create and scope map the following profiles:
  - Create a DNS profile and assign to Global, Site Collections, or Site scope as required. For more information, see DNS Server Profile.
  - Create an User Administration profile and assign to Global, Site Collections, or Site scope as required. For more information, see User Administration Profile.
  - Create a Gateway System profile, use the VLAN created above as System IP VLAN, and assign to Global, Site Collections, or Site scope as required. For more information, see Gateway System Profile.
3. Under Library > Routing & Overlays, create a Static Routing profile and assign to Global, Site Collections, or Site scope as required. IP routes and default gateway can be configured in this profile. For default gateway, use Device-Specific Parameters option and configure the lect gateway and PVOS parameters. For more information, see Static Routing Profile.
  
  Note:
  After completing the pre-configuration in HPE Aruba Networking Central, transfer the gateway from the Classic Central group to the HPE Aruba Networking Central group. The gateway will reboot and then join the HPE Aruba Networking Central group. While it is rebooting, please perform the additional configurations at the device level. It is recommended to complete these steps before the gateway comes online. Once the gateway joins the HPE Aruba Networking Central group, it will perform a full configuration synchronization and download all the configurations.
4. Under Devices scope, navigate to Interfaces > GW Interface Configuration profile, and select the respective port of the gateway and configure the required parameters. For more information, see Gateway Interface Configuration Profile.
5. Under Devices scope, select the gateway and then navigate to VLANs & Networks > VLANs. In the VLANs list, select the VLAN profile which was mapped in Gateway System profile and edit the following parameters:
  - Select Save as a local profile check box.
  - Enter the IP address in the IPv6 Address text box.
6. Under Devices scope, select the gateway and then navigate to System > System Information. In the System Information list, select the System Information profile and edit the hostname and other required parameters.
To configure the gateway, the following options are available:
- Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP)—Uses DHCP on any connected port to connect to Internet. ZTP allows the gateway to connect to HPE Aruba Networking Central upon boot-up and retrieve the configuration from HPE Aruba Networking Central. The gateway must be connected to an access port with DHCP and Internet access. If interface configuration is required on the uplink port, then static-activate configuration options are used to configure the basic connectivity details required for the gateway to reach HPE Aruba Networking Central.
- Static-Activate—Uses Static or PPPoE IP, and this process prompts you for the information to use on the selected port to access Internet. Using the static-activate command at the console of the gateway allows the administrator to set the following parameters:
  1. Controller VLAN ID [4086]
  2. Uplink Port [GE 0/0/0]
  3. Uplink Port mode (access|trunk) [access]
  4. Native VLAN ID [1]
  5. VLAN IP assignment method (static|pppoe) [static]
  6. VLAN Static IP Address [192.168.1.1]
  7. VLAN Static IP netmask [255.255.255.0]
  8. IP default gateway [none]
  9. DNS IP address [none]
  10. Configure IPv6 on VLAN (yes|no)? [no]
  11. Disable spanning tree (yes|no)? [no]
  12. Configure dynamic port-channel (yes|no)? [no]
- Full-Setup—Uses Static, DHCP, or PPPoE IP, and this process prompts for more information than Static-Activate to provide you greater configuration control for the gateway accessing the Internet. Using the full-setup command at the console of the gateway allows the administrator to set the following parameters:
  1. System Name
  2. Switch Role (standalone|md) [md]
  3. Conductor/Central FQDN
  4. Conductor Type (MCR|ACP) [MCR]  Type ACP
  5. Configure HTTP-PROXY (yes|no) [no]
  6. Controller VLAN ID [4086]
  7. Uplink VLAN ID
  8. Uplink Port [GE 0/0/0]
  9. Uplink Port mode (access|trunk) [access]
  10. Native VLAN ID [1]
  11. VLAN IPv4/IPv6 assignment method (dhcp|static|pppoe) [static]
  12. VLAN Static IPv4/IPv6 address
  13. VLAN Static IPv4 netmask
  14. VLAN interface IPv6 prefix length [4]
  15. IPv4/IPv6 default gateway [none]
  16. DNS IP/IPv6 address [none]
  17. VLAN Static IP netmask [255.255.255.0]
  18. Configure IPv6 on VLAN (yes|no)? [no]
  19. Disable spanning tree (yes|no)? [no]
  20. Configure dynamic port-channel (yes|no)? [no]
  21. Country Code (US|PR|GU|VI|MP|AS|FM|MH) [US]
  22. Confirm country code (yes|no)? Type yes, to continue
  23. Enter IANA Time zone [America/Los_Angeles]
  24. Time in UTC
  25. Date (MM/DD/YYYY)
  26. Create Admin Account (yes|no)? [yes]
  27. Enter admin password
  28. Retype admin password
HPE Aruba Networking Central requires a minimum gateway firmware version of 10.4.1.7 to connect. The gateway is upgraded to this minimum firmware if not already running 10.4.1.7 or above version.

If you have created a firmware upgrade policy within HPE Aruba Networking Central, then the gateway is upgraded to that version after it registers.

Auto-Import of Basic Connectivity Configurations

When you onboard a gateway and move to the HPE Aruba Networking Central group, any pre-configured basic connectivity configurations will be imported automatically from the gateway to HPE Aruba Networking Central. Once the import is successful, Successfully Imported Connectivity Config from the Device message is displayed in the Audit Trail page.

The auto-imported configurations will be saved to the device scope profiles.

Note:

Auto-imported configurations are pushed only at the device level. Any configurations made at higher scopes for the same device will be overridden at the device level during auto-import.If you want to move the configuration of the same object to a higher scope, you must first create the same object at higher scope and then delete the device-level object.

Sample Connectivity Configurations

The following are the sample configurations that are automatically imported to respective profiles in HPE Aruba Networking Central during onboarding:

Profile	Sample Configurations
Static Routing	ip default-gateway 10.96.50.65
Gateway Interface Configuration	interface gigabitethernet 0/0/2 trusted trusted vlan 1-4094 switchport mode trunk
VLAN	vlan 4094
L3 VLAN	interface vlan 150 ip address 10.96.50.25 255.255.255.192 interface vlan 4094 ip address dhcp-client
Port Channel Interface > Ports	interface port-channel 4 trusted trusted vlan 1-4094 switchport mode trunk switchport trunk native vlan 1
Port Channel Interface > LAGs	switchport trunk native vlan 1 interface gigabitethernet 0/0/0 lacp group 4 mode active
User Administration	mgmt-user admin root 709b22ff01689d9b6980a6e48d057a262a2902a6c6ddacfc8d
DNS Server	ip name-server 10.211.64.16
System Information	hostname 7210-GW2

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to reset the configuration in Classic Central when onboarding gateways?

Yes, if the gateway was previously part of a Classic Central group (including default group) or if the out-of-the-box gateway was not pre-provisioned to a HPE Aruba Networking Central group from Classic Central pre-provision section before connecting to the internet, you need to reset it. However, if the gateway was pre-provisioned and has moved to a HPE Aruba Networking Central group, then resetting the configuration is not required.

What will happen if I skip resetting the configuration in Classic Central and the gateways are working correctly?

If you skip the steps for onboarding gateways into a HPE Aruba Networking Central group and the gateway comes up in a Classic Central (default) group, then you need move the gateway from default group to HPE Aruba Networking Central group and write erase all on the gateway followed by reset config from Classic Central's Config Audit section of the HPE Aruba Networking Central group. This will push the initial setup configuration to the cloud as part of the configuration import. If you follow the steps outlined in the documentation, you can avoid issues like the device getting stuck in an update-required state or rolling back.