topic Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup in Wireless

Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:02:08 GMT

I'm looking to add another 9120 to connect to my my 9120 running EWC. It seemed to join the EWC and it shows up as an online AP, but it shows as standby, like it's another standby EWC. It also looks as if it has both the AP and the EWC image.

I was looking through the documentation and it is not very clear on this. How do I configure this AP as a client to join the EWC I already have running? Does it need a firmware reload with just the AP firmware?

Thanks.

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Flavio Miranda — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:21:43 GMT

Hello,

Check this:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/access_point/mob_exp/83/user_guide/b_ME_User_Guide_83/b_ME_User_Guide_83_chapter_0110.html#topic_40602E4357364818A781D7B17615C9F8

Step 1

Choose Wireless Settings > Access Points.

The Access Points Administration window is displayed. You can only administer those APs that are associated to the controller.

Step 2

Click the Edit icon adjacent to the AP you want to manage.

The Edit window with the General tab is displayed.

Step 3

Under the General tab, you can edit the following AP parameters:

Operating Mode and Make me Controller—For a primary AP, the Operating Mode field shows AP & Controller. For other associated APs, this field shows AP Only.

The Make me Controller button is available only for subordinate APs that are capable of participating in the primary Election process. Click this button to make this AP the primary AP.
IP Configuration—Choose Obtain from DHCP to let the IP address of the AP be assigned by a DHCP server on the network, or choose to have a Static IP address. If you choose to have a static IP address, then you can edit the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway fields.
AP Name—Edit the name of the AP. This is a free text field.
Location—Edit a location for the AP. This is a free text field

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Mark Elsen — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:33:48 GMT

- FYI : https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/embedded-wireless-controller-on-catalyst-access-points/215303-embedded-wireless-controller-conversion.html#toc-hId-1622399608

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 13:51:08 GMT

Hi Flavio,

On the 91xx access points, it's EWC, not Mobility Express. I don't have those options.

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 13:59:00 GMT

marce1000,

I understand that, but for EWC, are client APs CAPWAP or do they require the AP EWC image, but without the AP controller image? Cisco documentation is not very clear on this.

Thanks.

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Mark Elsen — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 14:22:06 GMT

Ref : https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/embedded-wireless-controller-on-catalyst-access-points/215303-embedded-wireless-controller-conversion.html#toc-hId-1622399608

- Just try the command mentioned in my previous link , you may need this first :
EWC#wireless ewc-ap ap shell username admin (change credential accordingly)

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 14:28:57 GMT

Since it's associated with the primary EWC, the console does not allow commands. I get the following if I try to enter a command:

Standby console disabled

So it looks like anything I do must be done through the primary controller.

Thanks.

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Flavio Miranda — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 14:29:29 GMT

Ah sorry, didn't realized that. This is more like 9800.

You should be able to Configuration> Wireless> Access Point and change the AP role under "AP mode".

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Mark Elsen — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 14:43:03 GMT

- Use this procedure to enable standby console from primary : (from config mode)
redundancy
mode sso
main-cpu
standby console enable

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 15:22:55 GMT

Thanks for that.

What part of that guide and what command were you referring to?

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Mark Elsen — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 15:49:28 GMT

- The needed commands are shown in my previous post , comes fro, searching in Cisco documentation ,

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 16:51:32 GMT

No, they are only for converting from CAPWAP to EWC and back. I'm already on EWC with this access point, but it looks like another controller/AP instead of a EWC client AP. I need to know how to convert it to an EWC client AP.

Another issue is that I cannot get into config mode due to the "Standby console disabled" message.

Thanks.

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:12:12 GMT

So I think I have a better understanding of how this works. The ap1g7 image is a CAPWAP image that the EWC firmware comes with. For EWC, you install both the ap1g7 image and C9800 controller image and it becomes an an EWC access point with both a controller and usable AP resource.

When you set up the EWC and have it running, another EWC AP can join and its AP resource will be used. In the EWC configuration page, you can convert it to CAPWAP, and instead of having the C9800 image, it uses just the ap1g7 image and only an AP resource is available.

You can have multiple EWCs set up for redundancy, which explains why another EWC AP can join the running EWC and use it's AP resource.

So currently, since I don't want redundant EWCs, I set it to to use CAPWAP, and it seems to be working ok. For configuration, the extra AP running CAPWAP, joined to the EWC, has not accepted any clients (LED is still green) yet because it is physically close to the EWC AP. Once I relocate it farther away, I should have clients joining it?

Do I have this right? Does anyone else use EWC on this forum?

Thanks.

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:31:03 GMT

And to answer the original question, the EWC client is simply a CAPWAP AP or an EWC/AP using only the AP resource.

Again, do I have this right?

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Mark Elsen — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:33:12 GMT

- Client AP = capwap only ,

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:42:22 GMT

That does not answer the question in relation to EWC. I'm aware that CAPWAP APs associate with a controller and are an AP client, but specifically, what associates with EWC? Have you used EWC before?

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Mark Elsen — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:58:52 GMT

- All of that is similar as to how the 9800 platform(s) and subvariant(s) operate , for those category of questions ; it does not differ with EWC (or not). The only aspect of EWC is that the 9800-code runs within an access point (with modifications and some restrictions) ,

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

emuman100 — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 14:03:49 GMT

I understand that. My question is in relation to EWC's clients and what is used with EWC. Have you used EWC before?

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Scott Fella — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 14:28:25 GMT

If you want an ap to also be an EWC controller, you upload the EWC image to the ap. The show version on the ap will show you if the ap is EWC capable and the function:

AP Image type    : EWC-AP IMAGE
AP Configuration : EWC-AP CAPABLE

Also it's not called a client, its a subordinate ap just to clarify. Keep in mind that an EWC AP can also associate clients, and having more than one EWC AP as a controller provides you redundancy.

Re: Cisco 9120AXE EWC Client Setup

Scott Fella — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 14:30:45 GMT

I think this FAQ will help you grasp the EWC concept better than just looking for guides.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/catalyst-9800-series-wireless-controllers/q-and-a-c67-743152.html