Catalyst center API client count

[aflbakker]

Hi,

I'm trying to fetch client count statistics via Catalyst API : /dna/data/api/v1/clients/count

I apply basic filtering to only give the count of a certain Building and floor. 

The number i get returned does not match the number I see in Catalyst GUI or WLC. Both Catalyst GUI and WLC DO match so I presume the correct data should be present, somehow at least. The number I get (i tested multiple buildings and floors) is almost double of the actual clients which are present. I already tested with filtering on SSID Any clue what could be happening ? 

[bigevilbeard]

Wild guess, check if the API is returning real time data or aggregated data over a specific time period. I had a look at the docs quick, but could not see any notes on data refresh intervals.

[aflbakker]

I also tried to filter on startime (EPOCH time) but got similar results. Somehow it doesn't add up.

[bigevilbeard]

What happens if you collect total client count without any filters and compare it to the GUI/WLC to isolate whether the issue is with the filtering logic, same?

[aflbakker]

Yes, the nr. is more or less double of the actual connected clients.

[bigevilbeard]

Something does not seem right here, i would suggest asking TAC on this one as you have tried a few options and now the API endpoint need to be inspected to see why this differs so.

[aflbakker]

I figured it out. Clients in 'disconnected'  state are also counted. A bit silly if you ask me. so the count API is useless imo. Fetching all clients and then filtering on clients in 'connected' state and perform a count on them did the trick. Would have been nice if the connectedState filter could be used in the API call.

[bigevilbeard]

@aflbakker hmm nice caveat, Glad you found it. 

[john-p]

I use the RESTConf API off the WLC directly. The return on this will include a collection with an entry for every client. If all you need is a count it will be easy enough to get from there.

'https://{ip}:443/restconf/data/Cisco-IOS-XE-wireless-client-oper:client-oper-data/common-oper-data'

[Xdofer]

if you use a UTC time of about 6 minutes ago and that will filter a lot of the disconnected out and then you can are always just filter the last few out at your end.