Hi guys, I've been trying to get the new Catalyst controller virtual to work and trying to learn the basics of it also. However I'd like to ask about the best practices in setting up the thing and if there are clues in the running config of a physical appliance that helps. The thing is about the interfaces: - Do you actually need to define 3 interfaces in vmware? - Is there a reason why the default and the cisco examples leave Gi1 as oob management interface in the global routing table instead of a separate VRF?  And how is this on physical appliances? So in my first try I bootstrapped the controller using the following GI1 = OOB interface with IP directly on the interface and 0.0.0.0/0 route off this interface (VM network VLAN 10) GI2 = Trunk interface with VLAN 20 as wireless mgmt with IP tagged and no routes (VM network VLAN 4095 all) GI3 = HA SSO interface disabled because unused (VM network VLAN 50) And the security features on vmware all accept. In this setup I could play a bit but I never managed to ping from the VLAN 20 SVI to devices on the same subnet, inside the ESX host or on the LAN. It did grab the mac addresses both ways as I could see in the ARP tables of devices on both ends. I then f*ed up a bit by deleting the trust point to recreate it.  I couldn't use https to the controller anymore and had to do no http-secure server to regain GUI access on port 80.  I never got the ping to work though :/ So today I tried again with similar settings in ESX.  However I skipped the day0 and went full cli from the start. GI1 = routed OOB interface but on management vrf with a default route. GI2 = trunk carrying a management VLAN and SVI on the global routing table with it's own default route. GI3 = HA SSO but disabled once again This time at first I still couldn't ping but I noticed VMWARE had switched interface 2 and 3, so after fixing that I could ping from both vrf's.  I even got an AP connected. However without licensing on this machine I won't get it to work completely but I got very far.  I also noticed you could manage the appliance fully using the wireless mgmt interface. So once again, best practices on a virtual controller. Do you use separate interfaces or stick both OOB and Wireless mgmt on the same GI interface but different VLAN? Another question, since you don't need IP's on your VLANs.  When you do add an IP to an interface, can you put an IP helper on that interface to forward DHCP out the wireless management interface or another one closer to the DHCP server? ... View more

Hi, guys. I just got my feet wet in wireless mesh configuration after reading the greater part of 90 pages of the Cisco mesh deployment guide.  And I succesfully made a wireless bridge using meshing with VLAN support and all.. proud of myself :p  using older equipment that we have laying here in our "labroom".  3700 AP's and a 2504 controller. We have a customer that would like a mobile cart with battery to support several devices on a small switch going to an AP (outside the cart) making a mesh connection to another AP on the wall.  I know this is not really a supported solution for this, but it's going to be one outdoor AP in that room because of high moist and temperature.  So the 1540 comes to mind to setup that meshing solution so no real roaming is required. However I had a small question.  Since you can only do meshing on a WLC with minimum 8.5 code so the 3504 would be suitable.  The AP 1540 can come with local software, mesh software and mobexp.  Since I did the config on these older I just had to change the mode to mesh after adding their MAC addresses and I could get going. What's the difference between unified mesh software and unified local software? Source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/aironet-1540-series/guide-c07-739262.html ... View more