WCS Templates

[johnruffing]

I am currently working on an installation with three 4404-100 WLCs and a WCS with just under 200 APs (Approx 130 AIR-LAP1131AG's and 36 AIR-LAP1242AG's).

One of the three WLCs ("WLC0") is there solely for the purpose of backing up the other two WLCs. Also, there will some scenarios where manual power & channel settings will be required (specifically for the 1242s).

I believe that to ensure that WLC0 is updated automatically with any changes made to the settings that affect WLC1 & WLC2, that templates are in order for this.

Also, templates would seem to be sensible for handling settings for groups of APs which would then be propogated to WLC0.

Am I on the right track here?

Can a template apply to two active WLCs as well as the backup WLC ("WLC0" in my case) - so that changes made to the template using the WCS are automatically propogated to all the WLCs that reference that template?

Sadly, the Cisco AireSpace training did not cover this and I think that it is going to be crucial to minimizing changing settings in multiple places.

Is anyone out there using templates?

Will they help me accomplish what I am trying to do here - (that is, make management of the APs and WLCs easier) and ensure that changes propagate to all WLCs when made once (using the WCS).

Has anyone run across any design references that discuss the benefits of templates, why and how best to use them?

Thanks,

John

[Rob Huffman]

Hi John,

We have not used WCS Templates, but from what I have learned you are on the right track with this thinking. Have you seen this good doc?

Cisco Wireless Control System Configuration Guide, Release 4.0

Using Templates

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6305/products_configuration_guide_chapter09186a00806b7273.html#wp1064373

Hope this helps!

Rob

[johnruffing]

Thanks for looking this up Rob,

I did look at this before, but it seems to be more of a how-to and doesn't focus as much on the "here's why and when you should use this" - in terms of a design guide.

I suppose that much of this is implied and so maybe I need to slow down and read it more methodically.

One thing that I did notice is that the WCS automatically collects settings from the WLCs and turns them into templates. This makes it somewhat easy to jump right in.

Thanks again,

John

[johnruffing]

For what it's worth, I have observed some unexpected behavior when implementing WCS Templates.

I discovered that when you copy the configuration from the WLC to the WCS and then use the WLAN template to apply settings to the WLC, the interface for the WLAN gets overwritten on the WLC to the "management" interface.

I have not tested extensively, but it would appear that the WLAN interface does not get correctly copied from the WLC to the WCS.

This means that when (or if) you switch over to using templates, you want to make sure that you go to the WLAN template for each WLAN and manually set the interface to the correct setting. Otherwise, your RF clients will be tied to the wrong interface/VLAN (i.e.: the management interface) and will not be able to connect.

I am probably going to open up a TAC case on this.

Has anyone else observed this behavior?

FYI

[ccr_cisco]

Hi,

Did you received a response from TAC to this problem ?

I experienced the same problem.

Thanks

[pmccubbin]

John,

Sounds like a similar bug to one we found with AP templates that was supposed to be fixed in the last revision of software.

We have simply adopted a go slow approach and have been working as you suggested by manually configuring settings on each controller.

One bug number to check is CSCsi31142.

We also had a TAC case for an issue we saw with Profile-name and VLAN mapping parameters. We couldn't push the AP/Radio template from the WCS to the APs.

TAC has promised a fix in the 4.2 software due in November.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[johnruffing]

Version 4.2 does indeed fix many of the controller template issues - including the extra template that had been created after an upgrade.

However, the following should be pointed out regarding templates:

1) Controller templates do not exist for creating things like interfaces, AP Groups, Mobility Groups and some other very tedious chores that the WCS was supposed to make easier (yes, I understand the problem on Interfaces since these require unique IP addresses - but why not a table to manage interfaces among controllers?)

2) Access Point templates that have existed prior to upgrading to 4.2 are not converted properly and you will see errors such as "Invalid Country Code" even though you are not changing the country code.

It has been my experience that when using a NEW Access Point template with the IDENTICAL settings to those of the template that was present prior to the upgrade results in no error. Therefore, it would appear that there is a bug in the WCS code that upgrades Access Point templates created in a version older than 4.2.

Hope this helps,

- John

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