AirOnet 1130ag AP firmware file ??

[thiebolt]

Dear all,

Our university has been given some AirOnet 1130ag ... perfect for WiFi iot (esp32 based devices).

However, one of these AirOnet 1130ag has a specific firmware (i.e not the AP one).

Could someone point us where to download the 'regular AP' firmware ?

Thanks for your advice

Dr THIEBOLT François

[Leo Laohoo]

The 1130 has already gone past end-of-support. 

When a product has reached end-of-support date, Cisco removes all files (including firmware) from public viewing.  

The only way to get the file is copy the IOS files off an existing AP.

EDIT: 
I had a look at the picture of an 1131 and, frankly speaking, I have only three words to say:  Throw it away. 

1131 has only one radio, 2.4 Ghz.  When it was released, 2.4 Ghz was still useable.  Nowadays, it is different.  2.4 Ghz is highly congested and un-useable in an enterprise environment.

[thiebolt]

Dear and thanks for your hint.
However, i didn't know that you can copy firmware from an existing AP ?!?!
... and yes we have several AP already running ... will you have some link
to the involved procedure to achieve this ??

best regards
François

[Rich R · Accepted solution]

Hi Francois

I don't think you'll find any documented procedure for doing that - normally software is only installed from the original tar file provided by Cisco.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless-mobility/wireless-lan-wlan/107911-ios-upgrade.html

You might need to follow this https://community.cisco.com/t5/wireless-mobility-documents/installing-autonomous-ios-aios-on-a-lightweight-ap-from-the-cli/ta-p/3111153

or this https://mrncciew.com/2012/10/20/lightweight-to-autonomous-conversion/ 

to convert the AP from lightweight (also known as LWAPP or CAPWAP) to autonomous mode.

If you're not familiar with the Cisco IOS command line then copying IOS is going to be quite complicated for you to do.  Rather find someone who is familiar with Cisco IOS, ideally autonomous APs.  They'll need to copy the entire folder for the running IOS version from flash on the working AP to the one you want to upgrade.  For example from the "show ver" output you will see something like this:

System image file is "flash:/c1130-k9w7-mx.124-3g.JA1/c1130-k9w7-mx.124-3g.JA1"

That means you will need to copy the entire contents (all files) of the flash:/c1130-k9w7-mx.124-3g.JA1/ folder to the other AP.

It will be easier to try to find the original .tar file from Cisco.  Try looking for "c1130-k9w7-tar.124-25d.JA2.tar". or similar for other versions.  Warning: only Cisco or a Cisco partner/reseller can legally provide this file to you.  If you obtain it from elsewhere you may be in breach of Cisco software licensing terms and you risk the software being tampered with.  If you do manage to obtain that file the correct checksums (file hash) to verify the integrity of the file are:

MD5 Checksum: db9b6d88cb8f21fba55683b41237f72b
SHA512 Checksum: 46b1a3e0f13df24c774c22848af72d8bb0d9ab049086c
076f50908f269f7cbb407635bb49c86466136d2daa6c1
582f05458660dd1ef3f8caae7e0a6ee5df8047

The AP is actually not as bad as Leo suggests - this AP does also have a 5GHz radio (and it says so on the label in the photo too): https://www.cisco.com/web/ANZ/cpp/refguide/hview/wireless/1130AG.html#air-ap1131ag-x-k9 

"The access point contains two integrated radios: a 2.4-GHz radio (IEEE 802.11g) and a 5-GHz radio (IEEE 802.11a). You can configure the radios separately, using different settings on each. The access point supports simultaneous radio operation using a 2.4-GHz 802.11g radio and a 5-GHz 802.11a radio. Each radio uses dual-diversity integrated antennas."

But it is still very old, completely unsupported, and riddled with security vulnerabilities so use at your own risk and don't expect modern day performance.

[thiebolt]

Merci Rudy,

In combination to your explanations (i didn't know they also feature 5Ghz WiFi !), i found this:

https://www.speaknetworks.com/converting-cisco-wireless-access-point-lightweight-mode-autonomous-mode-vice-versa/

Using a TFTP server i've been able to backup and flash the autonomous AP firmware and tada: switching back to autonomous AP

epilog: we're ddesigning custom ESP32 based end-devices ==> 2.4GHz only

Merci beaucoup

Bien à vous

François

[Rich R]

Did you backup the entire folder (all files) or only the main IOS image?

Missing the html is not serious - will just stop you from using the web GUI but that folder also contains the radio firmware files so if you did not copy those then the AP radios may be running incorrect firmware for that IOS.

For example:

Directory of flash:/c1130-k9w7-mx.124-3g.JA1/

5 drwx 64 Jan 01 1970 00:00:47 +00:00 html    <- not important, only used for web GUI
149 -rwx 4620711 Jan 01 1970 00:05:57 +00:00 c1130-k9w7-mx.124-3g.JA1    <- IOS image
150 -rwx 131328 Jan 01 1970 00:06:00 +00:00 7101.img    <- radio firmware
151 -rwx 131328 Jan 01 1970 00:06:05 +00:00 6701.img    <- radio firmware
152 -rwx 277 Jan 01 1970 00:06:05 +00:00 info    <- not important

[thiebolt]

Dear Rudy,

Here the undertaken procedure:

Standalone AP: backup FW

archive upload-sw tftp://192.168.0.254/aironet-1130ag.tar

Converting AirOnet from LWAPP to SAP: flashing previously saved FW

archive download-sw /force-reload /overwrite tftp://192.168.0.254/aironet-1130ag.tar

and tada, it works

Thanks for your help

Best

François

[Rich R]

Ok cool you already had a tar file to copy.