C9115AX - Bulk configuration of many access points

[pacionet]

We have a WLC-9800 controller and a lot of access points yet connected (Cisco 9115 ax).

We'll need to configure another "bulk" of access points (dozens); at the moment we configure them manually (power on, find it on the controller, edit the configuration on the controller, joining, restart)

Is it possible:

• clone configuration of an access points
• modify IP address and name of the configuration
• connect in SSH to a new access points
• import the configuration to access point

?

[marce1000]

  - @pacionet  You don't need all of that , the APs only need to be able to find and join the controller which controls
                       the configuration of the APs

  M.

[pacionet]

We would avoid to configure manually each IP, each hostname, etc for every AP joining the controller

Does exist a way to do it with some script in SSH?

[marce1000]

 - @pacionet  Standard method for APs is the use of DHCP for address assignment with dhcp option 43 for controller discovery. Do not use manual or static IPs. For instance : the ap will switch to DHCP anyway wben it can't find a controller; bad stuff will happen,

 M.

[Rich R]

• clone configuration of an access points
  - Use tags and use regex filters to automatically assign tags to APs based on AP name then all you have to do is set the AP name when it joins.  You can even use regex filters to configure HA pri/sec/tertiary WLC now (not possible in earlier software versions).  Name the APs according to site and/or function and apply tags accordingly.  The only thing you need to configure is AP name.  You could easily produce CLI commands to do that if you have a mapping of AP MAC to new name.  In theory you could write something to do that for you but hardly worth the effort just put MAC and name in a spreadsheet and use a formula to generate the commands: ap name <default-MAC-name> name <AP-new-name> then paste that onto CLI.
• modify IP address and name of the configuration
  - Like @marce1000 said, I do not recommend using static IPs - you're just making work and problems for yourself.  Use DHCP with option 43 for WLC discovery.  The AP name has to be configured somehow - there's no way anything can know what the name should be by magic.
• connect in SSH to a new access points
  - Include "ssh" in the AP profile which you assign automatically in the regex filters (see above)
• import the configuration to access point
  - There is no such need - use regex filters (see above).  Make sure you have "ap tag persistency enable" configured so that the APs save their configured tags automatically (software versions 17.6 and later)

[Scott Fella]

There is no need to have a specific ip for an access point these day's.  Put all your ap's in its own subnet, if you can't do that and you really want AP to have a specific ip address, then use mac reservation on your dhcp server. If you don't want to use a regex like what Rich mentioned, another way is just to have a staging controller or a secondary controller that doesn't have any existing ap's and let the ap's join that then just bulk update. I think its a matter of playing around and testing to see what works best for you with what you have and allowed.

[fatirsahi530]

There’s no way to clone and push AP configs via SSH directly, but you can simplify things using AP Join Profiles and Policy Tags on the 9800 WLC. This lets you apply a standard config to new APs quickly after they join. For larger setups, look into Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) or tools like Cisco Prime or DNAC for easier bulk deployment.