Change AP names with a bulk file

[dpcdpcdpc]

Hello everyone!

I'm a beginner in the Wireless world and I want to change most AP names in my topoloogy while using Cisco Prime 3.3 (100+ devices). To achieve this I believe I need to:

1) Export a csv with the APs I want to modify.

2) Modify their hostname in the csv file.

3) Import  the csv file to Cisco Prime.

Is this the correct approach? In that case:

1) How can I select every the device at once? I'm trying to select all the APs in: Configuration / Wireless Technologies / Access Point Radios / Export AP Config, but I can't find the option to select all the devices at once. Just one by one.

2) When I modify and import the new csv file to Cisco Prime: Will it overwrite my current AP configuration with its new hostname? Or I will have the same AP twice? (one with the old name and one with the new)

Thanks in advance!

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

Only a few 100?  That's nothing. 

I change AP names by the thousands and I do it using CLI.

I put the current name into a spreadsheet, put in a formula and the command for the new name is generated.  I use that generated command to cut-n-paste into the WLC.  

[Scott Fella]

Leo is right on here. I have done thousands this way. I generate an excel spreadsheet from the list of names and the just paste the commands in the cli.  

[dpcdpcdpc]

That's awesome Leo! I didn't know you can do it that way and seems way easier than my approach. Would you mind sharing the template you use with me so I can start learning how it's done?

Thanks in advance!

[Leo Laohoo]

What is the current AP name and the new AP name?

[dpcdpcdpc]

The current names are like this:

AP_Location_APNumber

I was thinking in renaming them into  something like:

Technology_AP_Location_APGroup_APLocation

Thank you for your time, seriously!

[Scott Fella]

Keep in mind what happens when rooms change or anything in that matter and that then affects your ap naming. Also keep in mind any documents where the ap name exists. What I have experienced is that keeping the ap name simple, it’s the best way. I have seen where rooms changes, user groups move around and the ap name now doesn’t make sense and then also, no one updates documentation. I have settled in my case a simple naming which again is my opinion because no matter what happens in the site, my ap names do not have to change.
..ap
100.01.ap01
10.g.ap01

[dpcdpcdpc]

This is a solid point! I'll shorten up how I rename my devices. I'll stick with the 'AP_Location_APNumber' format but with a new name under 'Location'. Is there a csv template that's widely used by you guys in these cases? I was thinking in something like 'old_ap_name' 'new_ap_name' and then the 'command_used_in_cli' 

[Leo Laohoo]

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@dpcdpcdpc wrote:

I was thinking in something like 'old_ap_name' 'new_ap_name' and then the 'command_used_in_cli' 

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Open a spreadsheet and then: 

1. Cell A1:  Enter the old AP name
2. Cell B1:  Enter the NEW AP name
3. Cell C1:  @concat("config ap name ",a1," ",b1)

[Wes Schochet]

The naming convention we use has proven itself very useful:

<vendor><model>-<closest room number>-<closet room number>-<jack ID>.<Campus>

So an AP name looks like this:

C3702-2215-2210-368.MPS

Just glancing up at the label, or seeing this on the MAP, or sorting lists is much easier this way.