Cisco 3502I cannot connect to vWLC

[mohfarid20]

Hello

I am new to wireless and I got Cisco AIR-CAP3502I-A-K9 wireless access point and installed vWLC (version: 8.5.161.0) on ESXi.
vWLC: management interface is bridged to outside and it is reached by switch and AP.
AP: is POE from the switch, getting IP from DHCP pool on Switch (also tried to statically assign CAPWAP IP/DG/controller IP).

the problem is, AP cannot join the WLC, and i ran Wireshark and could not see any CAPWAP traffic from the AP to WLC. see attached screenshot (ip in the screen shot is maybe changed from what is in the running config).

this log message keeps on appearing on the AP console:
(Translating "CISCO-CAPWAP-CONTROLLER.MOH.LOCAL"...domain server (172.16.1.1))

and sometimes the AP keeps on renewing its IP from DHCP: below logs:
*Apr 4 18:00:33.459: %DHCP-6-ADDRESS_ASSIGN: Interface BVI1 assigned DHCP address 172.16.1.58, mask 255.255.255.0, hostname AP4055.398e.0872
Translating "CISCO-CAPWAP-CONTROLLER.MOH.LOCAL"...domain server (172.16.1.1)
*Apr 4 18:00:39.423: %CAPWAP-5-DHCP_OPTION_43: Controller address 172.16.1.101 obtained through DHCP

attached show commands from AP, WLC and switch. and AP debug output and boot process.

Thanks in advance for you support

[Scott Fella]

Does it show any other info when the ap is rebooted. Typically you want to see it obtain an IP address, then you will see it try to join. Did you try to define option 43 in the dhcp?

[mohfarid20]

It got IP from DHCP with option 43 , it started contacting WLC and CAPWAP packets are received on both sides.

[Scott Fella]

Maybe it’s an issue with the vWLC. I never did like that because of issues. Have you tried upgrading or downgrading the vWLC just to see if that helps.

[mohfarid20]

this is the latest vWLC version supported by this AP model.

i might downgrade the version.

[Scott Fella]

Here is the matrix that shows what ap is supported on what image.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/compatibility/matrix/compatibility-matrix.html

[Leo Laohoo]

*Apr  5 15:04:49.264: %CAPWAP-5-SENDJOIN: sending Join Request to 172.16.1.102
*Apr  5 15:04:54.265: %CAPWAP-5-SENDJOIN: sending Join Request to 172.16.1.102
AP4055.398e.0872#

AP is seen sending out Join Request but no response from the WLC. 

Can you try and put the AP in the same subnet/VLAN as the WLC?

[mohfarid20]

they are both in the same vlan

they can see each other and ping and exchange CAPWAP hello messages.

attached my topology,

i tried with vWLC on VMware workstation and another vWLC on ESXi (Esxi is installed on VMware Workstation)

== Antivirus is deleted & Windows firewall is disabled.

[Scott Fella]

I have only installed a vWLC on ESXi server not running on another VM. I really don’t know if that is going to work running vWLC on VM Workstation to be honest. Why not install ESXi on a workstation/server if you have one available.

[mohfarid20]

I dont really have a physical server / free workstation at the moment,

i'm trying to work with what i've got right now, if not possible i will postpone this until i got a physical server.

Thanks for your help, i REALLY appreciate your continues support.

[Scott Fella]

Search in the internet for Cisco vWLC running on VM Workstation. There are some blogs that have specifics on what they did to get it to work. Here is one.

https://gradhelp96.blogspot.com/2019/06/how-to-setup-cisco-virtual-wireless-lan.html?m=1

[Xiaoyao_998]

AP have too new recovery k9w8 fw ?
I will reset the AP with mode button with poe cable connect
upgrade the k9w8 jf10 fw
log to ap and manual set the wlc ip address
waiting to download the sync fw version

[Leo Laohoo]

---

@mohfarid20 wrote:

11 -rwx 85 Mar 1 1993 00:40:19 +00:00 ------------------------ mesh_port_cfg.txt

---

Console into the AP and post the complete output to the command "sh capwap client rcb".

[mohfarid20]

thanks Mr. Leo

i've attached the output.

[Leo Laohoo]

Ok, nothing there.
NTP is not configured. Is the time/date of the WLC accurate?

[mohfarid20]

I have configure NTP server on CSR and using it as NTP server for the lab

here is the time on WLC

(Cisco Controller) >show time

Time............................................. Sun Apr 5 09:12:21 2020

Timezone delta................................... 3:0
Timezone location................................

NTP Servers
NTP Version.................................. 3
NTP Polling Interval......................... 600

Index NTP Key Index NTP Server Status NTP Msg Auth Status
------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
1----- 0------- 172.16.1.7 ------In Sync ------- AUTH DISABLED

(Cisco Controller) >