Cisco 9120AXI-EWC-E deployment not working

[as00001111]

Hi all!

I bought a C9210AXI-EWC for a small location.

I configured an ip address on Gigabit Ethernet 0.

My switchport is configured as a trunk and native vlan.

I'm not able to ping the EWC.

cdp neighbor detail on the switch is showing the ap, but no management ip address.

AP is flashing green and red in turn.

Can you tell me what's happening?

Thank you!

[beepmeep]

This should be marked at the solution.

I rebooted, configured GigabitEthernet0 IP, default gateway, http server and set wireless management interface GigabitEthernet 0

Now it's working!

Thanks

[Ismael Gonzalez Castrillo]

You saved my day also.

[Bobby Roberts]

Hi - So I just spent a day trying to figure out how I got to this same spot.   Guess what?  You forgot to wr mem after your first setup, and rebooted.  Things get weird if you don't wr mem after the setup of the 'ip http server' - 'ip http secure-server'.    Go ahead and 

wireless ewc-ap factory-reset

 after this is done, it will reload and you just need to start the simple setup over again here - https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/embedded-wireless-controller-on-catalyst-access-points/215303-embedded-wireless-controller-conversion.html

[jose palacios]

For anyone that tried every step in this guide and still cannot ping and log in to the EWC, here is what worked for me:

Scenario:

- No DHCP server, EWC uses static IP address. 

- Tried to access GUI with AP directly connected to a PC with Power Injector, and with AP and PC connected to a switch using the recommended port configurations of this thread.

1- log in to the AP shell from EWC command line with this command: 

wireless ewc-ap ap shell username <username>

Where <username> is the one configured in the AP profile (if you don't have an AP profile configured, default user and password is "Cisco").

2- When logged in, execute command "show capwap ip config", in my case it showed the message "System not ready, waiting for uplink iP address". The IP address expected to be obtained is for the virtual AP that runs along with the EWC. 

3- Assign the IP address, Gateway and DNS for the virtual AP with the command: "capwap ap ip <ip_address> <subnet_mask> <gateway> <DNS Server 1> <DNS Server 2>". 

Note: It has to be a different IP address than the one assigned to the EWC. You cannot use the same.

If you do it this way, you will see in the console log this messages, and the management IP address for the EWC will become active and you will be able to log in via HTTP/HTTPS.

If you use DHCP in your management VLAN for APs and EWC you probably won't suffer this issue.

Hope this helps.

[Rosario Ferraro]

Thanks !! it was very helpfull for me !!

[byxbeklaeddblottbaktill]

This really helped me understand what might be wrong with my setup, thank you! However I can't seem to switch to the AP shell. I get "ssh: connection refused" and the AP has had its IP address configured as "192.168.255.253" (an address not configured by me or any DHCP server on my network) for some reason. Any thoughts on how I can enable SSH for the AP running along my EWC, despite me not being able to log on to it?

[jose palacios]

Hello @byxbeklaeddblottbaktill it is recommended to do these configurations connected thru console cable. Take into account that this guide is intended for first time setup or in an environment where you don't have access to the EWC GUI either locally or remotely. Once you configure the correct IP addresses both in the EWC and the virtual AP and you can access the GUI successfully, you can configure all the management protocols you want to enable, such as SSH.

Hopefully this solves your question. Please don't hesitate to reply with any other question you might have.

[byxbeklaeddblottbaktill]

The strange thing is, the "ssh: connection refused"-message is output into the console/serial CLI when I try to change into the AP shell from the EWC prompt using the

wireless ewc-ap ap shell username <username>

command. I can't switch into the AP console shell, I am not even asked for login credentials but get the SSH refused error instead. What am I missing? Thank you so much for your time!

[Rich R]

Then it sounds like a factory-default reset is necessary.

[byxbeklaeddblottbaktill]

Yes I will look into that tomorrow, thanks!

[jose palacios]

Hi, which model is your AP and what software version are you running on it? I also agree with @Rich R a factory reset could help. You can use the "setup" command in privileged mode or also

wireless ewc-ap factory-reset

Finally, it is possible that you might be hitting this bug: https://bst.cloudapps.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCvw45685

So please check and upgrade IOS version accordingly if required.

[byxbeklaeddblottbaktill]

Hi,

I'm running a 9120AXI, software version 17.12.03 (17.12.03.0.3740.1710975179..Dublin), so from I understand from the https://bst.cloudapps.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCvw45685 it is not known to affect my version. I will try and factory reset the AP. Will keep you posted. Thanks!

[byxbeklaeddblottbaktill]

@jose palacios 

So I've done a factory reset and I was able to logon and do all the the WLAN configurations of my EWC and join the internal AP. I did not upgrade the version on the EWC or the AP, still running 17.12.03 (17.12.03.0.3740.1710975179..Dublin). Despite everything working they way I intend for my setup, I still have no luck accessing the AP shell:

EWC#wireless ewc-ap ap shell username <USERNAME>
ssh: connect to host 192.168.255.253 port 22: Connection refused

My AP got an IP address from my DHCP server and joined the controller, but it is not the address in the error message. Do I have to enable the functionality of switching to the Ap shell somewhere on the controller, or should I be reporting this as a bug?

[marce1000]

   - Try that command from the console ,

 M.

[jose palacios]

Hello.

Since your AP has obtained an IP address from a DHCP server, I am curious: For what reason do you need access to the AP shell? To change what?

Remember that on my scenario, there was no DHCP server, so it was required to assign a static IP address to the virtual AP.

As long as EWC's IP address is static and excluded from DHCP leasing list, you are good to go with that setup considering the virtual AP is registered on the EWC.

If you want to report your issue as a bug, please have in mind that it is possible that Cisco suggest you do an upgrade to a different OS version.

Edit: Also I have found another guide, and using the command "wireless ewc-ap ap shell username <Username>" via console works as intended (From Shelf to Survey – Cisco 9100AX EWC Conversion – How I WI-FI (howiwifi.com) ), so I have a feeling that you might need to do an IOS upgrade for you AP or maybe a reimaging (convert the AP from EWC to CAPWAP and then convert it back to EWC to maintain current IOS version), maybe something has gotten corrupt.