Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller AP Join Problem

[alex0001]

Hello,

I am trying to get a AIR-AP1542I-E-K9 working with a Catalyst 9800-L controller. I have no previous experience with a wireless controller, only having worked with Cisco routers and switches before. 

I cannot get the ap to even pop up on the GUI dashboard of the controller or provision it

They can ping each other, the ap has the correct default Primary Controller name and IP address of the controller. The ap sends CAPWAP discovery requests to the right IP but doesn't seem to get anything back.

I have set device authentication, ap policy and attribute list name to what I think is right. Added the MAC address and SN to the controller.

I haven't done anything with licenses if that might be it? I am very clearly missing something and searching online produces very unclear results as I don't know what I should be searching for. 

I'm happy to provide more info on the situation. Any direction on what I should try would be greatly appreciated.

[marce1000]

 - Always useful to have a checkup of the 9800-configuration first  , use (CLI) show tech wireless ; have the output processed by https://cway.cisco.com/tools/WirelessAnalyzer/

 M.

[alex0001]

I wasn't able to do exactly that, closest thing I had was tech-support I think and it ran constant commands for a solid 5-10 minutes. Am I meant to copy all of that because it was massive?

[marce1000]

 - Note that wirelessAnalyzer  (https://cway.cisco.com/tools/WirelessAnalyzer/) needs the output of show tech wireless  , not simply show tech 

 -  It can sometimes hang   , you could then  also try to to access the controller  through SSH with : https://cway.cisco.com/cli/ , at the left upper  button use System DIagnostics, it actually does the same analysis as WirelessAnalyzer , I think it uses the same background programs. Perhaps it could help , not sure though.

 M.

[David Ritter]

have you enabled the WMI>  Wireless Management Interface?  it be the same IP as the machine but it enables the machine to do it's job.

[alex0001]

I did have that misconfigured so I've changed it to the right interface. I've put that interface on the same subnet as the 2 access points. Once again they can ping each other but won't connect or appear on the GUI of the Wireless Controller. 

The interface I changed was GigabitEthernet0 as that can only be the WMI. It wouldn't allow me to put that on the same subnet as another port I have up on the Controller(That port is connected to a switch which I'm using to communicate with laptops and the APs).

Seems like it was a step in the right direction but I still have something wrong. I checked the deployment guide and watched some videos briefly but from what I can see, all the videos start with the AP being visible on the GUI of the Controller and I didn't see how the deployment guide would help me. I can't see the AP at all on my Controller so the videos don't help. 

I really appreciate the help.

[marce1000]

                       -------Still very advisable-----

   - Always useful to have a checkup of the 9800-configuration first  , use (CLI) show tech wireless ; have the output processed by https://cway.cisco.com/tools/WirelessAnalyzer/

 M.

[Scott Fella]

There is a lot to look at to be honest.  It can be as simple as you did not define the country code and don't have a valid trustpoint certificate.

Take a look here:

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Configuration Best Practices - Cisco

[alex0001]

I can't seem to configure the country code on my ap. I've found ways involving "config ap location" but that isn't an option on my access point. 

[Scott Fella]

Country code is defined on the controller.  You buy a specific model ap for a country that you will be installing the ap at.

Your ap is "AIR-AP1542I-E-K9" The "E" is the country code for that AP.

[alex0001]

Ok, I thought you might have to set it on the AP as well. I've already got the country code set up on the controller. 

Do you know if there's any way to check what country my ap is made for?

Thanks

[Rich R]

@Scott Fella answered already above - it's in the part number - E (Europe).

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/assets/prod/wireless/wireless-compliance-tool/index.html

[David Ritter]

Well, I have 9800-40's, but looking at the 9800-L hardware install guide,  My guess G0 is the Service Port and does not support  the functions of the WMI, even when assigned.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/9800-L/installation-guide/b-wlc-ig-9800-L.html

[Rich R]

As @David Ritter said above is the most common mistake because people did not follow the deployment guide instructions.

[Scott Fella]

There are videos out there also to show how to setup the 9800-L.  You should look at them and like the others mentioned, follow the guides.  It's step by step, my first time I touched the 9800, it only took me 15 minutes to get it up and running.  I will still go back and review these videos and blogs every once in a while also.