Converting a lightweight AP to an autonomous AP

[James Simpson]

Hi All

I currently have a Cisco AIR-AP1142N-E-K9. The access point is set to lightweight but I wish convert this aback to an autonomous AP

I am struggling to get at the command line as the AP keeps going (translating.....Domain server) everytime I hit return.

If I hit the mode button I get

ap:

however there are no TFTP options.

What would be my best way on getting a Autonomous image on to the AP.

Many thanks

[Richard Atkin · Accepted solution]

See here

https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-14636

[James Simpson]

Before converting LWAP to Autonomous need to understand the type of OS image running on these platforms. I found following blog post is very useful to summarize the type of IOS & understanding its naming convention.

http://www.my80211.com/cisco-auton-labs/2011/11/19/understanding-cisco-access-point-ios-images.html

Following are the three type of IOS available & need to download the correct type before starting the conversion process.

• k9w7 – autonomous IOS
  
• k9w8 – full lightweight IOS (this is what is bundled in the WLC .aes image, and is factory installed on “mesh” APs)
  
• rcvk9w8 – lightweight recovery image – this is factory installed on lightweight APs, unless a “mesh” image is specified; it lacks radio firmware
  

In our case we require k9w7 for Autonomous conversion. More specifically c1140-k9w7-tar.124-25d.JA.tar as my AP is 1142.

To convert Lightweight AP to Autonomous AP, need to have PC directly connected to AP’s ethernet port. If you are powering AP from the switch (i.e use PoE) then PC & AP needs to be in two switch ports in the same vlan. In my example PC is 10.10.10.1/24 & AP is 10.10.10.102/24.

Console into the access point & do the following configurations.

AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#sh ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
Dot11Radio0 unassigned NO unset up up
Dot11Radio1 unassigned NO unset up up
GigabitEthernet0 unassigned YES DHCP up up

AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#debug capwap console cli <- without this line LWAP not accepting the conf t

AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#conf t
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config)#ip default-gateway 10.10.10.1
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config)#int g0
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config-if)#ip address 10.10.10.102 255.255.255.0
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config-if)#no sh

AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#ping 10.10.10.1
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.10.10.1, timeout is 2 seconds: !!!!!

AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#archive download-sw /force-reload /overwrite tftp://10.10.10.1/c1140-k9w7-tar.124-25d.JA.tar

"examining image... Loading c1140-k9w7-tar.124-25d.JA.tar from 10.10.10.1 (via GigabitEthernet0): ! extracting info (283 bytes) Image info:     Version Suffix: k9w7-.124-25d.JA ...................."

Once conversion process is over, you can verify the right image is on your access point.

ap>en Password:  <-- default password is Cisco ap# ap#sh version Cisco IOS Software, C1140 Software (C1140-K9W7-M), Version 12.4(25d)JA, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1) Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport Copyright (c) 1986-2010 by Cisco Systems, Inc. Compiled Thu 09-Dec-10 15:24 by prod_rel_team ROM: Bootstrap program is C1140 boot loader BOOTLDR: C1140 Boot Loader (C1140-BOOT-M) Version 12.4(18a)JA3, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1) ap uptime is 0 minutes System returned to ROM by reload System image file is "flash:/c1140-k9w7-mx.124-25d.JA/c1140-k9w7-mx.124-25d.JA"

For the LWAP conversion, use the recovery image ( e.g c1140-rcvk9w8-tar.124-25d.JAL.tar). We can use the same command on the autonomous AP priviledge mode.

AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#archive download-sw /force-reload /overwrite tftp://10.10.10.1/c1140-rcvk9w8-tar.124-25d.JA.tar

Following Cisco Support Community forum video demonstrate teh above process.