PI 1.3 Controller Templates

[edotson]

Is there a way to create a template based on a controller.

For example I have a controller that has all the settings and configurations i want to mirror accross my other controllers. Can i use that controller as a basis for the template in Prime 1.3?

[Amjad Abdullah]

I am not aware about any one way to copy ALL config from one WLC to another. Your shortest path is to take a backup and restore it then change the ip addresses.

I am thinking about one way to help you to "copy" your config to a template in PI then you can apply that template to other controllers.
- create a template on PI for something that already configured on WLC (for example, a template to create a WLAN named XYZ).
- make an audit to the WLC.
- audit status will mismatch and will tell you the PI config is different than WLC config.
- with the mismatch it will ask you if you want to copy the config from PI to the WLC or from WLC to PI.
- choose to copy config from WLC to PI.
- now the template will be updated with theWLC config and you can copy it to other WLCs.

HTH

Amjad

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[Scott Fella]

Just my opinion here... First off, there is no template to just configure other WLCs unless you keep pushing templates which isn't what the templates are used for. Like Amjad mentioned, when I have multiple WLC deployments, it doesn't matter if its two or twenty, I fully configure one WLC and then I backup the config and edit those per WLC. I go thought the initial setup and then when it's on the network I do a restore and I'm done. I have also made configurations files for each WLC and also have done the auto install which each WLC will pull its config from a tftp server. These are the best way to quickly configure multiple WLC's in a greenfield install I must say.

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[msmith101]

You can use configuration groups for templates as well.  If you enter the controller specific information (i.e. interface), you can push a group of templates for the configuration sections that are the same to as many controllers as you want.

[don.click1]

As I read the original post, I am also curious if there is a way to CREATE templates based on an existing controller.

I belive what you want to do is get your primary controller configured and added to PI. Then you can "Discover Templates from Controller" - this should basically "import" the config as tempaltes into PI, then use the Configuration Groups to push those templates down to the other controllers.

Remember - if you do this, then modify a controller directly, (depending on, of course, how you configured the config group), your changes could be lost when PI pushes the templates back to the controller.

[Rollin Kibbe]

Hi Don:

You're right about "Discover Templates from Controller" being the way to learn a controller's entire config and make templates out of it. 

One does not have to use Config Groups to apply individual templates to a new or existing controller;  controller config templates can be chosen individually and applied as needed. 

Another common misconception about Config Groups is that one must contain one of every kind of controller config template, and that's not true.  One can put just the basics into the Config Group, since things like guest user accounts don't necessarily need to be exactly, lock-step the same on all the controllers in the Config Group.  The primary purpose of Config Groups is to police the controllers and make sure that whatever controller config templates are in the Config Group do indeed appear out on the controllers in the group.  "...changes could be lost..." is exactly right--feature works as designed, it will put something back that was taken away, or take away something it deems isn't supposed to be there.  The rigidity of ill-applied Config Groups is the main reason folks tend to shy away from them.

Controller config templates can be individually applied (outside of a Config Group) and won't be policed.  If a human goes into the controller directly and makes changes to "undo" what a particular template just configured, the discrepancy will show up in the audit report, but nothing will be forced back (unlike with a Config Group).

Safest bet:  don't make changes directly on the controller, use the management station and let it do it's job.

[msmith101]

You also do not have to enforce configuration values with a controller configuration group. Whether you choose to populate a group with common templates and push that to a group of controllers or push individual templates is up to the admin to decide.  I have found it faster to use the groups, but your mileage may vary.

[Ravi Singh]

Yes you can do this by importing your current WLC configuration as a template and deploy this to other controller. For more detail you can see the below link.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/prime_infrastructure/1.3/configuration/guide/temp.html