Where is individual access point config saved ?

[Khoa Pham]

I have 50 WAP connected to a WLC 5508. When I backup the config I don't see the custom settings I put in some WAP. Where are the WAP settings saved at ?

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

NVRAM

[Amjad Abdullah]

NVRAM saves the config of the access point. But why you want to backup from the AP itself if you are using a wireless controller? lightweight APs always take their config from the WLC when they join it.

or, you mean you save the config to the controller but you don't see the config you applyed to the AP reflected to the controller's configuration?

Please clarify your point.

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[Khoa Pham]

I have 30 APs, each with individual name and settings (antenna power, RF power...). Some have static IP addresses

When I backup the WLC config I dont see those AP names and settings.

Where can I backup those name and settings ?

[George Stefanick]

Great question. And I beleieve these are stored on the AP and not in the WLC. Because if the AP drops off the WLC, the WLC doesnt see it and it doesnt hold the aps info.

If you have WCS you can run a report, but that may not be what you want.

[Khoa Pham]

I beleieve these are stored on the AP and not in the WLC. Because if the AP drops off the WLC, the WLC doesnt see it and it doesnt hold the aps info. 

Is there a document about this ?

[George Stefanick]

Not that I have seen. But if the APs are all connected to the WLC you can pull AP show runs.

Maybe Scott, Leo or Steve can comment.

[aaroncoffman]

I'm fairly confident in what George is saying is accurate. When migrating access points from one WLC with a single ap group (other than default) to another not in a mobility group the ap kept the same ap group (which was named the same) and wasn't placed into the default group.

Also if we take the capabilities of FlexConnect APs into account which can lose connectivity to the WLC as well as power to the APs themselves and they still continue to function without WLC connectivity. Something must be stored on the APs.

I don't know of any particular doc that explains in detail the function of how the APs maintain their configuration however I'd like to see it as well if it exists.

You may want to talk with your Cisco SE about that since its a feature related question.

Regards,

Aaron

[Leo Laohoo]

My response is still the same.  The config of the WAP, in LWAP/CAPWAP mode, is stored in NVRAM.

[Scott Fella]

I agree with everyone here.

There is no need to document this, because the WLC only stores the configuration it has (which you see in the backup) and the access point keeps its config in..... NVRAM.  If you want to test it, console into your ap and log in.  default is Cisco/Cisco unless you changed it.  issue the following:

debug capwapp console cli

erase /all nvram:

undebug all

reload

Now your AP is factory dumb

Thanks,

Scott

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[aaroncoffman]

Khoa,

Telnet into your access point do a 'show run brief you'll see config of power levels etc. If you look in the nvram you'll also see several items. You don't have permission to view them from the lightweight software. One of them is likely the config file.

Also you do have Scott, leolaohoo and George in agreeance on this. They are all very knowledgeable of Cisco Wireless products.

Hope this helps to put your mind more at ease.

Happy Weekend!

Aaron

[Khoa Pham]

When I putty to the AP, I ran "show startup-config" , it says "startup-config is not present".

It gotta download the config somewhere

Also

AP33-Outdoor-Gate12#more private-config

%Error opening flash:private-config (Permission denied)

The reason I asked is I want to backup these config. With the way everyone here observed,Do I have to manually connect to each AP to backup? How is it possible with dynamic DHCP address APs ?

[Scott Fella]

They are stored in nvram and can't be backed up to be restored like an autonomous AP.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[Leo Laohoo]

The reason I asked is I want to backup these config.

You CANNOT backup the config of a lightweight WAP.  This defeats the purpose of lightweight WAP.

The config of a lightweight WAP is controlled by the WLC.  You may want to backup the config of the WLC instead. 

[Amjad Abdullah]

But Leo: taking the bacukp of the WLC does not include backup for the APs. Does it?

I think the AP will maintain its config so no need to take the backup of the AP.

The quesation is, if an AP configured for some specific settings (HA, static channel and power...etc) and it is moved later to join another WLC that has different WLANs, will the AP maintain same configuration that it had on the old WLC?

If the answer is "Yes" then the backup of the AP is not at all needed.

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