When deploying a wireless network, the network admin still needs to configure the wired network switch ports for the Access Point connections.

The device profile feature in ArubaOS-Switch simplifies this action.

Access Point switch port

The switch port connecting to the Access Point can have various configuration settings:

• AP management VLAN as untagged VLAN
• In case of local breakout (bridged) traffic, some list of tagged VLANs
• Optionally some QOS (trust) configuration

So the network administrator must configure the switch port before connecting a new AP, and he should not forget to remove the config when an AP would be removed.

Device profiles

The new device profile feature allows the administrator to prepare a device profile. This profile is defined in the global configuration, and contains the desired configuration settings of a switch port. The Aruba AP is automatically detected based on the AP LLDP announcement.

The feature is available in the majority of the original Provision switches, as of the x.16.01 release (K.16 / KA.16 / RA.16 / WB.16 etc.), including for example the 2620/2920/3800/3810/5400 series.

The feature is ready for multiple device types, but is currently only available for Aruba APs, so this is why 2 configuration steps are required:

• Define the profile

 device-profile name "ap"
    untagged-vlan 2
    tagged-vlan 3
    exit

• Link the profile to a device type

 device-profile type "aruba-ap"
    associate "ap"
    enable
    exit

That’s it!

Review the configuration

The administrator can now review the configured device profiles.

 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# show device-profile config
 
  Device Profile Configuration
 
  Configuration for device-profile : default-ap-profile
   untagged-vlan     : 1
   tagged-vlan       : None
   ingress-bandwidth : 100%
   egress-bandwidth  : 100%
   cos               : 0
   speed-duplex      : auto
   poe-max-power     : 33W
   poe-priority      : critical
 
  Configuration for device-profile : ap
   untagged-vlan     : 2
   tagged-vlan       : 3
   ingress-bandwidth : 100%
   egress-bandwidth  : 100%
   cos               : 0
   speed-duplex      : auto
   poe-max-power     : 33W
   poe-priority      : critical
 
  Device Profile Association
 
   Device Type   : aruba-ap
   Profile Name  : ap
   Device Status : Enabled
 
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)#

Review the operation

Now the administrator can connect an Aruba AP to any switch port. Based on LLDP, the switch port configuration will be changed based on the device profile settings.

Whenever the AP would be removed, the LLDP neighbor information will age out, and the original port configuration would be restored.

In this example, an Aruba AP is connected to switch port 17. This example shows the local console event log output.

It shows the following events:

• Interface is enabled (POE was already enabled in this example, so AP was already booted)
• AP will send LLDP packet, so profile-manager on switch will apply device profile
• The port is toggled (disbled/enabled) to trigger the peer device with the network change (e.g. DHCP renewal)

 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# debug event
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# debug destination session
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)#
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# int 17 enable
 
 I 11/03/15 18:03:18 04743 ports: Port 17 recovery occurred.
 I 11/03/15 18:03:22 00076 ports: port 17 is now on-line
 I 11/03/15 18:03:24 05122 profile-manager: Device profile applied for Aruba AP
             94:b4:0f:cb:76:8a on port 17.
 I 11/03/15 18:03:25 04743 ports: Port 17 recovery occurred.
 I 11/03/15 18:03:25 00077 ports: port 17 is now off-line
 I 11/03/15 18:03:28 00076 ports: port 17 is now on-line
 
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)#

The switch LLDP peers:

HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# show lldp info remote-device

 LLDP Remote Devices Information

  LocalPort | ChassisId                 PortId PortDescr SysName
  --------- + ------------------------- ------ --------- ----------------------
  17        | 94 b4 0f cb 76 8a         94 ... bond0     94:b4:0f:cb:76:8a

HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# show lldp info remote-device 17

 LLDP Remote Device Information Detail

  Local Port   : 17
  ChassisType  : mac-address
  ChassisId    : 94 b4 0f cb 76 8a
  PortType     : mac-address
  PortId       : 94 b4 0f cb 76 8a
  SysName      : 94:b4:0f:cb:76:8a
  System Descr : ArubaOS (MODEL: 205), Version 6.4.2.3-4.1.1.4 (49446)
  PortDescr    : bond0
  Pvid         :

  System Capabilities Supported  : bridge, wlan-access-point
  System Capabilities Enabled    :

  Remote Management Address
     Type    : ipv4
     Address : 169.254.111.13


HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)#

Now review the device profile status

 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# show device-profile status
 
  Device Profile Status
 
  Port     Device-type Applied device profile
  -------- ----------- ----------------------
  17       aruba-ap    ap
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)#

Now the device profile is applied operational to the port, but this does not change the running configuration (the orginally configured settings) of the port. The running configuration will be effective again when the AP would be removed from the port.

 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# show run int 17
 
 Running configuration:
 
 interface 17
    untagged vlan 1
    exit
 
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)#

At the same time, the operational vlan state of the port 17 shows it is assigned to VLAN2/3

 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)# show vlan port 17 detail
 
  Status and Counters - VLAN Information - for ports 17
 
   VLAN ID Name                 | Status     Voice Jumbo Mode
   ------- -------------------- + ---------- ----- ----- --------
   2       VLAN2                | Port-based No    No    Untagged
   3       VLAN3                | Port-based No    No    Tagged
 
 
 HP-3800-24G-PoEP-2SFPP(config)#

This shows how easy AP deployment can be. Thanks to the device profiles, this becomes as simple as plug-n-play!