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5500 finding missing WAPs

catz_support
Level 1
Level 1

Hello,

Apologies if this has been asked before but we have a pair of 5500s managing 140 APs and despite reading the docs and searching the web we still can't find a means to locate APs that have gone offline. The software / GUI is great for finding live APs but there is seemingly no way to find devices which were connected and aren't anymore.

Surely there is a database table with all devices listed and their 'connection status' is this information accessible via a CLI console command?

Thanks in advance for any ideas

Jon 

  

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Syslog messages might look slightly different, mine were from the web gui itself.

Here you find all WLC syslog messages: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/message/guide/controller_smg.html

Be aware, there are a LOT :)

View solution in original post

12 Replies 12

Leo Laohoo
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Surely there is a database table with all devices listed and their 'connection status' is this information accessible via a CLI console command?

The WLC doesn't keep historical data.  This job to locate offline APs is what Prime Infrastructure is designed.

Thanks for the speedy reply Leo, it seems like a massive omission from a WiFi controller to not be able to tell you if a AP is offline or not especially since it has such detail in all other areas. 

it seems like a massive omission from a WiFi controller to not be able to tell you if a AP is offline or not especially since it has such detail in all other areas. 

It isn't an "omission".  It is as per design.  PI keeps historical data.  APs and controllers don't.  

If the WLC doesn't keep historical data then what does all of the log data under management mean? Surely there must be an entry for AP going offline. I mean how does Prime find out. I'm sure one of those messages are significant, someone must be able to translate. 

I mean how does Prime find out.

Prime Infrastructure polls WLC & APs, routers, switches using SNMP.  PI pulls the information from each registered units into a database.  

So PI gets the WAP status info from the WLC so at some point that information is on the WLC (in the log file?) it's just that Cisco have decided to bundle that functionality with PI. I read that the WLC logs can be sent to our syslog server but I thought someone on these forums would have the niche expertise to know what message relates to an AP going offline. Doesn't matter, and thanks again for your time.    

If you do have the logfiles (they get overwritten fairly quickly) you can search for the specific message the WLC generates when an AP is going down. I don't know it at the moment, but you can generate one by reloading an AP.

Then you could download the logs, or send them to a Syslog server, and search for the specific log message.

Otherwise you indeed need a Prime. If your installation is fairly new and you opted for the "Cisco One" lincensing model, then you should already have the licenses to use Prime Infrastructure included :) If you don't have opted for Cisco One, ask your sales for a migration offer.

Apparently we already send that data to our syslog server, so it is there in its entirety for 'eternity' there is frustratingly no way to interpret the information without getting PI. We already have a budgeted for PI but at present don't have the time to install and configure it and would therefore prefer to get max use out of the WLC for the interim. Thanks for the heads up on the licencing though, I will now go and check.

I thought Cisco kit was more flexible than it apparently is and as long as you understood UNIX /Cisco IOS you could do much more than the GUI allows. I didn't realise they were so constrained. 

I think I'm going to ask the same question some colleagues who work with Cisco IOS I just thought these forums would be brimming with Cisco experts.

The WLC works completely different than an IOS based device.

Anyway, I just unplugged a running AP for you and this message here gets logged (in the WLC web GUI):


Wed Aug 2 13:26:27 2017
AP Disassociated. Base Radio MAC:18:8b:9d:xx:xx:xx ApName - 2702AC-8025-1

So you could search through your syslogs for "Disassociated" and should find all APs that have ever disassociated. You would probably need to combine/filter it with those that reappeared, so that you don't get to many duplicated messages for every reboot and such.

This gets logged if it comes back online:


Wed Aug 2 13:29:03 2017
AP '2702AC-8025-1', MAC: 18:8b:9d:xx:xx:xx disassociated previously due to AP Reset. Uptime: 0 days, 00 h 01 m 37 s . Reason: power loss.

Wed Aug 2 13:29:05 2017
AP MAC: 18:8b:9d:xx:xx:xx, AP Name: 2702AC-8025-1, Power Type/Mode: PoE/Medium Power.

Cheers for that, our APs are all far from my desk so I couldn't do that but I do have a pre-configured mini AP right here. I'm going to plug it and unplug it over and over and see if it says the same as the log message you found. I presume the message is slightly different when they occasionally fall over having been mysteriously swamped by errors which happens once in a while. But this message is great to start with. It may mean that we can put off Prime for a while since we just don't have the time as evidenced by the fact I'm staring at 5 UPSs on my desk right now.

Thanks for the going to the extra effort, I'd be great if Cisco supplied a simple glossary of these messages to be used as the customer sees fit, used at their own risk.

Hopefully this thread will help others in a similar situation since a lot of IT sections are similarly understaffed yet are expected to provide modern wireless networks.

If i have any revelations I'll post them here.

  

Syslog messages might look slightly different, mine were from the web gui itself.

Here you find all WLC syslog messages: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/message/guide/controller_smg.html

Be aware, there are a LOT :)

Well I can watch the live stream of the syslog server and ID the device being plugged in and disconnected, hopefully it will allow me to intuit other missing AP situations especially with that list of log messages. I'll see what I can find out once I get a chance to experiment with them. Thanks again!

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