Lazy setup of a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller on a 2951 router

Once the card is installed in the router we can access giving an IP address to the WLC and using the service-module command:

• Cisco#config t
• Cisco(config)#interface Integrated-Service-Engine1/0
• (can be 2/0 depending on what bay you intalled the card)
• Cisco(config)# ip address 10.9.9.254 255.255.255.0
• Cisco(config)# ip nat inside
• Cisco(config)# end

Now we can start a session on the module:

• Cisco#service-module Integrated-Service-Engine 1/0 session
• Trying 10.9.9.254, 2131 ... Open
  
  
  User Access Verification
  
  Username:

Default credentials are admin / admin. The first time we will go trough a configuration wizard where we can define the management, ap-manager and virtual router addresses, between other options. When we are done, we can exit from the session using the key combination [ctrl + alt + 6, then x].

Once we have our WLC properly configured, we need to add the magic options to the dhcp in order to associate the AP with the WLC - in my case the AP is a Airo 3500. If you use this model with a WLC running old software you will need to upgrade to the latest 7.0 verion - you can find the firmware on Cisco's download section, the file is named AIR-WLCM-K9-7-0-116-0.aes.

We add the AP to the dhcp as follows:

• option space Cisco_LWAPP_AP;
  option Cisco_LWAPP_AP.server-address code 241 = array of ip-address;
  option Cisco_LWAPP_AP.controller code 43 = string;

• host AIRO-3500-Kitchen {
          hardware ethernet e0:5f:b9:10:66:68;
          fixed-address 10.9.9.199;
          option vendor-class-identifier "Cisco AP 3500";
          vendor-option-space Cisco_LWAPP_AP;
          option Cisco_LWAPP_AP.server-address <list of controller IPs>;
          option routers 10.9.99.254;
  }

After the AP gets the config from the DHCP it will appear in the WLC access point list. You can finalize the setup doing a telnet on port 2131 of the management card or just using a web browser on the IP setup during the wizard as management IP.

In case you want to use the same IP as the current router's we can add this config:

• Cisco#config t
• Cisco(config)#interface Integrated-Service-Engine1/0
• Cisco(config)# ip unnumbered <your router's interface name (gigabitethernet0/0?)
• Cisco(config)# end

And if we want to add add dot1Q (vlan) to your ESSID:

• (Previously created the first ESSID on the WLC)
• Cisco#config t
• Cisco(config)#interface Integrated-Service-Engine1/0.1 <- ESSID identifier
• Cisco(config)# encapsulation dot1Q 888 <- VLAN ID
• Cisco(config)# ip address 10.9.8.254 255.255.255.0
• Cisco(config)# ip nat inside
• Cisco(config)# end

You might need to modify your routing table depending on your setup, specifying where the WLC interfaces are located:

• Cisco#config t
• Cisco(config)#ip route <WLC IP> <netmask> interface Integrated-Service-Engine1/0
• Cisco(config)#end

For additional information about this card's setup you can check:

• http://www.cisco.com
• http://supportdocs.polycom.com/PolycomService/support/global/documents/support/user/products/voice/view_cisco_wism.pdf