Access Point Plug-n-Play

Overview of Access Point Plug-n-Play

The Plug and Play (PnP) server provides staging parameters to an access point (AP) before it joins a controller. Using this staging configuration, the AP receives the runtime configuration when it joins the controller.

The AP PnP feature enables the PnP server to provide all tag-related information, as part of the preconfigured information to the AP and in turn, to the controller.

You can upload configuration in PNP server in either TXT or JSON format and also add the AP details. The AP details are then mapped with the details in the TXT or JSON configuration file. While provisioning AP from PnP server, the AP acquires this configuration details. Based on the configuration details, the AP then joins the corresponding controller with the tag details.

Provisioning AP from PnP Server

You can provision AP from PnP Server in either ways:

  • Configure DHCP server or switch with Option 43. For example, you can refer to the following code sample: 

    
ip dhcp pool vlan10
 network 9.10.10.0 255.255.255.0
 default-router 9.10.10.1 
  option 43 ascii 5A1D;B2;K4;|9.10.60.5;J80

  • Configure DHCP server with DNS. For example, you can refer to the following code sample:

    
ip dhcp pool vlan10
 network 9.10.10.0 255.255.255.0
 default-router 9.10.10.1 
 dns-server 9.8.65.5 
 domain-name dns.com

Verifying AP Tag Configuration

The following example shows how to verify the AP tag configuration:

Device# show ap tag summary
Number of APs: 5



AP Name                 AP Mac           Site Tag Name           Policy Tag Name         RF Tag Name             Misconfigured    Tag Source    

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

APd42c.4482.6102        d42c.4482.6102   default-site-tag        default-policy-tag      default-rf-tag          No               Default       

AP00c1.64d8.6af0        00c1.64d8.6af0   named-site-tag          named-policy-tag        named-rf-tag            No               AP

Note

The details in the second row reflect the tag source coming from a PNP server.