First launch of vWLC
vWLC fully replicates the functionality of WLC in hardware. The factory configuration of the vWLC controller contains a basic set of parameters that allows you to quickly connect an access point to the controller and set up Wi-Fi on it.
The factory configuration of the vWLC has two interfaces configured:
- GigabitEthernet 1/0/1 — for vWLC management. SSH and HTTPS access is enabled in the Firewall. DHCP client is enabled on the interface;
- GigabitEthernet 1/0/2 — for access points connection to the vWLC. DHCP server is enabled on the interface.
For example, let's consider an enabling scheme that assumes the availability of two interfaces on the server:
Figure 1 – vWLC enabling scheme
If higher performance interfaces are used, you must transfer the settings from GigabitEthernet 1/0/1/1-2 to the other interfaces.
Creating vWLC network interfaces
Connecting network interfaces of a physical server to a virtual machine using VirtualBox hypervisor
1. Go to the settings of the virtual machine where vWLC is installed.
2. Open the "Network" menu.
3. Check the box to enable the network interface.
4. Select the connection type.
5. Select through which interface the connection will be made on the host system. It will be connected to the gi1/0/1 interface on the vWLC.
6. Click "Advanced" to configure additional parameters.
7. Select the adapter type. It is recommended to use "Paravirtualized Network(virtio-net)".
8. Proceed to configure the second interface by clicking "Adapter 2". Configure it in the same way as the first interface.
9. Select which interface will be used to connect the APs to the vWLC. It will be connected to the gi1/0/2 interface on the vWLC.
10. Click "OK" to complete the configuration.
Assigning virtual machine interfaces to vWLC interfaces
1. After starting the vWLC and entering the show interface status command, Bridge 3 interface will be listed in the output, but the GigabitEthernet 1/0/1 and GigabitEthernet 1/0/2 interfaces will be missing:
vwlc# show interfaces status
Interface Admin Link MTU MAC address Last change Mode
State State (d,h:m:s)
-------------------- ----- ----- ----- ----------------- ------------- ------------
br3 Up Up 1458 a6:00:00:00:00:00 00,00:00:35 routerport
2. Go to the debug menu to check the available interfaces:
vwlc# debug
3. Run the show nic command to view the available interfaces:
vwlc(debug)# show nic
Interface Permanent MAC Connected NIC model
---------- ------------------ ---------- ------------------------
virtio 1 08:00:27:9b:c6:f8 Yes Virtio network device
virtio 2 08:00:27:da:16:25 Yes Virtio network device
4. Next bind the MAC address 08:00:27:9b:c6:f8 to the GigabitEthernet 1/0/1 interface and the MAC address 08:00:27:da:16:25 to the GigabitEthernet 1/0/2 vWLC interface:
vwlc(debug)# nic bind mac 08:00:27:9b:c6:f8 gigabitethernet 1/0/1 vwlc(debug)# nic bind mac 08:00:27:da:16:25 gigabitethernet 1/0/2
5. Reload the device to apply changes:
vwlc# reload system
6. After reloading, check the interfaces display by running the show interfaces status command:
vwlc# show interfaces status
Interface Admin Link MTU MAC address Last change Mode
State State (d,h:m:s)
-------------------- ----- ----- ----- ----------------- ------------- ------------
gi1/0/1 Up Up 1500 08:00:27:9b:c6:f8 00,00:00:35 routerport
gi1/0/2 Up Up 1500 08:00:27:da:16:25 00,00:00:35 routerport
br3 Up Up 1458 a6:00:00:00:00:00 00,00:00:35 routerport
Information on how to change the interface binding is available in the "Changing vWLC interface binding" section.
Connecting the access point to the vWLC
When receiving an address the AP also receives the option 43. An example of its factory configuration setting is shown below:
ip dhcp-server pool ap-pool
vendor-specific
suboption 12 ascii-text "192.168.1.1"
suboption 15 ascii-text "https://192.168.1.1:8043"
exit
exit
Suboption 12 provides the address for SoftGRE tunnel termination.
Suboption 15 provides the address of the controller.
After receiving the address, the AP will connect to the controller.
1. To display the address that the AP has received via DHCP, run the show ip dhcp binding command:
vwlc# sh ip dhcp binding IP address MAC / Client ID Binding type Lease expires at ---------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ -------------------- 192.168.1.2 0x01e828c1dac9b0 active 2024-08-30 14:43:17
2. The current status of the AP and basic information about it can be obtained with the show wlc ap command:
vwlc# show wlc ap MAC address Status IP address SW version Hostname Ap-location Uptime Clients(2g/5g/all) ----------------- ---------------- --------------- ---------------- ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------------- ------------------ e8:28:c1:da:c9:b0 Active 192.168.1.2 2.5.6 build 7 WEP-1L default-location 00,00:21:03 0/0/0
3. To display a list of SSIDs that are configured on the AP and broadcast over the air, run the show wlc ap vap command:
vwlc# show wlc ap vap MAC AP Hostname RadioID VapID SSID BSSID Auth type Clients ----------------- ---------------------------- ------- ----- ----------------- ----------------- -------------------- ------- e8:28:c1:da:c9:b0 WEP-1L 0 0 default-ssid e8:28:c1:da:c9:b1 WPA2 Enterprise 0 e8:28:c1:da:c9:b0 WEP-1L 1 0 default-ssid e8:28:c1:da:c9:b9 WPA2 Enterprise 0
The access point has been successfully connected to the vWLC and the SSID “default-ssid” has been configured on it. To connect to it, a user account must be created according to the "Quickstart" section of the WLC-series manual. A detailed description of the configuration for the tunneling enable scheme is available in the "WLC configuration" section of the WLC-series manual.
Licensing on the vWLC
Functionality available in vWLC-Demo
Without connecting vWLC to ELM (Eltex Licence Manager), the list of available features will be limited, but the number of features is sufficient to get acquainted with the WLC.
Without a full license, the following features are available:
- WLC functionality with the ability to connect 15 AP to the controller;
- Two IPsec tunnels;
- 1 Mbps bandwidth;
- BGP RIB 1024;
- OSPF RIB 1000;
- RIP RIB 1000;
- ISIS RIB 1000;
- SLA functionality is disabled.
Demo licenses are available on the vWLC and work on the device with serial number vWLC0000000:
- WIFI-DEMO — a license with a limit of up to 5 concurrently running APs with the ability to activate and monitor SoftGRE tunnels for Wi-Fi AP operation (when APs are managed using the SoftWLC controller).
- BRAS-DEMO — a license with a limit of up to 5 simultaneously working subscribers. Activates authorization/authentication/accounting functions for users whose traffic is routed. The functionality works in the case of a correctly configured RADIUS server. AAA operations are performed by subscriber's IP or MAC address.
Connecting to the ELM
To connect to the ELM server, the following steps must be performed:
1. Go to the global configuration mode:
configure
2. Go to the licence-manager settings:
licence-manager
3. To connect to ELM, enter your serial-number and license-key.
The connection data is provided when you purchase vWLC.
3.1. Enter the serial number:
vwlc# set serial-number VWLCXXXXXXX
3.2. Reload the device.
The serial number will change only after reloading. Do not perform any further steps until the serial number is set. After 10 attempts to connect to the licensing server with incorrect credentials, your IP address will be automatically blocked by the licensing server's security system.
3.3. Set up the connection to the licensing server:
vwlc# configure vwlc(config)# licence-manager vwlc(config-licence-manager)# host address elm.eltex-co.ru vwlc(config-licence-manager)# licence-key ELM-LICENCEKEY vwlc(config-licence-manager)# enable vwlc(config-licence-manager)# end
3.4. Commit the configuration.
After the configuration is applied and data is exchanged with the licensing server, a license will become available to expand the device capabilities.
4. Use the show licence-manage status command to check if there is a connection to the ELM server, as well as the dates of the last access and the planned next access:
vwlc# show licence-manager status ELM server type: root Last request status: success Last request to licence server: Tuesday 2023/04/11 08:11:33 Next request to licence server: Tuesday 2023/04/11 08:16:33
5. Use the show licence command to view activated licenses and their limits:
vwlc# show licence Feature Source State Value Valid from Expiries -------------------------------- -------- ----------- -------------------------------- -------------------- -------------------- WLC-AP-SUPPORT-EXT ELM Active 100 -- -- WLC-VIRTUAL-LIMIT-BGP-RIB ELM Active 512000 -- -- WLC-VIRTUAL-LIMIT-DEFAULT ELM Active true -- -- WLC-VIRTUAL-LIMIT-IPSEC-VPN ELM Active 100 -- -- WLC-VIRTUAL-LIMIT-NET ELM Active 100000000 -- -- WLC-WIDS-WIPS ELM Active true -- --
Appendix
Changing vWLC interface binding
To change interface bindings, for example, to swap gi1/0/1 and gi1/0/2, do the following:
1. Display the list of interfaces using the show interfaces status command:
vwlc# show interfaces status
Interface Admin Link MTU MAC address Last change Mode
State State (d,h:m:s)
-------------------- ----- ----- ----- ----------------- ------------- ------------
gi1/0/1 Up Up 1500 08:00:27:f1:83:24 00,00:00:43 routerport
gi1/0/2 Up Up 1500 08:00:27:54:5b:50 00,00:00:43 routerport
br3 Up Up 1458 a6:00:00:00:00:00 00,00:00:43 routerport
2. Go to the debug menu:
vwlc# debug
3. Run the show nic command to view a list of interfaces and their bindings to vWLC interfaces:
vwlc(debug)# show nic Interface Permanent MAC Connected NIC model ---------- ------------------ ---------- ------------------------ gi1/0/1 08:00:27:f1:83:24 Yes Virtio network device gi1/0/2 08:00:27:54:5b:50 Yes Virtio network device
4. Run the no nic bind all command to delete dindings from all interfaces:
vwlc(debug)# no nic bind all Do you really want to unbind names from all interfaces? If Yes, after reboot names will be defined randomly for all connected NICs. (y/N): y Changes will be applied after reboot.
5. Reload the device:
vwlc# reload system
6. Go to the debug menu to check the available interfaces:
vwlc# debug
7. Run the show nic command to view available interfaces:
vwlc(debug)# show nic
Interface Permanent MAC Connected NIC model
---------- ------------------ ---------- ------------------------
virtio 1 08:00:27:f1:83:24 Yes Virtio network device
virtio 2 08:00:27:54:5b:50 Yes Virtio network device
8. Bind the MAC address 08:00:27:54:5b:50 to the GigabitEthernet 1/0/1 interface and the MAC address 08:00:27:f1:83:24 to the GigabitEthernet 1/0/2 vWLC interface:
vwlc(debug)# nic bind mac 08:00:27:54:5b:50 gigabitethernet 1/0/1 vwlc(debug)# nic bind mac 08:00:27:f1:83:24 gigabitethernet 1/0/2
9. Reload the device:
vwlc# reload system
10. After reloading, check the interfaces display with the show interfaces status command:
vwlc# show interfaces status
Interface Admin Link MTU MAC address Last change Mode
State State (d,h:m:s)
-------------------- ----- ----- ----- ----------------- ------------- ------------
gi1/0/1 Up Up 1500 08:00:27:54:5b:50 00,00:00:54 routerport
gi1/0/2 Up Up 1500 08:00:27:f1:83:24 00,00:00:54 routerport
br3 Up Up 1458 a6:00:00:00:00:00 00,00:00:54 routerport
Connecting to vWLC and configuring console connection
Connecting Serial port to a virtual machine using VirtualBox hypervisor as an example
To connect to the vWLC via Serial Port, follow these steps:
1. Go to the settings of the virtual machine on which the vWLC is installed.
2. Open the "Serial Ports" menu.
3. Check the box to enable Serial port.
4. Choose COM Port.
5. Choose the port type.
6. Disable the "Connect to existing pipe/socket" box.
7. Specify the connection address.
8. Click "OK" to complete the configuration.
Now you can connect to vWLC via Serial Port.
Connection example using the minicom utility:
minicom -D unix#/tmp/vWLC
Configuring the Virtual Serial
To display logs in the console when connecting via Serial Port, make additional settings.
1. Go to the global configuration mode:
vwlc# config
2. Go to the syslog console:
vwlc(config)# syslog console
3. Enable the virtual Serial Port with the virtual serial command:
vwlc(config-syslog-console)# virtual-serial
4. Commit the configuration:
vwlc# commit vwlc# confirm
5. Reload the device:
vwlc# reload system
After reloading, the logs will be displayed in the console when connected via Serial Port.