Tag Archives: Access Points

Setup and Configure HP Wireless E-MSM720 Wireless Controller with HP E-MSM430 Access Points

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KB ID 0000692 

Problem

We got some ‘demo stock’ in the office this week, I don’t do a lot of wireless, so I thought I would get it setup and have a look to see how easy/difficult it was.

Hardware used

HP E-MSM720 Premium Mobility Controller (J9694A)
HP E-MSM 430 Wireless N Dual Radio Access Point (J9651A)
HP HP 2915-8G-P-o-E Switch (J5692A)

The switch and controller are ‘tiny’ so if you want to put them in a cabinet you will need some ‘big brackets’, (or a shelf). I was disappointed that the controller didn’t have PoE on it (hence the reason we were supplied the switch). I was also disappointed the Access Point didn’t come with a network cable (seriously these things are pennies – and if a client buys hundreds of these things, someone will forget they also need an equal amount of network cables). In addition they are PoE, so you don’t get a power cable (or power injector) – so you cant even power them on without the network cable. That said all the gear is typical good quality HP Stuff. The documentation consists of a “quick setup sheet” for each piece of hardware and all the manuals are Online. I’m not a fan of manufacturers documentation at all, and HP’s is the same as most major vendors, to long, too complicated and to difficult to find what I’m looking for – I spent half a day reading pdf documents just trying to get the guest network working (a feat I will accomplish below with about three sentences and the same amount of pictures!)

Also See: Manually Configuring HP Wireless (MSM 720 controller) for Public and Private Wireless Networks

Solution

Initial Setup E-MSM720 Wireless Controller

1. Connect the controller to your network (Note: Don’t use the two dual personality ports 5 and 6).

2. The controller sets itself up on 192.168.1.1 put yourself on the same network range (see below).

3. Connect to https://192.168.1.1.

4. The MSM720 Default username and password are both admin.

5. Accept the EULA > Skip Registration > Set country > Save > Set the new password > Save.

6. Configure Initial Controller Settings > Start.

7. Set System name > Location > Contact > Login Message > Next > We’ve just set the Password so leave it blank > Next.

8. Enable/disable management interfaces > Next > Configure the network interfaces > Next.

These are allocated as follows, (out of the box!)

And are controlled by these two settings,

9. Set the time and timezone > Next > Apply.

Configure a Corporate WLAN with the E-MSM720 Wireless Controller

1. If not already there, select ‘Automated Workflow’ > Configure a wireless network for employees > Start.

11. Create an SSID > Next > Set the WPA Key > Next.

12. Choose what access points to apply these settings to > Next > Apply.

Note: At this point I had not powered on or touched the access points, so I just selected ‘All’.

Configure a ‘Guest’ WLAN with the E-MSM720 Wireless Controller

I had a nightmare getting this running, until I fully understood the VLAN, IP address and interface allocation, but if you set things up as specified above it will just work.

1. Automated Workflows > Create a wireless network for guests > Start.

2. Create and SSID > Next > Configure guest authentication (or leave open) > Set IP Settings for clients > Next.

3. Select APs to apply to > Next > Apply.

Setup the HP E-MSM 430 Wireless N Dual Radio Access Point

Well you have already done all the work! Simply connect the AP to a POE capable network outlet.

By default the AP is in ‘Controlled’ mode, so it will start looking for a controller as soon at it powers on, it can take a little while to boot (go get a coffee), you will see it appear in the controllers web interface when its pulled its configuration down.

Updating Firmware MSM70 and MSM430

Very slick! update the firmware package on the controller, and it will update all the access points for you.

Final thoughts

This is good quality gear, it has built in support for IPSEC, SSL, RADIUS and a myriad of other features that you would expect to find on an enterprise class wireless solution. HP might be concerned by their lack of wireless sales, but they could make the experience with these things better by making the web interface easier to navigate, (ask someone who has never used it before to delete a wireless network! – over 90 minutes it took me to locate the VSC bindings section to remove that!) I’ve already mentioned the documentation, I appreciate that it needs to be comprehensive but come on!

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

HP E Series Wireless – Cannot Access Local LAN

Manually Configuring HP Wireless (MSM 720 controller) for Public and Private Wireless Networks

 

Manually Configuring HP Wireless (MSM 720 controller) for Public and Private Wireless Networks

Posted on by

KB ID 0000833 

Problem

In the following procedure I’ll configure the following;

  1. HP 5412zl Switch.
  2. Cisco ASA 5510 Firewall.
  3. HP MSM720 Controller.
  4. HP MSM460 and MSM317 Access Points.

If you are configuring an MSM765zl or MSM775zl use the following article first.

HP MSM765zl and 775zl – Initial Setup and Routing

Assumptions

  1. Private SSID will be on the normal corporate LAN (In this case 172.16.254.0/24).
  2. Public SSID will get its IP addressing from the controllers DHCP Server. (10.220.0.0/16).
  3. The Wireless traffic will traverse the corporate LAN (After being natted on the controller) as 10.210.0.0/16.
  4. My LAN DNS Servers are 172.16.254.1 and 172.16.254.2.

Solution

HP Switch Configuration.

1. The switch must be performing LAN routing, if the LAN’s default gateway is a firewall that needs rectifying first. (where 172.16.254.200 is the firewall).

[box]ip routing
ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.254.200[/box]

2. Switch must be able to resolve DNS queries.

[box]ip dns server-address priority 1 172.16.254.1[/box]

3. Declare a VLAN for the guest VLAN (210), name it, and give it an IP address > Add a Port (A1) to that VLAN which will connect to the Internet Port of the MSM Controller (Port5).

[box]vlan 210
name WIRELESS-TRAFFIC
ip address 10.210.0.1 255.255.255.0.0
untagged A1 [/box]

4. Tag This VLAN on the ‘Inter Switch’ Links from the core switch to the firewall/perimeter device.

[box]tag D24[/box]

5. Save the Switch changes with a write mem command.

Configure the Cisco ASA To Allow the Wireless Traffic out.

Actions for different firewall vendors will vary but you need to achieve the following;

Make sure that a client on the 10.210.0.0/16 network can get access to the Internet

To do that you will need to achieve the following;

Make sure that the 10.210.0.0/16 network has http and https access allowed outbound on the firewall.
Make sure that 10.210.0.0/16 is getting NATTED through the firewall to the public IP address.

1. Connect to the firewall > Allow the Wireless Traffic out.

[box]

access-list outbound extended permit ip 10.210.0.0 255.255.0.0 any

Note: this permits ALL IP traffic you might prefer

access-list outbound extended permit ip 10.210.0.0 255.255.0.0 any eq http
access-list outbound extended permit ip 10.210.0.0 255.255.0.0 any eq https

Note2: This also assumes you have an ACL called outbound applied to traffic that is destined outbound (show run access-group will tell you)

[/box]

2. Perform NAT on the new wireless outbound traffic.

[box]

object network WLAN-CLIENTS
subnet 10.210.0.0 255.255.0.0
nat (inside,outside) dynamic interface

Note: For Firewalls running versions older than 8.3 the NAT commands will be different, e.g.

nat (inside) 1 10.210.0.0 255.255.0.0

{Where you have a matching global (outside) 1 command in the config already}

[/box]

3. Allow the firewall to ‘route’ traffic back to the wireless clients. (where 172.16.254.254 is the core switch performing LAN routing).

[box] route inside 10.210.0.0 255.255.0.0 172.16.254.254[/box]

4. Save the changes.

5. At this point plug a PC/Laptop into the core switch (Port A1) and make sure you can get Internet access (‘you will need a static IP on the 10.210.0.0 range).

Configure the HP MSM 720 Controller

MSM 720 Initial Setup and IP Addressing.

1. Connect to to the MSM 720 controller (Port 1) 192.168.1.1 (username admin, password admin).

2. Go though the initial setup > Stop when you get to the Automated workflows screen (simply press Home).

3. Setup Access Network: Home > Network > Access Network > Set the Addressing and Management IP addresses like so;

  • Addressing 172.16.254.115/24
  • Management address 172.16.254.116/25

Save.

Note: There’s two because you can separate the management traffic off to another subnet if you wish.

4. Connect Port 1 on the MSM controller to ANY normal port on the Switch (which will be untagged in VLAN 1) >Then connect to the Controller on its new IP https://172.16.254.115.

5. Setup Internet Network: Home > Network > Internet Network > Static.

6. Configure > IP = 10.210.0.2 > Address Mask 255.255.0.0 > Save (don’t worry if you get a warning about DNS).

7. Connect Port 5 on the MSM to Port A1 on the switch (the one you untagged in VLAN 210).

8. Setup DNS: Home > Network > DNS > Enter the Primary LAN DNS servers (172.16.254.1 and 172.16.254.2).

9. Tick DNS Cache > Tick DNS Switch over > Tick DNS interception > Save.

10. Setup Default Route: Home > Network > IP Routes > Add.

11. Enter 10.210.0.1 with a Metric of 1 > Add.

12. Setup DHCP (Note: you will create the scope later)

Obviously only complete this step if you want the Controller to act as a DHCP server for your ‘Public’ Wireless network.

Home> Network > Address allocation > Tick DHCP Server > Configure.

13. Enter the domain name > change Lease tome to 1500.

Note: At this point it automatically fills in DHCP Settings (these will NOT be used don’t panic!)

14. REMOVE the tick form Listen for DHCP Requests on ‘Access Network’

15. MAKE SURE there is a tick in the ‘Client data tunnel’ box > Save.

HP MSM 720 Configure Wireless Access Public and Private

For this procedure we will rename the default VSC which is called HP.

1. Home > Controller (on the left) > VSCs) > HP > Change the Profile name for HP to “Private” > Untick Authentication > Untick Access control.

2. Change the SSID from HP to ‘Private’ > Tick Broadcast Filtering.

3. Ensure Wireless security filters is unticked.

4. Tick Wireless Protection > Set the mode to WPA2 (AES/CCMP) > Change Key Source to ‘Preshared Key’ > Enter and confirm the WPA Password > Save (at the bottom of the screen).

5. Setup Public/Guest VSC: Home > VSC’s > Add New VSC Profile.

6. Set the profile name to ‘Public’ > MAKE SURE authentication and access control ARE ticked.

7. Change the SSID to Public > Tick broadcast filtering.

8. Change Allow Traffic between wireless clients to NO > Expand Client Data Tunnel > Tick ‘always tunnel client traffic’.

9. Ensure Wireless Protection is unticked.

10. If you require HTML based logins, tick that (Note: You will need to create a user later, if you enable this).

11. If using the controller for DHCP > Enable the DHCP Server and specify;

  • DNS 10.220.0.1
  • Start 10.220.0.100
  • End 10.220.0.200
  • Gateway 10.220.0.1
  • Net mask 255.255.0.0
  • Subnet 10.220.0.0

Create a Network Profile for Each of the New VSC’s

1. Home > Network > Network Profiles > Add New Profile.

2. Call it ‘Private’ Tick VLAN ID select 1 > Save.

3. Add New Profile > Call it ‘Public’ > Tick VLAN ID and set it to 210 > Save.

4. At this point, connect your wireless AP’s to the network, and the controller should detect them.

Bind the VSC’s to the Default AP Group (Using the network profiles we just created)

1. On the left hand menu > Controller > Controlled Alps > Default Group > VSC Bindings (top) > Select the ‘Private’ VSC Binding.

2. Make sure ‘Egress Network’ is NOT ticked and none is selected > Save.

3. Add New Binding > Select the ‘Public’ VSC Profile > Tick EGRESS NETWORK > Set the Network profile to ‘Public (210)’ > Save.

Create user accounts (Only if using HTML Based Authentication)

1. Home > Users > User Accounts > Add New Account > specify a name i.e guest > specify and confirm a password i.e. Password123.

2. Change the MAX concurrent Sessions to 250 > Enable VSC Usage > Add the ‘Public’ VSC (right arrow) > Save.

Synchronize the Access Points to the MSM Controller

1. Home > Controller (left) > Controller APs > Overview Tab > Change the Action drop down to Synchronize Configuration > Apply.

2. Wait for the APs to synchronize > Test both the SSIDs.

 

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

NA

 

Register HP Wireless Access Points With an HP MSM Controller on a Different Subnet

Posted on by

KB ID 0000913 

Problem

If you have HP Access Points on remote sites, you have the choice of either leaving them in automomous mode, or registering them with a controller at another site. This is handy if you want to manage all your VSC’s from one location. You can do this via DNS, or via DHCP at that remote site, (I tend to setup both to be on the safe side).

Solution

Option 1: Set MSM Controller Location via DHCP

1. On your DHCP server, open the DHCP management console.

2. Expand the IPv4 scopes.

3. Action > Define Vendor Class.

4. Add >Display name = Colubris > Description = Vendor Class for Colubris Products > Under ASCII Set the value to Colubris-AP > The rest of the values will autofill > OK > Close.

5. Right click IPv4 > Set Predefined Options.

6. Set the Option class to Colubris > Add > Name = MSC > Data type = IP Address > Array = Ticked > Description = List of MSC IP Addressses > OK > OK.

7. Locate you active DHCP scope, and expand it > Right click > Configure Options.

8. Advanced Tab > Vendor Class = Colubris > 001 MSC = Tick > IP Address > Set the IP address(s) of your controller(s) > Apply > OK.

9. Check you can see the option listed, (as below).

Option 2: Set MSM Controller Location via DNS

1. In the forward lookup zone for your domain, you can create A/Host records for your MSM controller(s). Create them in the cnsrv1, cnsrv2, etc format.

WARNING:

You may find that you have a problem with the Access Points flagged as ‘Waiting Acceptance‘, if that happens see the following link.

HP MSM Controller – Access Points Stuck ‘Waiting Acceptance’

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Manually Configuring HP Wireless (MSM 720 controller) for Public and Private Wireless Networks