Users Guide

General Controller Procedures and Guidelines
Using Master, Standby Master, and Local Controllers
AirWave implements the following general approaches to controllers:
l Master Controller—This controller maintains and pushes all global configurations. AirWave pushes configurations
only to a master controller.
l Standby Controller—The master controller synchronizes with the standby master controller, which remains ready to
govern global configurations for controllers should the active master controller fail.
l Local Controller—Master controllers push local configurations to local controllers. Local controllers retain settings
such as the interfaces and global VLANs.
AirWave is aware of differences in what is pushed to master controllers and local controllers, and automatically pushes
all configurations to the appropriate controllers. Thin AP provisioning is pushed to the controller to which a thin AP is
connected.
You can determine additional details about what is specific to each controller by reviewing information on the
Groups> Controller Config page and the Groups > Monitor page for any specific AP that lists its master and standby
master controller.
Pushing Device Configurations to Controllers
When you add or edit device configurations, you can push device configurations to controllers as follows:
l Make device changes on the Dell Networking W Configuration page and click Save and Apply.
l If global configuration is enabled, also make devices changes on the Groups > Controller Config page and click
Save and Apply.
A device must be in Manage mode to push configurations in this way.
Ifyou click Save and Apply when a device is in Monitor mode, this initiates a verification process in which AirWave advises
you of the latest mismatches. Mismatches are viewable from the APs/Devices > Mismatched page. Additional Audit and
Group pages list mismatched statuses for devices.
Normally, devices are in Monitor mode. It may be advisable in some circumstances to accumulate several configuration
changes in Monitor mode prior to pushing an entire set of changes to controllers. Follow these general steps when
implementing configuration changes for devices in Monitor mode:
1. Make all device changes using the Dell Networking W Configuration pages. Click Save and Apply as you
complete device-level changes. This builds an inventory of pending configuration changes that have not been pushed
to the controller and APs.
2. Review the entire set of newly mismatched devices on the APs/Devices > Mismatched page.
3. For each mismatched device, navigate to the APs/Devices > Audit page to audit recent configuration changes as
desired.
4. Once all mismatched device configurations are verified to be correct from the APs/Devices > Audit page, use the
Modify Devices link on the Groups > Monitor page to place these devices into Manage mode. This instructs
AirWave to push the device configurations to the controller.
5. As desired, return devices to Monitor mode until the next set of configuration changes is ready to push to controllers.
Dell Networking W-AirWave 8.0 | Controller Configuration Guide Dell Networking W Configuration in Daily Operations | 29