Device Onboarding and Windows DHCP Options for cnMaestro On Premises

Products cnMaestro
1

Windows DHCP Options

This section details how to configure a Microsoft Windows-based DHCP server(Windows 2008 R2) to send DHCP Options to Cambium devices such as ePMP, ePMP 1000 Hotspot, and cnPilot R200P/201P/E400/E500. It consists of the following four tasks:

  • Configuring Option 60
  • Configuring Option 43
  • Configuring Vendor Class Identifiers
  • Defining DHCP Policies

DHCP servers are a popular way to configure clients with basic networking information such as an IP address, default gateway, network mask, and DNS server. Most DHCP servers have the ability to also send a variety of optional information, including the Vendor-Specific Option Code Option 43. When a Cambium device requests Option 43 Vendor Specific Information, the DHCP server responds with values configured by the DHCP administrator.

1.1 Configuring Option 60

This section describes how to configure the Vendor Class Identifier Code (option 60) on a Microsoft Windows-based DHCP server. As mentioned in the overview section, option 60 identifies and associates a DHCP client with a particular vendor. Since option 60 is not a predefined option on a Windows DHCP server, you must add it to the option list.

1.1.1 Windows DHCP Server Configuration

  1. On the DHCP server, open the DHCP server administration tool by clicking Start > Administrative Tools > DHCP.
  2. Find your server and right-click on the scope to be configured under the server name. Select Set Predefined Options.
  3. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, click Add.
  4. In the Option Type dialog box, enter the following information and click OK to save.

Field

Information

Name

CambiumOption60

Data Type

String (select the Array checkbox also)

Code

60

Description

Cambium AP vendor class identifier
  1. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, make sure 060 CambiumOption60 is selected from the Option Name drop-down list.
  2. In the Value field, enter the following information: String: Cambium, Cambium-WiFi-AP, Cambium-cnPilot R200P, Cambium-cnPilot  R201P
  3. Click OK to save this information.
  4. Under the server, select the scope you want to configure and expand it. Select Scope Options, then select Configure Options.
  5. In the Scope Options dialog box, scroll down and select 060 CambiumOption60. Confirm the value is set as mentioned in point 7 above and click OK.

Note

The Data type should be string. If only one device type is to be onboarded to the cnMaestro server, then there is no need to select the Array option. If multiple device types need to be onboarded, then please select the Array option, so the value can contain multiple option 60 entries.

1.2 Configuring Option 43

Option 43 returns the cnMaestro URL to the Cambium Devices.

1.2.1 Windows DHCP Server Configuration

  1. On the DHCP server, open the server administration tool by clicking Start > Administration Tools > DHCP.
  2. Find your server and right-click on the scope to be configured under the server name. Select Set Predefined options
  3. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, click Add.
  4. In the Option Type dialog box, enter the following information:

Field

Information

Name

CambiumOption43

Data Type

String

Code

43

Description

Cambium AP Option 43
  1. Click OK to save this information.
  2. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, make sure 043 CambiumOption43 is selected from the Option Name drop-down list.
  3. In the Value field, enter the following information: String: https://<NOC Server Hostname/IP>
  4. Click OK to save this information.

Note

If Option 43 is already in predefined options with the data type as Binary, then it cannot be changed to string. If this is the case, while defining the policies, specify the values in the ASCII column in the Actions tab of the policy after selecting Option 43. This will be detailed in the Policies section later in the document.

1.3 Configuring Option 15

Option 15 returns the domain name to the Cambium Devices.

1.3.1 Windows DHCP Server Configuration

  1. On the DHCP server, open the server administration tool by clicking Start > Administration Tools > DHCP.
  2. Find your server and right-click on the scope to be configured under the server name. Click on Set Predefined Options
  3. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, click Add.
  4. In the Option Type dialog box, enter the following information:

Field

Information

Name

CambiumOption15

Data Type

String

Code

15

Description

Cambium AP Option 15
  1. Click OK to save this information.
  2. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, make sure 015 CambiumOption15 is selected from the Option Name drop-down list.
  3. In the Value field, enter the following information: String: <com>
  4. Click OK to save this information.

option15.png
option15.png764×385 7.86 KB

Note :- In the DNS Server, the user needs to map the cnMaestro.companyname.com to the IP Address of the cnMaestro NOC server.

1.4 Configuring Vendor Class Identifiers

  1. On the DHCP server, open the server administration tool by clicking Start > Administration Tools > DHCP.
  2. Find your server and right-click on the scope to be configured under the server name. Click on the Define Vendor Classes and click the Add button in the dialog box that appears.

Provide the Display name, Description and then click in the ASCII column and enter the value as Cambium as shown in the below figure, and then click OK.

VCI.png
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The above example is for an ePMP device. In order to create the VCI for other device types, please follow the same steps, and in the ASCII column provide the following values:

Product

VCI (DHCP Option 60)

cnPilot R200P

Cambium-cnPilot R200P

cnPilot R200

Cambium-cnPilot R200

cnPilot R201P

Cambium-cnPilot R201P

cnPilot R201

Cambium-cnPilot R201

cnPilot R190V

Cambium-cnPilot R190V

cnPilot R190W

Cambium-cnPilot R190W

cnPilot R195W

Cambium-cnPilot R195W

cnPilot E Series Devices

Cambium-WiFi-AP

ePMP

Cambium

ePMP 1000 Hotspot

Cambium-WiFi-AP
   

1.5 Configuring the Policies at the SCOPE Level

Once Options 43, 60, 15, and Vendor Classes are created, one needs to create policies at scope level. This allows the DHCP server to send the Option 43 and 60 to the Cambium Devices -- based on their VCI for that device. The policy will make sure these options are only sent if the VCI matches that provided by the device.

1. Select the scope in which you want to create the policy, and then right click on the Policies option. Select New Policy.

Policy.png

2. In the popup, enter the Policy Name and Description and click Next button

NewPolicyDetails.png
NewPolicyDetails.png934×649 33.6 KB

3. The Policy consists of Matching conditions based on Vendor Class, user class, MAC Address, Client Identifiers, FQDN and Relay Agent Information. For Cambium Devices we need Vendor Class based match conditions only.

  1. In the dialog, click on the Add button and in the popup select the Criteria as Vendor Class, the Operator as Equals, and the Value as the VCI created for the Cambium Device type.
  2. For example, for cnPilot R201P device the Vendor Class selection is “Cambium-cnPilot R201P”.
  3. Click Add and then OK in the popup. Click Next in the Policy Configuration Wizard.

PolicyConditions.png
PolicyConditions.png1295×658 42.1 KB

4. In the policy configuration settings wizard, select the option No and click Next.

policy-3.png
policy-3.png511×501 9.56 KB

Then select the vendor class as DHCP standard options and Select the options 43 and 60 from the available options and specify the values that need to be sent to the device. Click Next once the options are selected and values are specified.

policy-4.png
policy-4.png512×504 9.15 KB

policy-5.png
policy-5.png512×502 9.05 KB

5. Click Finish in the final settings page. The policy is displayed in the RHS pane.

Policy.png
Policy.png915×652 32.9 KB

The above Policy is a generic one. For all the device types, the policies should be created in a similar way --, with the match conditions and action as follows

 

Also the Policies can be created at the Scope level or Server level. If separate scope is defined for Cambium devices, it is better to define scope level policies; otherwise the policies can be defined at the Server level in the similar way.

Device Type

Match Conditions

Actions

ePMP Devices

Vendor Class for ePMP

Cambium option 43 and 60 selected and values specified

ePMP 1000 HotSpot

Vendor Class for HotSpot

Cambium option 43 and 60 selected and values specified

cnPilot E series Devices

Vendor Class for E400/E500/E501

Cambium option 43 and 60 selected and values specified

cnPilot R200/R200P

Vendor Class for

cnPilot R200/R200P

Cambium option 43 and 60 selected and values specified

cnPilot R201/R201P

Vendor Class for

cnPilot R201/R201P

Cambium option 43 and 60 selected and values specified

cnPilot R190

Vendor Class for cnPilot R190

Cambium option 43 and 60 selected and values specified

PMP 450, 450i , 450m, 430 SM and PTP 450 , 450i

Vendor Class for PMP

Cambium option 43 and 60 selected and values specified
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