Device Onboarding and Linux DHCP Options for cnMaestro On Premises

This document explains about the device on boarding to cnMeastro NOC server and configuring the DHCP server either Windows or Linux to send the DHCP options 15, 43 and 60 to the Cambium Devices.

1) Minimum Required Software Version for Devices  in order to on board to cnMaestro on premises :- 

  1. cnPilot E400/E500: 2.5.2-r3
  2. ePMP 1000 Hotspot: 2.5.2-r3
  3. ePMP 1000, 2000 and Force 180,200 :- 3.0
  4. cnPilot R200P/R201P: 4.2.3-R4
  5. PMP 450 or 450i : 15.0.1
  6. PMP 450m : 15.0.2
  7. cnPilot R190 : 4.3.1
  8. cnPilot R195 : 4.5.2-R11 or 4.6-R5

Device software images can be downloaded from support.cambiumnetworks.com or from the cnMaestro NOC  server itself by navigating to Operate->Software Update->Manage Images. Select your device type to display the available images, and then click the download icon .

2) Onboarding Methods :-

Devices can be on boarded to cnMaestro NOC server in the following way

  • Claim Through Static URL without Cambium ID and on Boarding key(Recommended method)
  • Claim Through Static URL with Cambium ID and on boarding key
  • Zero touch on boarding using DHCP option 43
  • Zero touch on boarding using DHCP option 15
  • Claim Through MAC Address
  • Order of Device Discovery

     2.1 Configuring  Static URL for cnMaestro On Premises :-

  Before claiming the devices user needs to Login to device GUI and navigate to Configure->System  menu in ePMP 1000/ePMP 1000 HotSpot/cnPilot E400/E500 devices or Administration->cnMaestro in cnPilot R200P/R201P devices or Configuration->cnMaestro in PMP devices. 

cnPilot R200P/R201P

  1. Navigate to Administrator > cnMaestro tab

   2. Enter NOC static URL in the cnMaestro URL field.

cnPilot E400/E500 and ePMP 1000 HotSpot

  1. Navigate to Configure > System

   2. Under Management section, enter NOC static URL in the cnMaestro URL field

ePMP 1000 AP/SM

 

  1. Navigate to Configuration > System

   2.Under cnMaestro section, enter NOC static URL in the cnMaestro URL field

PMP 450 or 450i AP/SM/BHM/BHS

 

  1. Navigate to Configuration > cnMaestro

   2.Under configurationsection, enter  NOC static URL in the cnMaestro URL field

 2.2 Claim Through Static URL without Cambium ID and on Boarding key

In order to claim the devices using the static url without cambium id and on boarding key please follow the below steps

  • Login to device GUI and navigate to Configure->System menu in ePMP 1000/ePMP 1000 HotSpot/cnPilot E400/E500 devices or Administration->cnMaestro in cnPilot R200P/R201P devices or Configuration->cnMaestro in PMP devices.
  • Provide the NOC static url https://NOCIPADDRESSORHOSTNAME and click save.
  • Reboot the device if necessary for devices like cnPilot R200P/R201P and PMP Devices
  • Device will come to the on boarding queue in the cnMaestro Home->On board Devices->On board page and the user can approve the device

2.3 Claim Through Static URL with Cambium ID and on Boarding key

In order to claim the devices using the static url with cambium id and on boarding key please follow the below steps

  • Login to NOC server using default username and password (admin/admin) or the Username and Password set by the Administrator at the time of installation
  • Navigate to Home->On board Devices-> Claim from Device page
  • Select the checkbox for “Enable Cambium ID based authentication to onboard devices”
  • Click on Add new and select the username from the drop down box and specify the on boarding key and click save.

  • Login to device GUI and navigate to Configure->System menu in ePMP 1000/ePMP 1000 HotSpot/cnPilot E400/E500 devices or Administration->cnMaestro in cnPilot R200P/R201P devices or Configuration->cnMaestro in PMP devices.
  • Provide the NOC static url https://NOCIPADDRESSORHOSTNAME and Cambium ID(cnmaestro_on_premises) and on boarding key for that user and click save.
  • Reboot the device if necessary for devices like cnPilot R200P/R201P and PMP Devices

Device will come to the on boarding queue in the cnMaestro Home->On board Devices->On board page and the user can approve the device

2.4 Zero touch on boarding using DHCP option 43

In order to claim the devices using DHCP option 43 user needs to follow the below steps

  • Configure the Linux or windows DHCP server to send the options 43 and 60 to the Cambium Devices. Please follow the section for DHCP Configuration
  • For claiming devices through this method user need not specify the static url in the device as the device obtains this url from DHCP option 43
  • User need not specify anything else in the device as this is Zero touch on board
  • Device will come to the on boarding queue in the cnMaestro Home->On board Devices->On board page and the user can approve the device

2.5 Zero touch on boarding using DHCP option 15

In order to claim the devices using DHCP option 15 user needs to follow the following steps

  • Configure the Linux or windows DHCP server to send the options 15 to the Cambium Devices. Please follow the section for DHCP Configuration
  • For claiming devices through this method user need not specify the static url in the device as the device obtains this url from DHCP option 15(cnmaestro.companyname.com)
  • User need not specify anything else in the device as this is Zero touch on board
  • Device will come to the on boarding queue in the cnMaestro Home->On board Devices->On board page and the user can approve the device

Note :- For DHCP options to work properly on the  already deployed cnPilot R200P/R201P devices , please reset the devices. Before resetting take a backup of the configuration and restore it once  the device is reset and comes back online.

For all other device types just make sure that no cnMaestro static url is configured in the device for the DHCP options to work fine.

2.6 Claim Through MAC Address :- 

In order to claim through mac address , please follow the below steps 

1) Login to NOC server using default username and password (admin/admin) or the Username and Password set by the Administrator at the time of NOC server installation
2) Navigate to Home->On board Devices-> Claim from cnMaestro
3) Select the Device type for which on boarding is to be done and provide the MAC Address in the combo box and click the Claim Devices button.
Multiple MAC Addresses of same device type can be claimed using ( , ) separator between MAC Addresses or by entering them in the new line

Note  :- Before claiming through MAC Address user needs to specofy the static url in the device gui as mentioned in section 2.1 . Even if the  device type is selected wrong during claim no need to worry . If the MAC Address is of the correct device , when the device contacts the server it will provide the server with the correct device type

2.7 Order of Device Discovery :-

The device discovery order is as follows in cnMaestro NOC Server and if any of the options is not configured the discovery method will fallback to the next option

  • Static cnMaestro URL
  • Option 43
  • Option 15
  • Cloud.cambiumnetworks.com

3) DHCP Configuration

 3.1 Linux DHCP Options (ISC-DHCP-Server)

A DHCP Server can be used to configure the IP Address, Gateway, and DNS servers for Cambium devices. If you administer the DHCP Server, you can also configure DHCP Options that will tell the devices how to access the cnMaestro (so the URL doesn’t need to be set on each device). Cambium devices support DHCP Options 43 and 15 for setting the cnMaestro On-Premises URL.

 Using DHCP Option 43

 

DHCP Option 43 returns the cnMaestro On-Premises URL as a Vendor-Specific Option. DHCP Option 43 is returned in tandem with DHCP Option 60 (the Vendor Class Identifier, or VCI). The VCI for the individual Cambium products is listed below.

 

Product

VCI (DHCP Option 60)

cnPilot R200 P

Cambium-cnPilot R200P

cnPilot R201P

Cambium-cnPilot R201P

cnPilot R200

Cambium-cnPilot R200

cnPilot R201

Cambium-cnPilot R201

cnPilot E Series

Cambium-WiFi-AP

All ePMP Devices

Cambium

ePMP 1000 Hotspot

Cambium-WiFi-AP

PMP 450 AP

Cambium PMP 450 AP

PMP 450 SM

Cambium PMP 450 SM

PMP 450i AP

Cambium PMP 450i AP

PMP 450i SM

Cambium PMP 450i SM

PMP 430 SM

Cambium PMP 430 SM

PTP 450 BHM

Cambium PTP 450 BHM

PTP 450 BHS

Cambium PTP 450 BHS

PTP 450i BHM

Cambium PTP 450i BHM

PTP 450i BHS

Cambium PTP 450i BHS

PMP 450m AP

Cambium PMP 450m AP

cnPilot R190V

Cambium-cnPilot R190V

cnPilot R190W

Cambium-cnPilot R190W

cnPilot R195W

Cambium-cnPilot R195W

Typically, Option 43 will be the preferred mechanism to configure  the cnMaestro URL. Example configuration for the ISC DHCP Server is presented below (from the /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf file).

option option-43 code 43 = string;

# ePMP Devices

class "Cambium" {

    match if option vendor-class-identifier = "Cambium";

    # DHCP server MUST return the device’s Vendor Class back, in the offer.

    option vendor-class-identifier "Cambium";

    # cnMaestro On-Premises IP is 192.168.0.100

    option option-43 "https://192.168.0.100";

}

# WiFi Devices           

class "Cambium-WiFi-AP" {

    match if option vendor-class-identifier = "Cambium-WiFi-AP";

    option vendor-class-identifier "Cambium-WiFi-AP";

    option option-43 "https://192.168.0.100";

}

# cnPilot R200P Devices              

class "Cambium-cnPilot R200P" {

    match if option vendor-class-identifier = "Cambium-cnPilot R200P";

    option vendor-class-identifier "Cambium-cnPilot R200P";

    option option-43 "https://192.168.0.100";

}

# cnPilot R201P Devices              

class "Cambium-cnPilot R201P" {

    match if option vendor-class-identifier = "Cambium-cnPilot R201P";

    option vendor-class-identifier "Cambium-cnPilot R201P";

    option option-43 "https://192.168.0.100";

}

# PMP Devices              

class "Cambium PMP 450 AP" {

    match if option vendor-class-identifier = "Cambium PMP 450 AP";

    option vendor-class-identifier "Cambium PMP 450 AP";

    option option-43 "https://192.168.0.100";

}

 

Using DHCP Option 15

 

DHCP Option 15 allows the device to derive the cnMaestro URL from the domain name. For example, if the domain name in DHCP Option 15 is “mycompany.com”, then the device will try to access the cnMaestro server at “cnmaestro.mycompany.com” (essentially the string “cnmaestro” is prepended to the domain). The domain itself, and the IP address of cnMaestro, must be configured in the DNS server for this to work correctly.

 

Sample configuration for the ISC DHCP Server is presented below (from the /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf file).

 

option domain-name "mycompany.com";

Note :- User needs to map the cnmaestro.mycompany.com to the proper NOCSERVERIPADDRESS in the DNS server for on boarding to work properly

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