The MACC configuration management module enables centralized configuration management on the entire wireless network, including the wireless AP configuration and the gateway configuration. The Configuration module provides two types of secondary menus, which respectively correspond to the wireless AP configuration and the gateway configuration.
Several wireless coverage areas usually co-exist in the same organization or on the same floor, and are formed by wireless APs in the organization or on the floor. Each wireless AP has the same function and plays the same role. Generally speaking, the configuration is also the same; therefore, the MACC configures wireless APs by floor or organization.
The Configuration module provides four submenus: Settings, Gateway, Templates, and Logs. Gateway enables the gateway configuration; Settings, Templates, and Logs correspond to the wireless AP configuration.
The following two sections respectively describe Settings and Gateway.
Setting Menu
The MACC configures wireless APs by floor or organization. The configuration by floor or organization is implemented via templates with configuration details. The wireless AP configuration mainly includes configuration template management, configuration validation, and configuration logs display
Templates (Add Template)
Navigate to ‘Configuration > Templates‘, the Templates page provides the add, edit, copy, and share functions.
- On the Templates interface, click on ‘+‘ Add, enter a template name. The AP Templates page appears.
Editing Templates
On the AP Template page, the menu bar on the left displays Wireless, Security, Others, and Command, and the area on the right displays SSID, Radio, Web password, and Blacklist/Whitelist, CWMP, and CLI correspondingly.
The following describes several configuration items.
SSID
User can click the ‘+‘ sign in the upper left corner to add an SSID. In addition, the SSID page further enables you to configure the rate limit and the authentication function.
Parameters on the SSID section are defined as follows.
| S/N | Field | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | WlanID | An SSID matches a WLAN ID one to one. The WLAN ID can be specified only when an SSID is added. |
| 02 | SSID | Enter the SSID name that need to be broadcasted |
| 03 | Encryption Mode | OPEN: indicates that no password needs to be configured WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK : Indicates that a password needs to be configured. WAP2-Enterprise(802.1X) : Need to integrate with external Primary radius and Standby Radius(optional) server with required information (Server Name | Server IP | Authentication Port | Accounting Port and Radius key) |
| 04 | Hidden | Specify whether to hide the SSID, which can be set to Yes or No |
| 05 | Forward Mode | Select a forward mode of a wireless AP. NAT: indicates that an IP address is allocated to a client by an AP. bridge: indicates that an IP address is allocated to a client by an upstream device of an AP. A VLAN ID must be configured when the bridge mode selected. |
| 06 | Auth | Specify whether to enable the authentication function. |
| 07 | Rate limit | Specify whether to enable the rate limit function for a client. When this function is enabled, uplink and downlink rates must be configured |
| 08 | Auth Mode | Select WiFiDog or WiFi via WeChat.. |
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Radio
The Radio section enables you to configure the radio ports of APs by clicking the ‘+ Add Radio‘. As shown below image 16, the Radio page provides the On/Off, Radio, Bandwidth, and Client Count items; and you can navigate to ‘Planning > RF‘ to configure the radio channel power.
Parameters on the Radio page are defined as follows:
| S/N | Field | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | on/off | Specify whether to enable the radio function. When it is set to Off, the SSID is invalid; the corresponding SSID can be used properly only when this function is set to On. |
| 02 | Radio | Select the radio type, which can be configured as 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz, and is only valid to part of APs. |
| 03 | Bandwidth | The smaller the bandwidth is, the farther the wireless signal transmission distance is and the better the penetrability is, which, however, is more vulnerable to interference. |
| 04 | Client Count | Enter the upper limit of associated clients in a frequency band. |
| 05 | Web password | Enter the web login password of an AP. When the password is empty, the MACC does not push the password |
| 06 | Blacklist & Whitelist | Enter blacklisted websites, and websites that can be accessed directly without authentication. Generally, the blacklist and whitelist take effect only after Auth is set to On. The MACC clears the AP blacklist/whitelist when this parameter is empty. |
| 07 | CWMP Keepalive Interval | Enter the AP CWMP keepalive interval. The MACC does not push the CWMP keepalive interval when this parameter is empty. |
| 08 | CLI Command | Enter commands to be pushed to APs. This function allows you to perform some configurations unsupported by MACC via CLI commands. |
| S/N | Field | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 05 | Web password | Enter the web login password of an AP. When the password is empty, the MACC does not push the password |
| 06 | Blacklist & Whitelist | Enter blacklisted websites, and websites that can be accessed directly without authentication. Generally, the blacklist and whitelist take effect only after Auth is set to On. The MACC clears the AP blacklist/whitelist when this parameter is empty. |
| 07 | CWMP Keepalive Interval | Enter the AP CWMP keepalive interval. The MACC does not push the CWMP keepalive interval when this parameter is empty. |
| 08 | CLI Command | Enter commands to be pushed to APs. This function allows you to perform some configurations unsupported by MACC via CLI commands. |
NOTE
Deletion of the radio configurations indicates that the MACC preserves the current configurations.
Copying and Sharing Templates
The configuration template interface provides the Costumed Templates and Share Templates modules.
The Customized Templates module displays templates of the current client, and enables the client to add, copy, share, edit, delete, and apply these templates. Only a template in the Costumed Templates module can be applied.
The Shared Templates module displays templates shared by other clients of the same tenant with the current client, and enables the clients to view and copy these templates.
Each template provides four buttons in the upper right corner, which respectively indicate the copy, share, edit, and delete functions.
NOTE
After a template is copied, the client can edit the added template.
After a template is shared, other clients of the same tenant can view and copy the template in the Shared Templates module.
Only unbound templates can be shared.
Deleting Templates
As shown in below image , click the delete icon to delete templates. Only unbound templates can be deleted.
Applying Configurations
After a template is configured, the MACC applies the template to a Floor or Organization for the template to take effect
The MACC only applies templates to organizations and floors. Each organization or floor can only apply one template; however, one template can be applied to multiple organizations or floors.
User can navigate to ‘MAP CLOUD CENTER > Configuration > Settings‘ to visit the Wireless page. The Wireless page provides Apply, Switch, and Delete functions for a floor or organization to implement the wireless AP configuration management.
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Applying Templates
As shown in Image 17, click the organization or floor that requires template application, and click ‘+’ on the right to open the Select Template page as show below.
Select a corresponding template, and click ‘Save’ in the lower right corner. If the organization or the floor has online APs, the MACC immediately push configurations to the APs.
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Templates Effectiveness Scope
After templates are applied, the configuration scope is compliant with certain rules. When an organization applies a template, it does not mean that organizations or floors under the organization all apply the configurations in the template.
Likewise, when a floor or an organization does not apply a template, it also does not mean that the MACC does not push configurations to the floor or organization.
There is hierarchy between an organization and a floor, which are considered as groups. The MACC configuration follows such a principle:
The MACC searches for groups having a template from the current group to upper-level groups, and
push configurations corresponding to the template to found groups. In this way, if a floor does not apply a template but the parent organization of this floor applies a template, the MACC pushes configurations based on the template of the organization to the floor.
If a floor and its parent organization apply different templates, the MACC configures the floor
based on its own template and does not push configurations of the template applied by the parent organization.
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- Organization A includes Floor 1. Organization A applies Temp 1 but Floor 1 does not. In this case, APs in Organization A and APs on Floor 1 both apply configurations of Temp 1.
- Organization B applies Temp 2 but Floor 2 applies Temp 3. In this case, APs in Organization B apply configurations of Template 2, and APs on Floor 2 apply configurations of Temp 3.
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Pushing Configurations
To simplify operation procedures, after organizations or floors apply templates, the MACC automatically push configurations to APs of the organizations or floors. The MACC pushes configurations mainly in the following situations:
- Template application or switching
- After a floor or an organization applies or switches a template, the APs in the corresponding group synchronize with the configurations of the template.
- For online APs, the MACC immediately pushes the configurations to the APs.
- For offline APs, the MACC also automatically pushes the configurations after the APs go online, to ensure the AP configurations are synchronous with those of the MACC.
- In addition, after removing a template from a group, if an upper-level group of this group applies a template, the MACC pushes configurations of this new template to APs in this group.
- Template update
- After configurations in a template are updated, if the template has been applied to some organizations or floors, the MACC automatically pushes the updated configurations to corresponding APs.
- AP first online
- When an AP goes online for the first time, the MACC pushes configurations of a template of a corresponding group (or a template of an upper-level group) to the AP.
- AP version change
- After the version of an AP changes, the MACC pushes configurations of a template corresponding to the AP’s group (or a template of an upper-level group) to the AP.
- AP group change
- After the group of an AP changes, the MACC pushes configurations of a template corresponding to the new group (or a template of an upper-level group) to the AP.
Checking Configuration Logs
The configuration logs record the information about MACC configuration changes and pushing in three levels. The first level records operation types that cause the configuration change or configuration pushing.
The operation types include: apply templates, update templates, switch templates, and version upgrade. In addition, the first-level logs also record the running status statistics and some parameters.
- User can click the
to check APs involved by the operation type, the below image 21 shows the configuration application statuses: Success, Failure, or Offline.
- User can Click the rightmost action column of the second-level logs to check the push status of each configuration item. The below Image 22 shows an example of full configurations, including the configuration execution status of SSID, Auth, Radio, CWMP Keepalive Interval, and Blacklist & Whitelist.
