Aruba AP to IAP

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mimino

Active Member
Nov 2, 2018
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Yeah, this issue has nothing to do with the conversion.

The "SAPD: Reboot after image upgrade failed" may be due to various factors, from incorrect country code config on the controller, to firewall issues, VLAN misconfiguration, etc.

Did you try AP factory reset?
Did you try to run AP and VMC on different subnets?
Perhaps don't rely on ADP and set your master statically to 192.168.20.16?

Don't know what else to suggest besides googling and perhaps asking aruba community.
EDIT: Actually, the controller logs might be more helpful.
 

mahar

New Member
Mar 14, 2017
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I did all the above mentioned,I have a working ap 225 on the same controller. It updated from the 6.4-8.6 code no problems. I have 2 ap 325 giving me this issue.
 

cheezehead

Active Member
Sep 23, 2012
723
175
43
Midwest, US
I don't think this will work. You can't flash ArubaInstant if you want to convert from the controller because AP won't join the controller if you do that.
Your controller must be running 8.6 and it will automatically update the AP and provision it. Only after that you can do the 'ap convert'.

You can do that from the MC, but you still need a controller, and they both must be 8.6. You can't terminate the AP on MC (see my comment above).
With the newer code there is only one image per platform...different model AP's still have different firmware. The MC is still needed to load the region information (I believe) onto the unit not accessible normally or via apboot.
 

mimino

Active Member
Nov 2, 2018
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With the newer code there is only one image per platform...different model AP's still have different firmware. The MC is still needed to load the region information (I believe) onto the unit not accessible normally or via apboot.
That's the UAP you're taking about? I don't think ap-325 was shipped with one, from all I know series 5xx are UAPs. And flashing instant image won't change that. I might be wrong though.

Controller is absolutely required to set the region.
 

cheezehead

Active Member
Sep 23, 2012
723
175
43
Midwest, US
That's the UAP you're taking about? I don't think ap-325 was shipped with one, from all I know series 5xx are UAPs. And flashing instant image won't change that. I might be wrong though.

Controller is absolutely required to set the region.
That's the UAP you're taking about? I don't think ap-325 was shipped with one, from all I know series 5xx are UAPs. And flashing instant image won't change that. I might be wrong though.

Controller is absolutely required to set the region.
With wiping the OS, flashing alone does partially convert it to instant but without the region code it will only boot once.
 

mimino

Active Member
Nov 2, 2018
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With wiping the OS, flashing alone does partially convert it to instant but without the region code it will only boot once.
We've established that long ago. Are you saying it's possible to flash Instant and convert to managed without the AP reboot and have it join the controller? I wouldn't think so, but I have not tried that. Perhaps @mahar will let us know if he decides to give it a shot.
 

j_h_o

Active Member
Apr 21, 2015
644
179
43
California, US
Ooh. Good to see progress here. I'll have to catch up. I'm hoping to get some time tomorrow.

Once my AP was flashed to instant, it was stuck as you said. How do I recover it back to non-instant firmware so I can add/join it to my controller?

And you got an eval license of VMC 8.6?
 

mimino

Active Member
Nov 2, 2018
189
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Ooh. Good to see progress here. I'll have to catch up. I'm hoping to get some time tomorrow.

Once my AP was flashed to instant, it was stuck as you said. How do I recover it back to non-instant firmware so I can add/join it to my controller?

And you got an eval license of VMC 8.6?
Just do factory reset to get back to your old firmware.
Get the VMC eval license here (requires HPE passport).
 

j_h_o

Active Member
Apr 21, 2015
644
179
43
California, US
Factory reset in apboot doesn't restore anything. Can I get it to reimage from a controller, using the "ap" (not iap) firmware?
 

mimino

Active Member
Nov 2, 2018
189
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Controller will "reimage" it automatically, providing you can get it to join the controller.

What's the osinfo output look like in apboot? Did you try the reset button instead? Did you flash both partitions for some reason or one still contains the old image?
 

Utking

New Member
Nov 12, 2016
25
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How did you activate the license mimino? I got an email with the license ID, but what to do after that? :)

Thanks!
 

mimino

Active Member
Nov 2, 2018
189
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How did you activate the license mimino? I got an email with the license ID, but what to do after that? :)

Thanks!
Go to HPE portal (My Networking), My Licenses -> Register Licenses and follow instructions.
 

Utking

New Member
Nov 12, 2016
25
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Go to HPE portal (My Networking), My Licenses -> Register Licenses and follow instructions.
I did, but got told to go to asp.arubanetworks.com to register it. And when i go there there isn't any way to register it :S
Can you do it without having to go asp.aruba?

Thanks!
 

mimino

Active Member
Nov 2, 2018
189
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I did, but got told to go to asp.arubanetworks.com to register it. And when i go there there isn't any way to register it :S
Can you do it without having to go asp.aruba?

Thanks!
Well, HPE and Aruba managed to make quite a mess out of this. Registering licenses used to work on HPE site but appears to no longer work unfortunately. Let's hope the announced Aruba ASP 3.1 will bring it back, it should roll out on Sept 19th.

Alternatively you can contact HPE and ask them for help. I asked for VMC download (having VMC trial license generated) and they had Aruba provide me with the download link for it, even though Aruba requires active contract for software download. Might be worth a shot.
 
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pnam2kx

New Member
Sep 26, 2020
7
8
3
The process below is converting AP to IAP only with console cable and no controller needed.
Setup TFTP server with firmware ready and connect to the AP with Putty/Serial (Console cable)
Stop the apboot by any key when see this message "Hit <Enter> to stop autoboot:3"
  1. proginv system ccode CCODE-RW-de6fdb363ff04c13ee261ec04fbb01bdd482d1cd
    (Important, to write the country code. When converting to IAP the IAP must have country code to operate. Not sure for US-AP as never tried so because it is tied with US regulation, but for the code try to change only RW to US and keep everything else same. Please try and let us know, if not, need to find out the US with the hashcode accordingly)
  2. invent -w
    (Important, converting AP into IAP)
  3. dhcp
    (Get the ip address for the AP before upgrading os through TFTP.
    If could not get the ip from DHCP server, use this command to set static ip for the ap "setenv ipaddr 192.168.1.2")
  4. setenv serverip 192.168.88.177
    (Set TFTP server ip before flashing the firmware OS)
  5. upgrade os 0 ArubaInstant_xxx_6.x.x.x-4.x.x.x_5xxxx
  6. upgrade os 1 ArubaInstant_xxx_6.x.x.x-4.x.x.x_5xxxx
    (there are 2 boot image on the ap, just to make sure it will not rollback to AP-OS)
  7. factory_reset
    (optional, clean up the static ip that set before)
  8. saveenv
    (IMPORTANT, save the configuration so the "turn off mobility" will not appear)
  9. reset

You can replace the hashcode to change the regulation between RW-US and based on your AP S/N by the following:
Using SHA1 encode the string "US-AP S/N" or "RW-AP S/N" respectively (for exp: US-ABC12345)
After that replace the hashcode accordingly from the converting command.
 
Last edited:

dimammx

New Member
Feb 27, 2020
2
1
3
The process below is converting AP to IAP only with console cable and no controller needed.
Setup TFTP server with firmware ready and connect to the AP with Putty/Serial (Console cable)
Stop the apboot by any key when see this message "Hit <Enter> to stop autoboot:3"
  1. proginv system ccode CCODE-RW-de6fdb363ff04c13ee261ec04fbb01bdd482d1cd
    (Important, to write the country code. When converting to IAP the IAP must have country code to operate. Not sure for US-AP as never tried so because it is tied with US regulation, but for the code try to change only RW to US and keep everything else same. Please try and let us know, if not, need to find out the US with the hashcode accordingly)
  2. invent -w
    (Important, converting AP into IAP)
  3. dhcp
    (Get the ip address for the AP before upgrading os through TFTP.
    If could not get the ip from DHCP server, use this command to set static ip for the ap "setenv ipaddr 192.168.1.2")
  4. setenv serverip 192.168.88.177
    (Set TFTP server ip before flashing the firmware OS)
  5. upgrade os 0 ArubaInstant_xxx_6.x.x.x-4.x.x.x_5xxxx
  6. upgrade os 1 ArubaInstant_xxx_6.x.x.x-4.x.x.x_5xxxx
    (there are 2 boot image on the ap, just to make sure it will not rollback to AP-OS)
  7. factory_reset
    (optional, clean up the static ip that set before)
  8. saveenv
    (IMPORTANT, save the configuration so the "turn off mobility" will not appear)
  9. reset
Anyone tried it yet ?
Sounds like only 3 things are needed ap-325, instant firmware image (is active support needed to download ?)and console cable? Is there a minimal version required for AP before flashing?
Looking at getting ap-325 from ebay.
 

mahar

New Member
Mar 14, 2017
11
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I got a ap-225 working with the above method, I also tried a ap-325 not luck. Here is the read out if anyone can help.
 

pnam2kx

New Member
Sep 26, 2020
7
8
3
I got a ap-225 working with the above method, I also tried a ap-325 not luck. Here is the read out if anyone can help.
There were 2 version of 325:
  • One running with physical controller has only 256mb ram
  • Others IAP or later AP version has full 512mb ram
The 256mb ram version does not have enough ram to run os8, so better off with os6 or maximum can run os8.3.
 

mahar

New Member
Mar 14, 2017
11
0
1
40
There were 2 version of 325:
  • One running with physical controller has only 256mb ram
  • Others IAP or later AP version has full 512mb ram
The 256mb ram version does not have enough ram to run os8, so better off with os6 or maximum can run os8.3.
Thanks for the explanation.
 

theminer3746

New Member
Oct 19, 2020
6
0
1
There were 2 version of 325:
  • One running with physical controller has only 256mb ram
  • Others IAP or later AP version has full 512mb ram
The 256mb ram version does not have enough ram to run os8, so better off with os6 or maximum can run os8.3.
How do I know which one is it when buying it used for homelab?
As far as I know, there's no mention of that in the specsheet.