Users Guide

Dell PowerConnect W-Series ArubaOS 6.1 | User Guide Secure Enterprise Mesh | 251
Optionally, you can configure the following wired AP profile settings:
ap wired-ap-profile <profile>
trusted
Extending the Life of a Mesh Network
To prevent your mesh network from going down if you experience a controller failure, modify the following
settings in the AP system profile(s) used by mesh nodes to maintain the mesh network until the controller is
available:
 Maximum request retries—Maximum number of times to retry AP-generated requests. The default is 10
times. If you must modify this setting, Dell recommends a value of 10,000.
 Bootstrap threshold—Number of consecutive missed heartbeats before the AP rebootstraps. (Heartbeats are
sent once per second.) The default is 9 missed heartbeats. If you must modify this setting, Dell recommends a
value of 5,000.
When the controller comes back online, the affected mesh nodes (mesh portals and mesh points) will
rebootstrap; however, the mesh link is not affected and will continue to be up.
In the WebUI
Use the following procedure to modify the AP system profile via the WebUI.
1. Navigate to the Configuration > Wireless > AP Configuration > AP Group window.
2. Click the Edit button by the AP group with the AP system profile you want to edit.
3. Under Profiles list, expand the AP menu, then select AP system profile. The settings for the currently selected
AP system profile appear in the Profile Details window pane.
4. Make the following changes in the Profile Details window pane.
a. Change the Maximum Request Retries to 10000.
b. Change the Bootstrap threshold to 5000.
5. Click Apply.
In the CLI
To modify the AP system profile via the command-line interface, access the CLI in config mode and issue the
following commands:
ap system-profile <profile>
max-request-retries 10000
bootstrap-threshold 5000
Provisioning Mesh Nodes
Provisioning mesh nodes is similar to thin APs; however, there are some key differences. Thin APs establish a
channel to the controller from which they receive the configuration for each radio interface. Mesh nodes, in
contrast, get their radio interfaces up and running before making contact with the controller. This requires a
minimum set of parameters from the AP group and mesh cluster that enables the mesh node to discover a
neighbor to create a mesh link and subsequent channel with the controller. To do this, you must first configure
mesh cluster profiles for each mesh node prior to deployment. See “Mesh Radio Profiles” for more information.
NOTE: Dell recommends the default maximum request retries and bootstrap threshold settings for most mesh networks; however,
if you must keep your mesh network alive, you can modify the settings as described in this section. The modified settings are not
applicable if mesh portals are directly connected to the controller.