Cisco Catalyst Wireless 9166I Series Wi-Fi 6E Access Point Hardware Installation Guide

The Controller Discovery Process

To support the CW9166I AP, the controller must be running Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.9.1 or a later release. For more information, see the Cisco Catalyst 9166 Series Access Points Data Sheet.

It is not possible to edit or query an access point using the controller CLI if the name of the access point contains a space.
Make sure that the controller is set to the current time. If the controller is set to a time that has already occurred, the access point might not join the controller because its certificate may not be valid for that time.

The AP must discover the controller before it can become an active part of the network. The AP supports the following controller discovery processes:

Locally stored controller IP address discovery: If the access point was previously joined to a controller, the IP addresses of the primary, secondary, and tertiary controllers are stored in the access point's nonvolatile memory. This process of storing controller IP addresses on an access point for later deployment is called priming the access point. For more information about priming, see Performing a Preinstallation Configuration (Optional).
DHCP server discovery: This feature uses DHCP Option 43 to provide controller IP addresses to the access points. Cisco switches support a DHCP server option that is typically used for this capability. For more information about DHCP Option 43, see Configuring DHCP Option 43.
DNS discovery: The access point can discover controllers through your domain name server (DNS). For the access point to do so, you must configure your DNS to return controller IP addresses in response to CISCO-CAPWAP-CONTROLLER.localdomain, where localdomain is the access point domain name. Configuring the CISCO-CAPWAP-CONTROLLER provides backwards compatibility in an existing customer deployment. When an access point receives an IP address and DNS information from a DHCP server, it contacts the DNS to resolve CISCO-CAPWAP-CONTROLLER.localdomain. When the DNS sends a list of controller IP addresses, the access point sends discovery requests to these controllers.

After you mount the access point, follow these steps to deploy it on the wireless network:

Step 1

Connect and power up the access point.

Step 2

Observe the access point LED.

For LED status descriptions, see Checking the Access Point LEDs.

When you power up the access point, it begins a power-up sequence that you can verify by observing the access point LED. If the power-up sequence is successful, the discovery and join process begins. During this process, the LED blinks green, red, and off sequentially. When the access point joins a controller, the LED is green if no clients are associated, or blue if one or more clients are associated.
If the LED is not on, it is most likely that the access point is not receiving power.
If the LED blinks sequentially for more than five minutes, the access point is unable to find its primary, secondary, and tertiary controller. Check the connection between the access point and the Cisco Wireless Controller, and be sure that the access point and the Cisco Wireless Controller are either on the same subnet or that the access point has a route back to its primary, secondary, and tertiary Cisco Wireless Controller. Also, if the access point is not on the same subnet as the Cisco Wireless Controller, ensure that there is a properly configured DHCP server on the same subnet as the access point.

The location of the access point status LED is shown in Connectors and Ports on the AP.

Note

Regarding LED status colors, it is expected that there will be small variations in color intensity and hue from unit to unit. This is within the normal range of the LED manufacturer’s specifications and is not a defect. However, the intensity of the LED can be changed through the controller.
When the AP is in Meraki management mode, the LED status indicators convey the status differently from the Cisco APs. For more information, see the Meraki CW9166 Installation Guide.

The access point status LED indicates various conditions, which are described in the following table.

Table 1. LED Status Indications
Message Type	LED State	Message Meaning
Association status	Green	Normal operating condition, but no wireless client is associated
Association status	Blue	Normal operating condition, at least one wireless client is associated
Boot loader status	Green	Executing boot loader
Boot loader error	Blinking Green	Boot loader signing verification failure
Operating status	Blinking Blue	Software upgrade in progress
Operating status	Alternating between Green and Red	Discovery or join process in progress
Access point operating system errors	Cycling through Red-Off-Green-Off-Blue-Off	General warning; insufficient inline power