Why Migrate Connector 2.x to Connector 3

Here are the reasons why you must consider migrating from Connector 2.x to Connector 3:

Why Migrate to Connector 3

Improvement

Description

Improved Architecture:

  • Uses a service-oriented architecture to create a modular Connector.

  • Each service is an independent module featuring lifecycle management, business logic, data channels, as well as command-line and user interfaces.

  • Simplifies management and development of services both in cloud environments and within the connector itself.
Enhanced Features:

Offers a comprehensive suite of advanced functionalities.

High Availability:

  • Supports Virtual IP-based high availability configurations.

  • Facilitates seamless IoT and Cisco FastLocate operations with automated failover mechanisms.
Advanced Troubleshooting:

Provides detailed, step-by-step troubleshooting tools to quickly identify and resolve connectivity issues.
Improved Monitoring:

  • Delivers extensive metrics on system and service performance, including CPU usage, memory, connectivity, and traffic.

  • Enables monitoring through the Cisco Spaces dashboard for real-time insights.
Efficient Upgrades:

Enables streamlined and uninterrupted upgrades, including service updates and security patches, all managed through the Cisco Spaces dashboard.

Features Support in Connector 2.x and Connector 3

Connector 3 vs Connector 2.x Feature Matrix

Features

Connector 2.x

Connector 3

Location service

YES

YES

IoT Service (Wireless) and IoT Service (Wired)

YES

YES

OpenRoaming

YES

YES

Cisco Spaces Apps

YES

YES

Cisco FastLocate

YES

YES

IPv4

YES

YES

IPv6

NO

YES

AMI support

YES

YES

Azure support

NO

YES

Hyper-V support

YES

 YES

Local Firehose Service

YES

YES

External AAA support

YES

YES

Partner App Integration OR App Support

YES

YES

Dual Interface

YES

YES

High Availability

YES

YES

Advanced High Availability (IoT HA)

NO

YES

Before You Begin

Download and configure Connector Release 3. Refer to the Configuration section of the Cisco Spaces: Connector Configuration Guide. Refer to the release note to find the latest installation. Release Notes for Cisco Spaces: Connector

Once you install the Connector 3 instance, ensure that the services relevant to your specific use case are enabled, ACTIVE, and updated to the latest version.

Services to Install

Service

Instructions

IoT Service (Wired)

Configure IoT service (wired)

IoT Service (Wireless)

Configure IoT service (wireless)

Hotspot Service

Configure Hotspot Service
Local Firehose Service

Configure Local Firehose Service
 Note

Make sure that the x86-64-v2 CPU is available for Enterprise Linux 9. Also, ensure that the x86-64-v2 CPU supports the following flags: SSE3, SSE4_1, SSE4_2, and SSSE3.

Migrate and Verify

Migrate Connector 2.x to Connector 3 from Cisco Spaces Dashboard

This procedure shows you how to migrate your existing Cisco Spaces: Connector 2.x configurations to Connector 3, from the Cisco Spaces dashboard.

Step 1

Log in to Cisco Spaces.

 Note

The Cisco Spaces URL is region-dependent.

Step 2

In the Cisco Spaces dashboard, choose Setup > Wireless Networks.

Step 3

From the 2. Configure the Spaces Connector area, click View Connectors.

View Connectors

Step 4

From the list of connectors displayed, click the connector 3 you installed. Click Add Controller.

Choose Connector 3

Step 5

From the Add Controller tab of this specific connector, click Choose controllers from another connector. From the Choose connector drop-down list displayed, choose the connector 2.x that you want to migrate configurations from.

Move Wireless Controllers from Connector 2.x

Step 6

To migrate hotspot configurations from the connector 2.x, check the Migrate hotspot configurations from the selected connector check box.

Migrate Hotspot Configurations from Connector 2.x
 Note

The following points are related to the migration of Hotspot Service:

  • Cisco Spaces sets up and enables the same hotspot configuration on the new Connector 3 instance as on the Connector 2.x.

  • Cisco Spaces does not automatically route traffic from the wireless controller to the Connector 3 onstance.

  • Users must manually update their wireless controller configurations to direct traffic to the Connector 3 instance.To migrate the wireless controller configuration to the Connector3 Instance, see Configure Cisco AireOS or Cisco Catalyst Network.

  • After setting up and confirming the new configuration, users must remove any references to Connector 2 to disable the previous Hotspot or OpenRoaming setup.

  • Any existing hotspot settings on Connector 3 are overwritten when migrating from Connector 2.x to Connector 3.

Verify the Migration Status of Connector 3

In the Setup > Connector window, observe the status of migration. Wait for the value of the Status cell of the Connector 3 to change from Down to Up.

Observe Status of Connector 3

Verify Wireless Controllers, APs, and Location Service

Verify if the wireless controller is in Active state. Then, verify if the number of APs is the same as the Connector 2.x. This automatically verifies the Location service as well.
Status of Wireless Controller
 Note

The time it takes for the controller to reach an ACTIVE state may differ based on the number of services chosen and the size of the deployment; however, we recommend that you wait a few minutes for this process to be completed.

Verify IoT Service (Wireless)

If you had enabled the IoT service (wireless) for your use case, verify if the service is migrated.

Step 1

In the Cisco Spaces dashboard, choose Setup > Wireless Networks > 2. Configure the Spaces Connector area > View Connectors.

Step 2

From the list of Connectors displayed, choose the newly migrated connector 3.

Step 3

From the list of services, click the gear icon on the IoT Wireless row and from the pop-up menu, choose IoT Stream.

Choose IoT Stream

Step 4

In the Manage IoT Streams window, check the Operation Log and ensure that the status is Successfully set config.

Status of IoT Service (Wireless)

Verify Hotspot Service

If you had enabled the Hotspot service for your use case, verify if the service is migrated.

Step 1

In the Cisco Spaces dashboard, choose OpenRoaming. In the OpenRoaming left-navigation pane, choose Setup.

Step 2

In the Hotspot-enabled Connectors area, choose Cisco Wireless Controllers.

Step 3

Verify if the new Connector 3 instance is in the ACTIVE state.

Status of Hotspot Service

Configure Local Firehose

Step 1

In the Cisco Spaces dashboard left navigation pane, click Setup and choose Wireless Networks.

Step 2

In the Connect your wireless network window that is displayed, go to the Step 2 area and click View Connectors.

View Connectors

Step 3

In the connector details window that is displayed, choose a connector and click Add Services.

Add Service

Step 4

In the Add Service window that is displayed, choose local-firehose and click Add.

 Note

To receive events such as Device_RSSI for Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)-based tags and Device_BLE events for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tags, ensure that location and iot-services services are also added.

You can see that the number of services enabled has increased.

Step 5

Login to the Connector GUI. Scroll downwards to the local-firehose tile. Verify if the running status is Up.

local-firehose

What's next

  • Stanley customers using the Aeroscout Location Engine (ALE) should update the IP address of the Connector 2.x instance to the IP address of the Connector 3 instance.

  • All other customers must update their applications with the new Connector 3 instance IP address.

  • If the Connector3 is configured in High Availability VIP mode, both the primary and secondary Connector 3 instance IPs must be utilized in the ALE.

  • The API key for the local firehose remains unchanged and is the same as the one generated for Connector 2.

Last Steps

Once migrations is completed, and verified, remove Connector 2.x instances from the Cisco Spaces dashboard.

Delete Connector 2.x Instance

For Your Reference

Configure IoT Service (Wireless)

Step 1

In the Cisco Spaces dashboard left navigation pane, click Setup and choose Wireless Networks.

Step 2

In the Connect your wireless network window that is displayed, go to the Step 2 area and click View Connectors.

View Connectors

Step 3

In the connector details window that is displayed, click Add Services.

Add Services

Step 4

In the Add Services window that is displayed, choose IoT Wireless and click Add.

 Note

service-manager is chosen by default.

Connector Details
In the Connector Details window, you can see that the number of services that are enabled has increased.

Configure IoT Service (Wired)

Step 1

From the Cisco Spaces dashboard left-navigation pane, click Setup and choose Wired Networks.

Step 2

From the Connect your wireless network window that is displayed, go to the Step 2 area and click View Connectors.

View Connectors

Step 3

Click a connector 3 of your choice.

 Note

You can use the same connector that you used for Cisco Spaces: IoT Service (Wireless).

Step 4

In the connector details window that is displayed, click Add Services.

Add Services

Step 5

In the Add Service window that is displayed, choose IoT Wired and click Add.

Adding a Service
In the Connector Details window, you can see that the IoT Wired service has been added.

Step 6

Click the gear icon near the IoT Wired row.

Gear Icon of IoT Wired

Step 7

(Optional) In the Manage IoT Streams window that is displayed, check if the connector is not already enabled, and if it is not, click Configure to Enable.

Step 8

From the list of switches, click the vertical three-dot icon adjacent to the switch and select Enable Service.

Enable Service
 Note

If you are using the same connector for both wired and wireless IoT services, the connector is already enabled.

Step 9

Enter the SPAN VLAN and the Cisco IOx App details.

  • Destination SPAN VLAN: The VLAN used to send Encapsulated Remote Switched Port Analyzer (ERSPAN) traffic from Power over Ethernet (PoE) nodes to Cisco IOx App. You can use an existing VLAN or create a new one. This VLAN can also be local to the switch.

  • Destination SPAN VLAN IP address: This is the Switched Virtual Interface (SVI) or the IP address of the destination VLAN that can be used to route traffic. If you are using an existing VLAN, you can provide the same IP address. We recommend that you create a new VLAN so that you can keep the ERSPAN traffic local without impacting the existing configuration. Note that this VLAN is used only within the switch for the SPAN traffic.

  • Source SPAN VLAN list: List of VLANs to which the wired devices are connected. The traffic on these VLANs are monitored. If the wired devices are connected to multiple VLANs, enter the VLANs separated by a comma.

  • Monitor SPAN origin IP address: This is the source IP address of the monitor session. This can be from the SPAN VLAN. This can also be the same as the destination VLAN IP address.

  • IoX application Span IP Address

  • Application Cisco Spaces Connector VLAN: This is the VLAN on which the connector is reachable (for management or data). You can configure the Cisco IOx App's second interface to use this VLAN to send traffic to the connector. This VLAN can be the same as the wired PoE node VLAN. The connector must be permitted to accept communications from the Cisco IOx application.

  • DHCP: When enabled, DHCP allocates an IP address from the Application DNA Spaces Connector VLAN to the Cisco IOx App's second interface.

  • IoX application IP address: This is the IP address that you must manually configure for the Cisco IOx App's second interface, and is used to communicate with the Connector. This is not required if you select DHCP.

  • IoX application netmask: This is the IP subnet mask that you must manually configure for the Cisco IOx App's second interface, and is used to communicate with the connector. This is not required if you select DHCP.

  • IoX application gateway address: This is the IP address that you must manually configure for the Cisco IOx App's second interface, and is used to communicate with the connector. This is not required if you select DHCP.

Configure Switch
Configure Switch
Sample Configuration

Step 10

Click Configure.

The configurations are deployed on the switch. The following diagram shows the corresponding CLI commands you can use in place of the GUI configuration.
GUI-Command Line Mapping

Step 11

In the Manage IoT Services window that you are taken to, you can click on a name of the switch to see the list of steps executed on that switch.

Manage IoT Services

Configure Hotspot Service

Step 1

In the Cisco Spaces dashboard left navigation pane, click Setup and choose Wireless Networks.

Step 2

In the Connect your wireless network window that is displayed, go to the Step 2 area and click View Connectors.

View Connectors

Step 3

In the connector details window that is displayed, choose a connector and click Add Services.

Add Service

Step 4

In the Add Service window that is displayed, choose hotspot and click Add.

 Note

service-manager is added by default.

In the Connector Details window, you can see that the number of services enabled has increased.

Configure Local Firehose Service

Step 1

In the Cisco Spaces dashboard left navigation pane, click Setup and choose Wireless Networks.

Step 2

In the Connect your wireless network window that is displayed, go to the Step 2 area and click View Connectors.

View Connectors

Step 3

In the connector details window that is displayed, choose a connector and click Add Services.

Add Service

Step 4

In the Add Service window that is displayed, choose local-firehose and click Add.

 Note

To receive events such as Device_RSSI for Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)-based tags and Device_BLE events for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tags, ensure that location and iot-services services are also added.

You can see that the number of services enabled has increased.

Step 5

Login to the Connector GUI. Scroll downwards to the local-firehose tile. Verify if the running status is Up.

local-firehose

Configure Cisco AireOS or Cisco Catalyst Network

Before you begin

Before you configure the Cisco AireOS or Cisco Catalyst wireless network, you must configure the SSID and AAA policy.

Step 1

In the OpenRoaming window, click Set Up OpenRoaming or choose > Setup.

The OpenRoaming Setup page is displayed.

 Note

If you have completed the OpenRoaming Profile configuration, click Continue OR Setup in the configuration wizard to proceed.

In the Network configuration section, under the AireOS/Catalyst controllers tab, a list of all the Cisco AireOS and Cisco Catalyst series controllers appears with details such as the Controller status and associated Connectors.

Step 2

Under Network configuration > AireOS/Catalyst controllers, in the Action column, click the settings icon corresponding to the controller you want to configure.

The Configure Controller window is displayed.

Step 3

Under Generate Configuration, select the OpenRoaming profile from the drop-down list.

If a non-default policy profile or policy tag is used, you must copy only the Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) server settings and apply it to the wireless policy profile. Ensure that the policy tag uses the WLAN configured for OpenRoaming, and is mapped to the configured wireless policy profile.

Step 4

Paste the selected OpenRoaming profile configuration in the Cisco AireOS or Catalyst controller CLI.

 Note

Only CLI-based configuration is supported.

Step 5

Click Continue.

A Controller configured with profile successfully message is displayed.

Step 6

Choose the controller type between AireOS and Catalyst 9800.

Step 7

In the WLAN ID field, enter a WLAN ID if your existing network is based on a Cisco AireOS Controller. Specify the WLAN name if it is based on a Cisco Catalyst Controller.

Step 8

Click Close.

The OpenRoaming Setup window is displayed.