Aruba ESP Migration Introduction

Aruba OS 10 is an enterprise-grade, cloud-native wireless operating system that supports a multitude of overlay and underlay designs and provides maximum flexibility.

Aruba Central is a data-rich, cloud platform that delivers network management services and tools for wireless, wired, and policy infrastructure. Applications running on Central take advantage of cloud-scale, artificial intelligence capabilities, which provide best practice guidance and deep analytics throughout the operational lifecycle of the network.

Migrating to an AOS 10 campus from previous versions is a straightforward process, but it does require full advance consideration of the differences among the various deployment models supported on Aruba solutions over the years.

Table of contents

• Aruba ESP Migration Introduction
  • Purpose of This Guide
    • Audience
    • Customer Use Cases
      • Terminology Change:
    • Key Terms
      • AOS 6 to AOS 10
        • Hardware
        • Software Configuration
      • IAP to AOS 10
        • Hardware
        • Software Configuration
      • AOS 8 to AOS 10
        • Hardware
        • Software Configuration

Purpose of This Guide

This migration guide presents important requirements and considerations to be reviewed before creating a plan to upgrade from AOS 6, AOS 8, or Instant to AOS 10. The guide describes a single system that integrates access points (APs), gateways, access switches, aggregation switches, core switches, and network management.

Each section contains a brief refresher of the outgoing Aruba platform, followed by considerations for deploying and supporting a new AOS 10 architecture that is easy to replicate at different sites.

Example reference designs illustrating the hardware, software, and underlay infrastructure requirements for each solution type are provided to aid understanding the steps needed to migrate the currently deployed network.

Audience

This guide is written for IT professionals who need to migrate Aruba wireless solutions to AOS 10 from prior solution versions. These IT professionals may serve in a variety of roles:

• Systems engineers who need a standard set of procedures for upgrading Aruba solutions

• Project managers who create statements of work (SOWs) for Aruba implementations

• Aruba partners who sell technology or create implementation documentation.

Customer Use Cases

Since its introduction, the Aruba OS platform has offered customers a wide range of topology and configuration options. Deployments could be as simple as installing a standalone Conductor controller, APs, and data traffic on the same VLAN and subnet. Or, they could encompass fully redundant Conductor-Member topologies with NAT and DHCP services running on the controllers or elsewhere in the network.

This guide provides instructions and considerations for the following tasks:

• Migrating an AOS 6 controller and Campus APs monitored by AirWave.
• Migrating an AOS 8 controller with Campus APs managed by a Mobility Conductor and monitored by AirWave.
• Migrating an IAP cluster monitored and managed by AirWave.

Terminology Change:

This guide uses the following language as defined in HPE’s Terminology Change :

Key Terms

AOS 6 to AOS 10

Use this list for reference when planning a migration from AOS 6 to AOS 10.

Hardware

• Appliances - The following terms are used:
  • AOS 6: Mobility Controller, Conductor, and Member
  • AOS 10: Gateway and Gateway Cluster
• AP Modes - The following terms are used:
  • AOS 6: Campus AP (CAP) refers to controller-based, and Instant AP (IAP) refers to controller-less.
  • AOS 10: Tunnel Mode refers to gateway-based, and Bridge Mode refers to AP-only (no gateway required).

Software Configuration

• AAA - RADIUS
• ADP - AP and controller discovery
• WLAN and Radio Management - ARM, Radio Profiles, Transmit Rates, ClientMatch, Channel widths
• Redundancy - Failover and High Availability.

IAP to AOS 10

Use this list for reference when planning a migration from IAP to AOS 10.

Hardware

• Access Points - Instant AP (IAP), Campus AP (CAP)
• Virtual Controller - VC running on the elected Conductor of an IAP cluster.

Software Configuration

• AAA - RADIUS, DRP
• WLAN and Radio Management - ARM, Radio Profiles, Transmit Rates, ClientMatch, Channel widths
• Redundancy - Primary and Secondary Conductor AP.

AOS 8 to AOS 10

Use this list for reference when planning an upgrade from AOS 8 to AOS 10.

Hardware

• Appliances - The following terms are used:
  • AOS 8: Mobility Controller (MC) and Mobility Conductor
  • AOS 10: Gateway and Gateway Cluster.
• AP Modes - The following terms are used:
  • AOS 8: Campus AP (CAP) refers to controller-based, and Instant AP (IAP) refers to controller-less.
  • AOS 10: Tunnel Mode refers to gateway-based, and Bridge Mode refers to AP-only (no gateway required).

Software Configuration

• AAA - RADIUS, CoA
• ADP - AP and controller discovery
• WLAN and Radio Management - AirMatch, ARM, Radio Profiles, Transmit Rates, ClientMatch, Channel widths
• Redundancy - Failover, High Availability, Clustering.

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