Installation Management

Site installations and device deployments at customer premises require extensive coordination between the IT administrators and installation personnel. If there are multiple sites to deploy, businesses may require more time and manual effort to coordinate and manage site installations. The Aruba Installation Management service simplifies and automates site deployments, and helps IT administrators manage site installations with ease.

The Installation Management service includes the following components:

  • Install Manager on Aruba Central portal—Intended for IT administrators who oversee the installation management activities in an organization. Using Install Manager, network administrators can create installer profiles, assign site deployments to installers, and monitor deployment status for each site from a remote location. Aruba Central users can access the Install Manager application from the app selection pane in the UI.
  • Aruba Installer mobile app—Intended for the installation personnel who deploy devices on a site. The Aruba Installer mobile app allows the installers to scan devices and add them to the provisioning network. The Aruba Installer mobile app is available for downloads on Apple® App Store and Google Play Store.

Installation Management and Monitoring

The Install Manager feature in Aruba Central includes the following menu options:

  • Site Installations —Displays a list of sites associated with an Aruba Central account.
  • Installers—Displays a list of installers added using the Install Manager application.

Installation Management Workflow

The following figure illustrates the installation management workflow for the Install Manager users:

Figure 1  Installation Management Workflow

Installer Workflow

Installers are technicians who are assigned the task of visiting a physical site or location, and install devices. The Aruba Installer mobile app enables installers to scan devices and report the task status to IT administrators.

The following figure illustrates the installation workflow for the Aruba Installer mobile app users:

Figure 2  Installer Workflow

The steps required for completing a site installation procedure are listed in the following table:

Table 1: Installation Management

Administrator Workflow

Installer Workflow

 

Creating a Site

To create a site in Aruba Central, complete the steps described in Creating a Site.

Assigning Groups to a Site

To assign groups to a site, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Aruba Central app, set the filter to Global.
  2. Under Maintain, click Organization.

    By default, the Network Structure tab is displayed.

  3. Click the Install Manager tile.

    The Install Manager page is displayed.

  4. On the Site Installations page, click the expand arrow of the site you want to edit.
  5. Select the group for each device category.
  6. Click Save.

You can also add installation notes for sites. The installers can view the notes by clicking the info icon in the Installer mobile app.

Adding an Installer and Assigning Sites for Installation

Administrators can add installers and assign installation tasks to these installers through the Aruba Installer mobile app.

To add an installer profile in Aruba Central, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Aruba Central app, set the filter to Global.
  2. Under Maintain, click Organization.

    By default, the Network Structure tab is displayed.

  3. Click the Install Manager tile.

    The Install Manager page is displayed.

  4. In the Install Manager page, click Installers.

    The Installers page is displayed.

  5. Click + Add Installer.

    The Add Installer page is displayed.

  6. Enter the name and phone number of the technician to whom you want to assign a site for installing the devices.
  7. Specify the time until which the installer's profile is valid. The technicians will be automatically logged out of the Aruba Installer app on the specified date.
  8. On the Add Installer page, you can do the following:
    • Click the + icon, to select a site from the list and click Assign to assign the site.
    • Select the site(s) in the Sites Assigned table and click Delete Site(s) to remove the site(s).
  9. Click Save. An SMS notification is sent to the installer's mobile device.

    The site(s) assigned are displayed in the Sites Assigned table.

To start the installation, the installer must download the Aruba Installer mobile app and sign up as an installer. The administrators can verify the installer registration status on the Installers dashboard in the Install Manager application in Aruba Central. The Installers dashboard displays the following status indicators for installers.

  • Invited—The installer is added and an SMS notification is sent to the installer.
  • Registered—The installer has registered using the Aruba Installer mobile app.
  • Verified—The installer has accepted the installation invite and successfully completed the registration with the Aruba Installer app.

Downloading the Installer Mobile App

When an installer is added in the Install Manager application in Aruba Central, an SMS notification is sent to the installer's mobile device. The SMS notification includes the links for downloading the Aruba Installer mobile app.

If you are an installer and have received the SMS notification with the Aruba Installer mobile app details, download the Aruba Installer mobile app. The Aruba Installer mobile app is available in App Store for iOS devices and Google Play Store for Android devices.

Registering as an Aruba Installer

To register as an installer, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Aruba Installer app.
  2. In the Sign Up tab, enter your country code and mobile number.
  3. Click the right arrow. Choose a cluster screen is displayed.
  4. Select a cluster.
  5. Enter the verification code received through the text message in the Verification code field.

    To resend the verification code click Resend code.

  6. Click the right arrow. If the code is valid, the installer is registered.

Installing Devices on a Site

To install a device on a site, complete the following steps:

  1. Sign in to Aruba Installer mobile app.
  2. View the sites assigned for deployment.
  3. Select the site that you want to deploy.
  4. Note the devices assigned for the site and installation notes if any.
  5. Click Scan Device. Scan the serial number of the device. The Aruba Installer app verifies if the device is onboarded to Aruba Central device inventory and is assigned a valid subscription.
  6. Power on the device and connect it to the Internet. The device automatically connects to Aruba Central and is provisioned in the group to which it is already assigned.
  7. Verify the installation status and report errors if any.

Before scanning a device, ensure that the device is not connected to Aruba Central. If the device is already connected to Aruba Central, Install Manager will not assign it to a group.

Monitoring and Troubleshooting Installation Issues

To monitor the installation progress, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Aruba Central app, set the filter to Global.
  2. Under Maintain, click Organization.

    By default, the Network Structure tab is displayed.

  3. Click the Install Manager tile.

    The Install Manager page is displayed.

  4. Click the Site Installations tab.
  5. The Site Installations tab shows the following sub tabs for the status of a site installation:
    • Pending—Indicates that the device installations in pending.
    • In Progress—Indicates that the device installation is in progress.
    • Completed—Indicates that the device installation is completed.

    If the installation status displays an error:

    • Check if the devices are onboarded to Aruba Central.
    • Verify if the devices are assigned a valid subscription.
    • Check if the sites are assigned to a group.
    • View the audit trails.
  6. If the installation is completed, click the site name to navigate to the site details page and click Mark Completed.

    If the status is In Progress, you can mark the site as completed even if Install Manager was not used to install or onboard the device.

  7. Click Save.