What's New

11-Node Scale

Starting HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises 2.5.8.0, users can implement clusters up to 11 nodes.

For more information, see Scale Devices for Cluster and Add or Replace Appliance or Node in a Cluster.

Advanced License for AOS-CX Switch Features

Some of the AOS-CX switch features require HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises Advanced licenses. A notification message is displayed indicating that a valid advanced license is required for the Fabric Overlay, Network Underlay workflows, and for AOS-CX Advanced Feature Pack using MultiEdit. You can acknowledge the message by clicking the close button. The notification message is user-specific. Once the message is closed, it will not be displayed for the same user, but the message will be displayed for other users. Also, the message acknowledgment needs to be done independently for each feature. The notification message will re-appear after 90 days and the user will have to acknowledge it every 90 days. For more information, refer to the AOS-CX switches Feature Pack Ordering Guide and EULA.

Aruba Central NetConductor

The following are the new Aruba Central NetConductor features added in this release:

• Configuration for System VLAN-Client-Presence for Fabric Wizard—Aruba Central NetConductor now supports a toggle for VLAN Client Presence Detect to disable the VNI mapped VLANs if there are no authenticated clients on the VLAN, or if the VLAN has no statically configured ports and those ports are up.

  For more information, see Setting Up an Overlay Fabric.

• Muti-Fabric EVPN Overview—Aruba Central NetConductor now supports Muti-Fabric EVPN deployment provides end-to-end segmentation across SD-WAN Wide Area Network. WAN is a telecommunications network or computer network that extends over a large geographical distance. Fabric by carrying the VRF and Role information natively in the data-plane.

  For more information, see Muti-Fabric EVPN Overview .

• RIB-to-FIB Optimization Knob for Fabric Wizard—Aruba Central NetConductor now supports FIB Optimization to optimize unused host routes.

  For more information, see Overlay Fabric Overview .

• Support for Extended Edge Fabric Persona and Fabric Designs—Aruba Central NetConductor now supports extended edge fabric persona and provides two types of Fabric Design options Routed-Access and Scaled-Access Design.

  For more information, see Overlay Fabric Overview .

• VSX Support for Campus Access Aggregation in Network Wizard—Aruba Central NetConductor now supports a checkbox to specify the VSX pair in the Access-Aggregration when configuring a a Campus (3 tier L3 access) Underlay Network.

  For more information, see Setting Up a Campus (3 tier L3 access) Underlay Network.

• HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now provides a re-sync button to resolve configuration conflicts within existing overlay fabrics. This button is only available when a configuration conflicts exists.

  For more information, see Re-syncing the Overlay Fabric.

• HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now supports Layer 2 overlay segments for the default gateways.

  For more information, see Overlay Segment Overview.

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises APIs

Listed below are the APIs introduced in this release.

For more information, see Enhancement to APIs.

Authentication

The Local Authentication and Sessions tabs are introduced under Authentication to manage password reset policy and session configuration.

For more information, see Configuring Local Authentication and Configuring Sessions .

Offline Upgrade through User Interface

Along with Command Line Interface (CLI Command-Line Interface. A console interface with a command line shell that allows users to execute text input as commands and convert these commands to appropriate functions. ), HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now enables offline upgrade though Versions page on the user interface.

For more information see, Offline Upgrade Through User Interface.

Packet Capture Support for AOS-CX Switches

The packet capture feature is now supported on AOS-CX switches.

For more information, see Packet Capture.

Support for HPE Networking Comware Switches

Starting from 2.5.8.0 release version, HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises supports adding and monitoring HPE Networking Comware switches, in addition to its existing support for Cisco 9200 and 9300 switches under third-party devices. This includes capabilities for creating and scheduling reports, as well as configuring alerts.

For more information, see Third-Party Devices.

Alert for Backup\Restore

The COP Backup\Restore Operation Status alert is added under the Central System category. It generates an alert if any backup or restore operation failure is detected.

For more information, see Central System Alerts.

AOS-CX Switch Alerts

• Switch Uplink Port Usage—Generates an alert when the total uplink port usage of a switch at a site exceeds the configured value within the specified duration.

• Switch Routing Neighbor Status Change—Generates an alert when the current status of the BGP Border Gateway Protocol. BGP is a routing protocol for exchanging data and information between different host gateways or autonomous systems on the Internet. neighbor changes from up (established) to down.

• Switch NAE Agent Status—Generates an alert when an NAE agent hits a condition that requires to be reported. This alert is disabled by default. This alert is supported only on AOS-CX switches running 10.13.1000 or later versions. This alert is generated only for the following NAE agent scripts:

  • routing_health_monitor

  • EVPN_VXLAN

  • Client Services

  • VSF_agent

  • VSX

  • default_agent

AOS-CX Switch Events

Support for the AOS-CX switch events in the following categories are now available in HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises:

• Services

• Routing

• Interface

• Hardware

• Overlays

For more information about the AOS-CX switch events, navigate to the AOS-CX Switch Software Documentation Portal. In the AOS-CX Switch Software Documentation portal, navigate to a switch model and click the View software feature and user guides (HTML) link. Click Software Release Version listed next to the Event Log Message Reference Guide to view the events for the software release version selected.

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises Service Pack Package

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now supports 2024.04.00.00 service pack version. On checking ILO service pack version through Command Line Interface, it now displays RAID A redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is a data storage virtualization technology combining multiple drive components into one or multiple logical units for performance improvement, data redundancy, improvement, or both.  value, ILO timestamp, ROM and NIC details.

For more information, Installing Service Pack and Check ILO Service Pack version.

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises Pre-Upgrade Health Check

Online and offline upgrade of HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises through Systems > Versions page now supports upgrade readiness health before the actual upgrade. Once the pre-upgrade health check is successfully completed, only then the actual upgrade of the setup begins.

For more information, see Online Upgrade Through the Versions Page and Offline Upgrade Through User Interface.

Automatic Recovery

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises has introduced the Auto Recovery tab under System Management. This feature allows you to recover critical resources in an event of network interface failure. The option to set up time for node reboot operation is also provided in this tab.

For more information, see Automatic Recovery.

Controller Dashboard

The WAN tab is added to the controller dashboard for monitoring purpose. It displays the Port Status and WAN Interfaces information.

For more information, see WAN Summary on the Controller Dashboard.

Controller Replacement

The Controller Details page is enabled to perform the replacement operation. Use Replace Device under the Actions drop-down list for replacing a controller.

For more information, see Controller Replacement.

Datacenter Redundancy

The feature and functionality of Datacenter Redundancy is extended to support Instant Access Points running 8.12.0.0 or later firmware version and AOS-CX switches running 10.12.1000 or later firmware versions.

For more information, see Configure Redundancy.

Enhancements to Template Group Configurations

Starting from this release, when firmware compliance is set for a template group, then the template configuration push will be blocked on all non-compliant devices. The configurations will be pushed to these devices only when a compliant build firmware is downloaded and when the devices are rebooted.

For more information, see Configuring AOS-CX Switches using Templates.

List of Devices Supported for Cable Test

Support for Cable test feature is now available in HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises for the following switches:

• AOS-S switches: 16.05.000 or higher
• AOS-CX switches: 10.11.1000 or higher

  • AOS-CX 4100 Switches

  • AOS-CX 6000 Switches

  • AOS-CX 6100 Switches

  • AOS-CX 6200 Switches

  • AOS-CX 6300 Switches

  • AOS-CX 6400 Switches

  • AOS-CX 8360 Switches

  • AOS-CX 8360V2 Switches

  • AOS-CX 6400V2 Switches

• AOS-CX switches: 11.1000 or higher

  • AOS-CX 6200V2 Switches

For more information, see Troubleshooting Device Issues.

Monitoring CPU Utilization in AOS-CX Switches

Starting from this release, the AOS-CX switches calculate their own average CPU Central Processing Unit.  A CPU is an electronic circuitry in a computer for processing instructions. utilization for every five minutes. This feature is supported only on switches running AOS-CX 10.12.xx or later versions.

Remote Console Support for IAPs and Controllers

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now allows remote console support for IAPs and controllers, in addition to its existing support for switches. This feature enables in-depth diagnostics and troubleshooting of device-related issues through a secure SSH Secure Shell. SSH is a network protocol that provides secure access to a remote device. connection.

For more information, see Remote Console Session.

Remote Capacity Planning and Infra Inventory Reports

Active and Expired categories are added to the Subscription Utilization widget of Capacity Planning and Infra Inventory reports.

For more information, see Report Categories.

Retiring an Offline AP

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now allows you to retire an offline access point (AP) from the device inventory.

For more information, see Retiring an Offline AP.

Smart Card Authentication

The Smart Card authentication method is introduced for RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service is a networking protocol that provides centralized authentication, authorization, and accounting management for users who connect and use a network service and RadSec RadSec is an authentication and authorization protocol for transporting RADIUS datagrams over TCP and TLS. servers.

For more information, see Smart Card Authentication.

SNMP Trap Notifications for System Alerts

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now allows you to configure SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol. SNMP is a TCP/IP standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. Devices that typically support SNMP include routers, switches, servers, workstations, printers, modem racks, and more. It is used mostly in network management systems to monitor network-attached devices for conditions that warrant administrative attention.  trap email notifications for Central System alerts.

For more information, see Configuring Alerts.

Troubleshooting Tests for Campus AP

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises now enables you to perform Ping, Traceroute, HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The HTTP is an application protocol to transfer data over the web. The HTTP protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and the actions that the w servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. , HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS is a variant of the HTTP that adds a layer of security on the data in transit through a secure socket layer  or transport layer security protocol connection. , and TCP Transmission Control Protocol. TCP is a communication protocol that defines the standards for establishing and maintaining network connection for applications to exchange data. tests for Campus AP, with IPV6 support for each test.

For more information, see Troubleshooting Device Issues.

Unified Communications Reports

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises supports Unified Communications reports. Unified Communications reports may be created or scheduled from the Analyze > Reports > Applications > UCC page.

For more information, see Unified Communications Reports.

Unified Communications Support for Zoom

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises supports Zoom as an Unified Communications application. Identification, prioritization and visibility is provided for Zoom audio calls. Zoom media traffic is tagged with the applicable and configured WMM Wi-Fi Multimedia. WMM is also known as WME. It refers to a Wi-Fi Alliance interoperability certification, based on the IEEE 802.11e standard. It provides basic QoS features to IEEE 802.11 networks. WMM prioritizes traffic according to four ACs: voice (AC_VO), video (AC_VI), best effort (AC_BE), and background (AC_BK). /DSCP Differentiated Services Code Point. DSCP is a 6-bit packet header value used for traffic classification and priority assignment. priority. Visibility of the Zoom audio sessions is available in the Unified Communications list and summary views and CDR Call Detail Record. A CDR contains the details of a telephone or VoIP call, such as the origin and destination addresses of the call, the start time and end time of the call, any toll charges that were added through the network or charges for operator services, and so on. .

For more information, see Unified Communications.

HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises APIs

Listed below are the APIs enhanced in this release.

Listed below are the APIs removed in this release.

For more information, see Enhancement to APIs.

New Hardware Platforms

The following are the newly supported hardware platforms in HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises 2.5.8 release.