Hi Luciano and Brandy,

First of all, thank you both for posting this! I've tried a few times over the last few years to get useful information out of or WLC's finally!

The template worked well for me, and I was able to get a comprehensive list of all of our AP's. I'm wondering how difficult it would be to get collect the client count for each AP? The ability to graph this over time would aid in capacity planning... a lot!

I've tried getting the client count with this oid "OID=1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.2.2.1.15" using a bash script, but your help would be appreciated as I was never able to conveniently correlate this with the AP name.

Look forward to hearing from you, and keep up the good work!

Curt

Hello Curt,
thank you very much for the kind feedback.

As for the "client count", that's a bit complicated due to the way that the data is made available by the AIRESPACE-WIRELESS-MIB. This metric is part of the bsnAPIfTable, which is a multi-indexed table:

bsnAPIfEntry OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX BsnAPIfEntry
    MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
    STATUS current
    DESCRIPTION
        "An entry in bsnAPIfTable."
    INDEX           {
                        bsnAPDot3MacAddress,
                        bsnAPIfSlotId
                    } 
    ::= { bsnAPIfTable 1 }

For example, this is how the data for one access point would look like:

1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.2.2.1.15.0.142.115.69.70.12.0 = "2" [ASN_COUNTER]
1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.2.2.1.15.0.142.115.69.70.12.1 = "6" [ASN_COUNTER]

To break-down this OID (for the first value from the list above) :

This makes it very difficult to provide sensors with adequate naming/metrics using just the auto-discovery. While the SNMP Custom Table sensor is very powerful, it is not this flexible yet. For now only a built-in sensor would be able of handling this correctly, and unfortunately we don't have any WLC sensors on the roadmap for now.

Depending on the number of access points that you have, you could deploy multiple SNMP Custom Table sensors (for many APs at once) or any number of SNMP Custom Advanced sensors to cover the relevant AP's, but this will require some elbow grease and patience to have everything looking/named the way you want. Since the "indexing" of the table uses the Mac Address and "slot id" (which should be fairly persistent) once deployed the sensors should be reliable, even without index change support (as there's no identification column in the table).

Lastly, I want to point out that the SNMP implementation from the MIB is fairly good, the limiting factor here are the Custom Table Sensor's capabilities. While I understand that my reply doesn't really provide a solution to the issue/question, I hope that it at least makes clearer why we're not able to provide this (at least not at this point in time).

Edit/update: You've mentioned that you're working on doing this with a Bash/Script. I encourage you to locate the mac address after the walk of that entry, leave out the trailing digit (the slot number) and then find the respective AP's Name in the appropriate table, that way you could have a single sensor displaying the summarized (for all interfaces) for every single AP in one single sensor. If you get to a working please share it here on the KB, I'm sure you're not the only one looking to achieve this. :)

Best Regards,
Luciano Lingnau [Paessler Support]

Works also great with WLC 2504 series

Thanx

Works also great with WLC 5520 Wireless Controller!

Thanx!

Hello Support,

I have applied this solution to monitor access points from a Cisco WLC deployment. It works very good for us.

Is it possible to add some more information in the sensors of the Access Points? I would like to monitor the Radio description and Radio Status per Access Points.

The MIB for this is CISCO-LWAPP-AP-MIB

Group: clap dot11if: #[1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.513.1.1.1.1.1]
Name: clap dot11if admin status: #[1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.513.1.2.1.1.1]
OID: 1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.513.1.2.1.1.14
This object represents the AP's interface admin status. A value of 'true' indicates admin state as Up. A value of 'false' indicates admin state as Down.

Group: clap dot11if: #[1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.513.1.1.1.1.1]
Name: clap dot11if desc: #[1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.513.1.2.1.1.1]
OID: 1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.513.1.2.1.1.21
This object represents the description of this interface

This MIB works for the Cisco 5508 Wireless Controller.

Kind regards, Peter Meijer

Hello Peter,
thank you very much for your feedback.

Unfortunately that's not trivial, basically due to the same constrains/limitations as described here.

This is the SNMP Data:

cLApDot11IfEntry OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX          CLApDot11IfEntry
    MAX-ACCESS      not-accessible
    STATUS          current
    DESCRIPTION
        "An entry in this table represents the 802.11
        functional parameters of the dot11 interface of
        an AP that has joined the controller.

        Entries are added when the APs associate to this
        controller and deleted when they lose their
        association."
    INDEX           {
                        cLApSysMacAddress,
                        cLApDot11IfSlotId
                    } 
    ::= { cLApDot11IfTable 1 }

This means that we're not able to offer any short-term native alternatives for that.

Best Regards,
Luciano Lingnau [Paessler Support]

Luciano,

Can you expand on how you derive the OID value from the MAC address for use as an index identifier?

In your example above, you were able to convert the hexadecimal MAC address into: 0.142.115.69.70.12. I'm looking for confirmation on how that is accomplished. Did you use a standard Hex base 16 to decimal base 10 conversion foreach "octect" of the mac address? Thus making the following true?

00 = 0 8E = 142 73 = 115 45 = 69 46 = 70 0C = 12

Dear Paul,

hexadecimal SNMP values cannot be usefully converted with PRTG, especially if the value is built-up from multiple components.

Hi, I need some help.

I would like to know which SNMP trap controls are activated on your WLC controller in order to get the sensors showing on your blog working please.?

Many Thanks

Hello eliturmel,
thank you for your reply.

The template and sensors work with SNMP GET requests, it does not rely on trap messages. I did however expand the Requirements section of the post with two links related to the SNMP Setup for the controller.

Best Regards,
Luciano Lingnau [Paessler Support]

@Paul8080,
I had missed your earlier reply, sorry for that.

I have no documentation to support my claim/belief, but I've seen this sort of implementation before and it "makes sense" to me. But I'm unable to confirm for certain what precise conversion is done but would also tip at hex base 16 to decimal base 10 as you've suggested.

Since it will be hard to come by documentation that confirms this I encourage you to perform an snmp walk on an active WLC and confirm it by looking at the actual data. If the conversion checks out with hex base 16 to decimal then it's probably right.

If you do find any documentation (or your tests confirm this), please link it in a reply to this post, in case anyone else is interested. :)

Best Regards,
Luciano Lingnau [Paessler Support]

Confirmed working with Cisco 1815 Mobility Express as well. Many thanks for this!

This also works for the Cisco 7500 Series WLAN Controller with IOS version 8.3.143.0. We are monitoring 1175 AccessPoints with this template.

Hello Support,

I am using this template for a while now and it works good for the Cisco WLC 5520 with version 8.2.167.6 but not when I apply this to Cisco WLC 5520 with version 8.5.135.0. The accesspoints and SSID are not showing after running the autodiscover with the templates.

Has anybody else got experience with this and maybe a solution for this?

Kind regards, Peter Meijer

Peter,

We would need to get SNMP Walks from the device running that code to see how the OID structure has changed, and compare that to the script.

If you want to open a support ticket, we can work with you on this.

Benjamin Day
Paessler Support

Has anyone been able to get netflow working with their Cisco WLC? I've been at this all day with no luck.

Tnunno,

Have you been able to receive flows with the Netflow tester on your PRTG server or the probe you want them to go to?

Netflow Tester

Let me know if the tester is able to get the flows or not.

Benjamin Day
Paessler Support

We are noticing that the default traffic flow sensors for the Cisco 5508 controllers do not seem to be working.

When we go to add a traffic sensor, our four interfaces are seen by PRTG as "Connected" with their speeds, but after we check them off and click "Create", we are getting the error below:

1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.18.1=No such instance (SNMP error #223)

Anyone see this on the traffic sensors before?

T3rebello,

The traffic sensors will have to be placed on the APs. The WLC is used mainly for monitoring AP saturation and client connectivity. Traffic metrics via SNMP will always be on the device with the interfaces.

Benjamin Day
Paessler Support

Hi folks.

I have used this a couple of times without any problems. To day I upgraded PRTG with new code and all SSID information where gone when PRTG came up again. Seems like this "add on" isn't upgrade persistent. Anybody experienced the same?

Regards

PENO,

Which version were you running, and which version did you upgrade to?

Have you tried adding the devices again with the template?

Benjamin Day
Paessler Support

I've added the extracted archive contents into the folder as per the instructions (see below), however PRTG doesn't pick this up?

Deployment and Usage 1. Download the required zip archive here. 2. Extract the archive to your PRTG program directory. By default, this is %Program Files (x86)%\PRTG Network Monitor\.

The downloaded folder has three sub folders (devicetemplates, lookups & MIB), surely I should place the contents of these into the respective folders?

Yep, that's correct. PRTG should pick it up for sure after restarting the PRTG Core Server service. Would you mind checking that? :)

It doesn't pick it up if I just place the downloaded folder into the 'PRTG program directory'

However it does if put the files into the respective three folders, if this is what I should be doing, might be a good idea to tweak the instructions at the top of the page

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the update. I modified the guide to reflect this part better :)

Kind regards
Stephan Linke, Technical Support Team

I have been using this for the last couple of years without issue. I've upgraded to PRTG version 19.4.53.1912+ and now when I run the auto-discovery with the template the sensors are created with the OID instead of the (bsnAPName) AP name in the discovery. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Hm, we haven't changed anything regarding the SNMP Table Sensor or the Auto Discovery. Was there an update installed on the target host as well that changed the OID tables perhaps? Is the issue occurring on a new device as well?

No changes have been made on the host device. If I run the Paessler SNMP Tester and do a walk for oid 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.2.1.1.3, I am able to enumerate all the AP names. I see the following error in the logs: "Could not find a table row matching the index you specified when adding the sensor. The value of the column you selected might have changed. (code: PE247)"

I just saw that, in parallel, a support case regarding the matter has been opened as well, covered by my fellow colleague Marijan. I'll leave this here and you might post the solution once we get there ;)

Is there any update on this case because i still have this problem?

The issue is seemingly caused by a bug we're currently tracking. In the meantime, could you check out the following device template instead of the one linked in the initial response:

Updated Cisco WLC Device Template

Let me know if it worked! We were able to get the correct names with that one :)

Thank you very much the updated template did the trick ;-)

Are there any plans to support the new Catalyst 9800 series WLC with this template?

Did you already try the template with that very device? If not, please do so and let us know if it worked or what specific error you receive.

Das neue template funktioniert bei mir nur zum Teil bei einem 9800 controller:

der Status der APs wird korrekt angezeigt.

die controller und SSID Statistiken funktionieren nicht. Fehlermeldung: PRTG konnte keine passende Tabellenzeile für den Index finden, den Sie beim Hinzufügen des Sensors (17, 18, 19, 20,....) ausgewählt hatten. Der Grund dafür könnte sein, dass sich der Wert der Spalte, die Sie gewählt hatten, geändert hat. (Code: PE247)

Haben die Sensoren vorher funktioniert, oder zeigten sie diesen Fehler schon bei ihrer Erstellung an?

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Sie zeigen den Fehler gleich bei der Erstellung an.

Können Sie die OIDs, die im Teil "SNMP Data" des Manuals aufgeführt sind, mit unserem SNMP Tester abfragen?

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Mittels SNMP Tester mit der Einstellung

Walk 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179

gibt er mir die gesuchten Informationen im log-file aus.

Sind Sie in der Lage, auch für die anderen OIDs eine Antwort zu erhalten?

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Die Ergebnisse sind sehr unterschiedlich:

z.B.: 
21.09.2020 14:42:33 (2 ms) : Custom OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.7.1.11.188.103.28.228.63.144
21.09.2020 14:42:33 (52 ms) : SNMP Datatype: ASN_OCTET_STR
21.09.2020 14:42:33 (53 ms) : -------
21.09.2020 14:42:33 (54 ms) : Value: Gruppe - EDU
21.09.2020 14:42:33 (56 ms) : Done

Dies wäre eine richtige Antwort, da eine ausgestrahle SSID diesen Namen hat.

meistens aber ein no_such_instance_Fehler:

z.B.:
21.09.2020 14:44:30 (19 ms) : Custom OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.7.1.11.188.103.28.232
21.09.2020 14:44:30 (26 ms) : SNMP Datatype: SNMP_EXCEPTION_NOSUCHINSTANCE
21.09.2020 14:44:30 (31 ms) : -------
21.09.2020 14:44:30 (37 ms) : Value: No such instance (SNMP error # 223)
21.09.2020 14:44:30 (42 ms) : Done

Hi Team, I also have the Problem that PRTG does not show the APs on a WLC 9800 with Version 17.3.2.

On WLC5508 and 2504 everything works fine.

Error Message with WLC 9800: PRTG could not find a table row matching the index that you specified when adding the sensor (0.66.90.169.166.160). The reason might be that the value of the column that you selected has changed. (code: PE247)

Thanks a lot

I can confirm on the 9800-40 controller, using the updated 'Custom Cisco WLC Access Point Status.odt' works, but SSIDs have the error "PRTG could not find a table row matching the index that you specified when adding the sensor (6). The reason might be that the value of the column that you selected has changed. (code: PE247)".

Anything I can do to help?

Hi freini and cycotron,

What PRTG version are you currently using?

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Hello Sasa .... I use newest Version 20.4.64.1402 of PRTG

Hi Sasa,

I use Custom Cisco WLC Access Point Status v0.2 and PRTG Version Version 20.4.64.1402.

Is there a newer version of Cisco WLC Access Point Status v0.xxxx availaible than v0.2?

Thank you for your response.

There is currently a issue in the latest PRTG version (20.4.64.) which causes the error in the sensors. Since this has been discovered only recently, we do not yet have a ETA as to when a fix will be released.

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Hi Sasa, thanks for your quick reply. That means we should wait till it will fixed in a future release? Do we get a info (Post in this KB or a eMail with Fixed Issue) when a version with this fix will be available?

The best option would be to keep an eye on our release notes, we list in them issues that were fixed.

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Good morning, Is there a documentation which explain cisco WLC9800-CL is no supported by prtg?

Hello,

We do not have a list of devices that do not work with this template. In the article is however a short list of devices that have been tested and confirmed to work.

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

FYI I just updated to 21.1.65.1767 and the issue persists.

Hello cycotron,

Please open a support ticket regarding this issue. You can do this from the PRTG web interface by going to Setup>Contact Support, or by sending a email to [email protected]

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Hi team,

Hopefully this thread is still open for questions. My client uses version 20.2.58.1629 x64 We have the custom AP template for the WLC, which can poll and create sensors for each of the associated APs. The problem with the polling, is it cant pull the given AP name from WLC. Instead the sensor shows as OID

for example :

Access Point / [1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.2.1.1.3] (FCW2231NAY8)

Is this something that can be fixed or is this a limitation of the code?

Best regards James

Hello James,

Currently this is a limitation in the code, however our developers are already working on it. Unfortunately, we do not yet have a ETA as to when this will be released.

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

We are also having this issue, can we "up" it in the prio list somewhere?

Hello support, we use currently PRTG version 21.4.73.1656 and monitor a WLC 5520, but we have problem with this template, we can get ssids but number of clients are 0. Are you still working on this template?

Best Regards Ali Ramezani Nezhad M&S GmbH

Hello ali_arm,

I would suggest that you open a support ticket regarding this issue.

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

Works also great with WLC 3504 Wireless Controller!

Thanx!

Hello, any update on the SSID statistics for the Cisco 9800 series WLC. We are running version V22.2.76.1705 and still have the same issue.

PRTG could not find a table row matching the index that you specified when adding the sensor (1). The reason might be that the value of the column that you selected has changed. (code: PE247)

Hello ONE,

Please open a support ticket for this, so we can have a closer look.

Kind regards,
Sasa Ignjatovic, Tech Support Team

We too would like these couple issues fixed on the WLC 9800.

Hello ashearer,

Feel free to open a support ticket, so we can have a closer look.

Hi to everyone having issues with the WLC9800,
here's an interim status update from our side regarding the following error message in the sensor/template:

After having a closer look at the SNMP from a WLC9800 (Running Version 17.9.3, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc6)) the issue appears to be that the bsnDot11EssSsid (1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.2) seems to be missing altogether in the SNMP Data provided by the device. Here's a small excerpt of the SNMP Data in question:

7/14/2023 9:30:24 AM (2084 ms) : 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.1.252 = "252" [ASN_UNSIGNED]
7/14/2023 9:30:24 AM (2095 ms) : 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.1.277 = "277" [ASN_UNSIGNED]
7/14/2023 9:30:24 AM (2104 ms) : 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.1.913 = "913" [ASN_UNSIGNED]

(AT THIS STEP COLUMN 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.5(bsnDot11EssSsid) should be present but isn't)

7/14/2023 9:30:24 AM (2116 ms) : 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.5.1 = "1" [ASN_INTEGER]
7/14/2023 9:30:24 AM (2126 ms) : 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.5.2 = "1" [ASN_INTEGER]
7/14/2023 9:30:24 AM (2136 ms) : 1.3.6.1.4.1.14179.2.1.1.1.5.3 = "1" [ASN_INTEGER]

At this time we're unable to confirm whether this is a device limitation, a bug on Cisco's implementation or a configuration issue on the device. But essentially it means the required data (The name of the SSID) is not available in the SNMP Data (in contrast to all other WLC models where we saw this data present and that are working with the template).

If someone is running into this issue our recommendation is to reach out to Cisco and report the issue with the missing SNMP data, Cisco should be able to clarify why this is the case. And if it's indeed a configuration issue or a software bug, an update image from Cisco (or setup workaround) should allow the template in PRTG to start working.

If someone receive more information from Cisco, please share it here.

Best Regards,
Luciano Lingnau [Paessler]