Aruba Instant Configurations

Enable the Internal Access Point Beacons

Enabling the internal BLE using Aruba Instant is supported in the graphical user interface.  The internal BLE must be enabled so that it can be provisioned for use with Meridian.

Enabling the Internal BLE Radio using the GUI.

*** FEATURE NOT SUPPORTED ON 8.6.0.x and 8.7.0.x ***

Unlike Aruba Instant 8.5.0.x and prior, enabling the Internal BLE radio using the 
UI is not supported in 8.6.0.x and 8.7.0.x. Use CLI to enable the Internal BLE radio.

Enabling the Internal BLE Radio using CLI

Aruba Instant 8.6.x has made a change to enabling the internal BLE radio from the previous versions. Up to Instant 8.5, you can enable the internal BLE radio in the GUI but with 8.6 and 8.7, that is not longer supported in the UI.

If you upgraded from a previous version of Instant, you will find that the BLE radio has stopped broadcasting.  This functionality has migrated to the IoT Radio profile.  Use the instructions below to enable the operation mode of the internal BLE radio using CLI.

(host) #configure terminal
We now support CLI commit model, please type "commit apply" for configuration
to take effect

Configure the Internal BLE Radio

(host) (config) #iot radio-profile ap-ble
(host) (config) (IoT Radio Profile "ap-ble" #radio-mode ble
(host) (config) (IoT Radio Profile "ap-ble" #exit
(host) (config) #iot use-radio-profile ap-ble
(host) #commit apply
commiting configuration...
configuration committed. 

This is all that needs to be done to enable the internal BLE radio.  All other parameters are default values that you do not need to set.  

Verify That The Internal BLE Radio Is Set Correctly

(host) [mynode] #show iot radio-profile "ap-ble"

Name                :ap-ble
Reference           :1
Instance            :internal
Mode                :ble
BLE Opmode          :scanning beaconing
BLE Console         :
BLE TxPower         :0
Zigbee Mode         :coordinator
Zigbee Channel(s)   :auto

The default BLE Op Mode is scanning beaconing so you don't have to specify the value.  You just have to create the profile and set the mode to ble. 

Check the AP’s configuration to ensure that the profile is received correctly

(host) #show ap debug ble-config ap-name

-----------------------------------------------
---------- IOT Radio Profiles -----------------
-----------------------------------------------
Profile Name        : ap-ble
Radio Instance      : Internal
Radio Mode          : BLE
BLE Mode            : beaconing scanning
BLE Console         : Off
BLE Tx Power (dBm)  : 0
-----------------------------------------------

Disregard the BLE Tx Power (dBm) value of "0".  It is not used at the moment because this version of the firmware does not support changing Tx power through the radio profile.    

The internal BLE should be broadcasting it's BLE MAC address at this point.  If you are near an AP, you can use the Aruba Beacons mobile app to scan and find the BLE MAC for the AP.  After you find the AP beacon, you can go ahead and configure the beacon by moving it onto the Meridian map.

After the BLE radio has been enabled on the AP, you are ready to configure the IoT profile for Beacons Management.  The Beacons Management IoT profile is required for sending data such as beacon mac address, uuid/major/minor, battery level, transmit power, hardware type, firmware, etc to the Meridian Beacon Management server.  This is also required if you plan to use Meridian Asset Tracking.

Configuring Beacons Management IoT Profile using the GUI

Complete the following steps to configure the beacons management IoT profile.  On the Virtual Controller, navigate to Configurations > Services > IoT.  In the IoT Endpoints section, click on the +, enter the following, then click Save.

• Name:  <Beacon Managemen IoT Profile Name>
• Type: Meridian Beacons Management
• State: Enable
• URL: <Beacon Management Server URL>
• Transport Interval: 600
• Authorization token:  <Access Token>

Note: Meridian manages the Transport Interval property as needed, so while it is a required configuration, the value entered will only be used for the very first connection. Meridian's default is 3600.

(host) (config) # iot transportProfile beacons-management
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # endpointType Meridian-Beacon-Management
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # endpointURL https://edit.meridianapps.com/api/beacons/manage
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # endpointToken <access token>
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # transportInterval 600
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # vlan 1
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # exit
(host) (config) # iot useTransportProfile beacons-management
(host) (config) # exit
(host)# commit apply
committing configuration...
configuration committed.

Verify the connection to Meridian has been established in Editor

After the changes are set and deployed, the connection to Meridian beacon server should be established.  In Meridian Editor, navigate to the Beacons Management page to make sure the status for Beacon Management is Connected: Your Aruba network is connected to the Meridian Editor. The Editor last heard from your network a few seconds ago.

Configuring Asset Tracking IoT Profile

2. Add the DigiCert Root Certificate to the Virtual Controller.  A rootCA certificate is required on the controller when connecting the the tags server. 

To add the certificate to the Virtual Controller,

1. Navigate to  Maintenance > Certificates and click on Upload New Certificate.
2. Download and add the DigiCert Root Certificate.  The root CA certificate for Meridian is can be downloaded from here.
   • Browse for the certificate file and upload it
   • Certificate type: CA
   • Certificate format: X509 (.pem .cer or .crt)
   • Click Upload Certificate

(host) (config) # iot transportProfile asset-tracking
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # endpointType Meridian-Beacon-Management
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # endpointURL https://edit.meridianapps.com/api/beacons/manage
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # endpointToken <access token>
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # transportInterval 5
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # vlan 1
(host) (IoT Data Profile "Beacons Management") # exit
(host) (config) # iot useTransportProfile asset-tracking
(host) (config) # exit
(host)# commit apply
committing configuration...
configuration committed.