Setting Up Switch Registrar Discovery

The switch registrar is a RUCKUS-hosted cloud service that enables SmartZone discovery from ICX devices.

You can configure the ICX device to retrieve the correct SmartZone management IP address, IP address set, or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) from the switch registrar. The switch registrar must be set up in advance through Managed Service Provider (MSP) with SmartZone IP addresses or an FQDN and the ICX serial numbers they can manage.

Note: If SmartZone management is not enabled on the ICX device, switch registrar discovery does not occur.

How Switch Registrar Discovery Works

The ICX device sends an HTTP GET message to a default server host, sw-registrar.ruckuswireless.com, for the list of SmartZone management IP addresses or an FQDN, unless the system administrator configures an alternate host. The SmartZone IP address or FQDN obtained in response to the GET message is used to query the SmartZone device to set up a connection. If the ICX device receives a set of IP addresses from the switch registrar, it stores the information and tries the addresses in turn until a successful connection is established with the SmartZone device. The IP address, set of IP addresses, or FQDN obtained through the switch registrar is given priority above all other addresses in the list of SmartZone IP addresses, including addresses received from other sources such as the DHCP list, the active list, and the backup list. Once the ICX device has obtained a SmartZone IP address from the switch registrar, it no longer attempts switch registrar discovery.

This query is performed only for greenfield deployments and when the ICX device boots up with no startup configuration. ICX switches being upgraded from older releases that already have a configuration in place will not have the registrar-based SmartZone discovery turned on. The HTTPS session used for the database query uses the device certificate installed on the switch for SSL session establishment. For the initial release of the switch registrar, no server certificate validation will be performed.

Disabling or Enabling Switch Registrar Discovery

The system administrator can disable or enable switch registrar discovery from the command line.

Note: The registrar IP list is removed when you disable the switch registrar.

To disable switch registrar discovery, enter the no manager registrar command in global configuration mode, and use the write memory command to save the change, as shown in the following example. 

ICX# configure terminal
ICX(config)# no manager registrar
ICX(config)# write memory

To restart the switch registrar discovery process, use one of the following commands in privileged EXEC or global configuration mode:

  • manager registrar-query-restart
  • manager reset

To enable switch registrar discovery on an alternate registrar host server and save the entry to the startup configuration, enter the following commands. 

ICX# configure terminal
ICX(config)# manager registrar sw-alternate.ruckuswireless.com
ICX(config)# write memory

Note: The manager registrar hostname command is for test purposes only. The manager registrar-query-restart command by itself is sufficient to initiate registrar-based SmartZone discovery.

Confirming Successful Switch Registrar Discovery

To display log entries specific to registrar queries, use the show manager log command.

When the switch registrar database has been successfully queried, a syslog message similar to the following is displayed. 

Aug 8 21:47:17:I:MGMT Agent: SZ Switch Registrar Query to 54.186.143.194 Success

You can enter the show manager status command to obtain information on the switch registrar, as shown in the following example. 

ICX# show manager status

SYSLOG: <14> May 08 08:45:00 ICX CLI CMD: "show manager status" by super user from console
============    MGMT Agent State Info     ===================

Manager mode: SZ
Config Status:Enabled Operation Status:Enabled
State:SSH CONNECTED  Prev State:SSH CONNECTING   Event:SZ_SSH_CONNECT_EVENT
 
BSICLOUD Status         : Disabled
 
SWR Host                : sw-registrar.ruckuswireless.com
SWR List                : None
SWR fqdn                : None
DNS List                : None
 
Active FQDN List        : None
Backup FQDN List        : None
Active List             : 10.177.19.14
Backup List             : None
Active List IPV6        : 2001:df3:80d:826f::114
Backup List IPV6        : None
DHCP Option 43          : No
DHCP Opt 43 List        : None
DHCPV6 LIST             : None
Merged List             : 10.177.19.14 2001:df3:80d:826f::114
SZ IP Used              : 10.177.19.14
Port List               : None
Server Port Used        : 443                                     
Query Status            : APPROVED
 
SSH Tunnel Status -:
Tunnel Status             : Established
SSH Port                  : 22
CLI IP/Port               : 127.255.255.253/57316
SNMP IP/Port              : 127.255.255.254/10825
Syslog IP/Port            : 127.0.0.1/20514
HTTP CLIENT IP/Port       : 127.255.255.252/36431
HTTP SERVER IP/Port       : 127.0.0.1/5080

Troubleshooting Switch Registrar Discovery

In the event that switch registrar discovery fails, check for the following conditions:

  • The running configuration contains "manager disable".
  • The switch registrar is not configured on the ICX device.
  • The DNS configuration needed to resolve the switch registrar address is not present on the ICX device.
  • The ICX device could not reach the switch registrar due to routing issues.

Note: If the switch registrar is enabled and you enter the no manager disable command, switch registrar discovery is still started when the registrar IP list is empty.
Note: The switch registrar discovery process continues to run until the configuration issues are fixed, a successful query result is obtained, or you enter a command to disable the switch registrar.

Parent topic: Connecting the ICX to the SmartZone Controller