Category Archives: Administration Guides

FortiWLC Web UI Concepts

Web UI Concepts

Access FortiWLC (SD) by entering the IP address of the controller in a browser (see “Browsers” on page 46 below). The Web UI interface that displays operates from four menus: Monitor, Maintenance, Configuration, and Wizards. Clicking any entry from the list expands it to display the options contained therein.

Figure 1: Menu Options in the WebUI

How Does the GUI Relate to CLI Commands?

Most FortiWLC (SD) tasks can be accomplished using either the CLI or the GUI. Some commands can only be done with one or the other. The chart below gives some examples of this. You can refer to the illustration on the previous page or click the indicated links on the UI Interface.

How Does the GUI Relate to CLI Commands?                                                                                                                        43

I need to know… With the CLI With the GUI
Stations that are associated show station show phones Station table (Monitor > Devices > All Stations)
Stations and APs that are detectable show ap-discovered Station table (Monitor > Devices > All Stations)
Controller setup show controller System Summary (Monitor > Dashboard > System)
APs that are connected show ap Station table (click Monitor > Devices > All Stations)
How are APs connected show ap-connectivity ap-id Station table (click Monitor > Devices > All Stations)
How many stations are connected show station or show topostation Station table (Monitor > Devices > All Stations)
Stations connections to certain AP show ap-assigned mac-address Station table (Monitor > Devices > All Stations)
Add a new operating system

version to a controller using

FTP

copy ftp://ftpuser:ftppasswd@offbox-ip-address/ meru-x.x-xxxMODEL-rpm.tar. upgrade system x.x NA
See aggregate throughput for all APs NA System Dashboard (Monitor > Dashboard > System)
Syslog message summary show syslog-table shows the entire log SysLog Files Table (Maintenance > View Syslog) shows a segment of the log based on time
Alarms show alarm Alarms (Monitor > Fault Management > Alarms)
Rogues detected show rogue-ap-list Rogue AP Table (Monitor > Rogue Devices)
AP400 model show ap  

How Does the GUI Relate to CLI Commands?

I need to know… With the CLI With the GUI
Throughput bottlenecks show statistics top10 -ap -problem

(shows loss %) analyze-capture start, analyze-capture stop, analyze-capture capture

System Dashboard (Monitor > Dashboard > System)
High-volume users show statistics top10-station-talker Stations Dashboard (click Monitor > Dashboard > Station)
Why a user’s connection failed station-log/station add analyze-capture Station Diagnostics (click Monitor > Diagnostics > Station)
Dead spots show topoap Station Diagnostics (Monitor > Diagnostics > All Station > Signal Strength Chart)
Station retries show station Monitor > Dashboard > Station > Retries chart
User’s location show station or show topostation NA
Overloaded radios show station

show statistics top10-ap-problem

Monitor > Dashboard > Radio > Retries chart

Radio Dashboard (Monitor > Dashboard >

Radio > Throughput Chart)

High-loss radios show station analyze-capture start, analyze-capture stop, analyze-capture snapshot Monitor > Dashboard > Radio > Loss % chart

Controller Dashboard (Monitor > Controller > High-Loss Radio chart)

Noisy radios NA Monitor > Diagnostics > Radio

Controller Dashboard (Monitor > Controller > Noise Level chart)

Radio Management Overhead show interfaces Dot11Radio statistics Monitor > Dashboard > Radio > Management Overhead Distribution chart
Average Station data rates show station 802.11 | “802.11a” show station 802.11 | “802.11b” show station 802.11 | “802.11g” show station 802.11 | “802.11g” show station 802.11 | “802.11ab” show station 802.11 | “802.11bg” show station 802.11 | “802.11bgn” Monitor > Dashboard > Station > Average Rate charts

How Does the GUI Relate to CLI Commands?

Browsers

WebUI

  • Internet Explorer 9,10 (Vista and Win XP)
  • Mozilla Firefox 25+ (Vista and Win XP)
  • Google Chrome 31+

Captive Portal

  • Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8,9, and 10
  • Apple Safari
  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox 4.x and earlier
  • Mobile devices (such as Apple iPhone and BlackBerry)
Internet Explorer Caching Settings

Be sure to turn off caching on any computer using Internet Explorer, because dashboard updates are frequently ignored with caching on. To configure Windows Internet Explorer, follow these steps:

  1. Access Internet Options by opening an Internet Explorer window and then clicking Tools > Internet Options.
    • window like this one displays:

Browsers

Figure 2: Internet Options for Microsoft Windows

  1. Under Browsing history, click Settings.
    • window like this one displays:

Browsers

Figure 3: Website Data Settings

  1. Select the option Every time I visit the web page.
  2. Click OK.

The dashboard will now be updated every time the statistics change.

Note that no configuration is needed for Mozilla Firefox.


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FortiWLC Manipulating Terminal Characteristics

Manipulating Terminal Characteristics

Displaying Terminal Settings

To display the current terminal settings, including the screen length and width, type:

controller> show terminal

Terminal Length:         0

Terminal Width:          80

History Buffer Size:     10

Customizing the CLI Prompt

Setting Terminal Screen Length and Width

By default, the terminal length is set to 0 rows, and the width is set to 80 columns. To override this default setting, and set the number of lines or character columns on the current terminal screen for the current session, use the following commands in user EXEC mode:

controller> terminal length screen‐length controller> terminal width characters

To reset the terminal length and width to the default values, use the default command:

controller> default terminal length controller> default terminal width

Setting the terminal length to a non-zero value turns on paging. When the output length exceeds the terminal length, the output is paused and a —More— is displayed:

  1. If the space bar is pressed at the —More— prompt, another page of output is displayed.
  2. If the ENTER key is pressed at the —More— prompt, a single line of output is displayed.
  3. If any other character at the —More— prompt, this signifies the end of output and the command prompt is displayed.

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FortiWLC Customizing the CLI Prompt

Customizing the CLI Prompt

Default CLI Prompt

By default, the CLI prompt consists of the system name followed by an angle bracket (>) for user EXEC mode or a pound sign (#) for privileged EXEC mode.

Commands to Customize CLI Prompt

To customize the CLI prompt for your system, use one of the following commands in Global Configuration mode:

TABLE 2: Commands to Customize the CLI Prompt

Command Purpose
prompt string Customizes the CLI prompt.
no prompt Disables the display of the CLI prompt.
default prompt Sets the prompt to the default, which is the hostname.

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Finding Words in show Command Output

Finding Words in show Command Output

To quickly locate a word in the output of any show command, use the following command: show argument | grep “string”

For this feature to work, only one show command can be the input to the grep and the show command cannot have arguments (for example, the form of the command) such as show ap 54. The “string” is a literal, case-sensitive word to search for (such as AP-54), and must be enclosed in double quotation marks. Only one string search can be performed per command line.

Finding Words in show Command Output

As an example, to search for and display the entry for AP-54 in the output of the show ap command, use the command: controller# show ap | grep “AP‐54”

AP ID AP Name     Serial Number      Op State  Availability   Runtime          

Connectivity AP Model AP Type

54    AP‐54       00:0c:e6:00:3e:a8  Disabled  Offline        3.1.4‐25 None         AP332 Local  

        AP Table(1 entry)


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FortiWLC Using Command History

Using Command History

The CLI provides a history of commands that you have entered during the session. This is useful in recalling long and complex commands, and for retyping commands with slightly different parameters. To use the command history feature, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Set the command history buffer size
  • Recall commands
  • Disable the command history feature
Setting the Command History Buffer Size

By default, the CLI records ten command lines in its history buffer. To set the number of command lines that the system will record during the current terminal session, and enable the command history feature, use the terminal history command: controller# terminal history [size n]

The terminal no history size command resets the number of lines saved in the history buffer to the default of ten lines or number specified by size.

To reset the history buffer size to its default (10), type default history: controller# default history

To display the contents of the history buffer, type terminal history

Using Command History

controller# terminal history

    7 interface Dot11Radio 1     8 end

  • interface Fast Ethernet controller 1 2
  • show interface Dot11Radio 1
  • end
  • show interfaces FastEthernet controller 1 2
  • sh alarm
  • sh sec
  • sh security
Recalling Commands

To recall commands from the history buffer, use one of the following commands or key combinations: Ctrl-P or Up Arrow key. This recalls commands in the history buffer, beginning with the most recent command. Repeat the key sequence to recall successively older commands. Ctrl-N or Down Arrow key. Returns to more recent commands in the history buffer after recalling commands with Ctrl-P or the Up Arrow key.

  • !number. Execute the command at the history list number. Use the terminal history or show history commands to list the history buffer, then use this command to re-execute the command listed by its sequence number.
  • To list the contents of the history buffer, use the show history command: controller# show history
Disabling the Command History Feature

The terminal history feature is automatically enabled. To disable it during the current terminal session, type no terminal history in either privileged or non-privileged EXEC mode: controller# no terminal history


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FortiWLC Getting Help

Getting Help

Entering a question mark (?) at the system prompt displays a list of commands for each command mode. When using context-sensitive help, the space (or lack of a space) before the question mark (?) is significant. To obtain a list of commands that begin with a particular character sequence, enter those characters followed immediately by the question mark (?). Do not include a space. This form of help is called word help, because it completes a word for you.

To list keywords or arguments, enter a question mark (?) in place of a keyword or argument. Include a space before the ?. This form of help is called command syntax help, because it reminds you which keywords or arguments are applicable based on the command, keywords, and arguments you already have entered.

TABLE 1: Examples of Help Commands

Command Purpose
(prompt)# help Displays a brief description of the help system.
(prompt) # abbreviated-command? Lists commands in the current mode that begin with a particular character string.
(prompt)# abbreviated-command<Tab> Completes a partial command name
(prompt)# ? Lists all commands available in command mode

Using No and Default Forms of Commands

TABLE 1: Examples of Help Commands

Command Purpose
(prompt)# command? Lists the available syntax options (arguments and keywords) for the command.
(prompt)# command keyword ? Lists the next available syntax for this command.

The prompt displayed depends on the configuration mode.

You can abbreviate commands and keywords to the number of characters that allow a unique abbreviation. For example, you can abbreviate the configure terminal command to config t.

Entering the help command will provide a description of the help system. This is available in any command mode.


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FortiWLC Using No and Default Forms of Commands

Using No and Default Forms of Commands

Almost every configuration command has a no form. In general, use the no form to:

  1. Disable a feature or function.
  2. Reset a command to its default values.
  3. Reverse the action of a command.
  4. Use the command without the no form to reenable a disabled feature or to reverse the action of a no command.

Configuration commands can also have a default form. The default form of a command returns the command setting to its default. Most commands are disabled by default, so the default form is the same as the no form. However, some commands are enabled by default and have variables set to certain default values. In these cases, the default command enables the command and sets variables to their default values. The reference page for the command describes these conditions.


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