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 or address set from the switch registrar. The switch registrar must be set up in advance via Managed Service Provider (MSP) with SmartZone IP addresses 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, unless the system administrator configures an alternate host. The SmartZone IP address obtained in response to the GET 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 them and tries them in turn until a successful connection is established with the SmartZone device. The IP address or set of addresses 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 passive 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 configuration in place will not have the registrar-based SmartZone discovery turned ON. The HTTPS session used for the DB query uses the device certificate installed on the switch for SSL session establishment. For the initial release of the switch registrar feature, 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 sz registrar command in global configuration mode, and save the change as shown in the following example. 
ICX# configure terminal
ICX(config)# no sz registrar
ICX(config)# write memory
To restart the switch registrar discovery process, use one of these commands at the Privileged-EXEC level:
  • sz registrar-query-restart
  • sz reset

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

ICX# configure terminal
ICX(config)# sz registrar host_name
ICX(config)# write memory
NOTE
The sz registrar host_name command is for test purposes only. The sz registrar-query-restart command by itself is sufficient to initiate registrar-based SmartZone discovery.

Confirming successful switch registrar discovery

For log entries specific to registrar queries, use the show sz 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:SZAgent: SZ Switch Registrar Query to 54.186.143.194 Success
When the ICX device requires a restart to connect to the SmartZone address because a new registrar list has been received, a syslog message similar to the following is displayed. 
Aug 8 21:47:17:I:SZAgent: Disconnect to SZ: 54.16.143.194, Got SZ ip via registrar

You can use the show running-config command to check for the name of the registrar host and the registrar-list of SmartZone IP addresses.

The following example indicates that the ICX device uses the default switch registrar host and has obtained one SmartZone IP addresses (of a possible set of two addresses). 
ICX# show running-config
!
!
sz registrar
sz registrar-list 23.251.150.119
!
!
You can also enter the show sz status command to obtain information on the switch registrar as shown in the following example. 
ICX# show sz status

============ SZ Agent State Info ===================
Config Status: None Operation Status: Enabled
State: SZ SSH CONNECTING Prev State: INIT Event: NONE
SWR List : 23.251.150.119
Active List : None
DHCP Option 43 : No
DHCP Opt 43 List : None
Passive List : None
Merged List : 23.251.150.119
Merged Idx: 0 IP : 23.251.150.119
Switch registrar host : sw-registrar.ruckuswireless.com

Troubleshooting switch registrar discovery

In the event that switch registrar discovery fails, check for the following conditions:
  • The running configuration contains "sz 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 feature is enabled and you enter the no sz disable command, switch registrar discovery is still started when the registrar ip list is empty.
NOTE
The registrar discovery process continues to run until the configuration issues are fixed, a successful query result is obtained, or the user enters a command to disable the feature.
Parent topic: Managing ICX Switches from SmartZone