Before a Cisco WAP can be deployed in LWAPP mode it needs to be joined to the Wireless LAN Controller (WLC).  There are several well documented methods available for this.

I recently found myself in the field with a WAP I thought was primed that turned out not to be and I was stuck as to how to join it without returning to the office and priming it.  After some searching through Cisco docs I found that you can manually tell the WAP where the WLC is if it cannot find it through normal means.

1. Establish a console connection to the WAP and boot it up.
2. Get enabled on the WAP (the default password is Cisco on most models).
3. Execute this command:

lwapp ap controller ip address <ip address of the WLC>

As long as the WAP can reach the IP and that the MAC address of the WAP has been entered into the WLCs database, it should join to it and download the appropriate software image and configuration (this may take a few boot cycles).

Converting an autonomous mode WAP to LWAPP can be done using the conversion tool (available from Ciscos’ download site and if you’re going to do a bunch of them this is definitely the way to go.  However, if you just want to convert one I find it is quicker to use a less documented approach.

1. Establish a console connection to the WAP
2. Connect the WAP to a network connection that will supply it with a DHCP assigned IP.
3. Start up a tftp server that can be reached from the network the WAP is on and place the conversion file (available from Ciscos’ download site)  in it’s root directory.
4. From the CLI of the WAP, issue this command:

archive download-sw /overwrite /reload tftp://<ip address of the tftp server>/<name of the conversion file>

The AP will download the file and then reboot into LWAPP mode.

I perform a wide variety of duties at my job and I’m constantly taking notes in MS  OneNote of the things I learn to make my job easier.  As I’m the only LAN engineer, I don’t get to share these with anyone at work, so I thought I’d pass them along to the community at large.  If you have a different solution to the same problem, please let me know so I can add it to my repertoire!  🙂