Aruba Central Adding device error "invalid MAC address"

[RichardYu]

I signed up the Aruba central trial. I have been able to sign in and get to the "get s tarted with Aruba cntral" page.

When click on "add devices" tag, it was asking into the "serial number" and "Mac address".

I input my switch serial number and mac address. I kept getting invalid mac address error.

I got my switch serial number and mac address from switch CLI "show system", my input is such as serial number: TW04KCW00G and Mac address: 20:67:7c:53:9f:c0

Does anyone know what I did wrong?

Thanks.

[Ivan_B]

Hi @RichardYu !

What is the model number of your device?

[RichardYu]

kibo-mgmt-sw0# show system
Hostname           : kibo-mgmt-sw0
System Description : TL.10.05.0001
System Contact     :
System Location    :

Vendor             : Aruba
Product Name       : JL581A 8320
Chassis Serial Nbr : TW04KCW00G
Base MAC Address   : 20677c-539fc0
ArubaOS-CX Version : TL.10.05.0001

Time Zone          : UTC

Up Time            : 32 weeks, 5 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes
CPU Util (%)       : 21
Memory Usage (%)   : 79
kibo-mgmt-sw0#

The above is the output of "show system". I think the model number should be " JL581A 8320"

[Ivan_B]

This switch model is supported, software version supported should be at least 10.05.0021 (according https://help.central.arubanetworks.com/latest/documentation/online_help/content/switches/supported-platforms/supported-switches-cx.htm )

I suggest you to upgrade to the recommended version 10.06.0101 and check the Internet connection on the switch. Your switch should have Internet connection and correct DNS settings. Could you log into the switch CLI and try "ping arubanetworks.com"? You should be able to ping this server.

[RichardYu]

Hi Ivan,

thank you very much for the quick reply.

I can ping from my switch to arubanetworks.com (174.129.234.88) without a problem.

However, my switch is in the company network behind the firewall. Do we need some kind of the VPN setup in ordor for Aruba central accessing my switch?

My project is to build a storage network for a cluster. The storage network will be standardized to ship with Aruba switches. I am trying to evaluate what kind of network software package we can ship with the product to monitor and analyze the health and performance. That is why I found out Aruba central and want to try it out. Meanwhile, I did think the Aruba central is overkill for what I need. Do you know any smaller software package which is comercialized by Aruba,  to monitor and analyze the network which is built with multiple Aruba switches? Thank you very much for your help.

[Ivan_B]

Probably it's the Firewall blocking outgoing connections...

As for the alternative to Aruba Central, to be honest I am not aware of any, but there one solution - Network Analytics Engine (NAE). Of course it's not a substitute for Aruba Central as NAE works inside a switch itself, so you need to monitor your switches one by one and perform manual event correlation etc, but for a small network it might be a viable alternative or at least a good starting point. 

More information about NAE can be found here - https://www.arubanetworks.com/distributed-network-analytics/