Provisioning Overview

When a SonicPoint appliance is first connected and powered up, it will have a factory default configuration (IP address 192.168.1.20, username: admin, password: password). Upon initializing, the appliance attempts to find a SonicOS device with which to peer.

If the SonicPoint does locate, or is located by a peer SonicOS device, via the SonicWall Discovery Protocol, an encrypted exchange between the two units ensues wherein the profile assigned to the relevant Wireless zone is used to configure automatically (provision) the newly added SonicPoint unit.

As part of the provisioning process, SonicOS will assign the discovered SonicPoint device a unique name, and it will record its MAC address and the interface and zone on which it was discovered. It can also automatically assign the SonicPoint an IP address, if so configured, so that the SonicPoint can communicate with an authentication server for WPA-EAP support. SonicOS will then use the profile associated with the relevant zone to configure the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio settings.

SonicPoint Provisioning Profiles provide a scalable and highly automated method of configuring and provisioning multiple SonicPoints across a Distributed Wireless Architecture. SonicPoint Profile definitions include all of the settings that can be configured on a SonicPoint, such as radio settings for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios, SSIDs, and channels of operation.

Once you have defined a SonicPoint profile, you can apply it to a Wireless zone. Each Wireless zone can be configured with one SonicPoint profile. Any profile can apply to any number of zones. Then, when a SonicPoint is connected to a zone, it is automatically provisioned with the profile assigned to that zone.

SonicOS includes default profiles for three generations of SonicPoints:

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SonicPoint ACe/ACi/N2
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SonicPoint NDR
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SonicPoint N (for SonicPoint Ne and SonicPoint Ni)

You can modify these profiles or create new ones.

Modifications to profiles will not affect units that have already been provisioned and are in an operational state. Configuration changes to operational SonicPoint devices can occur in two ways:

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Via manual configuration changes—Appropriate when a single, or a small set of changes are to be affected, particularly when that individual SonicPoint requires settings that are different from the profile assigned to its zone.
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Via un-provisioning—Deleting a SonicPoint unit effectively un-provisions the unit, or clears its configuration and places it into a state where it will automatically engage the provisioning process anew with its peer SonicOS device. This technique is useful when the profile for a zone is updated or changed, and the change is set for propagation. It can be used to update firmware on SonicPoints, or to simply and automatically update multiple SonicPoint units in a controlled fashion, rather than changing all peered SonicPoints at once, which can cause service disruptions.