The Omada Cloud-Based Controller (CBC), existing entirely in the cloud for the Omada Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform, provides centralized cloud management of routers, switches, and access points from a single interface. But not all models of routers, switches, and APs support Omada CBC, you can go to www.tp-link.com/en/omada-cloud-based-controller/product-list/ to confirm which models are compatible with Omada CBC.

 

Omada CBC uses a device-based licensing model to manage the devices and networks. If you want to manage the devices by CBC, you should purchase the licenses for each device.  Except for the license fee, you don’t need to purchase an additional hardware device or install the software on the host, which can reduce local O&M costs.

 

Equipment

 

• 2 x PC (PC1, PC2)

• 1 x Switch (TL-SG2210MP)

• 1 x Router (ER605)

• 1 x EAP (EAP653)

• Ethernet Cables

 

Network Topology

 

 

 

Configuration Steps

 

Suppose you operate a small office, and manage the network devices by yourself. You travel a lot, so you want to manage the network devices via Cloud, and you don't want to buy an additional management device like OC200, or run a separate Controller PC. In this case, you can choose Omada Cloud-Based Controller (Hereinafter referred to as CBC) to realize your requirement.

 

Preparation: Create a TP-Link ID and register a Cloud-Based Controller

 

1. First, you should have a TP-Link ID to access the Cloud Service. Enter omada.tplinkcloud.com in the browser to access the Omada Cloud website on PC1. If you already have a TP-Link ID, enter the TP-Link ID and password to log in directly, if not, click on Sign Up in the top right corner of the page to register a TP-Link ID, then log in with the TP-Link ID you have registered.

 

 

2. Click on Add Controller.

 

 

3. Click on Register to create a new CBC.

 

 

4. Click on Set Up Now to start configuring the CBC.

 

 

5. Click on Config New Setup.

 

 

6. Set up the Controller Name, Country/Region, and Timezone, check the Terms box, then click on Next. In this example:

Controller Name: Cloud-based Controller

Controller Country/Region: United States

Controller Timezone: UTC

 

 

7. Set up a new site for the devices, in this example:

Site Name: Default

Site Country/Region: United States

Site Time Zone: UTC

Username: admin

Password: tplink

Application: Hotel

 

 

8. Skip the Wi-Fi pre-configuration, because this experiment does not involve Wi-Fi, and it can be set up in the Wireless Network Settings if you need.

 

 

9. Click on the Finish button to finish the Controller pre-configuration.

 

 

 

 

Configuration: Add devices in CBC

 

 

Here we introduce three methods to add devices:

 

• Add devices via S/N

• Add devices via Omada Discovery Utility

• Add devices via Management Webpage

 

 

1. Add devices via S/N

 

Note: Before adding the devices in CBC via S/N, you should make sure there are enough licenses in your account. If you don’t have licenses, you can go to Global View > License, and click on Purchase License to apply for 10 one-month trial licenses.

 

 

Omada devices can be added to CBC offline via S/N, when the devices are offline, which means they have not connected to the Cloud, they will be "PRECONFIGURED" status after they are added to CBC.

 

For Switch and EAP in reset mode, once they are connected to the Internet, they will connect to the Cloud automatically, and their status will become "UNACTIVATED" in CBC, then you can assign the licenses to activate them.

 

For Router, usually, it needs to be configured in its standalone mode to access the Internet, in this case, you should enable the "Cloud-Based Controller Management" feature manually in its standalone management page to let it connect to the Cloud.

 

In some cases where Switch and EAP have been configured in their standalone mode before being added to CBC, it is also needed to enable the "Cloud-Based Controller Management" feature in their standalone management page.

 

• Omada Gateway:

 

 

• Omada Switch:

 

 

• Omada EAP:

 

 

 

• Add devices online

 

1) Click the site name in the Global Dashboard to enter the site management page.

 

 

2) Go to Devices List, and click on Add Devices.

 

 

3) Select Manually Add mode, then add the devices' S/N manually, and Click on Confirm Button.

 

 

Note: You can also select "Import" mode, download the template and fill in your devices' information, then import the file. This mode is suitable for adding numerous devices in bulk.

 

4) Enter the verification code to pass the Security Verification.

 

 

5) If the device is not in factory reset mode, there will be an error message "Incorrect username or password to adopt the device". Click on Retry, and enter its username and password in standalone mode.

 

6) Then you can see the devices are all added in the CBC with "UNACTIVATED" status. You could activate the devices by assigning licenses to them, here we take the router as an example. Click the Activate button.

 

 

7) Select a license you want for the router, then click on Apply to assign this license to it.

Note: If the licenses have not been assigned ever, they will be sorted into the corresponding time groups. If the licenses once have been assigned then unbound, they will be sorted into Unassigned Licenses, and a license can be unbound and reassigned multiple times.

 

 

8) After assigning the license, the device status will become PENDING---ADOPTING---CONNECTED (please note it needs some time during this procedure, no need to click on the Adopt manually), and its license status will be "Activated". The steps of activating the switch and EAP are the same as the router.

 

 

• Add devices offline

 

1) Reset the devices, and unplug the WAN port cable from the router to let the devices be offline status.

 

2) Go to the Devices List of the Controller, and click on Add Devices.

 

 

3) Select Manually Add mode, then add the devices' S/N manually, and Click on Confirm Button.

 

 

4) Enter the verification code to pass the Security Verification.

 

 

5) Wait for importing the devices to see if the devices are imported successfully with “Offline” status.

 

 

6) The devices will appear in the CBC Devices list with "PRECONFIGURED" status.

 

 

7) Re-plug the network cable into the WAN port of the router to let the devices connect to the Internet and Cloud. Wait for a while, the devices will be adopted by the CBC automatically and their status will become "UNACTIVATED", then you can assign the licenses to activate them.

 

 

 

2. Add devices via Omada Discovery Utility

 

Note: To test the second method of adding devices, you should reset the devices to let them back to the default status. The licenses you have assigned to the devices will be unbound automatically. You can also go to Details Window---Config-----Forget to forget the device manually if you find the device still showing on the list with other statuses.

 

 

1) Download the zip file of the Omada Discovery Utility on the official website and unzip it on PC2.

Download link: https://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/omada-software-controller/#Omada_Discovery_Utility

 

 

2) Double-click the Bat file, "start-omada-discovery-utility", to run the Utility.

 

 

3) The Utility can discover the devices and display them in the list

 

 

4) Log in to Omada Cloud on PC1, click on the CBC you have created, and go to Details, you can copy the CBC Inform URL.

 

 

5) Select all devices and click on Batch Setting in the Utility on PC2, paste the URL you just copied as the Center IP/Inform URL, the username and password of the devices in factory reset mode are admin/admin, then click on Apply button.

 

        

 

6) Wait for a second, you can see the devices appear in the CBC Devices list with "PENDING" status on PC1, now you can adopt and activate them.

 

 

 

 

3. Add devices via Management Webpage

 

1) Enter 192.168.0.1 on the browser to access the management page of the Router on PC1, set the username and password, then enter the username and password you have set to log in.

 

 

2) Go to System Tools > Controller Settings, check the box to enable "Cloud-Based Controller Management", and input the Inform URL you have got in Part 3 Step4, click on the Save button.

 

 

3) Go to Network > LAN > DHCP Client List to check the IPs of the Switch and EAP, in this example, the Switch IP is 192.168.0.100, EAP IP is 192.168.0.101.

 

 

4) Enter 192.168.0.100 on the browser to access the management page of the Switch on PC1, and input the default username and password, admin/admin.

 

 

5) Set the new password for the Switch, then click Apply to log in.

 

 

6) Go to SYSTEM > Controller Settings, check the boxes to enable "Cloud-Based Controller Management", and input the Inform URL of CBC, click on Apply button.

 

 

7) Enter 192.168.0.101 to access the management page of EAP on PC1, and input the default username and password, admin/admin.

 

 

8) Set the new username and password for the EAP, then click on Next > Skip > Finish to complete the pre-configuration of the EAP.

 

 

9) Go to System > Controller Settings, check the boxes to enable "Cloud-Based Controller Management", and input the Inform URL of CBC, click on the Save button.

 

 

10) Wait for a second, you can see the devices appear in the CBC Devices list with “PENDING” status on PC1, now you can adopt and activate them.

 

 

 

Note: Except for the way to adopt the device and the device license, the configuration of Omada CBC and Local Controller to manage the devices and network is almost the same, here is no further introduction.