CAPsMAN v2

What this chapter covers

This chapter covers CAPsMAN v2, the way a RouterOS device manages the wireless settings of many access points from one place.

It follows the life of a managed access point. The CAP finds the manager, builds a trusted link, receives a configuration, gets its interfaces, and finally has its clients checked by an access list.

CAPsMAN v2 belongs to RouterOS v7 and the wifi driver. The older CAPsMAN uses different menus and cannot work with it, so the pages say clearly which one is meant.

How the topics fit together

The six topics form a chain from the first contact to the daily control of clients.

After provisioning, the access list controls which clients may join the interfaces that the rules created.

• Overview explains the manager, the CAPs and the difference between the two generations.
• Communication and discovery explains how a CAP finds the manager at layer 2 or by IP address.
• Configuration and security explains the CAP settings and the certificates that protect the control link.
• Configuration settings explains the channel, security, datapath, steering and configuration profiles.
• Interface provisioning explains the rules that give each radio its configuration.
• Access list features explains the rules that accept or reject clients.

How to use these pages

Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.

• What it is: the idea in plain words.
• How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and example commands.
• What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise.
• Common mistakes: the classic traps.
• Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.

Read the pages in order, because each one builds on the one before. The security, regulatory and RF chapters give background for the profiles and the access list.

If you have two RouterOS v7 devices with the wifi driver, build a small manager and CAP and watch each step happen. The example commands on the pages show the main settings. Always check the parameter names in your own RouterOS version, because the wifi menus have changed between v7 releases.

Practice checklist for the Module 9 laboratory

Do the steps in this order. The menus in brackets are the RouterOS v7 wifi driver, then the RouterOS v6 /caps-man equivalent.

1. Enable the manager (/interface wifi capsman, or /caps-man manager).
2. Enable the CAP and point it at the manager (/interface wifi cap, or /interface wireless cap).
3. Build the configuration with its channel, security and datapath settings (/interface wifi configuration, or /caps-man configuration).
4. Add a provisioning rule that uses it (/interface wifi provisioning, or /caps-man provisioning).
5. Add an access list entry (/interface wifi access-list, or /caps-man access-list).
6. Check that the CAP is listed with remote-cap print, and that a client appears in the registration table.