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Cisco Meraki Documentation

Selecting Management Mode for Next Gen Hardware with Unified Licenses

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Overview

This article provides a comprehensive guide on choosing a management mode for your Next Gen Hardware with Unified licenses in a Cisco Networking Subscription. For information on management mode in an Enterprise Agreement refer to the page here.  Depending on your requirements, you can opt to manage your licenses and devices in cloud mode, mix mode, or on-premises mode.

This process applies only to unified licenses under the Cisco Networking Subscription for the Next Gen Hardware. Other SKUs under Cisco Networking Subscription licensing will be cloud-only.

The following are next gen hardware:

 

If you have Term licenses for Wi-Fi 7/C9350 (Co-Term), they will be cloud-only. Mixed mode or on-premises management is only available with subscription licensing.

Learn more with these free online training courses on the Meraki Learning Hub:

Sign in with your Cisco SSO or create a free account to start training.

On-Prem Mode

Customers who manage their licenses and devices on-prem, can manage their license through the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) and devices via Catalyst Center or directly on the device for the full on-prem experience.  No additional actions are required to maintain the experience that you already have.  Smart Account Administration

Cloud Mode

Customers who manage their licenses, inventory, and devices through the Meraki Dashboard will enjoy the full cloud experience. No additional actions are required to maintain the experience that you already have.

  1. Customers need to claim their subscription in Meraki Dashboard.   How to Claim a Subscription
  2. Customers need to bind their subscription to the network(s).  How to Bind a Network to a Subscription

Mixed Mode - Setting the Network to On-Prem Management

Customers who manage devices on-premises while still utilizing the Meraki dashboard for your licenses and inventory management will be in a mix mode.

Prerequisite

  1. Customers need to have their subscription claimed in the Meraki Dashboard.   How to Claim a Subscription, How to Activate an EA Subscription
  2. Customers need to bind their subscription to the network.  How to Bind a Network to a Subscription
  3. Customers need to have their Smart Account / Virtual Account information at hand. Smart Account Administration

  •  

1. Log into the Meraki dashboard by going to dashboard.meraki.com and input your Email and Password. Click Log in once you are ready.

Graphical user interface, applicationDescription automatically generated

2.   In Meraki Dashboard, open the organization. Navigate to Organization > Subscription & License Info.

  • Select the Subscriptions view.
  • Locate the subscription row and confirm that its Status is Active.
  • Confirm the displayed Smart Account, Subscription ID, end date, and utilization seem correct.

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Note: all new networks must be bound to a subscription to stay compliant.  Networks managed through the Meraki Dashboard (cloud) require no additional action. For networks managed on-premises, continue with the following steps.

 

3. Select the network you want to move to on-premises

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4.Navigate to Network-Wide > Management Mode, then select On-premises managed.

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Note: This is a per-product-family configuration.

  1. For wireless, place every AP you want to manage through a WLC or Catalyst Center in this network. The WLC does not need to be in the Meraki Dashboard for this configuration.
  2. For switching, place every switch you want to manage through Catalyst Center in this network that is eligible to covert.
  3. This configuration is not specific to wireless or switching. It synchronizes the Meraki Dashboard with the Smart Account/Virtual Account in CSSM.

    for a full list of hardward that is elibigle to go throught this process - https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/produc...specifications

IMPORTANT: Create the network and change its management mode to On-premises managed before adding any devices. After confirming that the network is in On-premises managed mode, add the APs to the network. The APs will not reboot when added.

IMPORTANT: For both wireless and switching, devices will reboot if they already added to the network prior to changing the Management Mode and then they will follow the normal on-premises discovery process configured in your on-premises network.

5. Select the appropriate SA/VA. It must be the same account that you will be logging in to CSSM.

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6. If prompted, enter the required credentials. Use the same administrator CSSM.

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7. For the wireless flow, this screen explains that APs will reset and follow the normal on-premises discovery process. Before continuing, confirm that the network is configured for discovery, such as through DHCP or DNS. Click Next

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8. After reviewing the information, click Confirm.

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Note: If you use an on-premises SSM and have not assigned devices to the Meraki Dashboard network, the devices are assigned automatically to the configured network. The on-premises SSM must synchronize each time a new AP is activated to obtain a license.

 

9. After the management-mode change, return to the network and verify the displayed subscription and on-premises association.

  • Open Organization > Subscription & License Info and select the target network.
  • Confirm the right-side Subscription Info panel identifies the expected subscription, status, end date, wireless feature tier, Smart Account, and Virtual Account.
  • Review the consumption indicator and available-license information shown for the subscription.

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Verify the license in Cisco Smart Software Licensing

Once mix mode is configured, sign in to Cisco Software Central with administrator credentials for the SA/VA that was configured on the Network that was set to on-prem .Cisco Software Central

1. Open Cisco Software Central and select Manage licenses under Smart Software Manager.

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Note: Do not use Cisco License Central (CLC) to view this synchronization. It is not yet available there, and the displayed information will be incorrect.

2. Click Inventory, then select the required Smart Account and Virtual Account.

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3. Click Licenses and locate the entitlement changed to on-premises management. In this example, look for Cisco Wireless Advantage

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4. Review the Available to Use, In Use, and Balance values. If needed, open the entitlement to view product details and usage.

Note: Balance value may show a different quantity; this is expected. It shows all the licenses that are in the product class for that SA/VA even if they are coming from different subscriptions, it will aggregate them all into one number.   Available to Use and In Use reflect only devices added to the Meraki Dashboard and consumed on on-premises network(s). Devices that remain cloud-managed in a different Meraki Dashboard network,  are not shown. For a broader EA view, use the Meraki Dashboard or EA Workspace.

5. Hover over the entitlement to view product details, including the "Organization:network - product family" from which the information originates.

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6. Select Organization:network - product to view details such as the subscription ID, start date, and end date.

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7. Select Product Instances to see which devices consume the licenses.
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Supported Device Management Mode Per Product Class

  On-Premises Mode Mixed Mode Cloud Mode

Traditional Meraki Devices Example (MX, MS, MR)

N/A

N/A

✅

Cisco Wireless (Wi-Fi 7) 

✅

✅

✅

Cisco Smart Switching Access (C9350) Series

✅

✅

✅

Cisco Smart Switching Core (C9610)

✅

✅

Coming Soon

Cisco 8000 Secure Routers (SD-WAN)

✅

Coming Soon

Coming Soon