Besides managing access points and bridges, which could scale to several
thousand devices, the real task resides in installing and managing the clients.
So how does an administrator manage tens of thousands of wireless users? In an
enterprise, the desktops and laptops may be managed by a program which allows
automatic distribution of software updates, installs, and images. In other
cases, the enterprise may require users to download the software and perform a
self installation. In the later case, the task is simplified greatly by
creating pre-configured installer which automatically configures the wireless
client settings during installation. The program which allows this is the Cisco
Aironet Configuration Administration Tool (ACAT).
ACAT is a tool used by administrators to specify software installation
options for client adapters located in PCs running a Windows operating system.
The specified options are placed in a configuration file used by the Cisco
Aironet Wireless LAN Client Adapter Installation Wizard (Install Wizard) to
install the software components and client adapter configuration profiles. ACAT
supports the Windows 98, ME, NT, 2K, and XP operating systems.
Using
ACAT, an administrator can specify the following installation options as shown
in Figure
.
To use ACAT, download and install on a PC. The latest ACAT software can be
obtained from Cisco Software Center at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/ public/sw-center/sw- wireless.shtml
When ACAT activates, a graphical user interface appears that allows the
administrator to easily select and specify installation options
. Typically, the
administrator selects a client adapter type, software component installation
options, global over-ride options, and then creates client adapter profiles. To
simplify the process, ACAT uses 3 major screen tabs and a drop-down menu
. The ACAT File
menu provides the following selections
. The profile
settings tab is shown in Figure
.
ACAT
creates a configuration file, CiscoAdminConfig.dat, using the specified
installation options for a selected client adapter type. To operate, the ACAT
configuration file must be placed in the Install Wizard folder. When a user
activates the Install Wizard by clicking Setup.exe in the Install Wizard
folder, the Install Wizard program uses the ACAT configuration file to specify
the installation options. If the system uses different types of client
adapters, multiple configuration files must be created, one for each adapter
type.
The ACAT configuration file is encrypted to protect sensitive
security data such as SSID, WEP keys, and network security settings. Also, the
client adapter profiles created by ACAT can be configured to support static
WEP, LEAP, EAP-SIM, or PEAP network security options.
The client adapter
software (drivers, firmware, utilities, and the Install Wizard) are not part of
the ACAT software package and must be obtained separately.