Ekahau released a new version (v10.2) last month. The best feature out of this new version (for me at least) is the ability to create personalized tags for AP objects. Each tag can have a key and a value.
Here is an example:
Here is an example:
Description
My good friend Haydn Andrews had the idea to create a script that would auto populate the value of some tags based on the AP properties. This could be used for a lot of AP related properties if you think about it:
In our case we focused on the antenna(s). So we wanted to auto populate the value of three tags that we created:
antenna-type would be set to "internal" or "external" depending on the type of antenna used.
antenna-vendor would be set to the antenna vendor (for external antenna only).
antenna-name would be set to the model of antenna (for external antenna only).
That's how the following script was born: https://github.com/francoisverges/semfio-ekahau/blob/master/tag-antenna/tag-antenna.py
The script will create a modified copy of your esx project and leave the original unchanged. However, we recommend running the script against a copy of the original esx project file.
This script will only works if you create the tags within your project before running the script. The easier to do this is to create the three tags on an AP that has external antennas. The three tags to create are: "antenna-name", "antenna-type", and "antenna-vendor".
- Installation details
- Special bracket needed
- Antenna related information (internet, external, model...)
- PoE budget information
- Service loop required
- ...
In our case we focused on the antenna(s). So we wanted to auto populate the value of three tags that we created:
- antenna-type
- antenna-vendor
- antenna-name
antenna-type would be set to "internal" or "external" depending on the type of antenna used.
antenna-vendor would be set to the antenna vendor (for external antenna only).
antenna-name would be set to the model of antenna (for external antenna only).
That's how the following script was born: https://github.com/francoisverges/semfio-ekahau/blob/master/tag-antenna/tag-antenna.py
The script will create a modified copy of your esx project and leave the original unchanged. However, we recommend running the script against a copy of the original esx project file.
This script will only works if you create the tags within your project before running the script. The easier to do this is to create the three tags on an AP that has external antennas. The three tags to create are: "antenna-name", "antenna-type", and "antenna-vendor".
The Code
Feel free to modify it so you can use it with your own tags.
Note: we might update it in the future. So make sure to also check the GitHub repository to see the latest version available: https://github.com/francoisverges/semfio-ekahau
Note: we might update it in the future. So make sure to also check the GitHub repository to see the latest version available: https://github.com/francoisverges/semfio-ekahau
Usage
As mentioned previously, the tags (key only) need to be created on the original project file on at least 1 AP object as shown below:
You can then create a copy of your project file (.esx file) and run the script against it:
A modified version of your project file will be created. When you open it, you should see the tags configured with the proper values on all access points:
The flexibility of creating our own tags opens a lot of opportunities for us. Feel free to take this and modify it to your needs.
Links & Resources
- Source Code on Github: https://github.com/francoisverges/semfio-ekahau/tree/master/tag-antenna
- Other Ekahau related scripts on Github: https://github.com/francoisverges/semfio-ekahau
- Github Wiki: https://github.com/francoisverges/semfio-ekahau/wiki/How-to-use-%22Antenna-Tag%22
- Ekahau 10.2 release notes: https://www.ekahau.com/blog/pro-10-2-release-notes/
- Haydn Andrews' blog: thewlan.com.au
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