Aruba ACMA flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Mobility Master role

ArubaOS 8 management and configuration layer that stores and pushes configuration to Mobility Controllers; it does not forward client data traffic itself.

Virtual Controller election

In an Instant AP cluster, members elect one AP as virtual controller; it holds cluster-wide configuration and can be any AP, not dedicated hardware.

Aruba Central

Cloud-based management platform for Instant, ArubaOS 8, and ArubaOS 10 that provides configuration, monitoring, firmware management, and AIOps.

ArubaOS 10 architecture

Controller-less WLAN design where access points are managed by Aruba Central and tunnel client traffic to Aruba gateways for policy enforcement.

Aruba gateway function

Gateway platforms run ArubaOS and enforce stateful firewall, VPN, and role-based policies for tunneled or bridged wireless client traffic.

802.11ac band

Wi-Fi 5 operates only in the 5 GHz band and supports 80 and 160 MHz channels, downlink MU-MIMO, and 256-QAM modulation.

802.11ax OFDMA

Wi-Fi 6 uses orthogonal frequency-division multiple access to schedule subcarriers to multiple clients in one transmission, improving efficiency in dense networks.

802.11r purpose

Fast BSS Transition speeds roaming by pre-authenticating the client with the target AP before it moves, reducing reconnection delay.

802.11w PMF

Management frame protection authenticates unicast and optionally broadcast management frames; WPA3 requires PMF to prevent deauthentication attacks.

802.11i RSN

Security amendment defining WPA2 with CCMP/AES encryption and 802.1X authentication; it replaced WEP and TKIP as the robust security standard.

Non-overlapping 2.4 GHz channels

In North America, channels 1, 6, and 11 are the only non-overlapping 20 MHz channels; adjacent channels overlap and cause adjacent-channel interference.

DFS channel requirement

5 GHz UNII-2 and UNII-2e channels require radar detection, a 60-second channel availability check, and a 30-minute non-occupancy period after radar is detected.

EIRP formula

Effective isotropic radiated power equals AP transmit power in dBm plus antenna gain in dBi minus cable and connector loss in dB.

Free space path loss

FSPL(dB) = 32.44 + 20log10(f in MHz) + 20log10(d in km); loss increases 6 dB each time distance doubles.

SNR calculation

Signal-to-noise ratio equals received signal strength in dBm minus the noise floor in dBm; 25 dB supports voice and 20 dB supports data.

Virtual AP profile

ArubaOS profile that binds an SSID profile, AAA profile, and VLAN to create a broadcast WLAN on an AP group.

AP group

Logical container in ArubaOS that groups APs sharing the same virtual APs, RF profiles, and regulatory domain settings.

AAA profile

Defines authentication methods, the RADIUS server group, and initial and final user roles for clients connecting to a virtual AP.

User role

Named set of firewall policies, VLAN assignment, and session parameters applied to a client before or after authentication.

Initial role

Role assigned to a client before authentication completes; it usually permits only DHCP, DNS, and captive portal traffic.

WPA3-Personal SAE

Simultaneous Authentication of Equals replaces the WPA2 PSK handshake with a password-authenticated key exchange that resists offline dictionary attacks.

802.1X three roles

Supplicant is the client, authenticator is the AP or controller, and authentication server is RADIUS; EAP messages pass between supplicant and server.

EAP-TLS

Certificate-based EAP method where both client and server present certificates; it is the strongest common 802.1X method and requires a PKI.

Captive portal pre-auth role

Before web login, the client is placed in a limited role that allows DHCP, DNS, and portal access but blocks other traffic.

Layer 3 roaming

When a client roams to an AP on a different subnet, mobility tunnels keep the original IP address and route traffic through the home controller.

ClientMatch

Aruba feature that steers clients to the best AP and band, mitigates sticky clients, and balances load across radios.

ARM

Adaptive Radio Management dynamically selects channel and transmit power per radio based on interference, noise, and channel utilization.

Target RSSI thresholds

Design for -65 dBm or better for voice, -70 dBm for data, and treat -75 dBm as the practical minimum for reliable connectivity.

show ap database

CLI command that lists APs with IP addresses, model, status, and association details; useful for verifying AP connectivity to the controller.

show station table

CLI command that displays associated wireless clients, their MAC addresses, APs, and association state; useful for verifying client connectivity.

show datapath session

CLI command that shows the controller session table with source, destination, policy action, and flags for troubleshooting forwarding.

show tech-support

CLI command that collects configuration, logs, and diagnostic data into a bundle for Aruba TAC analysis.