Month: October 2020

Guide: Ruckus AP Not Broadcasting WLAN SSIDs

On October 27, 2020

Do you have a Ruckus AP on a vSZ/SCG that refuses to broadcast any WLAN SSIDs even if the Zone Configuration and AP/WLAN Groups are correct? This typically occurs because the WLAN service is disabled under Radio Options.

Solution:

GUI:

Step 1. Log into controller and go to the Access Point configuration page.

Configuration > Access Point and select AP that is not broadcasting.

Step 2. View the Radio Options and check if the WLAN Service is enabled on the radios.

Step 3. Enable the WLAN Service by checking the box on the necessary radios.

Step 4. Click Apply.

Step 5. Verify WLAN SSIDs are broadcasting.

CLI:

Step 1. SSH into the AP.

Step 2. Display the WLAN listing.

get wlanlist

Take note of the wlan name/wlanID e.g. wlan0 with the down status.

Step 3. Enable the wlan state.

set state <wlan name> up

Step 4. Repeat Step 2 and verify if WLAN SSID is broadcasting and confirm with a test device.

CWNP Analysis Professional Up Next? – Update: Rescheduled!

By John

On October 26, 2020

In Certification

Four days ago, I received a friendly reminder from CWNP regarding my CWNA certification expiring in April of next year. Since I finished taking my Juniper exam today, I am now moving forward and devoting some processing power toward the CWAP.

I purchased a self-paced training kit direct from CWNP almost a year ago for the CWAP which included the following:

CWAP-403 Study Guide
CWAP-403 Practice Test
Exam Voucher – One Pearson VUE exam voucher for CWAP-403

I am probably going against the grain here as the route that is recommended from others is typically CWNA > CWSP > CWDP > CWAP but I figured it is best to get the packet analysis down especially for security purposes and to see the nitty gritty of how Wi-Fi works.

The double whammy here for me is that I am also inclined to aim for the WCNA (Wireshark Certified Network Analyst) certification to increase skills at my current job and fatten the personal portfolio for marketing purposes.

Prior experience with the CWNA practice tests has given me a good idea about how the test is to be handled. I have to say that CWNP’s practice tests are definitely a must have for self-study.

I scheduled the exam to be administered at a local Pearson Vue test center near my work for December 22nd. Hopefully it will be an early Christmas gift to myself to gain the cert and therefore renew my CWNA along with it.

Update – November 27th, 2020

Just got notification from Pearson Vue and my selected test site that my appointment for the 22nd has been cancelled. I rescheduled the exam to be taken on January 21st of next year.

I could cancel the in-person test and get it remotely proctored but I think I can fill that December 22nd appointment with something else… maybe the CCNA?

Time for Juniper’s JNCIA-Junos Certification – Update: Certified!

By John

On October 9, 2020

In Certification

The career progression chart has changed in my organization and has listed the JNCIA as one of the many certifications required to progress to the next tier. I started in a primarily all Juniper shop and then moved over to an almost all Cisco shop. There are a spattering of Juniper devices across the network but I do not touch those as often as I touch Cisco devices.

I have always been meaning to certify in this track but as I moved away from Juniper devices, I figured it wasn’t in my best interest to diverge from the path that was ahead of me at the time.

But in the wise words of Bob Dylan, the times they are a-changing and in this field, it’s adapt or die. Juniper’s associate certification is back in my sights, the only unfortunate thing is the lack of self study material but from what I have read, the deprecated exam books are more than enough to get people through the latest iteration.

_{Note: The list below contains affiliate links to products and I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.}

Resources:

If you’re looking into some information on this, check it out at https://www.juniper.net/us/en/training/certification/certification-tracks/data-center-track/?tab=jnciajunos.

The exam costs $200 and can be either delivered remotely or at a test center. After experiencing the remote content delivery with CompTIA’s Cloud+ beta, I think I will opt into doing it again. It is pretty convenient and the major plus here is that I don’t have to wear a mask during the entire session!

So off I go down the path of the Juniper Associate.

Come gather 'round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
- Bob Dylan

Update – October 10th, 2020

Scheduled the exam to be delivered remotely on October 19th..

Update – October 17th, 2020

Re-scheduled the exam to be delivered remotely on October 26th. My on-call week has been rough and I just have not had the energy to devote towards studying as I have also started a fitness challenge this week presented by one of our vendors for a charity of the winners choice.

Update – October 26th, 2020

Just finished taking the exam and have earned a PASS! I would rate the JN0-103 as 3.0 out of 5.0 stars as you really need to know Juniper Syntax.

Juniper Networks Genius JNCIA-Junos course provides everything one needs to know to pass. I recommend it fully and as well as reading through the practical guide as it highlights a lot of information that you would otherwise overlook!

CompTIA Cloud+ Beta Thoughts

By John

On October 6, 2020

In Certification

Whenever CompTIA beta exams become available, I tend to ignore them as they do not interest me, however I had taken the bait for the Cloud+ instance. What got me hooked? I am gonna be honest, the cost to attempt the beta exam was only $50.00 compared to a whopping $329.00 (not accounting for academic discounts) for the commercial exam.

Besides, a lot of things in my field are moving towards virtualization so learning about the Cloud and it’s technologies are definitely a huge benefit to myself. I mentioned in a previous post that I am looking to gain a VMware Professional certificate and despite CompTIA being vendor neutral, it does show you what you need to know in general.

I registered for the exam on June 17th. CompTIA fortunately had already started offering the remote proctoring of exams in that timeframe. I scheduled the appointment for today, October 6th knowing that I will need to have a better grasp on the fundamentals.

With work being all encompassing and an on-call rotation once every month, I naturally procrastinated with zero care in the world. I ended up using and devoting the entire weekend towards reading and practice exams. See below for eBooks I used for self-study.

_{Note: This list below contains affiliate links to products and I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.}

Resources:

Before I give my thoughts on the Beta exam, I would like to share my experience regarding Pearson Vue’s remote proctoring.

I will spare you a wall of text and guide you with a direct link on what to expect over at https://home.pearsonvue.com/Test-takers/OnVUE-online-proctoring.aspx.

NOTE: You can check in thirty minutes prior to your actual appointment time.

The check-in process was relatively smooth and I had absolutely no hiccups toward exam content delivery. My only gripe was that I could not use any external device such as a monitor and USB keyboard. I do see why they would refuse the other peripherals. In any case, they did allow the USB mouse so that was nice! All in all, Pearson OnVUE works and works well.

Now onto my thoughts on the Cloud+ beta exam. As this was my first ever beta exam with CompTIA, I did not know what to expect. After going through the typical user agreements and beginning the exam, I was choke slammed with the maximum amount of questions!

110 to be exact! I saw on some Reddit and other forum threads that some people had 90 or so, so I guess I was one of the lucky ones! Oh well! This was just me looking at the top right hand corner. When I looked at the bottom left, BOOM! Simulation! I was not expecting any SIMs to be in this exam but I digress, the objectives did mention “Given a scenario…” heh.

The SIMs were definitely head scratchers and I think they could use a little more explanation but I was able to make sense of it after a while. Luckily test takers are given ample time to think about it! Am I right? Haha!

I was hit with two SIMs right off the bat but I am thankful that they were first up to the plate. Like a pitcher, I struck them out. Did I get any good stats from that? I won’t know until May 2021 when the actual exam is released.

After the two SIMs, it became a typical CompTIA exam with multiple choice questions. Just 108 of them! I did see some repetition but not a whole lot. After plugging away at the questions and submitting the answers to end the exam. I have got to say that the stigma with CompTIA exams has got to go and would rate this exam as mid-level (2.5 out of 5.0 stars) in difficulty.

For me? I would say this is a great stepping stone into the cloud arena with useful information all around.

Hopefully my contribution to CompTIA in finalizing this exam was meaningful. If not, here is to hoping I walk away with a PASS next year! ?

_{Image by Bethany Drouin from Pixabay}

Success in Failure – Update: Passed!

By John

On October 4, 2020

In Certification

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.
— George S. Patton

I write this post to highlight a failure on my part as I had scheduled to sit the VCP-DCV 2020 on October 2nd. Admittedly, I planned this months ago and failed to place a reminder and thus, simply have forgotten all about it. It was almost by providence that I happened to login to the separate VMWare certification dashboard and to my abrupt horror, I saw the appointment thirty minutes out.

I had not devoted time to study for this exam and I touch Virtual Machines lightly in my profession as my team reorganized away from the Implementation aspect and adopted wholly the Operations aspect.

As you all know, Pearson Vue requires a minimum of twenty-four hours prior to your exam to be able to change the appointment time. I had two choices, skip the exam and take the loss or attempt it and get to know thy enemy.

I wrestled with the idea of skipping it all together as I was very unprepared and then within ten minutes, I had a change of heart. I got ready as fast as I can and booked my rear end to the testing center. Thankfully, it is only minutes away from my place of residence.

Due to traffic, I arrived fifteen minutes after my original appointment time and my proctor (bless her heart) was about to give me a call. I should mention as a side note that I am a frequent visitor of this particular establishment as all other test centers I have been to seemed to hire emotionless robots who wouldn’t think about giving a courtesy call to remind me.

My proctor is absolutely personable and I could always count on having a good chat with her. She called VMWare and got the OK for the delay where she moved quickly to get my session going. During that hustle and bustle, I flat out told her I fully expect to fail this exam but will sit it out to get a good grasp of what to expect so that I may return with the right mindset.

She sat me down at the test station with the largest monitor and said she saved this one just for me. As the session was green-lighted, I read through the usual User and Confidentiality agreements and agreed to the terms. For one whole hour, I went through the seventy exam questions.

Some I knew of on the off-hand however on a majority, I resorted to science with educated guesses ?. I marked some off for review as a just in case but what good would that do if I had arrived fully unprepared.

I ended the exam with a slight sliver of hope that may be, just may be I some how did the impossible and passed. I failed. I was expecting a score of 150 or below but to my surprise, I scored a 210. The minimum passing score for the exam is 300.

Only 90 points away. Not bad, at least I think it is not bad. I exited the room and engaged with my Proctor per usual. She laughed as I told her “I didn’t do so bad!” and she mentioned that I am probably the only one she has seen wearing a smile with a FAIL printed on the score report.

I needed this failure as it ignited the flame that has lain dormant in my mind, body, and soul. With full motivation, I am now committed to earning this certification along with a few others by the end of the year. In fact, I am sitting for the CompTIA Cloud+ Beta (CV1-003) Exam this Tuesday, I won’t know the results until mid-2021 but I remain confident all the same.

Thank you failure! From your ashes rise the sweet smoke of Success! I don’t have the certification yet but to quote the overly cautious Hero, I will be “ready perfectly” in my endeavors.

Update – December 7th, 2020

Sat the Professional vSphere 6.7 Exam 2019 (2V0-21.19) today and ended up walking away with a PASS! I have to say that Vladan’s and Veeam’s VCP-DCV study guides were both great resources in taking and passing the exam.

At this point in time, I have met two of the three requirements to actually earn the VCP-DCV certification. The only thing that remains now is VMware approved classroom instruction.