Setting up static IPs

Discussions about Internet service providers (ISPs), the Meetinghouse Firewall, wired and wireless networking, usage, management, and support of Meetinghouse Internet
russellhltn
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Setting up static IPs

#1

Post by russellhltn »

One nice feature of the new Maraki firewalls is that you can now set static IPs via DHCP and TM.

The process appears to be a bit slow. I inputted in the information in TM and then re-configured the printers, but the printers ended up in the general DHCP pool. After a bunch of troubleshooting, I had to restart them to get them back to their assigned IP.

It's possible the process may be quicker if you set the printers to DHCP first and then use the lookup tool in TM to locate and select the printer. That tool doesn't scan the static area, so it won't find anything that's already manually configured with a static IP.

One tip: To find the mac address of a device on the network, open a CMD prompt and type:

arp -a 0.0.0.0

Substituting the target IP address for "0.0.0.0". I'd suggest changing the dashes into colons when copying. I'm not sure how TM will act to dashes.
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johnshaw
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#2

Post by johnshaw »

I did a little looking at the tool and found this:

IP Assignments
This tool allows you to assign IP addresses from the static IP range to specific devices by MAC address.

It appears that the assignment is supposed to be in the STATIC range of the pool rather than the DHCP? Maybe with the TM tool not really functioning today, I'm not seeing where to do the DHCP, but using static is more in line with what I've done in our stake.
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russellhltn
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#3

Post by russellhltn »

johnshaw wrote:It appears that the assignment is supposed to be in the STATIC range of the pool rather than the DHCP?
It is, and it does. When I was done, all of the devices were back at their old IP address, only the devices were set to 'DHCP' and it was the assignment that set the IP rather than a static setting on the device.

The problem I ran into is that it appears to take time for the new assignment in TM to make it's way to the firewall. As a result, when you set the device to DHCP, it may initially be in the DHCP pool instead of the intended address. The problem will straighten out if given time (and can be speeded up by rebooting the device) without any further changes in TM. I just wanted to warn others wanting to make the change so they can save some of their hair. <grin>

Now, why would anyone want to change from device-configured static to firewall-configured assignment? Well, one of the changes is that now the ISP "Notes" in TM is limited to 400 characters. As a result, all my notes on static IP assignments were wiped out. By putting the assignments in the firewall, you're reasonably assured that your assignments are there for all to see: FM, CHQ, etc.
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johnshaw
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#4

Post by johnshaw »

Russell, thanks for doing the leg work on this. And what you describe is different than I'd expect... the term STATIC has a historical meaning in the IT world, as does DHCP Reservation. This is really good information to have and again, thanks for figuring it all out.
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tlhackett
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#5

Post by tlhackett »

It is DHCP reservation. Even though a static IP and a DHCP reservation is different (configured on the device vs. on the router), they both result in a static/fixed IP assignment. Because of that, we restricted it to just the static range to keep it consistent and self documenting (if you choose to use it)
russellhltn
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#6

Post by russellhltn »

When you go to make the assignment, you pick from a drop down list. So, I think you're stuck with assignments in the static "pool".

One thing that I'm sure is going to throw people off - when that screen comes up, it's set for the "User" network. You can only pick form 192.168.s.s addresses. There's a drop-down list in the upper right where you need to select "SP" if you want to configure the FHC printers (10.x.x.x).
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Mikerowaved
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#7

Post by Mikerowaved »

russellhltn wrote:The problem I ran into is that it appears to take time for the new assignment in TM to make it's way to the firewall.
The delay is due to the current IP address lease still being active. When that decays to zero, the new IP assignment will take affect. I don't know what the Meraki's IP lease times are set to, but probably around 30 minutes.
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russellhltn
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#8

Post by russellhltn »

Mikerowaved wrote:
russellhltn wrote:The problem I ran into is that it appears to take time for the new assignment in TM to make it's way to the firewall.
The delay is due to the current IP address lease still being active. When that decays to zero, the new IP assignment will take affect.
I'm talking about a delay from TM config to the firewall. I'm sure it has to due with TM having to talk to a connector to the Meraki's cloud and the firewall getting the message. Until I re-configure the printer, there is no IP lease.

Now, if we're talking about how long from the time the printer gets a DHCP pool IP address and when it gets it's assigned IP, yes, I'm sure the lease has something to do with that. That's when you need to reboot the printer.

Mikerowaved wrote:I don't know what the Meraki's IP lease times are set to, but probably around 30 minutes.
When I checked on the stake computer on Sunday, I saw 24 hours. Which raises an interesting question - I wonder if the 991 IP addresses in the "User" pool is going to be enough for the 5 wards that meet at our stake center? It would be interesting to see the user stats.
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lajackson
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#9

Post by lajackson »

russellhltn wrote:When I checked on the stake computer on Sunday, I saw 24 hours. Which raises an interesting question - I wonder if the 991 IP addresses in the "User" pool is going to be enough for the 5 wards that meet at our stake center? It would be interesting to see the user stats.
I would start looking for a way to reduce the lease times, including calling the GSC if necessary.
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johnshaw
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Re: Setting up static IPs

#10

Post by johnshaw »

We fixed this problem before with Cisco... round and round we go
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