Recovering after a ZoneDirector failure

Old ZoneDirectors may suddenly fail.

If you have a backup and bought the ZoneDirector from Ruckus or an authorized reseller, then you can RMA the broken ZoneDirector and restore your backup.

Otherwise, read on!

I don't know which version of ZoneDirector software I was running when I took the backup

Backups will only restore onto a ZoneDirector running the same software version.

If you have support contract then Ruckus can tell you the software version you need.

But it's not too hard to do this for yourself.

I have a dead ZD1100 which I can't or don't want to RMA

ZoneDirector 1100 models fail because the internal flash drive stops working.
Luckily, the ZD1100 is much fussier than your PC, so you can use your PC to copy the ZoneDirector configuration onto a replacement flash drive.

• Open the ZD1100 case and remove the flash drive.
• Plug the flash drive into one of your PC's USB ports and use ImageUSB to make a backup.
• Insert a spare 2GB (or larger) USB drive and use ImageUSB to restore your backup.
• Insert the replacement flash drive into the ZD1100 and close the case.

I have a dead ZD1200 which I can't RMA

ZoneDirector 1200 models fail because the CPU dies. You will have to buy a cheap replacement off e.g. eBay.

TIP

You may also buy an Access Networks C120, if this is cheaper, since it's just a rebadged ZD1200.

I have no backup for my dead ZD1200

On the old ZD1200

• Record the serial number and MAC. These are printed on the bottom of the case.
• Open the case and remove the CF Card.

Need to RMA the old ZD?

If you have to RMA the old ZD then use ImageUSB to make a backup, then replace the CF Card and close the case.

On the new ZD1200

• SSH into the ZD's CLI, and give it your dead ZD's serial number and (optionally) MAC addresses.

We will be using the rbd.sh command to set the serial number, OUI, mac1 and mac2:-

Usage: rbd.sh {board} {model} {serial} {OUI} {mac1} {mac2} <customer>
Example: rbd.sh shiba ZD1025 12345678 00:13:92 01:01:01 01:01:02 ruckus

You need to translate the MAC address printed on the bottom of your dead ZD into the format rbd.sh understands.
The first 6 digits of the MAC address are the OUI, and the last 6 are the mac1 eth0 address. You then need to add 1 to the mac1 address to get the mac2 eth1 address.

e.g. to replace this dead ZoneDirector:-

$$\begin{array}{rl}\mathtt{\text{S/N: }}& \stackrel{\text{serial}}{\overbrace{\mathtt{\text{441408000007}}}}\\ \mathtt{\text{MAC: }}& \underset{\text{OUI}}{\underbrace{\mathtt{\text{F0B752}}}}\underset{\text{mac1}}{\underbrace{\mathtt{\text{1D5890}}}}\end{array}$$

Welcome to the Ruckus Wireless ZoneDirector 1200 Command Line Interface
ruckus> enable
ruckus# rbd.sh "" "" 441408000007 F0:B7:52 1D:58:90 1D:58:91 ""
... Changes saved to flash
Creating Root CA......... done
Creating certificate..... done

Board Data Written:
Board    :inu
Model    :ZD1200
Serial   :441408000007
MAC1     :F0:B7:52:1D:58:90
MAC2     :F0:B7:52:1D:58:91
CUSTOMER :ruckus

rbd:FAIL
rbd.sh   441408000007
ruckus#

TIP

The rbd:FAIL message is normal. It's complaining that we defaulted some rbd.sh parameters instead of explicitly specifying them.

TIP

If you have no L2 rules which require the new ZoneDirector to reuse the old ZoneDirector's MACs, you can just specify "" for the OUI and MAC addresses:-

Welcome to the Ruckus Wireless ZoneDirector 1200 Command Line Interface
ruckus> enable
ruckus# rbd.sh "" "" 441408000007 "" "" "" ""
... Changes saved to flash
...

• Turn the ZD off.
• Open the case, and swap in the CF Card from your dead ZD.

Did you RMA the old ZD?

If you had to RMA the old ZD then use ImageUSB to restore your backup onto the new ZD's CF card, then replace it.

• Close the case and turn the ZD back on.

I want to restore my ZD3000 backup onto a ZD1100 or ZD1200

ZoneDirector 3000 models are big, loud, and use a lot of power.
The ZoneDirector 1200 is small, silent and sips power. It supports up to 150 APs and 4000 clients.

Unfortunately Ruckus has a policy of only allowing you to restore backups from 'smaller' models to 'larger' models, so you can't restore a ZD3000 backup onto a ZD1100 or ZD1200.

But it's possible to patch a ZD3000 backup so that it will restore onto any ZoneDirector. Grab the patch and run it on a Linux or Windows WSL shell.
e.g.

$ chmod +x patch_zd_backup_anyplatform.sh
$ ./patch_zd_backup_anyplatform.sh ruckus_db_052323_14_06.bak ruckus_db_052323_14_06.unlocked.bak
Decrypting ZoneDirector Backup: ruckus_db_052323_14_06.bak

Version: 10.5.1.0 build 240
Required AP Licenses: 8

Creating ZoneDirector 1100/1200/3000 Backup: ruckus_db_052323_14_06.unlocked.bak
$