Lightweight to Autonomous (vice 

versa)
conversion

Following are the three type of IOS available & need to download the correct type
before starting the conversion process.

 k9w7 – autonomous IOS

 k9w8 – full lightweight IOS (this is what is bundled in the WLC .aes image, and
is factory installed on “mesh” APs)
 rcvk9w8 – lightweight recovery image – this is factory installed on lightweight
APs, unless a “mesh” image is specified; it lacks radio firmware
In our case we require k9w7 for Autonomous conversion. More specifically c1140-
k9w7-tar.124-25d.JA.tar as my AP is 1142.
To convert Lightweight AP to Autonomous AP, need to have PC directly connected to
AP’s ethernet port. If you are powering AP from the switch (i.e use PoE) then PC &
AP needs to be in two switch ports in the same vlan. In my example PC is
10.10.10.1/24 & AP is 10.10.10.102/24.

Console into the access point & do the following configurations.

 AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#sh ip int brief

Interface                          IP-Address        OK? Method Status                      
Protocol
Dot11Radio0                       unassigned        NO  unset  up                            
up        
Dot11Radio1                       unassigned        NO  unset  up                            
up        
GigabitEthernet0                unassigned        YES DHCP   up                          up   
 AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#debug capwap console cli   <- without this line LWAP
not accepting the conf t
 AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#conf t
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config)#ip default-gateway 10.10.10.1
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config)#int g0
 AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config-if)#ip address 10.10.10.102 255.255.255.0
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7(config-if)#no sh
 AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#ping 10.10.10.1
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.10.10.1, timeout is 2 seconds: !!!!!
 AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#archive download-sw /force-reload /overwrite
tftp://10.10.10.1/c1140-k9w7-tar.124-25d.JA.tar
 "examining image...
 Loading c1140-k9w7-tar.124-25d.JA.tar from 10.10.10.1 (via GigabitEthernet0): !
 extracting info (283 bytes)
 Image info:
      Version Suffix: k9w7-.124-25d.JA ...................."
 Once conversion process is over, you can verify the right image is on your
access point.
 ap>en
 Password:  <-- default password is Cisco
 ap#
 ap#sh version
 Cisco IOS Software, C1140 Software (C1140-K9W7-M), Version 12.4(25d)JA, RELEASE
SOFTWARE (fc1)
 Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
 Copyright (c) 1986-2010 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
 Compiled Thu 09-Dec-10 15:24 by prod_rel_team
 ROM: Bootstrap program is C1140 boot loader
 BOOTLDR: C1140 Boot Loader (C1140-BOOT-M) Version 12.4(18a)JA3, RELEASE
SOFTWARE (fc1)
 ap uptime is 0 minutes
 System returned to ROM by reload
 System image file is "flash:/c1140-k9w7-mx.124-25d.JA/c1140-k9w7-mx.124-25d.JA"
For the LWAP conversion, use the recovery image ( e.g  c1140-rcvk9w8-tar.124-
25d.JAL.tar). We can use the same command on the autonomous AP priviledge
mode.
AP5475.d0f5.2ee7#archive download-sw /force-reload /overwrite
tftp://10.10.10.1/c1140-rcvk9w8-tar.124-25d.JA.tar
Following Cisco Support Community forum video demonstrate the above process.

If you have WLC managed AP (currently registered to a WLC), then you can use
WLC CLI command to convert that to Autonomous. In below example I have
IW3702 AP on my WLC

 (8540-TEST) >show ap summary

 AP Name Slots AP Model Ethernet MAC Location Country IP Address

 IW3702 2 IW3702-2E-Z-K9 2c:d0:2d:81:a6:5c default location AU 10.15.6.90

 (WLC) >config ap tftp-downgrade ?

 <TFTP Server IP addr> Enter the TFTP server's IP address

 (WLC) >config ap tftp-downgrade x.x.x.x ?

 <filename> Image file name on the TFTP server

 (WLC) >config ap tftp-downgrade x.x.x.x ap3g2-k9w7-tar.153-3.JE.tar ?

 <Cisco AP> Enter the name of the Cisco AP.

 (WLC) >config ap tftp-downgrade x.x.x.x ap3g2-k9w7-tar.153-3.JE.tar IW3702

Once issue that command given AP should download new image from your TFTP
server.