In an 802.1x implementation, which device is responsible for relaying responses?

• System Control—select the system control status of the PNAC module. The default option is Start. The options are:
  • Start—starts PNAC Module in the system.
  • • Memory Resources required by PNAC module are allocated and PNAC module starts running.
    • Creates Memory pool, generates the PNAC interface task; initializes all global data structures.
    • Creates a hash table for storing the session nodes for MAC based authorization entries.
    • Creates semaphore for controlling concurrent access to critical databases
    • Initializes the timer submodule and PNAC Local authentication server module.
  • Shutdown—shuts down PNAC Module.
    • All resources used by PNAC module are released to the system and the PNAC module is shut down.
    • Initializes all PNAC state machines.
    • Deactivates the PNAC Local authentication server module, the timer module. Deletes the memory pool for the PNAC module and free its memory.
    • Deletes semaphore used for database access-control.
• 802.1x Authentication—select the status of 802.1X based port security feature in the switch. The default option is Enable. The options are:
  • Enable—enables 802.1X based port security feature in the switch. The switch initiates authentication and sends an EAP-request/identity frame to the client to request its identity (typically, the switch sends an initial identity/request frame followed by one or more requests for authentication information). Upon receipt of the frame, the client responds with an EAP-response/identity frame.
  • Disable—disables 802.1X based port security feature in the switch. EAPOL frames from the client are dropped. If the client does not receive an EAP-request/identity frame after three attempts to start authentication, the client transmits frames as if the port is in the authorized state.
• Authentication Mode—modifies attributes and saves the changes.
  • Remote—RADIUS server based authentication. It calls the AS client functions to communicate with the remote authentication server.
  • Local—provides the authentication service requirements in the local database. It maintains a simple database of users who can be permitted on valid proof to access a set of Authenticator’s ports. It calls the service functions of the Local AS.

• RemoteAuthenticationServerType—select the Remote Authentication Server Type. The default option is RADIUS Server. The options are:
  • RADIUS Server—sets the remote authentication server as RADIUS Server. RADIUS server is responsible for authentication, authorization and maintaining its account information with port-based authentication. It is a gateway that controls access to the network. RADIUS uses the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). RADIUS server acts as the centralized authentication server.
  • Tacacs Server—sets the remote authentication server as TACACS Server. The remote TACACS+ server is responsible for TACACS+ client communication to authenticate the user, get authorization information, and send accounting information to the user. TACACS+ uses the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). This feature is currently not supported.

    Note:

    This field can be configured only if the Authentication Mode is set as Local.

• Network Access Server ID—enter the Network Access Server ID; it is the server ID for which authentication is provided. The Authenticator ID originates from the Access Request packets. The value is a string type.
• Protocol Version—specifies the Version Number of the Protocol. This is a read-only field.

• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.
• Configure Trace Options—accesses the PNAC Traces screen.

A four-byte integer is used for enabling the level of tracing. Each BIT in the four-byte integer represents a particular level of Trace. Combination of levels is also allowed.

System errors such as memory allocation failures are announced by means of LOG messages and TRACE messages. Interface errors and protocol errors are made known by means of TRACE messages.

Click Configure Trace Options

• Traces—select the traces for which debug statements is to be generated. The default option is critical. The options are:
  • Errors—generates debug statement for all failure traces of the below mentioned trace.
  • Events—generates debug statements for event handling traces. This trace is generated in case of event processing.
  • Packets—generates debug statements for packets handling traces. This trace is generated in case of transmission or reception of packets.
  • State-Machine—generates debug statements for state machine handling traces. This trace is generated in case of State Machine processing.
  • Redundancy—generates debug statements for redundancy code flow traces. This trace is generated in case of redundancy processing.

• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.
• Configure Global Options—accesses the 802.1X Basic Settings screen.

• Select—select the port for which the configuration needs to be done.
• Port—displays the port, which is a combination of interface type and interface ID. The interface ID is a combination of slot number and the port number (slot number/port number).
• Port Control—select the control values of the Authenticator Port. The default option is ForceAuthorized. The options are:
  • ForceAuthorized—allows all traffic through this port; disables 802.1X authentication and causes the port to transition to authorized state without requiring authentication exchange. The port transmits and receives normal traffic without 802.1X-based authentication of the client.
  • ForceUnauthorized—blocks all traffic through this port; causes the port to remain in the unauthorized state, ignoring all attempts by the client to authenticate. The switch cannot provide authentication services to the client through the interface.

• Port Control—the options are (cont):
  • Auto—imposes 802.1X authentication process in this port. Causes the port to begin the unauthorized state, allowing only EAPOL frames to be sent and received through the port. The authentication process begins when the link state of the port transitions from down to up or when an EAPOL-start frame is received. The switch requests the identity of the client and begins relaying authentication messages between the client and the authentication server.
• Authentication Mode/Host Mode—select the authentication mode to be imposed on the entry. The default option is Port Based. The list contains:
  • Port Based/Multi-Host—authenticates and authorizes devices attached to a Bridge port that has point-to-point connection characteristics named as Port based network access control. The following occurs when Port Based authentication is selected:
    • Receives incoming tagged / untagged data / control frames from the CFA Module (Interface Manager) and checks if the Port is authorized. If authorized, the frame is passed to the higher layer.
    • Receives outgoing data/control frames from the other modules. If authorized, the frame is passed to the CFA module.
    • When an EAPOL frame is received from CFA, it sends the EAP packet to the PNAC Interface Task, which then passes it to the Authenticator Module or Supplicant Module.
    • It forwards all received EAPOL-Start, EAPOL-Logoff and EAP-Responses to the Authenticator Module via the PNAC Interface Task.
    • It forwards all received EAP-Requests, EAP-Success, and EAP-Failure to the Supplicant Module via the PNAC Interface Task. It forwards all received EAPOL-Key frames to the Key Handler Module via the PNAC Interface Task.
    • It maintains the physical link status information provided by CFA and informs the Authenticator and Supplicant modules to take the necessary action on physical link UP/DOWN conditions.
    • It forms an EAPOL frame when requested by the Authenticator Module or Supplicant Module or Key Handler Module and transmits it to CFA
  • Mac Based / Single-Host—authenticates and authorizes devices attached to a Bridge port in the shared LAN named as MAC-based network access control. The following occurs when MAC-based authentication is selected.
    • On receiving tagged/untagged data/control frames from the CFA Module, it checks if the source MAC is present in the Authenticator Session Table and if it is authorized.
    • If it is present in the table and is authorized, the result is passed to CFA, which then forwards the frame to the appropriate destination module.
    • If it is present in the table but not authorized, the CFA Module is dejected, and the frame is dropped at the CFA Module.

• Authentication Mode/Host Mode—the list contains (cont):
  • Mac Based / Single-Host—(cont).
    • If neither of the above occurs, the Authenticator will initiate a new authentication session for that source MAC address and return the unauthorized status to the CFA Module, which then drops the frame.

    Note:

    MAC based authentication can be configured only if the Port control option is Auto.

• Auth Port Status—displays the status of the Supplicant PAE state machine. The options are:
  • Authorized—the module is ready for transmission or reception of data.
  • Unauthorized—the module is not ready for transmission or reception of data.
• Supp Port Status—displays the status of the Authenticator Port. The options are:
  • Authorized—the module is ready for transmission or reception of data.
  • Unauthorized—the module is not ready for transmission or reception of data.
• Access Control—select the Access Control status for the port. This setting is for the application of the Supplicant authorization state when the port is operating as both Supplicant and Authenticator. The default option is INACTIVE. The list contains:
  • INACTIVE—indicates that the port uses only the Authenticator authorization state to restrict access to the port and not the Supplicant authorization state.
  • ACTIVE—indicates that the port applies both the Supplicant authorization state and Authenticator authorization state.
• Configured Control Direction—select the value of the administrative controlled directions parameter for the port. The options are:
  • Both—authentication control is imposed on both incoming and outgoing packets.
  • In—authentication control is imposed on the incoming packets.
• Operational Control Direction—select the value of the operational controlled directions parameter for the port. The options are:
  • Both—authentication control is imposed on both incoming and outgoing packets.
  • In—authentication control is imposed on the incoming packets.

• Auth SM State—select the value of the operational controlled directions parameter for the port. The options are:
  • Initialize—this state occurs when the module is disabled and port is down.
  • Disconnected—there will be a transition from Initialize to disconnecting. State Machine (SM) never remains in this state—there will be an immediate transition.
  • Connecting—this state is the beginning of the PNAC packet exchange.
  • Authenticating—this state occurs whenever authenticator receives response ID from supplicant.
  • Authenticated—this state occurs whenever authenticator SM port transitions to authorized through EAP exchange.
  • Aborting—this state occurs when Authenticator SM receives re-authenticating event or EAP start or supplicant log off.
  • Held—this state occurs when authentication failure occurs due to wrong user name or password.
  • ForceAuth—this state occurs when the port control is changed to force authorized.
  • ForceUnauth—this state occurs when the port control is changed to force unauthorized.
• SuppSMState—select the state of the Supplicant State Machine (SM). The options are:
  • Disconnected—there will be a transition from Initialize to disconnecting. State Machine never remains in this state—there will be an immediate transition.
  • Logoff—state Machine never remains in this state and there will be an immediate transition to the other state.
  • Connecting—this state is the beginning of the PNAC packet exchange.
  • Authenticating—this state occurs whenever authenticator receives response ID from supplicant.
  • Authenticated—this state occurs whenever authenticator SM port transitions to authorized through EAP exchange.
  • Aborting—this state occurs when Authenticator SM receives re-authenticating event or EAP start or supplicant log off.
  • Held—this state occurs when authentication failure occurs due to wrong user name or password.
  • ForceAuth—this state occurs when the port control is changed to force authorized.
  • ForceUnauth—this state occurs when the port control is changed to force unauthorized.

• Restart Authentication—select the value of the administrative controlled directions parameter for the port. The options are:
  • True—causes the Port to be initialized.
  • False—reverts to False once initialization is complete.

    Note: This field cannot be set as True when Authentication Mode/Host Mode is set as Mac Based/Single Host.

• Reauth—select the re-authentication mechanism on the port. It re-authenticates the port without waiting for the configured number of seconds between re-authentication attempts and automatic re-authentication. The default option is Disabled. The options are:
  • Enabled—enables re-authentication on the port.
  • Disabled—disables re-authentication on the port.
• Authentication Max Start—enter the maximum number of successive EAPOL-Start messages that will be sent before the supplicant assumes that there is no authenticator present. This value ranges from 1 to 65535. The default value is 3.
• Reauthentication—select the re-authentication mechanism on the port. It re-authenticates the port without waiting for the configured number of seconds between re-authentication attempts and automatic re-authentication. The default value is False. The list contains:
  • True—enables re-authentication on the port.
  • False—disables re-authentication on the port.

  Note:

  To enable re-authentication, Port control should be Auto, Auth mode should be Port-based, and Port status should be Authorized.

• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.

• Port—displays the port, which is a combination of interface type and interface ID. The interface ID is a combination of slot number and the port number (slot number/port number).
• Quiet Period (secs)—enter the number of seconds that the switch remains in quiet state following a failed authentication exchange with the client. In this the duration the authenticator remains silent and will not attempt to acquire a supplicant. This value ranges from 0 to 65535 seconds. The default value is 60.
• Transmit Period (secs)—enter the Time Period used by the Authenticator State machine to define when the EAP Request ID PDU is to be transmitted. This value ranges from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default value is 30.
• Re-authentication Period (secs)—enter the time between periodic re-authentication of the supplicant. Re-authentication period denotes the number of times the switch restarts the authentication process before the port changes to the unauthorized state. This value ranges from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default is 3600.
• Supplicant Timeout—enter the amount of time the switch waits for a response before resending the request to the client, when relaying a request from the authentication server to the client. This value ranges from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default value is 30.
• Server Timeout—enter the amount of time the switch waits for a reply before resending the response to the server, when relaying a response from the client to the authentication server. This value ranges from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default value is 30.
• Held Period—enter the amount of time the client will wait before re-attempting a failed 802.1X authentication. When the supplicant (in the client) receives an authentication failure indication from the switch, it remains idle for a period of time which is determined by the value of held-period. After this time, the supplicant initiates authentication again. Authentication failure might occur if supplicant provides a wrong password. This value ranges from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default value is 60.
• Auth Period—enter the time interval for resending 802.1X request messages after not receiving a response. This value ranges from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default value is 30.
• Start Period—enter the time interval for resending Start messages. Start period denotes the number of seconds between successive EAPOL-Start messages following no response from the authenticator. This value ranges from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default value is 30.

• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.

• User Name—enter the identity of the user seeking authentication. This field is a string of maximum size 20.
• Password—enter the password specific to the user name—a maximum size of 20.
• Permission—select the allowance /denial of access for local authentication server. The options are:
  • Allow—authentication request is allowed for the set of ports in the Port List.
  • Deny—authentication request is not allowed for the set of ports in the Port List.
• Auth-TimeOut (secs)—enter the Authentication Timeout in seconds. The time in seconds after which the Authentication offered to the user ceases. When the object value is 0, the ReAuthPeriod of the authenticator port is used by Authenticator. This value ranges from 1 to 7200 seconds.
• Port List—enter the complete set of ports of the authenticator to which the user is allowed or denied access, based on the permission.

• Add—adds and saves new configuration.
• Reset—resets to default value for respective fields and discards all user inputs.
• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.
• Delete—deletes the selected entry.

• Global Status—select enable or disable

• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.

• Server Address Type—select the RADIUS server address type. The default option is IPv4, RADIUS server address type is set as Internet Protocol Version 4, where a 32-bit address is used
• IP Address—enter the IP Address of the RADIUS Server.
• Primary Server—select a server type—a primary server or not. Only one server can be configured as the primary server. The default option is No. Options are:
  • Yes—indicates the server type as a primary server.
  • No—indicates the server type is not a primary serve
• Shared Secret—enter the secret string, which is to be shared between the RADIUS Server and the RADIUS Client. The shared secret is the secret of the server to which the request was sent and from which the response was received.
• Response Time (secs)—enter the maximum time within which the RADIUS Server is expected to respond for a request from the RADIUS Client. This value ranges from 1 to 120 seconds. The default value is 10.

• Retry Count—enter the maximum number of times a request can be re-transmitted before getting response from the RADIUS Server. If the retransmit count has exceeded the configured maximum retransmissions, the packet and the user entry are deleted from the user request table and the error condition is logged. This value ranges from 1 to 254. The default value is 3.
• Authentication Port—enter the port number used for authentication. This value ranges from 1 to 65535.

• Add—adds and saves new configuration.
• Reset—resets to default value for respective fields and discards all user inputs.
• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.
• Delete—deletes the selected entry.
• Configure Trace Options—accesses RADIUS Traces screen.

A four-byte integer is used for enabling the level of tracing. Each BIT in the four-byte integer represents a particular level of Trace. Combination of levels is also allowed.

System errors such as memory allocation failures are announced by means of LOG messages and TRACE messages. Interface errors and protocol errors are made known by means of TRACE messages

Click Configure Trace Options

• Traces—select the traces for which debug statements is to be generated. The default option is critical. The options are:
  • Errors—generates debug statement for all failure traces of the below mentioned traces
  • Events—generates debug statements for event handling traces. This trace is generated in case of event processing.
  • Packets—generates debug statements for packets handling traces. This trace is generated in case of transmission or reception of packets.
  • Response—generates debug statements for state machine handling traces. This trace is generated in case of RADIUS processing.
  • Timer—generates debug statements. This trace is generated for timer functionality.

• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the changes.
• Configure Global Options—return to the RADIUS Server Configuration screen.

• Supplicant Mac Addr—displays the Supplicant MAC Address for the session.
• Session Identifier—displays the Session Identifier of the supplicant.
• Auth SM State—select the state of the Authenticator State Machine (SM) for the entry. The list contains:
  • Initialize—this state occurs when the module is disabled, and port is down
  • Disconnected—there will be a transition from Initialize to Disconnected. State Machine never remains in this state and there will be an immediate transition.
  • Connecting—this state is the beginning of the PNAC packet exchange.
  • Authenticating—this state occurs whenever authenticator receives response ID from supplicant.

• Auth SM State—the list contains (cont):
  • Authenticated—this state occurs whenever authenticator SM port transitions to authorized through EAP exchange.
  • Aborting—this state occurs when Authenticator SM receives re-authenticating event or EAP start or supplicant log off.
  • Held—this state occurs when authentication failure occurs due to wrong user name or password.
  • ForceAuth—this state occurs when the port control is changed to force authorized.
  • ForceUnauth—this state occurs when the port control is changed to force unauthorized.
• Auth Session Status—displays the Authentication Session Status.
  • authorized—the module is ready for transmission or reception of data
  • unauthorized—the module is not ready for transmission or reception of data
• Session PortNumber—displays the port number through which a particular Session MAC address is learnt.
• Session Initialize—select the Session Initialize status for the Supplicant MAC Address configured. The default value is True. This list contains:
  • True—indicates Session Initialize is set.
  • False—indicates Session Initialize is reset.
• Session Reauthenticate—select the session reauthentication status for the supplicant mac address configured. The default value is True. This list contains:
  • True—Indicates session re-authentication is initialized.
  • False—Indicates session re-authentication is reset.

• Apply—modifies attributes and saves the change.