Aruba Networks AirOS v2.3, User Manual

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Configuring 802.1x Security 117
Chapter 8
Configuring MAC-based Authenti-
cation
This section of the document shows how to configure MAC-based authentication on the
Aruba switch using the WebUI..
Use MAC-based authentication to authenticate devices based on their physical MAC address.
While not the most secure and scalable method, MAC-based authentication still implicitly
provides an addition layer of security authentication devices. MAC-based authentication is
often used to authenticate and allow network access through certain devices while denying
access to the rest. For example, if users are allowed access to the network via station A, then
one method of authenticating station A is MAC-based. Users may be required to authenticate
themselves using other methods depending on the network privileges required.
MAC-based authentication can also be used to authenticate WiFi phones as an additional layer
of security to avoid other devices from accessing the voice network using what is normally an
insecure SSID.
Configuring the Switch
To enable MAC-based authentication on the Aruba WLAN switch:
1 Before configuring MAC-based authentication on the switch, you must first configure :
z
The role that will be assigned as the default role for the MAC-based authenticated
users. ( See Chapter 1, Configuring Firewall Roles and Policies. for information on firewall
policies to configure roles). If derivation rules exist or if the user configuration in the
internal database has a role assignment, these values are prioritized over this value.
z
The Authentication Server that the switch uses to validate the users. The internal
database can be used to configure the users for MAC-based authentication. See “Con-
figuring Users” on page 119 for information on configuring the users on the local
database. For information on configuring AAA servers,
Refer to “Authentication Serv-
ers” on page 69 .
2 Select the
Configuration
tab. Navigate to the
Security > Authentication Methods >
MAC Authentication
page.
z
Check the
Authentication Enabled
checkbox to enable authentication .