11-20
Cisco IE 3000 Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-13018-03
Chapter 11 Configuring Switch-Based Authentication
Controlling Switch Access with RADIUS
software uses the first method listed to authenticate, to authorize, or to keep accounts on users. If that
method does not respond, the software selects the next method in the list. This process continues until
there is successful communication with a listed method or the method list is exhausted.
You should have access to and should configure a RADIUS server before configuring RADIUS features
on your switch.
•
Default RADIUS Configuration, page 11-20
•
Identifying the RADIUS Server Host, page 11-20
(required)
•
Configuring RADIUS Login Authentication, page 11-23
(required)
•
Defining AAA Server Groups, page 11-25
(optional)
•
Configuring RADIUS Authorization for User Privileged Access and Network Services, page 11-27
(optional)
•
Starting RADIUS Accounting, page 11-28
(optional)
•
Configuring Settings for All RADIUS Servers, page 11-29
(optional)
•
Configuring the Switch to Use Vendor-Specific RADIUS Attributes, page 11-29
(optional)
•
Configuring the Switch for Vendor-Proprietary RADIUS Server Communication, page 11-31
(optional)
•
Configuring RADIUS Server Load Balancing, page 11-31
(optional)
Default RADIUS Configuration
RADIUS and AAA are disabled by default.
To prevent a lapse in security, you cannot configure RADIUS through a network management
application. When enabled, RADIUS can authenticate users accessing the switch through the CLI.
Identifying the RADIUS Server Host
Switch-to-RADIUS-server communication involves several components:
•
Hostname or IP address
•
Authentication destination port
•
Accounting destination port
•
Key string
•
Timeout period
•
Retransmission value
You identify RADIUS security servers by their hostname or IP address, hostname and specific UDP port
numbers, or their IP address and specific UDP port numbers. The combination of the IP address and the
UDP port number creates a unique identifier, allowing different ports to be individually defined as
RADIUS hosts providing a specific AAA service. This unique identifier enables RADIUS requests to be
sent to multiple UDP ports on a server at the same IP address.
If two different host entries on the same RADIUS server are configured for the same service—for
example, accounting—the second host entry configured acts as a fail-over backup to the first one. Using
this example, if the first host entry fails to provide accounting services, the
%RADIUS-4-RADIUS_DEAD
message appears, and then the switch tries the second host entry configured on the same device for
accounting services. (The RADIUS host entries are tried in the order that they are configured.)
