C H A P T E R 31

Understanding and Configuring 802.1X

Port-Based Authentication

This chapter describes how to configure IEEE 802.1X port-based authentication to prevent unauthorized
client devices from gaining access to the network.
This chapter includes the following major sections:
• Understanding 802.1X Port-Based Authentication, page 31-1
• How to Configure 802.1X, page 31-11
• Displaying 802.1X Statistics and Status, page 31-22

Note For complete syntax and usage information for the switch commands used in this chapter, refer to the
Catalyst 4500 Series Switch Cisco IOS Command Reference and related publications at
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/ios122/122cgcr/index.htm.

Understanding 802.1X Port-Based Authentication

To configure 802.1X port-based authentication, you need to understand the concepts in these sections:
• Device Roles, page 31-2
• Authentication Initiation and Message Exchange, page 31-3
• Ports in Authorized and Unauthorized States, page 31-4
• Using 802.1X with VLAN Assignment, page 31-5
• Using 802.1X Authentication for Guest VLANs, page 31-6
• Using 802.1X with Port Security, page 31-6
• 802.1X RADIUS Accounting, page 31-7
• Using 802.1X with Voice VLAN Ports, page 31-10
• Supported Topologies, page 31-10

Note 802.1X support requires an authentication server that is configured for Remote Authentication Dial-In
User Service (RADIUS). 802.1X authentication does not work unless the network access switch can
route packets to the configured authentication RADIUS server. To verify that the switch can route
packets, you must ping the server from the switch.

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Understanding 802.1X Port-Based Authentication

802.1X defines 802.1X port-based authentication as a client-server based access control and
authentication protocol that restricts unauthorized clients from connecting to a LAN through publicly
accessible ports. An authentication server validates each supplicant (client) connected to an
authenticator (network access switch) port before making available any services offered by the switch or
the LAN.
Until a client is authenticated, only Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPOL) traffic is
allowed through the port to which the client is connected. Once authentication succeeds, normal traffic
can pass through the port.

Device Roles
With 802.1X port-based authentication, network devices have specific roles. Figure 31-1 shows the roles
of each device.

Figure 31-1 802.1X Device Roles

Client
Workstations Catalyst 4500 Network
Access Switch RADIUS

Supplicants Authenticator Authentication

94158
server

• Client—The workstation that requests access to the LAN, and responds to requests from the switch.
The workstation must be running 802.1X-compliant client software.

Note For more information on 802.1X-compliant client application software such as Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP, refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base article
at this URL: http://support.microsoft.com

• Authenticator—Controls physical access to the network based on the authentication status of the
client. The switch acts as an intermediary between the client and the authentication server,
requesting identity information from the client, verifying that information with the authentication
server, and relaying a response to the client. The switch encapsulates and decapsulates the
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) frames and interacts with the RADIUS authentication
server.
When the switch receives EAPOL frames and relays them to the authentication server, the Ethernet
header is stripped and the remaining EAP frame is reencapsulated in the RADIUS format. The EAP
frames are not modified or examined during encapsulation, and the authentication server must
support EAP within the native frame format. When the switch receives frames from the
authentication server, the frame header is removed from the server, leaving the EAP frame, which
is then encapsulated for Ethernet and sent to the client.
Cisco devices that are capable of functioning as an 802.1X network access point include
Catalyst 4500 series switches, the Catalyst 3550 multilayer switch, the Catalyst 2950 switch, and a
Cisco Airnet series wireless access point. These devices must be running software that supports the
RADIUS client and 802.1X.

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• Authentication server—Performs the actual authentication of the client. The authentication server
validates the identity of the client and notifies the switch that the client is authorized to access the
LAN and switch services. (The only supported authentication server is the RADIUS authentication
server with EAP extensions; it is available in Cisco Secure Access Control Server version 3.2 and
later.)

Authentication Initiation and Message Exchange

The switch or the client can initiate authentication. If you enable authentication on a port by using the
dot1x port-control auto interface configuration command, the switch must initiate authentication when
it determines that the port link state has changed. It then 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.
However, if during bootup, the client does not receive an EAP-request/identity frame from the switch,
the client can initiate authentication by sending an EAPOL-start frame, which prompts the switch to
request the client’s identity.
If 802.1X is not enabled or supported on the network access device, any 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. A port in the authorized
state means that the client has been successfully authenticated.When the client supplies its identity, the
switch begins its role as the intermediary, passing EAP frames between the client and the authentication
server until authentication succeeds or fails. If the authentication succeeds, the switch port becomes
authorized.
The specific exchange of EAP frames depends on the authentication method being used. Figure 31-2
shows a message exchange that is initiated by the client using the One-Time Password (OTP)
authentication method with an authentication server.

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Figure 31-2 Message Exchange

Client
Workstation Catalyst 4500 Network
Access Switch RADIUS

EAPOL-Start
EAP-Request/Identity
EAP-Response/Identity RADIUS Access-Request
EAP-Request/OTP RADIUS Access-Challenge
EAP-Response/OTP RADIUS Access-Request
EAP-Success RADIUS Access-Accept

Port Authorized
EAPOL-Logoff

Port Unauthorized

94159
Supplicant Authenticator Authentication
server

Ports in Authorized and Unauthorized States

The switch port state determines whether or not the client is granted access to the network. The port
starts in the unauthorized state. While in this state, the port disallows all ingress and egress traffic except
for 802.1X protocol packets. When a client is successfully authenticated, the port transitions to the
authorized state, allowing all traffic for the client to flow normally.
If a client that does not support 802.1X is connected to an unauthorized 802.1X port, the switch requests
the client’s identity. In this situation, the client does not respond to the request, the port remains in the
unauthorized state, and the client is not granted access to the network. If the guest VLAN is configured
for a port that connects to a client that does not support 802.1X, the port is placed in the configured guest
VLAN and in the authorized state. For more information, see the “Using 802.1X Authentication for
Guest VLANs” section on page 31-6.
In contrast, when an 802.1X-enabled client connects to a port that is not running the 802.1X protocol,
the client initiates the authentication process by sending the EAPOL-start frame. When no response is
received, the client sends the request a fixed number of times. Because no response is received, the client
begins sending frames as if the port is in the authorized state.
You can control the port authorization state with the dot1x port-control interface configuration
command and these keywords:
• force-authorized—Disables 802.1X authentication and causes the port to transition to the
authorized state without any authentication exchange required. The port transmits and receives
normal traffic without 802.1X-based authentication of the client. This setting is the default.
• force-unauthorized—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.

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• auto—Enables 802.1X authentication and causes the port to begin in 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. The switch can uniquely identify each client
attempting to access the network by the client’s MAC address.
If the client is successfully authenticated (receives an Accept frame from the authentication server), the
port state changes to authorized, and all frames from the authenticated client are allowed through the
port. If authentication fails, the port remains in the unauthorized state, but authentication can be retried.
If the authentication server cannot be reached, the switch can retransmit the request. If no response is
received from the server after the specified number of attempts, authentication fails and network access
is not granted.
If the link state of a port transitions from up to down, or if an EAPOL-logoff frame is received by the
port, the port returns to the unauthorized state.

Using 802.1X with VLAN Assignment

You can use the VLAN assignment to limit network access for certain users. With the VLAN assignment,
802.1X-authenticated ports are assigned to a VLAN based on the username of the client connected to
that port. The RADIUS server database maintains the username-to-VLAN mappings. After successful
802.1X authentication of the port, the RADIUS server sends the VLAN assignment to the switch.

Note To enable the guest VLAN feature in Release 12.1(19)EW and later releases, the port must be statically
configured as an access port.

When configured on the switch and the RADIUS server, 802.1X with VLAN assignment has these
characteristics:
• If no VLAN is supplied by the RADIUS server, the port is configured in its access VLAN when
authentication succeeds.
• If the authentication server provides invalid VLAN information, the port remains unauthorized. This
situation prevents ports from appearing unexpectedly in an inappropriate VLAN due to a
configuration error.
Configuration errors might occur if you specify a VLAN for a routed port, a malformed VLAN ID,
or a nonexistent or internal (routed port) VLAN ID. Similarly, an error might occur if you make an
assignment to a voice VLAN ID.
• If the authentication server provides valid VLAN information, the port is authorized and placed in
the specified VLAN when authentication succeeds.
• If the multiple-hosts mode is enabled, all hosts are in the same VLAN as the first authenticated user.
• If 802.1X is disabled on the port, the port is returned to the configured access VLAN.
To configure VLAN assignment you need to perform these tasks:
• Enable AAA authorization with the network keyword to allow interface configuration from the
RADIUS server. For an illustration of how to apply the aaa authorization network group radius
command, refer to the section “Enabling 802.1X Authentication” on page 13.
• Enable 802.1X. (The VLAN assignment feature is automatically enabled when you configure
802.1X on an access port.)

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• Assign vendor-specific tunnel attributes in the RADIUS server. To ensure proper VLAN assignment,
the RADIUS server must return these attributes to the switch:
– Tunnel-Type = VLAN
– Tunnel-Medium-Type = 802
– Tunnel-Private-Group-ID = VLAN NAME

Using 802.1X Authentication for Guest VLANs

You can use guest VLANs to enable non-802.1X capable hosts to access networks that use 802.1X
authentication. For example, you can use guest VLANs while you are upgrading your system to support
802.1X authentication.
Guest VLANs are supported on a per-port basis, and you can use any VLAN (except a private VLAN) as a
guest VLAN. If a port is already forwarding on the guest VLAN and you enable 802.1X support on the
network interface of the host, the port is immediately moved out of the guest VLAN and the authenticator
waits for authentication to occur.
Enabling 802.1X authentication on a port starts the 802.1X protocol. If the host fails to respond to the
packets from the authenticator within a certain amount of time, the authenticator puts the port in the
guest VLAN.

Usage Guidelines for Using 802.1X Authentication with Guest VLANs on Windows-XP Hosts
The usage guidelines for using 802.1X authentication with guest VLANs on Windows-XP hosts are as
follows:
• If the host fails to respond to the authenticator, the port attempts to connect three times (with a 30
second timeout between each attempt). After this time, the login/password window does not appear
on the host, so you must unplug and reconnect the network interface cable.
• Hosts responding with an incorrect login/password fail authentication. Hosts failing authentication
are not put in the guest VLAN. The first time that a host fails authentication, the quiet-period timer
starts, and no activity occurs for the duration of the quiet-period timer. When the quiet-period timer
expires, the host is presented with the login/password window. If the host fails authentication for the
second time, the quiet-period timer starts again, and no activity will occur for the duration of the
quiet-period timer. The host is presented with the login/password window a third time. If the host
fails authentication the third time, the port is placed in the unauthorized state, and you must
disconnect and reconnect the network interface cable.

Using 802.1X with Port Security

You can enable port security on an 802.1X port in either single- or multiple-host mode. (To do so, you
must configure port security with the switchport port-security interface configuration command. Refer
to the “Configuring Port Security” chapter in this guide.) When you enable port security and 802.1X on
a port, 802.1X authenticates the port, and port security manages the number of MAC addresses allowed
on that port, including that of the client. Hence an 802.1X port with port security enabled can be used to
limit the number or group of clients that can access the network.

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These examples describe the interaction between 802.1X and port security on the switch:
• When a client is authenticated, and the port security table is not full, the client’s MAC address is
added to the port security list of secure hosts. The port then proceeds to come up normally.
When a client is authenticated and manually configured for port security, it is guaranteed an entry
in the secure host table (unless port security static aging has been enabled).
A security violation occurs if an additional host is learned on the port. The action taken depends on
which feature (802.1X or port security) detects the security violation:
– If 802.1X detects the violation, the action is to err-disable the port.
– If port security detects the violation, the action is to shutdown or restrict the port (the action is
configurable).
The following describes when port security and 802.1X security violations occur:
– In single host mode, after the port is authorized, any MAC address received other than the
client’s will cause a 802.1X security violation.
– In single host mode, if installation of an 802.1X client’s MAC address fails because port
security has already reached its limit (due to a configured secure MAC addresses), a port
security violation is triggered.
– In multi host mode, once the port is authorized, any additional MAC addresses that cannot be
installed because the port security has reached its limit will trigger a port security violation.
• When an 802.1X client logs off, the port transitions back to an unauthenticated state, and all
dynamic entries in the secure host table are cleared, including the entry for the client. Normal
authentication then ensues.
• If you administratively shut down the port, the port becomes unauthenticated, and all dynamic
entries are removed from the secure host table.
• Only 802.1X can remove the client’s MAC address from the port security table. Note that in multi
host mode, with the exception of the client’s MAC address, all MAC addresses that are learned by
port security can be deleted using port security CLIs.
• Whenever port security ages out a 802.1X client’s MAC address, 802.1X attempts to reauthenticate
the client. Only if the reauthentication succeeds will the client’s MAC address be retained in the port
security table.
• All of the 802.1X client’s MAC addresses are tagged with (dot1x) when you display the port security
table by using CLI.

802.1X RADIUS Accounting

802.1X RADIUS accounting relays important events to the RADIUS server (such as the client’s
connection session). This session is defined as the difference in time from when client is authorized to
use the port and when the client stops using the port.
Figure 31-3 shows the 802.1X device roles.

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Figure 31-3 Radius Accounting

Client
Workstation Catalyst 4500 Network
Access Switch RADIUS

EAPOL-Start
EAP-Request/Identity
EAP-Response/Identity RADIUS Access-Request
EAP-Request/OTP RADIUS Access-Challenge
EAP-Response/OTP RADIUS Access-Request
EAP-Success RADIUS Access-Accept

Port Authorized
RADIUS Account-Request (start)
RADIUS Account-Response
EAPOL-Logoff

Port Unauthorized

RADIUS Account-Request (stop)

RADIUS Account-Response

105283
Supplicant Authenticator Authentication
server

Note You must configure the 802.1X client to send an EAP-logoff (Stop) message to the switch when the user
logs off. If you do not configure the 802.1X client, an EAP-logoff message is not sent to the switch and
the accompanying accounting Stop message will not be sent to the authentication server. Refer to the
Microsoft Knowledge Base article at the URL: http://support.microsoft.com. Also refer to the Microsoft
article at the URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/columns/cableguy/cg0703.asp,
and set the SupplicantMode registry to 3 and the AuthMode registry to 1.

The client uses EAP to authenticate itself with the RADIUS server. The switch relays EAP packets
between the client and the RADIUS server.
After the client is authenticated, the switch sends accounting-request packets to the RADIUS server,
which responds with accounting-response packets to acknowledge the receipt of the request.
A RADIUS accounting-request packet contains one or more Attribute-Value pairs to report various
events and related information to the RADIUS server. The following events are tracked:
• User successfully authenticates
• User logs-off
• Link-down occurs on a 802.1X port
• Reauthentication succeeds
• Reauthentication fails

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When the port state transitions between authorized and unauthorized, the RADIUS messages are
transmitted to the RADIUS server.
The switch does not log any accounting information. Instead, it sends such information to the RADIUS
server, which must be configured to log accounting messages.
The 802.1X authentication, authorization and accounting process is as follows:

Step 1 A user connects to a port on the switch.

Step 2 Authentication is performed, for example, using the username/password method.
Step 3 VLAN assignment is enabled, as appropriate, per RADIUS server configuration.
Step 4 The switch sends a start message to an accounting server.
Step 5 Reauthentication is performed, as necessary.
Step 6 The switch sends an interim accounting update to the accounting server that is based on the result of
reauthentication.
Step 7 The user disconnects from the port.
Step 8 The switch sends a stop message to the accounting server.

To configure 802.1X accounting, you need to do the following tasks:

• Enable logging of “Update/Watchdog packets from this AAA client” in your RADIUS server’s
Network Configuration tab.
• Enable “Logging>CVS RADIUS Accounting” in your RADIUS server System Configuration tab.
• Enable 802.1X accounting on your switch.
• Enable AAA accounting by using the aaa system accounting command. Refer to the “Enabling
802.1X Accounting” section on page 31-16.
Enabling AAA system accounting along with 802.1X accounting allows system reload events to be sent
to the accounting RADIUS server for logging. By doing this, the accounting RADIUS server can infer
that all active 802.1X sessions are appropriately closed.
Because RADIUS uses the unreliable transport protocol UDP, accounting messages may be lost due to
poor network conditions. If the switch does not receive the accounting response message from the
RADIUS server after a configurable number of retransmissions of an accounting request, the following
system message appears:
Accounting message %s for session %s failed to receive Accounting Response.

When the stop message is not transmitted successfully, the following message appears:
00:09:55: %RADIUS-3-NOACCOUNTINGRESPONSE: Accounting message Start for session
172.20.50.145 sam 11/06/03 07:01:16 11000002 failed to receive Accounting Response.

Use the show radius statistics command to display the number of RADIUS messages that do not receive
the accounting response message.

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Using 802.1X with Voice VLAN Ports

A voice VLAN port is a special access port associated with two VLAN identifiers:
• Voice VLAN ID (VVID) to carry voice traffic to and from the IP phone. The VVID is used to
configure the IP phone connected to the port.
• Port VLAN ID (PVID) to carry the data traffic to and from the workstation connected to the switch
through the IP phone. The PVID is the native VLAN of the port.
Each port that you configure for a voice VLAN is associated with a VVID and a PVID. This
configuration allows voice traffic and data traffic to be separated onto different VLANs.
When you enable the single-host mode, only one 802.1X client is allowed on the primary VLAN; other
workstations are blocked. When you enable the multiple-hosts mode and an 802.1X client is
authenticated on the primary VLAN, additional clients on the voice VLAN are unrestricted after 802.1X
authentication succeeds on the primary VLAN.
A voice VLAN port becomes active when there is link, and the device MAC address appears in the
MAC-address table after the first CDP message from the IP phone. Cisco IP phones do not relay CDP
messages from other devices. As a result, if several Cisco IP phones are connected in series, the switch
recognizes only the one directly connected to it. When 802.1X is enabled on a voice VLAN port, the
switch drops packets from unrecognized Cisco IP phones more than one hop away.
When 802.1X is enabled on a port, you cannot configure a PVID that is equal to a VVID. For more
information about voice VLANs, see Chapter 30, “Configuring Voice Interfaces.”
Be aware of the following feature interactions:
• 802.1X VLAN assignment cannot assign to the port the same VLAN as the voice VLAN; otherwise,
the 802.1X authentication will fail.
• 802.1X guest VLAN works with the 802.1X voice VLAN port feature. However, the guest VLAN
cannot be the same as the voice VLAN.
• 802.1X port security works with the 802.1X voice VLAN port feature and is configured per port.
Three secure addresses must be configured: one for the Cisco IP phone MAC address on the VVID,
one for the PC MAC-address on PVID, and a third to allow the Cisco IP phone MAC address on the
PVID.
However, you cannot use the 802.1X voice VLAN port feature with 802.1X port security’s sticky
MAC address configuration and 802.1X port-security's statically configured MAC address
configuration.
• 802.1X accounting is unaffected by the 802.1X voice VLAN port feature.
• When 802.1X is configured on a port, you cannot connect multiple IP-phones to a Catalyst 4500
series switch through a hub.

Supported Topologies
The 802.1X port-based authentication supports two topologies:
• Point to point
• Wireless LAN
In a point-to-point configuration (see Figure 31-1 on page 31-2), only one client can be connected to the
802.1X-enabled switch port when the multi-host mode is not enabled (the default). The switch detects
the client when the port link state changes to the up state. If a client leaves or is replaced with another
client, the switch changes the port link state to down, and the port returns to the unauthorized state.

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Figure 31-4 illustrates 802.1X port-based authentication in a wireless LAN. You must configure the
802.1X port as a multiple-host port that is authorized as a wireless access point once the client is
authenticated. (See the “Enabling Multiple Hosts” section on page 31-21.) When the port is authorized,
all other hosts that are indirectly attached to the port are granted access to the network. If the port
becomes unauthorized (reauthentication fails or an EAPOL-logoff message is received), the switch
denies access to the network for all wireless access point-attached clients. In this topology, the wireless
access point is responsible for authenticating clients attached to it, and the wireless access point acts as
a client to the switch.

Figure 31-4 Wireless LAN Example

Wireless Wireless Catalyst 4500 Network

clients access point RADIUS
Access Switch

94160
Supplicants Authenticator Authentication server

How to Configure 802.1X

These sections describe how to configure 802.1X:
• Default 802.1X Configuration, page 31-12
• 802.1X Configuration Guidelines, page 31-13
• Enabling 802.1X Authentication, page 31-13 (required)
• Configuring Switch-to-RADIUS-Server Communication, page 31-15 (required)
• Enabling 802.1X Accounting, page 31-16
• Configuring 802.1X with Guest VLANs, page 31-17
• Configuring 802.1X with Voice VLAN, page 31-18
• Enabling Periodic Reauthentication, page 31-18 (optional)
• Manually Reauthenticating a Client Connected to a Port, page 31-19 (optional)
• Changing the Quiet Period, page 31-19 (optional)
• Changing the Switch-to-Client Retransmission Time, page 31-20 (optional)
• Setting the Switch-to-Client Frame-Retransmission Number, page 31-21 (optional)
• Enabling Multiple Hosts, page 31-21 (optional)
• Resetting the 802.1X Configuration to the Default Values, page 31-22 (optional)

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Default 802.1X Configuration

Table 31-1 shows the default 802.1X configuration.

Table 31-1 Default 802.1X Configuration

Feature Default Setting

Authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) Disabled
RADIUS server
• IP address • None specified
• UDP authentication port • 1812
• Key • None specified
Per-interface 802.1X protocol enable state Disabled (force-authorized)
The port transmits and receives normal traffic without
802.1X-based authentication of the client.
Periodic reauthentication Disabled
Time between reauthentication attempts 3600 sec
Quiet period 60 sec
Number of seconds that the switch remains in the quiet state
following a failed authentication exchange with the client.
Retransmission time 30 sec
Number of seconds that the switch should wait for a response to an
EAP request/identity frame from the client before retransmitting the
request.
Maximum retransmission number 2
Number of times that the switch will send an EAP-request/identity
frame before restarting the authentication process.
Multiple host support Disabled
Client timeout period 30 sec
When relaying a request from the authentication server to the client,
the amount of time that the switch waits for a response before
retransmitting the request to the client.
Authentication server timeout period 30 sec
When relaying a response from the client to the authentication
server, the amount of time that the switch waits for a reply before
retransmitting the response to the server. This setting is not
configurable.

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802.1X Configuration Guidelines

This section describes the guidelines for configuring 802.1X authentication:
• The 802.1X protocol is supported on both Layer 2 static-access ports and Layer 3 routed ports, but
it is not supported on the following port types:
– Trunk port—If you try to enable 802.1X on a trunk port, an error message appears, and 802.1X
is not enabled. If you try to change the mode of an 802.1X-enabled port to trunk, the port mode
is not changed.
– Default ports—All ports default as dynamic-access ports (auto). Use the no switchport
command to access a router port.
– Dynamic ports—A port in dynamic mode can negotiate with its neighbor to become a trunk
port. If you try to enable 802.1X on a dynamic port, an error message appears, and 802.1X is
not enabled. If you try to change the mode of an 802.1X-enabled port to dynamic, the port mode
is not changed.
– EtherChannel port—Before enabling 802.1X on the port, you must first remove it from the
EtherChannel. If you try to enable 802.1X on an EtherChannel or on an active port in an
EtherChannel, an error message appears, and 802.1X is not enabled. If you enable 802.1X on a
not-yet active port of an EtherChannel, the port does not join the EtherChannel.
– Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) destination port—You can enable 802.1X on a port that is a
SPAN destination port; however, 802.1X is disabled until the port is removed as a SPAN
destination. You can enable 802.1X on a SPAN source port.
If you are planning to use either 802.1X accounting or VLAN assignment, be aware that both features
utilize general AAA commands. For information how to configure AAA, refer to “Enabling 802.1X
Authentication” on page 13 and “Enabling 802.1X Accounting” on page 16. Alternatively, you can refer
to the Cisco IOS security documentation.
Refer to the following Cisco IOS security documentation for information on how to configure AAA
system accounting:
• http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/ios122/122cgcr/fsecur_c/index.htm
• http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/ios122/122cgcr/fsecur_r/index.htm

Enabling 802.1X Authentication

To enable 802.1X port-based authentication, you first must enable 802.1X globally on your switch, then
enable AAA and specify the authentication method list. A method list describes the sequence and
authentication methods that must be queried to authenticate a user.
The software uses the first method listed in the method list to authenticate users; if that method fails to
respond, the software selects the next authentication method in the list. This process continues until there
is successful communication with a listed authentication method or until all defined methods are
exhausted. If authentication fails at any point in this cycle, the authentication process stops, and no other
authentication methods are attempted.
To allow VLAN assignment, you must enable AAA authorization to configure the switch for all
network-related service requests.

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How to Configure 802.1X

To configure 802.1X port-based authentication, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# Enables the 802.1X feature on your switch.
[no] dot1x system-auth-control
Step 3 Switch(config)# aaa new-model Enables AAA.
Step 4 Switch(config)# aaa authentication Creates an 802.1X authentication method list.
dot1x {default} method1 [method2...]
To create a default list that is used when a named list is not specified in
the authentication command, use the default keyword followed by the
methods that are to be used in default situations. The default method list
is automatically applied to all interfaces.
Enter at least one of these keywords:
• group radius—Use the list of all RADIUS servers for authentication.
• none—Use no authentication. The client is automatically
authenticated by the switch without using the information supplied by
the client.
Step 5 Switch(config)# aaa authorization (Optional) Configure the switch for user RADIUS authorization for all
network {default} group radius network-related service requests, such as VLAN assignment.
Step 6 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode and specifies the interface to be
interface-id enabled for 802.1X authentication.
Step 7 Switch(config-if)# dot1x Enables 802.1X authentication on the interface.
port-control auto
For feature interaction information with trunk, dynamic, dynamic-access,
EtherChannel, secure, and SPAN ports, see the “802.1X Configuration
Guidelines” section on page 31-13.
Step 8 Switch(config-if)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 9 Switch # show dot1x all Verifies your entries.
Check the Status column in the 802.1X Port Summary section of the
display. An enabled status means that the port-control value is set either
to auto or to force-unauthorized.
Step 10 Switch# show running-config Verifies your entries.
Step 11 Switch# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

To disable AAA, use the no aaa new-model global configuration command.

To disable 802.1X AAA authentication, use the no aaa authentication dot1x {default | list-name}
method1 [method2...] global configuration command.
To disable 802.1X authentication, use the dot1x port-control force-authorized or the no dot1x
port-control interface configuration command.

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How to Configure 802.1X

This example shows how to enable AAA and 802.1X on Fast Ethernet port 2/1:
Switch# configure terminal
Switch(config)# dot1x system-auth-control
Switch(config)# aaa new-model
Switch(config)# aaa authentication dot1x default group radius
Switch(config)# interface fastethernet2/1
Switch(config-if)# dot1x port-control auto
Switch(config-if)# end

Configuring Switch-to-RADIUS-Server Communication

A RADIUS security server is identified by its host name or IP address, host name and specific UDP port
number, or IP address and specific UDP port numbers. The combination of the IP address and UDP port
number creates a unique identifier, which 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, authentication—the second host entry configured acts as the fail-over
backup to the first one. The RADIUS host entries are tried in the order they were configured.
To configure the RADIUS server parameters on the switch, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# radius-server host Configures the RADIUS server parameters on the switch.
{hostname | ip-address} auth-port
port-number [acct-port port-number] For hostname | ip-address, specify the hostname or IP address of the
key string remote RADIUS server.
For auth-port port-number, specify the UDP destination port for
authentication requests. The default is 1812.
For acct-port port-number, specify the UDP destination port for
accounting requests. The default is 1813.
For key string, specify the authentication and encryption key used
between the switch and the RADIUS daemon running on the RADIUS
server. The key is a text string that must match the encryption key used on
the RADIUS server.
Note Always configure the key as the last item in the radius-server
host command syntax because leading spaces are ignored, but
spaces within and at the end of the key are used. If you use spaces
in the key, do not enclose the key in quotation marks unless the
quotation marks are part of the key. This key must match the
encryption used on the RADIUS daemon.

If you want to use multiple RADIUS servers, reenter this command.

Step 3 Switch(config-if)# ip radius Establishes the IP address to be used as the source address for all outgoing
source-interface m/p RADIUS packets.
Step 4 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 5 Switch# show running-config Verifies your entries.
Step 6 Switch# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

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How to Configure 802.1X

To delete the specified RADIUS server, use the no radius-server host {hostname | ip-address} global
configuration command.
This example shows how to specify the server with IP address 172.20.39.46 as the RADIUS server. The
first command specifies port 1612 as the authorization port, sets the encryption key to rad123. The
second command dictates that key matches will be performed on the RADIUS server:
Switch(config)# radius-server host 172.l20.39.46 auth-port 1612 key rad123
Switch(config)# ip radius source-interface m/p
You can globally configure the timeout, retransmission, and encryption key values for all RADIUS
servers by using the radius-server host global configuration command. If you want to configure these
options on a per-server basis, use the radius-server timeout, radius-server retransmit, and the
radius-server key global configuration commands.
You also need to configure some settings on the RADIUS server. These settings include the IP address
of the switch and the key string to be shared by both the server and the switch.
Refer to the following Cisco IOS security documentation for information on how to configure AAA
system accounting:
• http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/ios122/122cgcr/fsecur_c/index.htm
• http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/ios122/122cgcr/fsecur_r/index.htm

Enabling 802.1X Accounting

Note If you plan to implement system-wide accounting, you should also configure 802.1X accounting.
Moreover, you need to inform the accounting server of the system reload event when the system is
reloaded. Doing this, ensures that the accounting server knows that all outstanding 802.1X sessions on
this system are closed.

Once you configure 802.1X authentication and switch-to-RADIUS server communication, perform this
task to enable 802.1X accounting:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch # configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# aaa accounting Enables 802.1X accounting, using the list of all RADIUS servers.
dot1x default start-stop group
radius
Step 3 Switch(config)# clock timezone Sets the time zone for the accounting event-time stamp field.
PST -8
Step 4 Switch(config)# clock Enables the date for the accounting event-time stamp field.
calendar-valid
Step 5 Switch(config-if)# aaa accounting (Optional) Enables system accounting (using the list of all RADIUS
system default start-stop group servers) and generates system accounting reload event messages when the
radius
switch reloads.
Step 6 Switch(config-if)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 7 Switch # show running-config Verifies your entries.
Step 8 Switch # copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

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This example shows how to configure 802.1X accounting. The first command configures the RADIUS
server, specifying 1813 as the UDP port for accounting:
Switch(config)# radius-server host 172.120.39.46 auth-port 1812 acct-port 1813 key rad123
Switch(config)# aaa accounting dot1x default start-stop group radius
Switch(config)# aaa accounting system default start-stop group radius

Note You must configure the RADIUS server to perform accounting tasks, such as logging start, stop, and
interim-update messages and time stamps. To turn on these functions, enable logging of
“Update/Watchdog packets from this AAA client” in your RADIUS server Network Configuration tab.
Next, enable “CVS RADIUS Accounting” in your RADIUS server System Configuration tab.

Configuring 802.1X with Guest VLANs

Note When a port is put into a guest VLAN, it is automatically placed into multihost mode, and an unlimited
number of hosts can connect through the port. Changing the multihost configuration does not effect a
port in a guest VLAN.

To configure 802.1X with guest-VLAN, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch # configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode and specifies the interface to be
interface-id enabled for 802.1X authentication.
Step 3 Switch(config-if)# dot1x Enables 802.1X authentication on the interface.
port-control auto]
For feature interaction information with trunk, dynamic, dynamic-access,
EtherChannel, secure, and SPAN ports, see the “802.1X Configuration
Guidelines” section on page 31-13.
Step 4 Switch(config-if)# dot1x guest-vlan Enables a guest VLAN on a particular interface.
vlan-id
Step 5 Switch(config-if)# end Returns to configuration mode.
Step 6 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

To disable the guest VLAN feature on a particular port, use the no dot1x guest-vlan interface
configuration command.
This example shows how to enable a guest VLAN on Fast Ethernet interface 4/3:
Switch# configure terminal
Switch(config)# interface fastethernet4/3
Switch(config-if)# dot1x port-control auto
Switch(config-if)# dot1x guest-vlan 50
Switch(config-if)# end
Switch(config)# end
Switch#

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Configuring 802.1X with Voice VLAN

To enable 802.1X with voice VLAN feature, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch # configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode.
interface-id
Step 3 Switch(config-if)# switchport Sets the VLAN for a switched interface in access mode.
access vlan vlan-id
Step 4 Switch(config-if)# switchport mode Specifies a nontrunking, nontagged single VLAN Layer 2 interface.
access
Step 5 Switch(config-if)# switchport voice Sets the voice VLAN for the interface.
vlan vlan-id
Step 6 Switch(config-if)# dot1x Enables 802.1X authentication on the interface.
port-control auto
Step 7 Switch(config-if)# end Returns to configuration mode.
Step 8 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

This example shows how to enable 802.1X with voice VLAN feature on Fast Ethernet interface 5/9:
Switch# configure terminal
Switch(config)# interface fastethernet5/9
Switch(config-if)# switchport access vlan 2
Switch(config-if)# switchport mode access
Switch(config-if)# switchport voice vlan 10
Switch(config-if)# dot1x port-control auto
Switch(config-if)# end

Note You must configure 802.1X and voice VLAN at the same time.

Enabling Periodic Reauthentication

You can enable periodic 802.1X client reauthentication and specify how often it occurs. If you do not
specify a time value before enabling reauthentication, the interval between reauthentication attempts is
3600 seconds.
Automatic 802.1X client reauthentication is a per-interface setting and can be set for clients connected
to individual ports. To manually reauthenticate the client connected to a specific port, see the “Manually
Reauthenticating a Client Connected to a Port” section on page 31-19.
To enable periodic reauthentication of the client and to configure the number of seconds between
reauthentication attempts, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode and specifies the interface to be
interface-id enabled for periodic reauthentication.

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Command Purpose
Step 3 Switch(config-if)# dot1x Enables periodic reauthentication of the client, which is disabled by
re-authentication default.
Step 4 Switch(config)# dot1x timeout Specifies the number of seconds between reauthentication attempts.
reauth-period seconds
The range is 1 to 65,535; the default is 3600 seconds.
This command affects the behavior of the switch only if periodic
reauthentication is enabled.
Step 5 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 6 Switch# show dot1x all Verifies your entries.
Step 7 Switch(config)# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

To disable periodic reauthentication, use the no dot1x re-authentication interface configuration

command. To return to the default number of seconds between reauthentication attempts, use the no
dot1x timeout reauth-period global configuration command.
This example shows how to enable periodic reauthentication and set the number of seconds between
reauthentication attempts to 4000:
Switch(config)# dot1x timeout reauth-period 4000
Switch(config)# dot1x re-authentication

Manually Reauthenticating a Client Connected to a Port

You can manually reauthenticate a client connected to a specific port at any time by entering the dot1x
re-authenticate interface interface-id privileged EXEC command. If you want to enable or disable
periodic reauthentication, see the “Enabling Periodic Reauthentication” section on page 31-18.
This example shows how to manually reauthenticate the client connected to Fast Ethernet port 1/1:
Switch# dot1x re-authenticate interface fastethernet1/1
Starting reauthentication on FastEthernet1/1

Changing the Quiet Period

When the switch cannot authenticate the client, the switch remains idle for a set period of time, and then
tries again. The idle time is determined by the quiet-period value. A failed authentication of the client
might occur because the client provided an invalid password. You can provide a faster response time to
the user by entering a number smaller than the default.
To change the quiet period, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode and specifies the interface to be
interface-id enabled for timeout quiet-period.

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Command Purpose
Step 3 Switch(config)# dot1x timeout Sets the number of seconds that the switch remains in the quiet-period
quiet-period seconds following a failed authentication exchange with the client.
The range is 0 to 65,535 seconds; the default is 60.
Step 4 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 5 Switch# show dot1x all Verifies your entries.
Step 6 Switch# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

To return to the default quiet-period, use the no dot1x timeout quiet-period configuration command.
This example shows how to set the quiet-period on the switch to 30 seconds:
Switch(config)# dot1x timeout quiet-period 30

Changing the Switch-to-Client Retransmission Time

The client responds to the EAP-request/identity frame from the switch with an EAP-response/identity
frame. If the switch does not receive this response, it waits a set period of time (known as the
retransmission time) and then retransmits the frame.

Note You should change the default value of this command only to adjust for unusual circumstances, such as
unreliable links or specific behavioral problems with certain clients and authentication servers.

To change the amount of time that the switch waits for client notification, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode and specifies the interface to be
interface-id enabled for timeout tx-period.
Step 3 Switch(config-if)# dot1x timeout Sets the number of seconds that the switch waits for a response to an
tx-period seconds EAP-request/identity frame from the client before retransmitting the
request.
The range is 1 to 65,535 seconds; the default is 30.
Step 4 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 5 Switch# show dot1x all Verifies your entries.
Step 6 Switch# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

To return to the default retransmission time, use the no dot1x timeout tx-period interface configuration
command.
This example shows how to set the retransmission time to 60 seconds:
Switch(config)# dot1x timeout tx-period 60

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Setting the Switch-to-Client Frame-Retransmission Number

In addition to changing the switch-to-client retransmission times, you can change the number of times
that the switch sends EAP-Request/Identity and other EAP-Request frames to the client before restarting
the authentication process. The number of EAP-Request/Identity retransmissions is controlled by the
dot1x max-reauth-req command; the number of retransmissions for other EAP-Request frames is
controlled by the dot1x max-req command.

Note You should change the default values of these commands only to adjust for unusual circumstances such
as unreliable links or specific behavioral problems with certain clients and authentication servers.

To set the switch-to-client frame-retransmission numbers, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode and specifies the interface to be
interface-id enabled for max-reauth-req and/or max-req.
Step 3 Switch(config-if)# dot1x max-req Specifies the number of times that the switch retransmits an EAP-request
count frame of a type other than EAP-request/identity to the client before
restarting the authentication process.
or

Switch(config-if)# dot1x max-req Specifies the number of times that the switch retransmits an
count
EAP-request/identity frame to the client before restarting the
authentication process.
The range for count is 1 to 10; the default is 2.
Step 4 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 5 Switch# show dot1x all Verifies your entries.
Step 6 Switch# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

To return to the default retransmission number, use the no dot1x max-req and
no dot1x max-reauth-req global configuration command.
This example shows how to set 5 as the number of times that the switch retransmits an
EAP-request/identity request before restarting the authentication process:
Switch(config)# dot1x max-reauth-req 5

Enabling Multiple Hosts

You can attach multiple hosts to a single 802.1X-enabled port as shown in Figure 31-4 on page 31-11.
In this mode, only one of the attached hosts must be successfully authorized for all hosts to be granted
network access. If the port becomes unauthorized (reauthentication fails or an EAPOL-logoff message
is received), all attached clients are denied access to the network.

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Displaying 802.1X Statistics and Status

To allow multiple hosts (clients) on an 802.1X-authorized port that has the dot1x port-control interface
configuration command set to auto, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# interface Enters interface configuration mode and specifies the interface to which
interface-id multiple hosts are indirectly attached.
Step 3 Switch(config-if)# dot1x host-mode Allows multiple hosts (clients) on an 802.1X-authorized port.
multi-host
Make sure that the dot1x port-control interface configuration command
set is set to auto for the specified interface.
Step 4 Switch(config-if)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 5 Switch# show dot1x all interface Verifies your entries.
interface-id
Step 6 Switch# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

To disable multiple hosts on the port, use the no dot1x multiple-hosts interface configuration command.
This example shows how to enable 802.1X on Fast Ethernet interface 0/1 and to allow multiple hosts:
Switch(config)# interface fastethernet0/1
Switch(config-if)# dot1x port-control auto
Switch(config-if)# dot1x multiple-hosts

Resetting the 802.1X Configuration to the Default Values

To reset the 802.1X configuration to the default values, perform this task:

Command Purpose
Step 1 Switch# configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2 Switch(config)# dot1x default Resets the configurable 802.1X parameters to the default values.
Step 3 Switch(config)# end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 4 Switch# show dot1x all Verifies your entries.
Step 5 Switch# copy running-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the configuration file.
startup-config

Displaying 802.1X Statistics and Status

To display 802.1X statistics for all interfaces, use the show dot1x statistics privileged EXEC command.
To display 802.1X statistics for a specific interface, use the show dot1x statistics interface interface-id
privileged EXEC command.
To display the 802.1X administrative and operational status for the switch, use the show dot1x all
privileged EXEC command. To display the 802.1X administrative and operational status for a specific
interface, use the show dot1x interface interface-id privileged EXEC command.

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