Brocade Communications Systems 53-1001763-02 Authentication of EX_Port, VE_Port, and VEX_Port connections

316 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide
53-1001763-02
E_Port authentication between Fabric OS and M-EOS switches
14
TABLE 63 Switch authentication policy when connected to an M-EOS dumb switch
Because the M-EOS switch does not know about authentication, there is never an authenticated
connection made. However, the E_Port is established when the Fabric OS switch is configured in
Passive or Off states. The cases where the connection fails are when the Fabric OS switch is
configured as On or Passive. This is because these states require the authentication of the E_Ports
to respond to authentication requests. See Table 57 on page 312 for the Fabric OS mode
descriptions. The Passive and Off cases never exchange authentication frames, and therefore
come up as normal E_Ports.
Authentication of EX_Port, VE_Port, and VEX_Port connections
VE_Ports run authentication the same as E_Ports; for information on authenticating E_Ports, see
“E_Port authentication between Fabric OS and M-EOS switches” on page 311.
EX_Ports and VEX_Ports both run authentication in Passive mode. This means these ports will not
initiate authentication, but they will respond to authentication requests initiated by the connecting
switch. Changing the switch authentication policy mode does not affect the authentication function
of EX_Ports; they remain in Passive mode.
If you connect an M-EOS switch in On mode to an EX_Port set to McDATA Open Fabric mode or
McDATA Fabric mode, authentication should work the same as connecting an M-EOS switch to a
Fabric OS switch in Passive mode. The authenticated connection is successful if the M-EOS switch
has the correct secret for the Fabric OS switch and the Fabric OS switch has the correct secret for
the M-EOS switch.
NOTE
The EX_Port’s secret is configured on the Fabric OS switch the same way it is configured for an
E_Port. However, the front domain WWN should be used to install the shared secret on the E_Port
side.
M-EOS switches do not support VE_Port or VEX_Port connections; any configurations with these
port types are Fabric OS-only configurations. However, both VE and VEX_Ports support running in
McDATA interop mode.
Fabric OS Passive Active On Off
M-EOS
Disabled Yes
Connected without
any authentication
(Fabric builds
normally).
No
E_Port does not connect
(Authentication Rejected).
When the Fabric OS switch
generates the reject, it
disables the Fabric OS port.
When the M-EOS switch
generates the reject, it goes
to an invalid attachment
state.
No
E_Port does not connect
(Authentication Rejected).
When the Fabric OS switch
generates the reject, it
disables the Fabric OS port.
When the M-EOS switch
generates the reject, it goes
to an invalid attachment
state.
Yes
Connected
without any
authentication
(Fabric builds
normally).