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Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 7 Adminis tering the Switch Controlling Switch Access with RADIUS
This example shows how to configure host1 as the RADIUS server and to use the default ports for bo th
authentication and accounting:
Switch(config)# radius-server host host1
Note 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. For more information,
refer t o the RADI US server do cument ation .

Configuring RADIUS Login Authentication

To configure AAA authentication, you define a named list of authentication methods and then apply that
list to various interfaces. The method list defines the types of au thentica tion to be perfo rmed a nd the
sequence in which the y ar e performed; it must be a pplied to a specif ic inter face before an y of the d ef ined
authe nticat ion methods a re perfor med. The only exceptio n is the default method li st (which, by
coincidence, is named default). The default method list is automatically applied to all interfaces except
those that have a named method list explicitly defined.
A method list describes the sequence and authentication methods to be queried to authenticate a user.
You can desi gnat e on e or mor e sec urit y prot ocol s to be use d for a uth ent icat ion, thus ens uri ng a back up
system for authentication in case the initial method fails. The software uses the first method listed to
authe ntica te users; if tha t m eth od fail s to re spon d, t he so ftwa re se lect s the next authe nti cati on met hod
in the method list. This process continues until there is successful communication with a listed
authentication method or until all defined methods are ex hausted. If authentication fails at any point in
this cycle—meaning that the security server or local username database responds by denying the user
access—the au then ticatio n process stop s, and no other au thent ication me thods are attempted .
Beginning i n privileged E XEC mo de, fol low these s teps to c on figure l ogi n auth en tica tion . This
procedu re is re quir ed.