12-2
ASDM User Guide
OL-12180-01
Chapter12 Configuring AAA Servers and User Accounts
AAA Server and Local Database Support
•All administrative connections to the security appliance including the following sessions:
–
Telnet
–
SSH
–
Serial console
–
ASDM (using HTTPS)
–
VPN management access
•The enable command
•Network access
•VPN access

About Authorization

Authorizationcontrols access per user after users authenticate. You can configure the security appliance
to authorize the following items:
•Management commands
•Network access
•VPN access
Authorizationcontrols the services and commands available to each authenticated user. Were you not to
enable authorization, authentication alone would provide the same access to services for all
authenticated users.
If you need the control that authorization provides, you can configure a broad authentication rule, and
thenhave a detailed authorization configuration. For example, you authenticate inside users who attempt
to access any serveron the outside network and then limit the outside servers that a particular user can
access using authorization.
Thesecurity appliance caches the first 16 authorization requests per user, so if the user accesses the same
services during the current authentication session, the security appliance does not resend the request to
the authorization server.

About Accounting

Accounting tracks traffic that passes through the security appliance, enabling you to have a record of
user activity.If you enable authentication for that traffic, you can account for traffic per user.If you do
not authenticate the traffic,you can account for traffic per IP address. Accounting information includes
whensessions start and stop, username, the number of bytes that pass through the security appliance for
the session, the service used, and the duration of each session.
AAA Server and Local Database Support
Thesecurity appliance supports a variety of AAA server types and a local database that is stored on the
security appliance. This section describes support for each AAA server type and the local database.
This section contains the following topics:
•Summary of Support, page 12-3