802.1x authentication process
The clients and authenticators communicate using Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), which was originally designed to run over PPP, and for which the IEEE 802.1x Standard has defined an encapsulation method over Ethernet frames, called EAP over LAN (EAPOL).
The following figure shows a typical message exchange initiated by the client. Figure 2 Using EAPoL to authenticate a port
EAPoL Message Exchange
During authentication, EAPOL messages are exchanged between the client and the switch authenticator, while
Authentication is initiated by one of the following methods:
Switch authenticator sends an
Client sends an
The client confirms its identity by sending an
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