Configuring Port-Based and User-Based Access Control (802.1X)

General Operating Rules and Notes

■If a port on switch “A” is configured as an 802.1X supplicant and is connected to a port on another switch, “B”, that is not 802.1X-aware, access to switch “B” will occur without 802.1X security protection.

■On a port configured for 802.1X with RADIUS authentication, if the RADIUS server specifies a VLAN for the supplicant and the port is a trunk member, the port will be blocked. If the port is later removed from the trunk, the port will allow authentication of the supplicant. Similarly, if the supplicant is authenticated and later the port becomes a trunk member, the port will be blocked. If the port is then removed from the trunk, it will allow the supplicant to re-authenticate.

■If a client already has access to a switch port when you configure the port for 802.1X authenticator operation, the port will block the client from further network access until it can be authenticated.

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Meshing is not supported on ports configured for 802.1X port-access security.

A port can be configured as an authenticator or an 802.1X supplicant, or both. Some configuration instances block traffic flow or allow traffic to flow without authentication. Refer to “Configuring Switch Ports To Operate As Supplicants for 802.1X Connections to Other Switches” on page 10- 47.

■To help maintain security, 802.1X and LACP cannot both be enabled on the same port. If you try to configure 802.1X on a port already configured for LACP (or the reverse) you will see a message similar to the following:

Error configuring port X: LACP and 802.1X cannot be run together.Applying Web Authentication or MAC Authentication Concurrently

with Port-Based 802.1X Authentication: While 802.1X port-based access control can operate concurrently with Web Authentication or MAC Authenti- cation, port-based access control is subordinate to Web-Auth and MAC-Auth operation. If 802.1X operates in port-based mode and MAC or Web authentication is enabled on the same port, any 802.1X authentication has no effect on the ability of a client to access the controlled port. That is, the client’s access will be denied until the client authenticates through Web-Auth or MAC-Auth on the port. Note also that a client authenticating with port-based 802.1X does not open the port in the same way that it would if Web-Auth or MAC-Auth were not enabled. That is, any non-authenticating client attempting to access the port after another client authenticates with port-based 802.1X would still have to authenticate through Web-Auth or MAC-Auth.

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