Nortel Networks 2300 manual Managing 802.1X Encryption Keys, Setting 802.1X Port Control

Managing 802.1X on the WSS Switch 491

Setting 802.1X Port Control

The following command specifies the way a wired authentication port or group of ports handles user 802.1X authentication attempts:

set dot1x port-control {forceauth forceunauth auto} port-list

The default setting is auto, which allows the WSS switch to process 802.1X authentication normally according to the authentication configuration. Alternatively, you can set a wired authentication port or ports to either unconditionally authenticate or unconditionally reject all users.

For example, the following command forces port 19 to unconditionally authenticate all 802.1X authentication attempts with an EAP success message:

23x0# set dot1x port-control forceauth 19

success: authcontrol for 19 is set to FORCE-AUTH.

Similarly, the following command forces port 12 to unconditionally reject any 802.1X attempts with an EAP failure message:

23x0# set dot1x port-control forceunauth 12

success: authcontrol for 12 is set to FORCE-UNAUTH.

The set dot1x port-control command is overridden by the set dot1x authcontrol command. The clear dot1x port-control command returns port control to the default auto value.

Type the following command to reset port control for all wired authentication ports:

23x0# clear dot1x port-control

success: change accepted.

Managing 802.1X Encryption Keys

By default, the WSS switch sends encryption key information to a wireless supplicant (client) in an Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPoL) packet after authentication is successful. You can disable this feature or change the time interval for key transmission.

The secret Wired-Equivalent Privacy protocol (WEP) keys used by WSS Software on AP access ports for broadcast communication on a VLAN are automatically rotated (rekeyed) every 30 minutes to maintain secure packet transmission. You can disable WEP key rotation for debugging purposes, or change the rotation interval.

Nortel WLAN Security Switch 2300 Series Configuration Guide