16
Port Authentication
This chapter describes the IEEE 802.1x methods.
16.1 Port Authentication Overview
Port authentication is a way to validate access to ports on the Switch to clients based on an external server (authentication server). The Switch supports IEEE 802.1x2 authentication, in which an authentication server validates access to a port based on a username and password provided by the user.
This type of authentication uses the RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service, RFC 2138, 2139) protocol to validate users. See Section 20.1.2 on page 146 for more information on configuring your RADIUS server settings.
16.1.1 IEEE 802.1x Authentication
The following figure illustrates how a client connecting to a IEEE 802.1x authentication enabled port goes through a validation process. The Switch prompts the client for login information in the form of a user name and password. When the client provides the login credentials, the Switch sends an authentication request to a RADIUS server. The RADIUS server validates whether this client is allowed access to the port.
2.At the time of writing, IEEE 802.1x is not supported by all operating systems. See your operating system documentation. If your operating system does not support 802.1x, then you may need to install 802.1x client software.
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