Users Guide

server and the supplicant. The authenticator also changes the status of the port based on the results of
the authentication process. The Dell Networking switch is the authenticator.
• The authentication-server selects the authentication method, verifies the information the supplicant
provides, and grants it network access privileges.
Ports can be in one of two states:
• Ports are in an unauthorized state by default. In this state, non-802.1X traffic cannot be forwarded in or
out of the port.
• The authenticator changes the port state to authorized if the server can authenticate the supplicant. In
this state, network traffic can be forwarded normally.
NOTE: The switch places 802.1X-enabled ports in the unauthorized state by default.
Topics:
• The Port-Authentication Process
• Configuring 802.1X
• Important Points to Remember
• Enabling 802.1X
• Configuring dot1x Profile
• Configuring MAC addresses for a do1x Profile
• Configuring the Static MAB and MAB Profile
• Configuring Critical VLAN
• Configuring Request Identity Re-Transmissions
• Configuring a Quiet Period after a Failed Authentication
• Forcibly Authorizing or Unauthorizing a Port
• Re-Authenticating a Port
• Configuring Dynamic VLAN Assignment with Port Authentication
• Guest and Authentication-Fail VLANs
• Multi-Host Authentication
• Multi-Supplicant Authentication
• MAC Authentication Bypass
• Dynamic CoS with 802.1X
The Port-Authentication Process
The authentication process begins when the authenticator senses that a link status has changed from down
to up:
1 When the authenticator senses a link state change, it requests that the supplicant identify itself using an
EAP Identity Request frame.
2 The supplicant responds with its identity in an EAP Response Identity frame.
3 The authenticator decapsulates the EAP response from the EAPOL frame, encapsulates it in a RADIUS
Access-Request frame and forwards the frame to the authentication server.
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