Setup Guide

Obscuring Passwords and Keys
By default, the service password-encryption command stores encrypted passwords. For greater security, you can also use the
service obscure-passwords command to prevent a user from reading the passwords and keys, including RADIUS, TACACS+ keys,
router authentication strings, VRRP authentication by obscuring this information. Passwords and keys are stored encrypted in the
configuration file and by default are displayed in the encrypted form when the configuration is displayed. Enabling the service
obscure-passwords command displays asterisks instead of the encrypted passwords and keys. This command prevents a user from
reading these passwords and keys by obscuring this information with asterisks.
Password obscuring masks the password and keys for display only but does not change the contents of the file. The string of asterisks is
the same length as the encrypted string for that line of configuration. To verify that you have successfully obscured passwords and keys,
use the show running-config command or show startup-config command.
If you are using role-based access control (RBAC), only the system administrator and security administrator roles can enable
the service obscure-password command.
To enable the obscuring of passwords and keys, use the following command.
• Turn on the obscuring of passwords and keys in the configuration.
CONFIGURATION mode
service obscure-passwords
Example of Obscuring Password and Keys
DellEMC(config)# service obscure-passwords
AAA Authorization
Dell EMC Networking OS enables AAA new-model by default.
You can set authorization to be either local or remote. Different combinations of authentication and authorization yield different
results. By default, Dell EMC Networking OS sets both to local.
Privilege Levels Overview
Limiting access to the system is one method of protecting the system and your network. However, at times, you might need to allow
others access to the router and you can limit that access to a subset of commands. In Dell EMC Networking OS, you can configure a
privilege level for users who need limited access to the system.
Every command in Dell EMC Networking OS is assigned a privilege level of 0, 1, or 15. You can configure up to 16 privilege levels in Dell
EMC Networking OS. Dell EMC Networking OS is pre-configured with three privilege levels and you can configure 13 more. The three pre-
configured levels are:
• Privilege level 1 — is the default level for EXEC mode. At this level, you can interact with the router, for example, view some show
commands and Telnet and ping to test connectivity, but you cannot configure the router. This level is often called the “user” level. One
of the commands available in Privilege level 1 is the enable command, which you can use to enter a specific privilege level.
• Privilege level 0 — contains only the end, enable, and disable commands.
• Privilege level 15 — the default level for the enable command, is the highest level. In this level you can access any command in Dell
EMC Networking OS.
Privilege levels 2 through 14 are not configured and you can customize them for different users and access.
After you configure other privilege levels, enter those levels by adding the level parameter after the enable command or by configuring a
user name or password that corresponds to the privilege level. For more information about configuring user names, refer to
Configuring a
Username and Password.
By default, commands in Dell EMC Networking OS are assigned to different privilege levels. You can access those commands only if you
have access to that privilege level. For example, to reach the protocol spanning-tree command, log in to the router, enter the
enable command for privilege level 15 (this privilege level is the default level for the command) and then enter CONFIGURATION mode.
You can configure passwords to control access to the box and assign different privilege levels to users. Dell EMC Networking OS supports
the use of passwords when you log in to the system and when you enter the enable command. If you move between privilege levels, you
are prompted for a password if you move to a higher privilege level.
Security
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