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Catalyst 2960 and 2960-S Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-8603-09
Chapter 10 Configuring IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
Understanding IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
• The authentication manager replaces the MAC address of the current data host on the port with the
new MAC address.
• The authentication manager initiates the authentication process for the new MAC address.
• If the authentication manager determines that the new host is a voice host, the original voice host is
removed.
If a port is in open authentication mode, any new MAC address is immediately added to the MAC address
table.
For more information see the “Enabling MAC Replace” section on page 10-52.
802.1x Accounting
The 802.1x standard defines how users are authorized and authenticated for network access but does not
keep track of network usage. 802.1x accounting is disabled by default. You can enable 802.1x accounting
to monitor this activity on 802.1x-enabled ports:
• User successfully authenticates.
• User logs off.
• Link-down occurs.
• Re-authentication successfully occurs.
• Re-authentication fails.
The switch does not log 802.1x accounting information. Instead, it sends this information to the
RADIUS server, which must be configured to log accounting messages.
802.1x Accounting Attribute-Value Pairs
The information sent to the RADIUS server is represented in the form of Attribute-Value (AV) pairs.
These AV pairs provide data for different applications. (For example, a billing application might require
information that is in the Acct-Input-Octets or the Acct-Output-Octets attributes of a RADIUS packet.)
AV pairs are automatically sent by a switch that is configured for 802.1x accounting. Three types of
RADIUS accounting packets are sent by a switch:
• START–sent when a new user session starts
• INTERIM–sent during an existing session for updates
• STOP–sent when a session terminates
Table 10-3 lists the AV pairs and when they are sent are sent by the switch:
Table 10-3 Accounting AV Pairs
Attribute Number AV Pair Name START INTERIM STOP
Attribute[1] User-Name Always Always Always
Attribute[4] NAS-IP-Address Always Always Always
Attribute[5] NAS-Port Always Always Always
Attribute[8] Framed-IP-Address Never Sometimes
1
Sometimes
1
Attribute[25] Class Always Always Always