IACA Lab 12.01
IACA Lab 12.01
01 Service Survivability
In the first task you will review how the tunneled WLAN can survive when the internet connection is
unavailable.
After verifying the AP to gateway tunnel, you will block access to the internet and reboot all devices.
This will demonstrate how the AP stores survivability information to establish tunnels to the gateways.
In the second task, you will review how the switches can be configured with cached re-authentication
and a critical role. In case access to the RADIUS server is lost, these features can ensure that clients
can stay connected to the network or connect to the network using a minimal service level.
Objectives
After completing this lab, you will be able to:
• Understand AP to gateway tunnel setup without an Internet connection.
• Understand switch cached reauthentication.
• Understand the switch critical role.
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For the tunnels that are provisioned by the OTO service, backup tunnel information and IPsec keys
are stored in the existing GW and AP systems. This can be used when Aruba Central could be
unreachable for the devices due to an Internet link failure, for example.
Note that this only works for existing tunnel WLANs on existing gateways and APs. New APs or new
tunnel WLAN configurations will work after the devices have established contact with Central’s OTO
service.
Objectives
• Review AP to gateway tunnel status.
• Verify AP to gateway tunnel setup without internet connection.
Steps
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6. Verify the WLANs column shows All SSIDs selected for both ap1 and ap2.
NOTE: If one of the APs does not have this option, use the pencil button to edit
the AP configuration and enable the WLANs.
access-list ip no-inet
10 permit any 10.1.0.0/21 10.0.0.0/8
20 deny any 10.1.0.0/21 any
30 permit any any any
exit
NOTE: The hostname of the rtr-core1 may be slightly different in your lab
environment; it may include the pod and/or table number or the course title
(IACA). This can be ignored.
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12. After about 1 minute, check the Aruba Central control-channel. It should show as
DOWN. Repeat the command until the connection status shows down.
show aruba-central details
Aruba Central
-------------
Parameter Value
--------- -----
Aruba Central IP/URL device-uswest4.central.arubanetworks.com
Connection Status DOWN
Time of last disconnect Wed Dec 28 06:47:51 2022
SmartAmon MON Bootstrap Status Init
Number of times WS connected 2
Time of last connect Wed Dec 28 06:47:51 2022
(gw1) *# reload
Do you really want to restart the system(y/n): y
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NOTE: If there is no power option in the lab dashboard, you can login on the console
of the AP using admin / Aruba123! and use the reload command.
ap1# reload
Do you really want to reset the system(y/n): y
Reloading
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Num APs:2
Num Associations:0
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• Answer: The p#tx-employee SSID is enabled on the AP, the other WLANs are not
active.
• Question: What is the difference between the p#tx-employee WLAN and the other
WLANs?
• Answer: The p#tx-employee is a mixed mode WLAN. The other WLANs are tunnel
mode WLANs.
o By default, a mixed mode WLAN will remain active when the tunnel to the gateways
is down.
o By default, a tunnel WLAN will be disabled when the tunnel is down for more than 30
seconds.
22. The AP will keep trying to reach Aruba Central for several minutes. After about 6
minutes, the AP will start using the survivability information and connect to the
gateways. Repeat this command every minute until you see the survived tunnels.
show ata endpoint
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23. Open an SSH connection to GW1 and review the IPsec tunnels.
show crypto ipsec sa
• Answer: 3 in total. 2 IPsec connections to the APs. They were initiated by the APs
based on their survivability information. There is 1 IPsec connection to the GW2 for the
cluster function. This connection was never orchestrated by the OTO and was always
using the certificate-based authentication.
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• Question: How many of these ISAKMP sessions did you have when the OTO service
was available?
• Answer: Only 1: the IPsec connection between the gateway cluster members. The IPsec
keys for the AP to Gateways connections were setup by the OTO.
• Question: What type of IPsec authentication is used between the AP and the GW?
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Num APs:8
Num Associations:0
• Answer: Yes, the AP is broadcasting all the configured WLANs now, including the tunnel
WLANs.
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Both are features that can assist when the RADIUS server is not reachable anymore.
Objectives
• Understand switch cached reauthentication.
• Understand switch critical role.
• Verify the operation of cached reauthentication and critical role.
Steps
Cached Re-Authentication
1. Use thee eMGMT PC to open an SSH connection to sw-edge2.
2. Disable Aruba Central support to allow local configuration changes.
aruba-central
disable
exit
sw-edge2(config)# aruba-central
sw-edge2(config-aruba-central)# disable
sw-edge2(config-aruba-central)# exit
NOTE: While you could make the configuration changes without disabling Aruba
Central, you should be aware that the configuration of Aruba Central will
overwrite the local configuration when the switch reboots or the Aruba Central
connection is reconnected. Since you just blocked and then unblocked Internet
access in the previous task, your initial configuration in this task could be lost
when the switch restores the connection to Aruba Central.
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cached-reauth
cached-reauth-period 120
aaa authentication port-access mac-auth
cached-reauth
cached-reauth-period 120
exit
exit
NOTE: The cached re-authentication period starts after the first failed RADIUS
authentication. Within the cache period, any number of re-authentications can
be performed. Once the cache period expires, the next client re-authentication
will fail.
NOTE: In production environments, the cached period can be set much higher,
for example, up to 86,400 seconds (24 hours). This provides time to restore the
link or RADIUS service while the existing systems will remain connected. The
lab uses a short timer to show what happens when the cache expires.
4. For testing purposes, configure the contractor role with a re-authentication period of
60 seconds. First remove the role, this ensures the role does not have any settings
from previous lab activities.
no port-access role contractor
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Critical Role
5. Configure a new role named critical-role-pc. Assign VLAN 21.
port-access role critical-role-pc
vlan access 21
reauth-period 60
exit
NOTE: You can use any name for this role name; this is just a lab example.
6. On port 1/1/4, configured the critical role. Each port can have its own critical role
configured.
interface 1/1/4
aaa authentication port-access critical-role critical-role-pc
exit
RADIUS Tracking
In case the RADIUS server is unreachable, the cache re-authentication and critical roles will be
used to provide continuous or limited services for the clients.
When the RADIUS server is reachable again, the switch will not immediately be aware of this. By
using RADIUS tracking, the switch will perform tracking (by sending test authentication requests) to
the RADIUS server. This allows the switch to detect that the RADIUS server is reachable again and
clients can be re-authenticated.
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NOTE: The configured tracking user does not have to exist on the RADIUS
server. Any RADIUS reply (accept or reject) will be considered by the switch as
a reachable RADIUS server. If you are concerned about the number of failed
authentications in the RADIUS log, you can configure a dedicated RADIUS
service to handle the RADIUS tracking requests.
Shared-Secret: None
Timeout: 5
Auth-Type: pap
Retries: 1
TLS Timeout: 5
Tracking Time Interval (seconds): 60
Tracking Retries: 1
Tracking User-name: radius-track
Tracking Password:
AQBapenDkJR2yAvSlHReiujyK8CvCB8fZZW27nKBejxBznV2CQAAAOmIWOPdfKBWsw==
Number of Servers: 1
AAA Server Status Trap: Disabled
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
Port MAC-Address Onboarding Status Role
Device Type
Method
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
c 1/1/4 00:50:56:b1:b9:0d dot1x Success contractor
c 1/1/4 ec:b1:d7:1b:07:00 In-Progress
26. On sw-edge2, review the port access client details on interface 1/1/4.
show port-access clients interface 1/1/4 detail
...
Authentication Details
----------------------
Status : dot1x Authenticated
Auth Precedence : dot1x - Authenticated, mac-auth - Not attempted
Auth History : dot1x - Authenticated, 47s ago
mac-auth - Attempted, 47s ago
dot1x - Authenticated, 108s ago
mac-auth - Attempted, 108s ago
dot1x - Authenticated, 169s ago
...
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NOTE: The output may contain 2 MAC addresses. Make sure to look for the
host/contractor (PC4) Authentication details section in the output.
• Question: What is the interval for the 802.1X events in the Auth History?
29. Activate the ACL on the port 1/1/9 in the outbound direction.
interface 1/1/9
apply access-list ip no-radius out
exit
This failed attempt will start the cached reauthentication timer and initiate the RADIUS tracking
function.
30. Review the port access interface 1/1/4 authentication details. You can filter on the
text Auth to get a filtered output.
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NOTE: The filtered output may include duplicate lines due to the 2 MAC
addresses on the port. You only need to focus on the dot1x lines for the PC4.
Every 60 seconds, the client will be re-authenticated, during this re-authentication you may see:
Auth Precedence : dot1x - Re-Authenticating, mac-auth - Not attempted
Auth History : dot1x - Authenticated, 64s ago
When the server cannot be reached, the cached re-authentication timer starts, and the client will be
re-authenticated based on the cache:
Auth Precedence : dot1x - Cached-Re-Authenticated, mac-auth - Not attempted
Auth History : dot1x - Authenticated, 72s ago
31. Review the port-access clients again. The PC is now assigned the critical role.
show port-access clients interface 1/1/4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
Port MAC-Address Onboarding Status Role
Device Type
Method
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
c 1/1/4 00:50:56:b1:b9:0d Success critical-role-pc, Critical
c 1/1/4 ec:b1:d7:1b:07:00 In-Progress
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...
...
Tracking : enabled
Tracking-Mode : dead-only
Reachability-Status : unreachable, Since Wed Dec 28 13:36:20 UTC 2022
Tracking-Last-Attempted : Wed Dec 28 13:38:35 UTC 2022
Next-Tracking-Request : 49 seconds
34. Within about 1- 2 minutes, the RADIUS tracking will detect that the RADIUS server is
reachable again. The client will be authenticated against the RADIUS server. Repeat
this command every minute until you see PC4 is authenticated as contractor again.
show port-access clients interface 1/1/4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
Port MAC-Address Onboarding Status Role
Device Type
Method
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
c 1/1/4 00:50:56:b1:b9:0d dot1x Success contractor
c 1/1/4 ec:b1:d7:1b:07:00 Fail
35. Use the MGMT PC to review the latest ClearPass Access Tracker authentication
events.
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• Answer: This is default username for the RADIUS tracking feature performed by the
switch.
• Question: You configured the RADIUS track with an interval of 60 seconds. Why is the
RADIUS track only shown once in the list?
• Answer: You are looking at the RADIUS server logs now. After the ACL blocked access
to the RADIUS server, the switch started to track the RADIUS server. These requests
were generated every 60 seconds, but they never reached the RADIUS server due to the
ACL.
After the ACL was removed, the next tracking request will mark the RADIUS server as
reachable again. Therefore, no more tracking requests need to be sent, since the
tracking is configured as dead-only.
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