Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
RADIUS Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting > Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication next
Serial port
Telnet
SSH
Port-Access (802.1X)
WebAgent
1. RADIUS authentication on the switch must be enabled to override the default authentication operation which is to automatically assign an authenticated
client to the operator privilege level. This applies the privilege level specified by the service type value received from the RADIUS server, see
Configuring authentication for the access methods that RADIUS protects.
2. Configure the switch for accessing one or more RADIUS servers (one primary server and up to two backup servers):
Server IP address
(Optional) UDP destination port for authentication requests (default: 1812; recommended)
(Optional) UDP destination port for accounting requests (default: 1813; recommended)
(Optional) Encryption key for use during authentication sessions with a RADIUS server. This key overrides the global encryption key you can also
configure on the switch, and must match the encryption key used on the specified RADIUS server. (default: null)
NOTE: Step 2 assumes you have already configured the RADIUS servers to support the switch. See your RADIUS server documentation for
details.
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Server key: This key must match the encryption key used on the RADIUS servers the switch contacts for authentication and accounting services
unless you configure one or more per-server keys.(default: null)
Timeout period: The timeout period the switch waits for a RADIUS server to reply. (default: 5 seconds; range: 1 to 15 seconds)
Retransmit attempts: The number of retries when there is no server response to a RADIUS authentication request. (default: 3; range of 1 to 5)
Server dead-time: The period during which the switch will not send new authentication requests to a RADIUS server that has failed to respond to a
previous request. This avoids a wait for a request to time out on a server that is unavailable. If you want to use this feature, select a dead-time period
of 1 to 1440 minutes. (default: disabled; range: 1-1440 minutes.) If your first-choice server was initially unavailable, but then becomes available
before the dead-time expires, you can nullify the dead-time by resetting it to zero and then trying to log on again. As an alternative, you can reboot
the switch, (thus resetting the dead-time counter to assume the server is available) and then try to log on again.
Number of login attempts: This is actually an aaa authentication command. It controls how many times per session a RADIUS client (and
clients using other forms of access) can try to log in with the correct username and password. (default: Three times per session)
SSH: To use RADIUS for SSH access, first configure the switch for SSH operation.
WebAgent: You can enable RADIUS authentication for WebAgent access to the switch.
You can configure RADIUS as the primary password authentication method for the above access methods. You also need to select either local, none, or
authorized as a secondary, or backup, method. Note that for console access, if you configure radius (or tacacs) for primary authentication, you must configure
local for the secondary method. This prevents the possibility of being completely locked out of the switch in the event that all primary access methods fail.
Syntax:
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Configures RADIUS as the primary password authentication method for console, Telnet, SSH, and/or the WebAgent.
[<local|none|authorized>]
Provides options for secondary authentication. For console access, secondary authentication must be local if primary access is not
local. This prevents you from being locked out of the switch in the event of a failure in other access methods.
Password authentication for web-based or MAC-based port access to the switch. Use peap-mschapv2 when you want password
verification without requiring access to a plain text password; it is more secure.
Default: chap-radius
[none|authorized]
Provides options for secondary authentication. The none option specifies that a backup authentication method is not used. The
authorized option allows access without authentication.
Default: none.
In certain situations, RADIUS servers can become isolated from the network. Users are not able to access the network resources configured with RADIUS
access protection and are rejected. To address this situation, configuring the authorized secondary authentication method allows users unconditional access to
the network when the primary authentication method fails because the RADIUS servers are unreachable.
CAUTION: Configuring authorized as the secondary authentication method used when there is a failure accessing the RADIUS servers allows clients to
access the network unconditionally. Use this method with care.
Example of AAA authentication using authorized for the secondary authentication method shows an example of the show authentication command displaying
authorized as the secondary authentication method for port-access, web-based authentication access, and MAC authentication access. Since the configuration of
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
authorized means no authentication will be performed and the client has unconditional access to the network, the "Enable Primary" and "Enable Secondary"
fields are not applicable (N/A).
Example of AAA authentication using authorized for the secondary authentication method
Suppose you already configured local passwords on the switch, but want RADIUS to protect primary Telnet and SSH access without allowing a secondary
Telnet or SSH access option (the switch local passwords):
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
NOTE: If you configure the Login Primary method as local instead of radius (and local passwords are configured on the switch), then clients connected
to your network can gain access to either the operator or manager level without encountering the RADIUS authentication specified for Enable Primary.
See Local authentication process (RADIUS).
Syntax:
When enabled, the switch reads the Service-Type field in the client authentication received from a RADIUS server. The following table describes
the applicableService-Type values and corresponding client access levels the switch allows upon authentication by the server.
Service-type value
Administrative-user 6 manager
NAS-prompt-user 7 operator
This feature applies to console (serial port), Telnet, SSH, and WebAgent access to the switch. It does not apply to 802.1X port-access.
NOTE: While this option is enabled, a Service-Type value other than 6 or 7, or an unconfigured (null) Service-Type causes the switch to deny
access to the requesting client.
The no form of the command returns the switch to the default RADIUS authentication operation. The default behavior for most interfaces is that a
client authorized by the RADIUS server for Enable (manager) access will be prompted twice, once for Login (operator) access and once for Enable
access. In the default RADIUS authentication operation, the WebAgent requires only one successful authentication request. For more information
on configuring the Service Type in your RADIUS application, see the documentation provided with the application.
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
NOTE: If you want to configure RADIUS accounting on the switch, see Accounting services.
Syntax:
Adds a server to the RADIUS configuration or (with no) deletes a server from the configuration. You can configure up to three
RADIUS servers, and up to 15 RADIUS server addresses. See Using multiple RADIUS server groups for information about grouping
multiple RADIUS servers.
The switch uses the first server it successfully accesses, see Changing RADIUS-server access order.
The oobm option specifies that the RADIUS traffic will go through the out-of-band management (OOBM) port.
[auth-port <port-number>]
Optional. Changes the UDP destination port for authentication requests to the specified RADIUS server (host). If you do not use this
option with the radius-server host command, the switch automatically assigns the default authentication port number. The auth-port
number must match its server counterpart.
Default: 1812
[acct-port <port-number>]
Optional. Changes the UDP destination port for accounting requests to the specified RADIUS server. If you do not use this option with
the radius-server host command, the switch automatically assigns the default accounting port number. The acct-port number must
match its server counterpart.
Default: 1813
[dyn-authorization]
Enables or disables the processing of Disconnect and Change of Authorization messages from this host. When enabled, the RADIUS
server can dynamically terminate or change the authorization parameters (such as VLAN assignment) used in an active client session
on the switch. The UDP port specified in the radius-server dyn-autz-port command (defaults to 3799) is the port used to listen for
Change of Authorization messages (CoA) or Disconnect messages (DM). See Change-of-Authorization.
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Default: Disabled
[key <key-string>]
Optional. Specifies an encryption key for use during authentication (or accounting) sessions with the specified server. This key must
match the encryption key used on the RADIUS server. Use this command only if the specified server requires a different encryption
key than configured for the global encryption key.
NOTE: Formerly, when you saved the configuration file using Xmodem or TFTP, the RADIUS encryption key information was
not saved in the file. This caused RADIUS authentication to break when the startup configuration file was loaded back onto the
switch. You now can save the configured RADIUS shared secret (encryption) key to a configuration file by entering the following
commands:
include-credentials
write memory
[time-window <0-65535>]
The time window in seconds within which the received dynamic authorization requests are considered to be current and accepted for
processing. A zero value means there is no time limit. A non-zero value indicates that the even-timestamp attribute is expected as part
of all Change of Authorization and Disconnect request messages. If the timestamp attribute is not present the message is dropped.
Use the no form of the command to remove the key for a specified server.
Suppose you have configured the switch as shown in Configuration for RADIUS server before changing the key and adding another server and you now need to
make the following changes:
2. Add a RADIUS server with an IP address of 10.33.18.119 and a server-specific encryption key of "source0119".
Configuration for RADIUS server before changing the key and adding another server
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Deadtime(min) : 0
Timeout(secs) : 5
Retransmit Attempts : 3
Global Encryption Key :
Dynamic Authorization UDP Port : 3799
Source IP Selection : Outgoing Interface
Configuration for RADIUS server after changing the key and adding another server
HP Switch(config)# radius-server host 10.33.18.127 key source0127
*
HP Switch(config)# radius-server host 10.33.18.119 key source0119
**
HP Switch(config)# show radius
Deadtime(min) : 0
Timeout(secs) : 5
Retransmit Attempts : 3
Global Encryption Key :myg10balkey
Dynamic Authorization UDP Port : 3799
* Changes the key for the existing server to “source012 7” (step 1, above).
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** Adds the new RADIUS server with its required “source0119” key.
To change the order in which the switch accesses RADIUS servers, see Changing RADIUS-server access order.
Number of login attempts: In a given session, this specifies how many tries at entering the correct username and password pair are allowed before
access is denied and the session terminated. This is a general aaa authentication parameter and is not specific to RADIUS.
Global server key: The server key the switch uses for contacts with all RADIUS servers for which there is not a server-specific key configured by
radius-server host <ip-address> key <key-string>. This key is optional if you configure a server-specific key for each RADIUS server entered in the
switch.
Server timeout: Defines the time period in seconds for authentication attempts. If the timeout period expires before a response is received, the attempt
fails.
Server dead time: Specifies the time in minutes during which the switch avoids requesting authentication from a server that has not responded to
previous requests.
Retransmit attempts: If the first attempt to contact a RADIUS server fails, this specifies how many retries to allow the switch to attempt on that server.
Change of Authorization port: The dyn-autz-port parameter specifies the UDP port number that listens for the Change of Authorization and Disconnect
messages.
Syntax:
Specifies how many tries for entering the correct username and password are allowed before shutting down the session due to input
errors.
[no] radius-server
key <global-key-string>
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Specifies the global encryption key the switch uses with servers for which the switch does not have a server-specific key assignment.
This key is optional if all RADIUS server addresses configured in the switch include a server-specific encryption key.
Default: Null.
dead-time <1-1440>
Optional. Specifies the time in minutes during which the switch will not attempt to use a RADIUS server that has not responded to an
earlier authentication attempt.
Specifies the UDP port number that listens for Change of Authorization or Disconnect messages. The range of ports is 1024–49151.
Default: 3799
radius-server timeout <1-15>
Specifies the maximum time the switch waits for a response to an authentication request before counting the attempt as a failure.
If a RADIUS server fails to respond to an authentication request, specifies how many retries to attempt before closing the session.
NOTE: Where the switch has multiple RADIUS servers configured to support authentication requests, if the first server fails to respond, then the switch
tries the next server in the list, and so-on. If none of the servers respond, then the switch attempts to use the secondary authentication method configured
for the type of access being attempted (console, Telnet, or SSH). If this occurs, see the “Troubleshooting” chapter of the Management and Configuration
Guide for your switch.
Example:
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Suppose your switch is configured to use three RADIUS servers for authenticating access through Telnet and SSH. Two of these servers use the same encryption
key. In this case the plan is to configure the switch with the following global authentication parameters:
Use the global encryption key to support the two servers that use the same key. (For this example, assume that you did not configure these two servers
with a server-specific key.)
Use a dead-time of five minutes for a server that fails to respond to an authentication request.
Allow two retries following a request that did not receive a response.
Listings of global RADIUS parameters configured in Global configuration exercise for RADIUS authentication
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Several commands are used to support the RADIUS server group option. The RADIUS server must be configured before it can be added to a group. See
Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication for more information.
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Syntax:
Adds a server to the RADIUS configuration or (with no) deletes a server from the configuration. You can configure up to fifteen
RADIUS server addresses. The switch uses the first server it successfully accesses.
Syntax:
Associates a RADIUS server with a server group. Each group can contain up to 3 RADIUS servers. The default group (called ‘radius'),
can only contain the first three RADIUS servers. The default group cannot be edited.
The no form of the command removes the RADIUS server with the indicated IP address from the server group. If that server was the
last entry in the group, the group is removed.
radius <group-name>: The group name of the RADIUS server group. The name has a maximum length of 12 characters. Up to five
groups can be configured with a a maximum of three RADIUS servers in each group. The first group slot is used by the default group.
Configuring the primary password authentication method for console, Telnet, SSH and WebAgent
The following commands have the server-group option. If no server-group is specified, the default RADIUS group is used. The server group must already be
configured.
NOTE: The last RADIUS server in a server group cannot be deleted if any authentication or accounting method is using the server group.
Syntax:
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Configures the primary password authentication method for console, Telnet, SSH, and the WebAgent.
<local | radius>
Default: local
<local|radius>
Use either the local switch user/password database or a RADIUS server for authentication.
<server-group <group-name>>
Default: none
Note that for console access, secondary authentication must be local if primary access is not local. This prevents being
locked out of the switch in the event of a failure in other access methods.
Configuring the primary password authentication method for port-access, MAC-based, and web-based access
Syntax:
Configures the primary authentication method for port-access, MAC-based, or web-based access.
mac-based|web-based <chap-radius|peap-mschapv2>
Password authentication for web-based or MAC-based port access to the switch. Use peap-mschapv2 for password verification without
requiring access to a plain text password; it is more secure.
Default: chap-radius
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
port-access <local|eap-radius|chap-radius>
Configures local, chap-radius (MD5), or eap-radius as the primary password authentication method for port-access.
Syntax:
Configures accounting type and how data will be sent to the RADIUS server.
Syntax:
Displays the same information as the show radius command, but displays the servers in their server groups.
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9/26/23, 11:36 AM Configuring the switch for RADIUS authentication
Login Attempts : 3
Respect Privilege : Disabled
Interval(min) : 0
Suppress Empty User : No
Sessions Identification : Unique
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General RADIUS setup procedure home Using SNMP to view and configure switch authentication
features
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