Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
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Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
1. Overview: RADIUS User Authentication
using Identify Engines
This document provides the framework for implementing user Authentication, Authorization, and
Accounting for Nortel switches.
1.1 RADIUS Support on Nortel Switches
ERS 8600 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ERS 8300 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
ERS 1600 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
ES 460/470 Yes Yes No No No No No
ERS 2500 Yes Yes No Yes No No No
ERS 4500 Yes Yes No Yes No No No
ERS 5500 Yes Yes No Yes No No No
ERS 5600 Yes Yes No Yes No No No
RADIUS
authentication
802.1x
(EAP)
RADIUS
authentication
RADIUS
accounting
802.1x
(EAP)
RADIUS
accounting
RADIUS
accounting for CLI
commands
RADIUS
user
access
profile
RADIUS
SNMP
accounting
1.2 User Authentication using ERS1600, ERS8300, or
ERS8600
The ERS1600, ERS8300, and ERS8600 each support six different user access levels. The
access level is determined by the RADIUS attribute value sent back to the switch. The switch
uses RADIUS Vendor-Specific Attributes (IETF Attribute 26) to support its own extended
attributes. Vendor identifier 1584 (Bay Networks) attribute type 192 is used where the value is a
number from 0 to 6. The following chart displays the RADIUS attribute values and corresponding
access level.
Access Level VSA Attribute 26 – Vendor Identifier 1584
In addition, on the ERS8600 only, via vendor identifier 1584 attribute type 194, if is set to a value
of 0, you can enter a list of CLI commands not allowed for a user. The CLI command is entered
using the RADIUS string value configured via RADIUS vendor identifier 1584 attribute type 195.
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
1.3 User Authentication using ERS5600, ERS5500,
ERS4500, or ERS2500
The ERS5600, ERS5500, ERS4500, and ERS2500 each support two different user acce ss levels
which are read-only or read-write. RADIUS attribute type 6, Service-Type, is used to determine
the access level. The following displays the complete list of RADIUS attribute values for the
RADIUS Service-Type attribute where value 6 (Administrative) is used for read-write access and
value 7 (NAS Prompt) is used for read-only access
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
2. ERS8600 Switch Configuration Example
For this configuration example, we will enable RADIUS user authentication on ERS8600-1 using
the out-of-band management port. We will configure the Identity Engines RADIUS server with the
following three users:
• User name with read-only access: 8600ro
• User name with read-write access: 8600rw
• User name with read-write-all access: 8600rwa
For this example, we will break down the configuration into two parts. In part one, we will simply
add AAA services for the three users shown above. Part two is a continuation of part one with the
addition of showing how to restrict certain CLI commands. In part two, we will pick the read-write
user and deny access to QoS and filter configuration for this user.
When configuring the RADIUS server on the ERS8600, you can configure the switch
with a RADIUS source-IP address which in turn will be the IP address used for RADIUS
requests. The RADIUS source-IP address must be a circuit-less IP address (CLIP) or
otherwise known as a loopback address. If you do not enable a RADIUS source-IP
address, by default, the ERS8600 uses the IP address of the outgoing interface as the
source IP address for RADIUS. Unfortunately, although you can create and enable a
RADIUS source-IP when using the out-of-band management port, this feature is not
supported on the out-of-band management port. Hence, if you have two CP cards, you
will have to configure two RADIUS Authenticators on the RADIUS server.
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
2.1.3 IDE Setup
2.1.3.1 Configure an Outbound Attribute on Ignition Server for VLAN
The following chart displays the outbound attribute values required by the ERS8600 for each
access level for RADIUS vendor identifier 1584 (Bay Networks) attribute type 192. For this
example, we will configure IDE with attribute values of 1, 5, and 6.
IDE Step 1 – IDE already has the vendor specific attributes defined (Bay Networks vendor
code 1584 using attribute type 192) for the ERS8600 which can be viewed by going to Site Configuration -> Provisioning -> Vendors/VSAs -> Bay-Networks -> VSA Definitions.
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 2 – Go to Site Configuration -> Provisioning -> Outbound Attributes -> New
IDE Step 3 – Via the Outbound Attribute window, type in a name for the attribute to be used
for access priority (i.e. ERS8600-Access-Priority as used in this example), click the VSA
radio button, select Bay-Networks via Vendor and ERS8xxx-Access-Priority via VSA. Click
on OK when done
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 4 – Go to Site Configuration -> Provisioning -> Outbound Values -> New
IDE Step 5 – Using the Outbound Attribute created in Step 3, we will first add an attribute
value of 1 for read-only-access. Start by entering a name via the Outbound Value Name:
window (i.e. 8600-ro as used in this example) and click on New
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 6 – Select the Outbound Attributes name created in Step 3 (i.e. ERS8600-AccessPriority as used in this example) via the Choose Global Outbound Attribute: pull down
menu. In the Value Unsigned – 32 bit window, enter 1 (i.e. value of 1 signifies read-onlyaccess). Click on OK twice when done.
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 7 – Go to Site Configuration -> Provisioning -> Outbound Values -> New again to
create the outbound attribute for read-write-access. Using the Outbound Attribute created
in Step 3, we will add an attribute value of 5 for read-write-access. Start by entering a name
via the Outbound Value Name: window (i.e. 8600-rw as used in this example) and click on
New
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 8 –Select the Outbound Attributes name created in Step 3 (i.e. ERS8600-AccessPriority as used in this example) via the Choose Global Outbound Attribute: pull down
menu. In the Value Unsigned – 32 bit window, enter 5 (i.e. value of 5 signifies read-writeaccess). Click on OK twice when done.
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 9 – Go to Site Configuration -> Provisioning -> Outbound Values -> New again to
create the outbound attribute for read-write-all-access. Using the Outbound Attribute
created in Step 3, we will add an attribute value of 6 for read-write-all-access. Start by
entering a name via the Outbound Value Name: window (i.e. 8600-rwa as used in this
example) and click on New
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 10 –Select the Outbound Attributes name created in Step 3 (i.e. ERS8600-AccessPriority as used in this example) via the Choose Global Outbound Attribute: pull down
menu. In the Value Unsigned – 32 bit window, enter 6 (i.e. value of 6 signifies read-write-all-
access). Click on OK twice when done.
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 2 – Enter the user name for read-only-access via User Name: (i.e. 8600ro as used
in this example) and enter the password for this user via Password and Confirm Password.
Click on OK when done. If you wish, you can also change the expiry date via Password Expires if you do not wish to use the default setting of one year
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 3 – Repeat step 2 again by clicking on New to add the read-write-access user.
Enter the user name for read-write-access via User Name: (i.e. 8600rw as used in this
example) and enter the password for this user via Password and Confirm Password. Click
on OK when done. If you wish, you can also change the expiry date via Password Expires
if you do not wish to use the default setting of one year
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 4 – Repeat step 2 for the final time by clicking on New to add the read-write-allaccess user. Enter the user name for read-write-all-access via User Name: (i.e. 8600rwa as
used in this example) and enter the password for this user via Password and Confirm
Password. Click on OK when done. If you wish, you can also change the expiry date via
Password Expires if you do not wish to use the default setting of one year
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
2.1.3.3 Add an Access Policy
IDE Step 1 – Go to Site Configuration -> Access Policies -> RADIUS. Right-click RADIUS
and select New Access Policy. Enter a policy name (i.e. ERS8600-Access as used in this
example) and click on OK when done
Nortel Switch User Authentication
Technical Configuration Guide v1.0 NN48500-589
IDE Step 7 – Once the Edit Authorization Policy window pops up, click on Add. First, we
will add a rule for read-only-access. When the New Rule window pops up, w e w ill na me t he
rule read-only-access as shown below