Administrator Guide

Figure 6. Dynamic VLAN Assignment

1. Congure 8021.x globally (refer to Enabling 802.1X) along with relevant RADIUS server congurations (refer to the illustration in

Dynamic VLAN Assignment with Port Authentication).

2. Make the interface a switchport so that it can be assigned to a VLAN.

3. Create the VLAN to which the interface will be assigned.

4. Connect the supplicant to the port congured for 802.1X.

5. Verify that the port has been authorized and placed in the desired VLAN (refer to the illustration in Dynamic VLAN Assignment

with Port Authentication).

Guest and Authentication-Fail VLANs

Typically, the authenticator (the Dell Networking system) denies the supplicant access to the network until the supplicant is

authenticated. If the supplicant is authenticated, the authenticator enables the port and places it in either the VLAN for which the

port is congured or the VLAN that the authentication server indicates in the authentication data.

NOTE: Ports cannot be dynamically assigned to the default VLAN.

If the supplicant fails authentication, the authenticator typically does not enable the port. In some cases this behavior is not

appropriate. External users of an enterprise network, for example, might not be able to be authenticated, but still need access to the

network. Also, some dumb-terminals, such as network printers, do not have 802.1X capability and therefore cannot authenticate

themselves. To be able to connect such devices, they must be allowed access the network without compromising network security.

The Guest VLAN 802.1X extension addresses this limitation with regard to non-802.1X capable devices and the Authentication-fail

VLAN 802.1X extension addresses this limitation with regard to external users.

802.1X