Users Guide

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Dell PowerConnect ArubaOS 5.0 | User Guide MAC-based Authentication | 369
This chapter describes how to configure MAC-based authentication on the Dell controller using the WebUI.
Use MAC-based authentication to authenticate devices based on their physical media access control (MAC)
address. While not the most secure and scalable method, MAC-based authentication implicitly provides an
addition layer of security authentication devices. MAC-based authentication is often used to authenticate and
allow network access through certain devices while denying access to the rest. For example, if clients are allowed
access to the network via station A, then one method of authenticating station A is MAC-based. Clients may be
required to authenticate themselves using other methods depending on the network privileges required.
MAC-based authentication can also be used to authenticate WiFi phones as an additional layer of security to
prevent other devices from accessing the voice network using what is normally an insecure SSID.
This chapter describes the following topics:
z “Configuring MAC-Based Authentication” on page369
z “Configuring Clients” on page370
Configuring MAC-Based Authentication
Before configuring MAC-based authentication, you must configure:
z The user role that will be assigned as the default role for the MAC-based authenticated clients. (See Chapter
10, “Roles and Policies” for information on firewall policies to configure roles).
You configure the default user role for MAC-based authentication in the AAA profile. If derivation rules exist
or if the client configuration in the internal database has a role assignment, these values take precedence over
the default user role.
z Authentication server group that the controller uses to validate the clients. The internal database can be used
to configure the clients for MAC-based authentication. See “Configuring Clients” on page370 for
information on configuring the clients on the local database. For information on configuring authentication
servers and server groups, see Chapter 8, “Authentication Servers”
Configuring the MAC Authentication Profile
Table 67 describes the parameters you can configure for MAC-based authentication.
Table 67 MAC Authentication Profile Configuration Parameters
Parameter Description
Delimiter Delimiter used in the MAC string:
z colon specifies the format xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
z dash specifies the format xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
z none specifies the format xxxxxxxxxxxx
Default: none
Case The case (upper or lower) used in the MAC string.
Default: lower
Chapter 16
MAC-based Authentication