Alcatel Carrier Internetworking Solutions omniswitch Manual Do Utilizador

Managing Switch Security

Authenticated Switch Access

OmniSwitch 6600 Family Switch Management Guide

page 8-5

Note. A RADIUS server supporting the challenge and response mechanism as defined in RADIUS 
RFC 2865 may access an ACE/Server for authentication purposes. The ACE/Server is then used for user 
authentication, and the RADIUS server is used for user authorization.

By default, switch management users may be authenticated through the console port via the local user 
database. If external servers are configured for other management interfaces (such as Telnet, or HTTP) but 
the servers become unavailable, the switch will poll the local user database for login information. 

Access to the console port provides secure failover in case of misconfiguration or if external authentica-
tion servers become unavailable. The admin user is always authorized through the console port via the 
local database (provided the correct password is supplied), even if access to the console port is disabled.

The database includes information about whether or not a user is able to log into the switch and which 
kinds of privileges or rights the user has for managing the switch. The database may be set up by the 
admin user or any user with write privileges to the AAA commands. 

See 

 for more information about setting up the user data-

base. 

Layer 2 Authentication uses Authenticated VLANs to authenticate users through the switch out to a 
subnet. Authenticated Switch Access authenticates users into the switch to manage it. The features are 
independent of each other; however, user databases for each feature may be located on the same authenti-
cation server.

For more information about Authenticated VLANs, see “Configuring Authenticated VLANs” in the 
OmniSwitch 6600 Family Network Configuration Guide. For more information about authentication serv-
ers, see “Configuring Authentication Servers” in the OmniSwitch 6600 Family Network Configuration 
Guide.

The switch polls the server 

for login information; end-

user profiles are stored on 

the switch.

login request

The switch polls the server 

for login information; privi-

leges are stored on the 

switch.

login request