802.1x wired authentication with HP/Aruba Procurve Switches

Another day and I am covering wired 802.1X authentication for another vendor. This time it is for HP/Aruba branded procurve switches.

In this blog, I will just cover HP/Aruba procurve switches's configuration commands for 802.1x. I will not present a network topology and work with that. If someone is interested about a full network setup and example, I recommend reading part Ipart II and compare the configuration accordingly.

Our policy is simple, if a client is authenticated it will be assigned client vlan (vlan 246) from radius server. In all other case, switch port will be assigned to guest vlan (vlan 247) by the switch.

Configuration of the switch

We need to configure a radius server first -

SW(config)#radius-server host 172.16.245.11 key test123 auth-port 1812 acct-port 1813

Then we will assign this radius server to an aaa server group - 

SW(config)#aaa server-group radius nps-servers host 172.16.245.11

Then we specify protocol used for 802.1x and which radius server group it uses -

SW(config)#aaa authentication port-access eap-radius server-group nps-servers

Now we activate 802.1x globally and individual port at the switch -

!!!Enables 802.1x over switch port named "ethernet 2".

SW(config)#aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 
!!!Every client that connects to port 2 needs to authenticate.
!!!A port can have maximum of 10 clients associated with it.
SW(config)#aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 client-limit 10
SW(config)#aaa port-access ethernet 2 controlled-direction both
!!!Port needs to authenticate periodically every 1 hour.
SW(config)#aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 reauthenticate
SW(config)#aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 reauth-period 3600
!!!Unauthenticated clients are assigned to VLAN  247
SW(config)#aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 unauth-vid 247
!!!Switch will wait 30 seconds before placing a unauthenticated port into the unauthenticated vlan
SW(config)#aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 unauth-period 30

!!!Enables 802.1x globally in the switch
SW(config)#aaa port-access authenticator active

Now the actual switch port configuration -

SW(config)#interface ethernet 2 untagged vlan 1

Even though we have placed our switch port (ethernet 2), in access VLAN 1. It does not communicates in VLAN 1 when a client is connected. Instead the port is placed in vlan 247 (aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 unauth-vid 247) and starts authentication process. If authentication is successful, the port is placed into radius assigned VLAN 246. 

HP/Aruba switch's behavior when the port is in unauthorized state is that the port will be granted full access in unauthorized VLAN (247). It can acquire DHCP adress, get network access which is allowed for guest vlan. The difference with Cisco switches is that Cisco switches does not allow any kind of network access during this phase of 802.1x authentication. I have not found a way to replicate the same behavior with procurve switches. Anyone knows that are welcome to leave a comment.

There are some other settings we can tune, most of them is under -

SW(config)# aaa port-access authenticator ethernet 2 ? 

Verification

Let's look at radius configuration -

SW# show radius 

 Status and Counters - General RADIUS Information

  Deadtime (minutes)             : 0           
  Timeout (seconds)              : 5           
  Retransmit Attempts            : 3           
  Global Encryption Key          :                                                                                          
  Dynamic Authorization UDP Port : 3799        
  Source IP Selection            : Outgoing Interface     
  Source IPv6 Selection          : Outgoing Interface     
  Tracking                       : Disabled

                  Auth  Acct  DM/ Time   |                                                                                          
  Server IP Addr  Port  Port  CoA Window | Encryption Key      
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  172.16.245.11   1812  1813  No  300    | test123 

Look at our radius server group -

SW# show server-group radius nps-servers 

 Status and Counters - AAA Server Groups

  Group Name: nps-servers

                        Auth  Acct  DM/ Time   |                                                                                          
 Server IP Addr  Port   Port  CoA Window | Encryption Key                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
 172.16.245.11   1812  1813  No  300    | test123      

Let's verify how 802.1x authenticates a switch port -

SW# show authentication 

 Status and Counters - Authentication Information

  Login Attempts : 3 
  Lockout Delay : 0   
  Respect Privilege : Enabled  
  Bypass Username For Operator and Manager Access : Disabled 

                       | Login        Login                  Login     
  Access Task    | Primary     Server Group      Secondary 
  ---------------------------- ------------ --------------------
  Port-Access    | EapRadius   nps-servers       None      
  
Now we verify 802.1x over individual switch ports - 

SW# show port-access summary 

 Port Access Status Summary

  Port-access authenticator activated [No] : Yes
  Allow RADIUS-assigned dynamic (GVRP) VLANs [No] : No 
  Use LLDP data to authenticate [No] : No 
  Dot1X EAP Identifier Compliance [Disabled] : Disabled
  Allow incremental EAP identifier only [Disabled] : Disabled

  Note: * indicates values dynamically overridden by RADIUS.

          |Authenticator         |   Web Auth   |      MAC Auth      |  Local MAC
  Port  |Enable Mode  Limit | Enable Limit  | Enable Mode  Limit | Enable Limit
  ----- - ------ ----- ----- - ------ ----- - ------ ----- ----- - ------ -----
  1     | No     Port      0     | No      1     | No     User  1     | No     1    
  2     | Yes    User    10     | No     1      | No     User  1     | No     1    

SW# show port-access authenticator config 

 Port Access Authenticator Configuration

  Port-access authenticator activated [No] : Yes
  Allow RADIUS-assigned dynamic (GVRP) VLANs [No] : No 
  Use LLDP data to authenticate [No] : No 
  Dot1X EAP Identifier Compliance [Disabled] : Disabled
  Allow incremental EAP identifier only [Disabled] : Disabled

        | Re-auth   Access  Max  Quiet  TX      Supplicant Server  Cntrl
  Port  | Period    Control Reqs Period Timeout Timeout    Timeout Dir  
  ----- + --------- ------- ---- ------ ------- ---------- ------- -----
  2     | 3600      Auto    2    60     30      30         300     both 


SW# show port-access authenticator      

 Port Access Authenticator Status

  Port-access authenticator activated [No] : Yes
  Allow RADIUS-assigned dynamic (GVRP) VLANs [No] : No 
  Use LLDP data to authenticate [No] : No 
  Dot1X EAP Identifier Compliance [Disabled] : Disabled
  Allow incremental EAP identifier only [Disabled] : Disabled

        Auths/  Unauth  Untagged Tagged           % In  RADIUS Cntrl           
  Port  Guests  Clients VLAN     VLANs  Port COS  Limit ACL    Dir   Port Mode 
  ----- ------- ------- -------- ------ --------- ----- ------ ----- ----------
  2     0/1     0       247     No     No        No    No     both  1000FDx   

SW# show port-access authenticator clients 

 Port Access Authenticator Client Status

  Port-access authenticator activated [No] : Yes
  Allow RADIUS-assigned dynamic (GVRP) VLANs [No] : No 
  Use LLDP data to authenticate [No] : No 
  Dot1X EAP Identifier Compliance [Disabled] : Disabled
  Allow incremental EAP identifier only [Disabled] : Disabled

  Port  Client Name           MAC Address   IP Address      Client Status       
  ----- --------------------- ------------- --------------- --------------------
  2                           fc15b4-ec608e n/a             Connecting    

SW# show port-access authenticator clients detailed 

 Port Access Authenticator Client Status Detailed

  Port-access authenticator activated [No] : Yes
  Allow RADIUS-assigned dynamic (GVRP) VLANs [No] : No 
  Use LLDP data to authenticate [No] : No 
  Dot1X EAP Identifier Compliance [Disabled] : Disabled
  Allow incremental EAP identifier only [Disabled] : Disabled

  Client Base Details :                    
   Port            : 2    
   Client Status   : Connecting            Session Time    : 0 seconds       
   Client name     :                       Session Timeout : 3600 seconds      
   IP              : n/a                   MAC Address     : fc15b4-ec608e

  Access Policy Details :                       
   COS Map         : Not Defined           In Limit Kbps   : Not Set    
   Untagged VLAN   : 247                
   Tagged VLANs    : No Tagged VLANs                                        
   Port Mode       : 1000FDx    
   RADIUS ACL List : No Radius ACL List                                                              
   Auth Order      : Not Set                                           
   Auth Priority   : Not Set                                           
   LMA Fallback    : Disabled

Debugging

The switches supports also 802.1x debugging. We can type the following commands to active debugging -

SW# debug destination session
SW# debug security port-access

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