EAP over RADIUS
802.1X uses RADIUS to shuttle EAP packets between the authenticator and the authentication server, as
defined in RFC 3579.
EAP messages are encapsulated in RADIUS packets as a type of attribute in Type, Length, Value (TLV)
format. The Type value for EAP messages is 79.
Figure 4. EAP Over RADIUS
RADIUS Attributes for 802.1 Support
Dell Networking systems include the following RADIUS attributes in all 802.1X-triggered Access-Request
messages:
Attribute 5 NAS-Port: the physical port number by which the authenticator is connected to
the supplicant.
Attribute 31 Calling-station-id: relays the supplicant MAC address to the authentication server.
Attribute 41 NAS-Port-Type: NAS-port physical port type. 5 indicates Ethernet.
Attribute 81 Tunnel-Private-Group-ID: associate a tunneled session with a particular group of
users.
Configuring 802.1X
Configuring 802.1X on a port is a two-step process.
1. Enable 802.1X globally (refer to Enabling 802.1X).
2. Enable 802.1X on an interface (refer to Enabling 802.1X).
Related Configuration Tasks
• Configuring Request Identity Re-transmissions
• Forcibly Authorizing or Unauthorizing a Port
• Re-authenticating a Port
• Configuring Timeouts
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802.1X