Port Access Control Port Configuration

Use the Port Access Control Port Configuration page to enable and configure port access control on one or more ports.

To access this page, click Security > Port Access Control > Port Configuration in the navigation menu.

Use the buttons to perform the following tasks:

To configure the port-based access control settings for one or more ports, select each port to configure and click Edit. The same settings are applied to all selected ports.
To view additional information about the port-based access control settings for a port, select the port with the information to view and click Details.

Port Access Control Port Configuration Fields

Field	Description
Interface	The interface with the settings to view or configure. If you have been redirected to this page, this field is read-only and displays the interface that was selected on the Port Access Control Port Summary page.
PAE Capabilities	The Port Access Entity (PAE) role, which is one of the following: Authenticator: The port enforces authentication and passes authentication information from a remote supplicant (client or host) to the authentication server. If the server successfully authenticates the supplicant, the port allows access. Supplicant: The port is connected to an authenticator port and must be granted permission by the authentication server before it can send and receive traffic through the remote port. To change the PAE capabilities of a port, click the Edit icon associated with the field and select the desired setting from the menu in the Set PAE Capabilities window.
Authenticator Options	The fields in this section can be changed only when the selected port is configured as an authenticator port (that is, the PAE Capabilities field is set to Authenticator).
Control Mode	The port-based access control mode on the port, which is one of the following: Auto: The port is unauthorized until a successful authentication exchange has taken place. Force Unauthorized: The port ignores supplicant authentication attempts and does not provide authentication services to the client. Force Authorized: The port sends and receives normal traffic without client port-based authentication. MAC-Based: This mode allows multiple supplicants connected to the same port to each authenticate individually. Each host connected to the port must authenticate separately in order to gain access to the network. The hosts are distinguished by their MAC addresses.
Quiet Period	The number of seconds that the port remains in the quiet state following a failed authentication exchange.
Transmit Period	The value, in seconds, of the timer used by the authenticator state machine on the port to determine when to send an EAPOL EAP Request/Identity frame to the supplicant.
Guest VLAN ID	The value, in seconds, of the timer used for guest VLAN authentication.
Unauthenticated VLAN ID	The VLAN ID of the unauthenticated VLAN. Hosts that fail the authentication might be denied access to the network or placed on a VLAN created for unauthenticated clients. This VLAN might be configured with limited network access. To set the unauthenticated VLAN ID, click the Edit icon associated with the field and specify the ID value in the available field. To reset the unauthenticated VLAN ID to the default value, click the Reset icon associated with the field and confirm the action.
Supplicant Timeout	The amount of time that the port waits for a response before retransmitting an EAP request frame to the client.
Server Timeout	The amount of time the port waits for a response from the authentication server.
Maximum Requests	The maximum number of times that the port sends an EAP request frame (assuming that no response is received) to the client before restarting the authentication process.
Re-Authentication Period	The amount of time that clients can be connected to the port without being reauthenticated. If this field is disabled, connected clients are not forced to reauthenticate periodically. To change the value, click the Edit icon associated with the field and specify a value in the available field. To reset the reauthentication period to the default value, click the Reset icon associated with the field and confirm the action.
Maximum Users	The maximum number of clients supported on the port if the Control Mode on the port is MAC-based 802.1X authentication.
Supplicant Options	The fields in this section can be changed only when the selected port is configured as a supplicant port (that is, the PAE Capabilities field is set to Supplicant).
Control Mode	The port-based access control mode on the port, which is one of the following: Auto: The port is in an unauthorized state until a successful authentication exchange has taken place between the supplicant port, the authenticator port, and the authentication server. Force Unauthorized: The port is placed into an unauthorized state and is automatically denied system access. Force Authorized: The port is placed into an authorized state and does not require client port-based authentication to be able to send and receive traffic.
User Name	The name the port uses to identify itself as a supplicant to the authenticator port. The menu includes the users that are configured for system management. When authenticating, the supplicant provides the password associated with the selected User Name.
Authentication Period	The amount of time the supplicant port waits to receive a challenge from the authentication server. If the configured Authentication Period expires, the supplicant retransmits the authentication request until it is authenticated or has sent the number of messages configured in the Maximum Start Messages field.
Start Period	The amount of time the supplicant port waits for a response from the authenticator port after sending a Start packet. If no response is received, the supplicant retransmits the Start packet.
Held Period	The amount of time the supplicant port waits before contacting the authenticator port after an active 802.1X session fails.
Maximum Start Messages	The maximum number of Start packets the supplicant port sends to the authenticator port without receiving a response before it considers the authenticator to be 802.1X-unaware.