View source for Concept 802.1X

[[Category:Concept|802.1X]]
=Info=
'''802.1X,''' Port-Based Network Control, is an IEEE standard. The standard allows LAN devices (wired network cabling!<ref>The standard refers to 802 LANs as a whole, including shared media such as 802.11 WLANs. However, only 802.3 LANs are targeted by the functionality discussed in this article.</ref>) to perform an authentication handshake within the 802.3 link layer (Ethernet).
The authentication is encapsulated within EAP over LAN (EAPOL) frames. No other traffic, except EAPOL is allowed prior to a successful authentication<ref>It is an authenticator's task to guarantee that non-EAPOL traffic won't be forwarded before an authentication succeeded.</ref><ref>802.1X must not be considered a bullet-proof security mechanism, since all traffic following the authentication phase is not authenticated.</ref>.

The standard specifies the following parties participating in an 802.1X authentication:
* Supplicant: The party supplying credentials towards an authenticator on the other side of a point-to-point link. An IP phone fulfills a supplicant's role. 
** innovaphones' IP phones are configured to support pass-through of EAPOL messages. A PC attached to the PC-port of a phone may also become a supplicant and may 802.1X-authenticate independently and separately<ref>Major authenticators do support multi-auth authentication</ref>.
* Authenticator: The party facilitating the authentication. A switch will usually be the authenticator.
* Authentication Server: The party providing the authentication service to the authenticator. The 802.1X standard mentions a RADIUS server to be an authentication server.

It is the Authenticator/Authentication Server deciding whether EAP-MD5 or EAP-TLS is going to be applied.
*'''Sample Protocol Flow, EAP-MD5:'''
[[Image:802dot1x-EAPOL-640x480.gif]]
*'''Sample Protocol Flow, EAP-TLS:'''
[[Image:IP240-eap-tls-success.PNG]]

=Debugging=
The software module is capable of generating internal trace messages and RPCAP PDUs. Tracing can be enabled by activating a checkmark on the ''/debug.xml'' page of the firmware's web UI. The checkmark is named ''ENET1X0'' (for interface ETH0). The trace buffer can be fetched by a PC connected directly to the PC-port.

=Notes=
<references/>
[[Howto:802.1X_EAP-TLS_With_FreeRadius|Howto article: 802.1X EAP-TLS With FreeRadius]]