Multidomain Authentication - Cisco Catalyst 2960 series Configuration Manual

Information About 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
You can configure open authentication with these scenarios:
• Single-host mode with open authentication–Only one user is allowed network access before and after
authentication.
• MDA mode with open authentication–Only one user in the voice domain and one user in the data domain
are allowed.
• Multiple-hosts mode with open authentication–Any host can access the network.
• Multiple-authentication mode with open authentication–Similar to MDA, except multiple hosts can be
authenticated.
Note
Related Topics
Configuring Open1x, on page 1407

Multidomain Authentication

The switch supports multidomain authentication (MDA), which allows both a data device and voice device,
such as an IP phone (Cisco or non-Cisco), to authenticate on the same switch port. The port is divided into a
data domain and a voice domain.
For all host modes, the line protocol stays up before authorization when port-based authentication is
Note
configured.
MDA does not enforce the order of device authentication. However, for best results, we recommend that a
voice device is authenticated before a data device on an MDA-enabled port.
Note When migrating from Cisco Discovery Protocol bypass to next-generation authentication bypass, if single
or multi-host mode is used with an IP phone and one or more data devices, then move to multi-authentication
mode with next-generation authentication bypass that provides the session visibility advantage.
Follow these guidelines for configuring MDA:
• You must configure a switch port for MDA.
• You must configure the voice VLAN for the IP phone when the host mode is set to multidomain.
• Voice VLAN assignment on an MDA-enabled port is supported Cisco IOS Release 12.2(40)SE and
later.
• To authorize a voice device, the AAA server must be configured to send a Cisco Attribute-Value (AV)
pair attribute with a value of device-traffic-class=voice. Without this value, the switch treats the voice
device as a data device.
Consolidated Platform Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15.2(4)E (Catalyst 2960-X Switches)
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If open authentication is configured, it takes precedence over other authentication
controls. This means that if you use the authentication open interface configuration
command, the port will grant access to the host irrespective of the authentication
port-control interface configuration command.