IBNS2.0 Configuration Made Easy: A Beginner’s Guide

IBNS 2.0 (Integrated Border Network Services) provides a modular and streamlined approach to network configuration, particularly for AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) and RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) services. This workflow involves the following key Component:

Control Policy serves as the overarching framework in IBNS 2.0 for defining the rules governing network access and behavior. It outlines the conditions under which specific actions should be taken.

Control Class is a grouping mechanism within a control policy. It allows you to categorize different sets of actions or conditions based on specific criteria. This classification helps to organize and manage the policy’s complexity.

Event: Specifies the trigger for the policy (e.g., session start, authentication failure).

Action is the specific operation or response that is executed when a particular condition or event is met. Actions can include authentication, authorization, accounting, or other network-related tasks.

How They Work Together:

1. Policy Definition: A control policy is created to define the desired behavior.
2. Class Creation: Within the policy, various control classes are defined. These classes can be based on factors such as user roles, device types, or network conditions.
3. Action Association: Each control class is associated with specific actions. These actions will be executed when a condition within that class is met.
4. Event Trigger: When a network event occurs (e.g., a user attempting to log in), the policy is evaluated.
5. Class Matching: The event is compared to the conditions defined in the control classes.
6. Action Execution: If a match is found, the actions associated with the matching class are executed.

Example:

• Policy: Define a policy to control access to a specific network segment.
• Classes: Create classes based on user roles (e.g., “admin,” “guest,” “employee”).
• Actions:
• For “admin” class: Allow full access.
• For “guest” class: Restrict access to certain resources.
• For “employee” class: Allow access based on time-of-day or location.
• Event: A user attempts to log in.
• Matching: The user’s role is compared to the defined classes.
• Action: The actions associated with the matching class are executed, granting or denying access accordingly.

Benefits of IBNS 2.0:

• Centralized management: Simplifies configuration and management of network elements.
• Template-based approach: The issue of per-port configurations growing, making it difficult to manage system configurations and potentially preventing changes from being made.
• Enhanced security: Provides a framework for implementing robust AAA and RADIUS policies.
• Critical ACL Activation: The need for a feature to locally activate an IP ACL during RADIUS server outages.
• Differentiated Authentication: The ability for switches to send authentication requests to specific RADIUS servers for different authentication methods.
• Flexible Authorizations: The requirement for more flexibility in moving between authorizations for various authentication methods.

Conclusion

In summary, the control policy provides the overall framework, control classes categorize conditions and actions, and actions are the specific operations performed based on the matching criteria. This structure allows for flexible and granular control over network access and behavior.

Download the sample configuration here — IBNS 2.0 CLI Config

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