Moxa Technologies EDS-518A Series User Manual
Page 63

EDS-518A Series User’s Manual
Featured Functions
3-48
Message Exchange
Authentication
server
(RADIUS)
Client
EAPOL-Start
EAP-Request/Identity
EAP-Response/Identity
EAP-Request/OTP
EAP-Response/OTP
EAP-Success
EAPOL-Logoff
Port Authorized
Port Unauthorized
RADIUS Access-Request
RADIUS Access-Challenge
RADIUS Access-Request
RADIUS Access-Accept
1. When the supplicant receives an “EAP Request/Identity” frame, it sends an “EAP
Response/Identity” frame with its username back to the authenticator.
2. If the RADIUS server is used as the authentication server, the authenticator relays the “EAP
Response/Identity” frame from the supplicant by encapsulating it into a “RADIUS 
Access-Request” frame and sends to the RADIUS server. When the authentication server 
receives the frame, it looks up its database to check if the username exists. If the username is 
not present, the authentication server replies with a “RADIUS Access-Reject” frame to the 
authenticator if the server is a RADIUS server or just indicates failure to the authenticator if 
the Local User Database is used. The authenticator sends an “EAP-Failure” frame to the 
supplicant. 
3. The RADIUS server sends a “RADIUS Access-Challenge,” which contains an “EAP Request”
with an authentication type to the authenticator to ask for the password from the client. RFC 
2284 defines several EAP authentication types, such as “MD5-Challenge,” “One-Time 
Password,” and “Generic Token Card.” Currently, only “MD5-Challenge” is supported. If the 
Local User Database is used, this step is skipped. 
4. The authenticator sends an “EAP Request/MD5-Challenge” frame to the supplicant. If the
RADIUS server is used, the “EAP Request/MD5-Challenge” frame is retrieved directly from 
the “RADIUS Access-Challenge” frame. 
5. The supplicant responds to the “EAP Request/MD5-Challenge” by sending an “EAP
Response/MD5-Challenge” frame that encapsulates the user’s password using the MD5 hash 
algorithm. 
6. If the RADIUS server is used as the authentication server, the authenticator relays the “EAP
Response/MD5-Challenge” frame from the supplicant by encapsulating it into a “RADIUS 
Access-Request” frame along with a “Shared Secret,” which must be the same within the 
authenticator and the RADIUS server, and sends the frame to the RADIUS server. The 
RADIUS server checks against the password with its database, and replies with “RADIUS 
Access-Accept” or “RADIUS Access-Reject” to the authenticator. If the Local User Database 
is used, the password is checked against its database and indicates success or failure to the 
authenticator. 
