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Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 6 Clustering Switches
Planning a Switch Cluster
TACACS+ and RADIUS
Inconsistent authentication configurations in switch clusters cause CMS to continually prompt for a user
name and password. If Terminal Access Controller Access Control System Plus (TACACS+) is
configured on a cluster member, it must be configured on all cluster members. Similarly, if Remote
Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is configured on a cluster member, it must be configured
on all cluster members. Further, the same switch cluster cannot have some members configured with
TACACS+ and other members configured with RADIUS.
For more information about TACACS+, see the “Controlling Switch Access with TACACS+” section on
page 7-10. For more information about RADIUS, see the “Controlling Switch Access with RADIUS”
section on page 7-18.
Access Modes in CMS
CMS provides two levels of access to the configuration options: read-write access and read-only access.
Privilege levels 0 to 15 are supported.
• Privilege level 15 provides you with read-write access to CMS.
• Privilege levels 1 to 14 provide you with read-only access to CMS. Any options in the CMS
windows, menu bar, toolbar, and popup menus that change the switch or cluster configuration are
not shown in read-only mode.
• Privilege level 0 denies access to CMS.
For more information about CMS access modes, see the “Access Modes in CMS” section on page 3-31.
Note • If your cluster has these member switches running earlier software releases and if you have
read-only access to these member switches, some configuration windows for those switches display
incomplete information:
–
Catalyst 2900 XL or Catalyst 3500 XL member switches running Release 12.0(5)WC2 or
earlier
–
Catalyst 2950 member switches running Release 12.0(5)WC2 or earlier
–
Catalyst 3550 member switches running Release 12.1(6)EA1 or earlier
For more information about this limitation, refer to the release notes.
• These switches do not support read-only mode on CMS:
–
Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820
–
Catalyst 2900 XL switches with 4-MB CPU DRAM
In read-only mode, these switches appear as unavailable devices and cannot be configured from
CMS.