Meru Technical Note - How to configure MAC Filtering on Meru Controller?

[nsamuel]

Description

How to configure MAC Filtering on Meru Controller ?

Scope

KB ARTICLE TYPE: Configuration

RELATED PRODUCTS: Controller, AP

RELATED SOFTWARE VERSIONS: N/A

KEYWORDS: Controller, AP, MAC filtering

Solution

MAC filtering controls a user station’s access to the WLAN by permitting or denying access based on specific MAC addresses. Two ACLs are available for MAC filtering:

Permit ACL : It limits access to only those MAC addresses on the permit list

Deny ACL : specifically disallows access to those addresses (clients) on the deny list

For Controller ACL administration, the valid states are: 

Disabled (default) : Both the permit and deny ACLs are inactive, even if they contain MAC addresses

Permit : Permit is enabled and deny ACL (if it exists) is disabled

Deny : Deny ACL is enabled and permit ACL (if it exists) is disabled

CONFIGURATION STEPS: Enabling the Deny ACL

GUI Steps : It can be configured from GUI by navigating through these TABs.

GUI > Configuration > MAC Filtering > ACL Deny Access Configuration > Click on Add > Add the MAC address > Click on ACL environment state after entering all the MAC addresses > Select Deny List Enabled > Click OK.

CLI Steps :

STEP 1 : MAC filtering is disabled by default. To change the state of MAC filtering so that the deny list is enabled, use the command:

               meru(config)# access-list state deny

               This can be verified by issuing following command: 

               meru# show access-list state

               MAC Filtering (ACL) Configuration

               ACL Environment State : deny

               RADIUS Profile name   :

               Secondary RADIUS Profile Name   :

               meru#

Note : This step should be performed before adding MAC addresses

STEP 2 : Configuring a Deny ACL : Addresses can be added to a deny ACL list by specifying them as command arguments. To add one or more MAC addresses to the deny access control list, type the following:

               meru(config)# access-list deny 00:44:94:51:ca:2f

               meru(config)# exit

               meru#

Click on the Save button to save the running configuration to the start-up configuration.

TEST RESULTS: Only the added client was unable to connect to the network.

LIMITATIONS IF ANY: Either “Permit” or “Deny” ACL can be configured at a time but not both.