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Catalyst 3750-X and 3560-X Switch Command Reference
OL-21522-02
Chapter 2      Catalyst 3750-X and 3560-X Switch Cisco IOS Commands
authentication timer
authentication timer
Use the authentication timer interface configuration command to configure the timeout and 
reauthentication parameters for an 802.1x-enabled port. 
authentication timer {{[inactivity | reauthenticate]} {restart value}}
no authentication timer {{[inactivity | reauthenticate]} {restart value}} 
Syntax Description
Defaults The inactivity and restart keywords are set to off. The reauthenticate keyword is set to one hour.
Command Modes Interface configuration
Command History
Usage Guidelines If a timeout value is not configured, an 802.1x session stays authorized indefinitely. No other host can 
use the port, and the connected host cannot move to another port on the same switch. 
Examples This example shows how to set the authentication inactivity timer to 60 seconds:
Switch(config-if)# authentication timer inactivity 60
This example shows how to set the reauthentication timer to 120 seconds:
Switch(config-if)# authentication timer restart 120
You can verify your settings by entering the show authentication privileged EXEC command.
Related Commands
inactivity Interval in seconds after which the client is unauthorized if there is no 
activity. 
reauthenticate Time in seconds after which an automatic re-authentication attempt starts.
restart Interval in seconds after which an attempt is made to authenticate an 
unauthorized port.
value Enter a value between 1 and 65535 (in seconds).
Release Modification
12.2(53)SE2 This command was introduced.
Command Description
authentication 
control-direction
Configures the port mode as unidirectional or bidirectional.
authentication event Sets the action for specific authentication events.
authentication 
fallback
Configures a port to use web authentication as a fallback method for clients 
that do not support IEEE 802.1x authentication.