Security and Timing

This chapter provides information about Cisco ONS 15454 users and SONET timing. To provision security and timing, refer to the Cisco ONS 15454 Procedure Guide.

Chapter topics include:

•Users and Security

•Node Timing

9.1  Users and Security

The CISCO15 ID is provided with the ONS 15454 system, but this user ID is not prompted when you sign into Cisco Transport Controller (CTC). This ID can be used to set up other ONS 15454 users. (Refer to the Cisco ONS 15454 Procedure Guide for instructions.)

You can have up to 500 user IDs on one ONS 15454. Each CTC or Transaction Language One (TL1) user can be assigned one of the following security levels:

•Retrieve—Users can retrieve and view CTC information but cannot set or modify parameters.

•Maintenance—Users can access only the ONS 15454 maintenance options.

•Provisioning—Users can access provisioning and maintenance options.

•Superusers—Users can perform all of the functions of the other security levels as well as set names, passwords, and security levels for other users.

By default, multiple concurrent user ID sessions are permitted on the node, that is, multiple users can log into a node using the same user ID. However, you can provision the node to allow only a single login per user and prevent concurrent logins for all users.

Note You must add the same user name and password to each node the user accesses.

9.1.1  Security Requirements

Table 9-1 shows the actions that each user privilege level can perform in node view.

Table 9-1 ONS 15454 Security Levels—Node View 

CTC Tab
Subtab
[Subtab]:Actions
Retrieve
Maintenance
Provisioning
Superuser

Alarms

—

Synchronize/Filter/Delete Cleared Alarms

X

X

X

X

Conditions

—

Retrieve/Filter

X

X

X

X

History

Session

Filter

X

X

X

X

Node

Retrieve/Filter

X

X

X

X

Circuits

—

Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

Filter/Search

X

X

X

X

Provisioning

General

General: Edit

—

—

Partial1

X

Power Monitor: Edit

—

—

X

X

EtherBridge

Spanning trees: Edit

—

—

X

X

Network

General: All

—

—

—

X

Static Routing: Create/Edit/ Delete

—

—

X

X

OSPF: Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

RIP: Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

Proxy: Create/Delete

—

—

—

X

Firewall: Create/Delete

—

—

—

X

Protection

Create/Delete/Edit

—

—

X

X

View

X

X

X

X

BLSR

Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

Ring Map/Squelch Table/RIP Table

X

X

X

X

Security

Users: Create/Delete/Clear Security Intrusion

—

—

—

X

Users: Change password

Same user

Same user

Same user

All users

Active Logins: View/Logout

—

—

—

X

Policy: Edit

—

—

—

X

Access: Edit

—

—

—

X

Legal Disclaimer: Edit

—

—

—

X

SNMP

Create/Delete/Edit

—

—

X

X

Browse trap destinations

X

X

X

X

Provisioning

Comm Channels

SDCC: Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

LDCC: Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

GCC: Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

OSC: OSC Terminations: Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

OSC: DWDM Ring ID: Create/Edit/Delete

—

X

X

X

Provisionable Patchcords: Create/Delete

—

—

X

X

Timing

General: Edit

—

—

X

X

BITS Facilities: Edit

—

—

X

X

Alarm Profiles

Alarm Profiles: Edit

—

—

X

X

Alarm Profiles Editor: Store/Delete2

—

—

X

X

Alarm Profile Editor: New/Load/Compare/Available/Usage

X

X

X

X

Defaults

Edit/Import

—

—

—

X

Reset/Export

X

X

X

X

WDM-ANS

Provisioning: Edit/Import

—

—

—

X

Provisioning: Reset/Export

X

X

X

X

Connections: Create/Edit/Delete/Commit/ Calculate

—

—

X

X

Port Status: Launch

—

—

X

X

Inventory

—

Delete

—

—

X

X

Reset

—

X

X

X

Maintenance

Database

Backup

—

X

X

X

Restore

—

—

—

X

EtherBridge

Spanning Trees: View

X

X

X

X

MAC Table: Retrieve

X

X

X

X

MAC Table: Clear/Clear All

—

X

X

X

Trunk Utilization: Refresh

X

X

X

X

Circuits: Refresh

X

X

X

X

Protection

Switch/Lock out/Lockon/ Clear/ Unlock

—

X

X

X

BLSR

Create/Edit/Delete

—

X

X

X

Ring Map/Squelch Table/ Rip Table

X

X

X

X

Maintenance

Software

Download

—

X

X

X

Activate/Revert

—

—

—

X

Cross-Connect

Cards: Switch/Lock/Unlock

—

X

X

X

Resource Usage: Delete

—

—

X

X

Overhead XConnect

View

X

X

X

X

Diagnostic

Retrieve/Lamp Test

—

X

X

X

Timing

Source: Edit

—

X

X

X

Timing Report: View/Refresh

X

X

X

X

Audit

Retrieve

—

—

—

X

Archive

—

—

X

X

Routing Table

Retrieve

X

X

X

X

RIP Routing Table

Retrieve

X

X

X

X

Test Access

View

X

X

X

X

DWDM

APC: Run/Disable/Refresh

—

X

X

X

WDM Span Check: Retrieve Span Loss values, Reset

X

X

X

X

Power Monitoring: Refresh

X

X

X

X

1 Provisioner user cannot change node name, contact, or AIS-V insertion on STS-1 signal degrade (SD) parameters.

2 The action buttons in the subtab are active for all users, but the actions can be completely performed only by the users with the required security levels.


Table 9-2 shows the actions that each user privilege level can perform in network view.

Table 9-2 ONS 15454 Security Levels—Network View 

CTC Tab
Subtab
[Subtab]: Actions
Retrieve
Maintenance
Provisioning
Superuser

Alarms

—

Synchronize/Filter/Delete cleared alarms

X

X

X

X

Conditions

—

Retrieve/Filter

X

X

X

X

History

—

Filter

X

X

X

X

Circuits

—

Create/Edit/Delete

—

—

X

X

Filter/Search

X

X

X

X

Provisioning

Security

Users: Create/Delete

—

—

—

X

Users: Change

Same user

Same user

Same user

All users

Active logins: Logout

—

—

—

X

Policy: Change

—

—

—

X

Alarm Profiles

Store/Delete1

—

—

X

X

New/Load/Compare/Available/Usage

X

X

X

X

BLSR

Create/Delete/Edit/Upgrade

—

—

X

X

Overhead Circuits

Create/Delete/Edit/Merge

—

—

X

X

Search

X

X

X

X

Provisionable Patchcords

Create/ Delete

—

—

X

X

Maintenance

Software

Download/Cancel

X

X

X

X

1 The action buttons in the subtab are active for all users, but the actions can be completely performed only by the users with the required security levels.


9.1.2  Security Policies

Users with Superuser security privileges can provision security policies on the ONS 15454. These security policies include idle user timeouts, password changes, password aging, and user lockout parameters. In addition, a Superuser can access the ONS 15454 through the TCC2/TCC2P RJ-45 port, the backplane LAN connection, or both.

9.1.2.1  Idle User Timeout

Each ONS 15454 CTC or TL1 user can be idle during his or her login session for a specified amount of time before the CTC window is locked. The lockouts prevent unauthorized users from making changes. Higher-level users have shorter default idle periods and lower-level users have longer or unlimited default idle periods, as shown in Table 9-3. The user idle period can be modified by a Superuser; refer to the Cisco ONS 15454 Procedure Guide for instructions.

Table 9-3 ONS 15454 Default User Idle Times 

Security Level
Idle Time

Superuser

15 minutes

Provisioning

30 minutes

Maintenance

60 minutes

Retrieve

Unlimited


9.1.2.2  User Password, Login, and Access Policies

Superusers can view real-time lists of users who are logged into CTC or TL1 by node. Superusers can also provision the following password, login, and node access policies.

•Password expirations and reuse—Superusers can specify when users must change and when they can reuse their passwords.

•Login attempts—Superusers can specify the maximum number of times a user is allowed to attempt to login to CTC.

•Locking out and disabling users—Superusers can provision the number of invalid logins that are allowed before locking out users and the length of time before inactive users are disabled.

•Node access and user sessions—Superusers can limit the number of CTC sessions one user can have, and they can prohibit access to the ONS 15454 using the LAN or TCC2/TCC2P RJ-45 connections.

In addition, a Superuser can select secure shell (SSH) instead of Telnet at the CTC Provisioning > Security > Access tabs. SSH is a terminal-remote host Internet protocol that uses encrypted links. It provides authentication and secure communication over unsecure channels. Port 22 is the default port and cannot be changed.

Note The superuser cannot modify the privilege level of an active user. The CTC displays a warning message when the superuser attempts to modify the privilege level of an active user.

9.1.2.3  Audit Trail

Audit trails are useful for maintaining security, recovering lost transactions, and enforcing accountability. Accountability refers to tracing user activities; that is, associating a process or action with a specific user.

The ONS 15454 maintains a 640-entry, human-readable audit trail of user or system actions such as login, logout, circuit creation or deletion, and user- or system-generated actions. Login events include authorized Cisco logins using the ONS 15454 command line interface (CLI) or CTC, the ONS 15454 graphical user interface (GUI). You can move the log to a local or network drive for later review. The ONS 15454 generates an event to indicate when the log is 80 percent full, and another event to indicate that the oldest log entries are being overwritten.

Table 9-4 contains the columns listed in Audit Trail window.

Table 9-4 Audit Trail Window Columns 

Heading
Explanation

Date

Date when the action occurred

Num

Incrementing count of actions

User

User ID that initiated the action

P/F

Pass/Fail (whether or not the action was executed)

Operation

Action that was taken


9.2  Node Timing

SONET timing parameters must be set for each ONS 15454. Each ONS 15454 independently accepts its timing reference from one of three sources:

•The building integrated timing supply (BITS) pins on the ONS 15454 backplane.

•An OC-N card installed in the ONS 15454. The card is connected to a node that receives timing through a BITS source.

•The internal ST3 clock on the TCC2/TCC2P card.

You can set ONS 15454 timing to one of three modes: external, line, or mixed. If timing is coming from the BITS pins, set ONS 15454 timing to external. If the timing comes from an OC-N card, set the timing to line. In typical ONS 15454 networks:

•One node is set to external. The external node derives its timing from a BITS source wired to the BITS backplane pins. The BITS source, in turn, derives its timing from a primary reference source (PRS) such as a Stratum 1 clock or global positioning satellite (GPS) signal.

•The other nodes are set to line. The line nodes derive timing from the externally timed node through the OC-N trunk (span) cards. Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) cards normally derive timing from the line using the Optical Service Channel Module (OSCM) or Optical Service Channel and Combiner/Splitter Module (OSC-CSM) card that are inside an OC-3 channel.

You can set three timing references for each ONS 15454. The first two references are typically two BITS-level sources, or two line-level sources optically connected to a node with a BITS source. The third reference is usually assigned to the internal clock provided on every ONS 15454 TCC2/TCC2P card. However, if you assign all three references to other timing sources, the internal clock is always available as a backup timing reference. The internal clock is a Stratum 3 (ST3), so if an ONS 15454 node becomes isolated, timing is maintained at the ST3 level.

The CTC Maintenance > Timing > Report tabs show current timing information for an ONS 15454, including the timing mode, clock state and status, switch type, and reference data.

Caution Mixed timing allows you to select both external and line timing sources. However, Cisco does not recommend its use because it can create timing loops. Use this mode with caution.

9.2.1  Network Timing Example

Figure 9-1 shows an ONS 15454 network timing setup example. Node 1 is set to external timing. Two timing references are set to BITS. These are Stratum 1 timing sources wired to the BITS input pins on the Node 1 backplane. The third reference is set to internal clock. The BITS output pins on the backplane of Node 3 are used to provide timing to outside equipment, such as a digital access line multiplexer.

In the example, Slots 5 and 6 contain the trunk (span) cards. Timing at Nodes 2, 3, and 4 is set to line, and the timing references are set to the trunk cards based on distance from the BITS source. Reference 1 is set to the trunk card closest to the BITS source. At Node 2, Reference 1 is Slot 5 because it is connected to Node 1. At Node 4, Reference 1 is set to Slot 6 because it is connected to Node 1. At Node 3, Reference 1 could be either trunk card because they are an equal distance from Node 1.

Figure 9-1 ONS 15454 Timing Example

9.2.2  Synchronization Status Messaging

Synchronization status messaging (SSM) is a SONET protocol that communicates information about the quality of the timing source. SSM messages are carried on the S1 byte of the SONET Line layer. They enable SONET devices to automatically select the highest quality timing reference and to avoid timing loops.

SSM messages are either Generation 1 or Generation 2. Generation 1 is the first and most widely deployed SSM message set. Generation 2 is a newer version. If you enable SSM for the ONS 15454, consult your timing reference documentation to determine which message set to use. Table 9-5 and Table 9-6 show the Generation 1 and Generation 2 message sets.

Table 9-5 SSM Generation 1 Message Set 

Message
Quality
Description

PRS

1

Primary reference source—Stratum 1

STU

2

Synchronization traceability unknown

ST2

3

Stratum 2

ST3

4

Stratum 3

SMC

5

SONET minimum clock

ST4

6

Stratum 4

DUS

7

Do not use for timing synchronization

RES

—

Reserved; quality level set by user


Table 9-6 SSM Generation 2 Message Set

Message
Quality
Description

PRS

1

Primary reference source—Stratum 1

STU

2

Synchronization traceability unknown

ST2

3

Stratum 2

TNC

4

Transit node clock

ST3E

5

Stratum 3E

ST3

6

Stratum 3

SMC

7

SONET minimum clock

ST4

8

Stratum 4

DUS

9

Do not use for timing synchronization

RES

—

Reserved; quality level set by user