Cisco NAC Appliance 4.5 Released

The time has come.... 4.5 is here

It can be downloaded here! (Require Valid Smartnet Contract)

As with all NAC releases, be sure to read the RELEASE NOTES before upgrading!

CAM/CAS Configuration Guides:

• Cisco NAC Appliance - Clean Access Manager Installation and Configuration Guide, Release 4.5 New!
  
• Cisco NAC Appliance - Clean Access Server Installation and Configuration Guide, Release 4.5 New!

Bottom line is that 4.5 brings way too many features to list. That is why the release notes will help!

Looks for future posts on new features and benefits!

Configuration Example - Wireless Out Of Band - New NAC 4.5 Feature

The following is a configuration guide that was posted to explain how to configure NAC 4.5 with Wireless LAN Controller 5.1 for NAC Wireless OOB support.

NAC Out-Of-Band (OOB) Wireless Configuration Example

Wireless OOB is a feature we all have been waiting for. Some of the great benefits that I see are:

- No need for a second Clean Access Server(CAS) just for wireless. If you are a smaller organization wireless and wired can be performed on a single CAS.
- Bandwidth benefits for larger wireless infrastructures. With 10Gbps network backbones and large central wireless deployments(lots of clients), having a OOB wireless deployment is a no brainer.

This is one of a few great features coming out with NAC release 4.5.

Coming Soon - Cisco NAC Release 4.5

Cisco is preparing for NAC Release 4.5 which will include great features like Wireless OOB, Mac Posture Assessment Support and CAM import/export of policies.

The first piece of documentation has been published:

Cisco NAC Appliance Release 4.5 - Video Data Sheet

Keep a lookout for posting on all the new features and when the download becomes available.

NAC Updates

Windows Clean Access Agent Version 4.1.7 Released - Sept 30th

In this release their are a few minor resolved caveats:

- Symantec AntiVirus 10.x not fully compatible with CCA Agent
- Vista Agent does not detect MAC Address of Wireless NIC
- AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.x support for Virus Definition check

As with all upgrades, it is highly recommended to read the release notes before upgrading. Also, on a side note, remember that upgrades should be done for a purpose, either to fix a caveat or to gain new features.

Download 4.1.7 Windows Agent

Release Notes


3 NEW Configuration Examples posted to CCO

- NAC Appliance (CCA): Configure High Availability (HA) for the Clean Access Manager (CAM)
29/Sep/2008

- Deploy NAC Profiler in an Existing Out-of-Band NAC
02/Sep/2008

- Importing SSL Certificates to NAC Profiler
02/Sep/2008


To see all the previous Configuration Examples and TechNotes


How to Block Operating Systems with CCA

A friend of mine, Rob Chee, writes a blog on network security and had a great post on how to block operating systems using User Pages with CCA.

Make sure you check out his Post.

New Configuration Example: Configure Guest Access

Cisco posted a new Configuration Guide:

NAC: Configure Guest Access
This example will walk you through how to configure the various types of guest access on the Cisco Clean Access or NAC appliance.


To see all the previous Configuration Examples and TechNotes

NEW NAC Version 4.1(6)

4.1.6 is available and you can download it here:

Cisco NAC Appliance Software Download Page
Requires a valid Smartnet contract in order to download



4.1(6) Release Notes
As with all NAC Upgrades, the release notes are extremely important!

4.1(6) CAM Installation & Configuration Guide

4.1(6) CAS Installation & Configuration Guide

Ask the Expert - Cisco NAC Guest Server

Click Here to Begin

This is a great forum to ask your NAC Guest Server questions. Syed is apart of the stellar NAC business unit and focuses on Guest Server. Please read the detailed description below:

This is an opportunity to get an update on the new Cisco NAC Guest Server which works with either Cisco NAC Appliance or Cisco wireless LAN controllers to manage the entire lifecycle of guest access with Cisco expert Syed Ghayur. Syed is a technical marketing engineer in the product marketing team for the Cisco Network Access Control (NAC) Appliance. He also works on global scalability of the product, documentation, partner training, and system engineer trainings. In addition, he works closely with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to resolve complex issues and product related bugs. Early this year, he joined the Security Technology Group (STG) as technical marketing engineer for NAC Appliance.

Remember to use the rating system to let Syed know if you have received an adequate response.

Syed might not be able to answer each question due to the volume expected during this event. Our moderators will post many of the unanswered questions in other discussion forums shortly after the event. This event lasts through July 25, 2008. Visit this forum often to view responses to your questions and the questions of other community members.