Installation and User Guide for User Changeable Passwords
Installing and Using ACS User-Changeable Passwords

Table Of Contents

Installing and Using Cisco Secure ACS User-Changeable Passwords

About UCP

About SSL

Installing UCP

Preparing the Web Server

Preparing Cisco Secure ACS for UCP

Enabling SSL on the Web Server

Installing UCP Software

Determining the UCP URL

Upgrading UCP

Uninstalling UCP

Changing Your Password


Installing and Using Cisco Secure ACS User-Changeable Passwords


This guide contains instructions for installing and using User-Changeable Passwords (UCP) with Cisco Secure Access Control Server Release 4.0, hereafter referred to as ACS. You can use UCP with:

Cisco Secure ACS for Windows, Release 4.0

Cisco Secure ACS Solution Engine, Release 4.0

This chapter contains the following topics:

About UCP

About SSL

Installing UCP

Preparing the Web Server

Preparing Cisco Secure ACS for UCP

Enabling SSL on the Web Server

Installing UCP Software

Determining the UCP URL

Upgrading UCP

Uninstalling UCP

Changing Your Password

About UCP

You use the UCP application to enable users to change their ACS passwords with a web-based utility. When users need to change passwords, they can access the UCP web page by using a supported web browser. For information about web browsers that we tested with ACS, see the release notes for your ACS product.

The UCP web page requires users to log in. The required password is the Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) password for the user account. UCP authenticates the user with ACS and then allows the user to specify a new password. UCP changes the user's PAP and Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) passwords to the new password.

To install UCP, you must have a web server that runs Microsoft IIS 5.0 (included with Windows 2000) or 6.0 (included with Windows Server 2003).

About SSL

Communication between UCP and ACS is protected with 128-bit encryption. To further increase security, we recommend implementing the secure sockets layer (SSL) to protect communication between web browsers and UCP. The SSL protocol provides security for remote-access data transfer between the UCP web server and the user's web browser.

Because users change their ACS internal database passwords over a connection between their web browsers and Microsoft IIS, user and password data is vulnerable. The SSL protocol encrypts data transfers, including passwords, between web browsers and Microsoft IIS.

SSL requires Microsoft IIS to present valid certificate credentials. You must obtain a certificate from a certificate authority. If you use a public certificate authority, the certificate authority assigns your keys for a fee, provided that you comply with certain requirements.

Installing UCP

This section contains information and procedures for installing UCP.

This section contains the following topics:

Preparing the Web Server

Preparing Cisco Secure ACS for UCP

Enabling SSL on the Web Server

Installing UCP Software

Determining the UCP URL

Preparing the Web Server

To prepare the web server, you must create virtual directories on the web server. These virtual directories correspond to the file system directories where the UCP setup program will place HTML files and CGI executable files.

To prepare for UCPs:


Step 1 Ensure that the web server uses Microsoft IIS 5.0 or 6.0:

IIS 5.0 is included with Windows 2000.

IIS 6.0 is included with Windows Server 2003.

Step 2 In the web server's home directory, create two directories:


Tip To determine the home directory, see the Default Web Site properties for Microsoft IIS.


secure—This directory will contain the HTML files used by UCP. You can use a name different from secure. You should keep track of the directory name for use in other installation steps.

securecgi-bin—This directory will contain the executable CGI files used by UCP. You can use a name different from securecgi-bin. You should keep track of the directory name for use in other installation steps.

For example, if the home directory of the web server is C:\Inetpub\wwwroot, you add the directories to C:\Inetpub\wwwroot.

Step 3 In Microsoft IIS, add a virtual directory for the HTML files used by UCP. When you create the virtual directory, use:

Virtual Directory Alias—A name for the virtual directory that corresponds to the secure directory created in Step 2. We recommend that you use secure. This alias will be a component in the URL used to access UCP; so a short but descriptive alias could help users remember the URL.

Web Site Content Directory—The specified directory must match the secure directory created in Step 2. The default directory from Step 2 is C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\secure.

Access Permissions—Assign read permission to this virtual directory. No other permissions are necessary.

For information about creating virtual directories, see the Microsoft documentation for your version of IIS.

Step 4 Add a virtual directory for the CGI executable files used by UCP. When you create the virtual directory, use:

Virtual Directory Alias—A name for the virtual directory that corresponds to the securecgi-bin directory created in Step 2. We recommend that you use securecgi-bin.

Web Site Content Directory—The specified directory must match the securecgi-bin directory created in Step 2. The default directory from Step 2 is C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\securecgi-bin.

Access Permissions—Assign read and execute permissions to this virtual directory. No other permissions are necessary.

For information about creating virtual directories, see the Microsoft documentation for your version of IIS.

Step 5 If the web server runs IIS 6.0, you must configure IIS to allow unknown CGI extensions. Use the Web Service Extension page in the IIS Manager window and set the status of Allow Unknown CGI Extensions to Allowed.

Step 6 If you use the IIS Lockdown Tool to help secure your Microsoft IIS 5.0 web server, be sure that the Lockdown Tool allows executable files to run. If the executable files cannot run, UCP fails and users cannot change passwords.


Preparing Cisco Secure ACS for UCP

To prepare ACS for UCP, you must configure ACS to recognize the web server as a type of authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server. Once you perform this step, ACS can recognize and respond to user password changes from UCP on the web server. Without this configuration, ACS ignores user password change requests from UCP.


Note If ACS and Microsoft IIS software run on the same computer, you do not need to perform these steps. Proceed to Enabling SSL on the Web Server.


To prepare for UCPs:


Step 1 Log in to the web interface of the ACS to which you want UCP to send user password changes.


Note If you are using the ACS Internal Database Replication feature, the ACS to which UCP sends user password changes should be a primary ACS; otherwise, if the user database is replicated, the older information from the primary ACS overwrites user password changes.


Step 2 Choose Interface Configuration > Advanced Options.

The Advanced Options page appears.

Step 3 Ensure that the Distributed Systems Settings check box is checked. This option enables the AAA Servers table to appear in the Network Configurations section.

Step 4 Click Submit.

Step 5 Click Network Configuration.

Step 6 If you have enabled network device groups (NDGs), click the NDG to which to add the UCP web server.

Step 7 In the AAA Servers table, click Add Entry.

Step 8 In the AAA Server Name box, type the name for the UCP web server. We recommend using the web server hostname; however, you can include additional useful information, such as UCP, to readily identify the UCP web server. For example, if the web server hostname is wwwin, you could type UCP-wwwin in the AAA Server Name box.

Step 9 In the AAA Server IP Address box, type the IP address of the UCP web server. Use dotted decimal format.


Note The other settings on the Add AAA Server page are irrelevant to UCP.


Step 10 Click Submit + Restart.

ACS is configured to recognize and respond to password change information from the web server on which you will install UCP.


Enabling SSL on the Web Server

This section explains how to enable SSL to encrypt communication between a user's web browser and the Microsoft IIS that is running UCP.


Note We recommend enabling SSL. If, without exception, every user always accesses UCP from within a secure perimeter, SSL might not be necessary; otherwise, you should enable SSL so that UCP traffic is encrypted between a user's web browser and the web server that is running UCP.


To enable optional SSL security on the web server:


Step 1 Obtain a certificate from a certificate authority.

Step 2 After you have received your certificate from the certificate authority, install the certificate on your web server. For information about installing a certificate, see Microsoft documentation for your version of IIS.

Step 3 Following your Microsoft IIS documentation, activate SSL security on the web server.

When you enable SSL security, remember that:

You can enable SSL security on the root of your web site or on one or more virtual directories.

After SSL is enabled and properly configured, only SSL-enabled clients can communicate with the SSL-enabled WWW directories.

URLs that point to documents on an SSL-enabled WWW folder must use https:// instead of http:// in the URL. Links that use http:// in the URL do not work on a secure directory.


Installing UCP Software

Before You Begin

The UCP software installation process has the following requirements:

Ensure that you have completed the steps in these sections:

Preparing the Web Server

Preparing Cisco Secure ACS for UCP

Ensure that you have completed the procedure in Enabling SSL on the Web Server, if you intend to implement SSL.

Ensure that you have the ACS CD.

To install the User-Changeable Password software:


Step 1 At the web server on which to install UCP, log in as the local administrator.

Step 2 Insert the ACS CD in the drive on the web server.


Tip If autorun opens a setup window for ACS, click Cancel.


Step 3 Use Windows Explorer to open the UCP subdirectory on the ACS CD.

Step 4 Double-click the UCP SETUP.EXE file.

The Before You Begin dialog box appears.

Step 5 Check the check boxes for all items, and then click Next.

The Choose Destination Location dialog box displays a default directory for HTML files used by UCP.

Step 6 Specify the full path of the secure directory that you created in Preparing the Web Server. If you chose secure as the directory name and C:\Inetpub\wwwroot is the home directory of the web server, you can accept the default location.

Step 7 Click Next.

A second Choose Destination Location dialog box displays a default directory for the CGI executable files used by UCP.

Step 8 Specify the full path of the securecgi-bin directory that you created in Preparing the Web Server. If you chose securecgi-bin as the directory name and C:\Inetpub\wwwroot is the home directory of the web server, you can accept the default location.

Step 9 Click Next.

The Enter Information dialog box displays the default URL for the HTML virtual directory by using the web server's IP address.

Step 10 Specify the URL for the HTML virtual directory. If you:

Are not using SSL and you chose to use secure as the virtual directory alias for the UCP HTML directory, you can accept the default value.

Are using SSL, change the beginning of the URL from http:// to https://. The letter s is required after http; otherwise, communication between users and UCP will not be SSL-encrypted.

Chose a name different from secure as the virtual directory alias for the UCP HTML directory, change secure to the name that you chose in Preparing the Web Server.

For example, if you are using SSL and you specified ucp as the HTML virtual directory alias, you should change the URL to https://IPAddress/ucp, where IPAddress is the dotted decimal IP address of the web server.

Step 11 Click Next.

A second Enter Information dialog box displays the default URL for the CGI virtual directory, using the web server's IP address.

Step 12 Specify the URL for the CGI virtual directory, following these guidelines:

If you are not using SSL and you chose to use securecgi-bin as the virtual directory alias for the UCP CGI directory, you can accept the default value.

If you are using SSL, change the beginning of the URL from http:// to https://. The letter s is required after http; otherwise, communication between users and UCP will not be SSL-encrypted.

If you chose a name different from securecgi-bin as the virtual directory alias for the UCP HTML directory, change secure to the name that you chose in Preparing the Web Server.

For example, if you are using SSL and you specified ucpcgi-bin as the HTML virtual directory alias, you should change the URL to https://IPAddress/ucpcgi-bin, where IPAddress is the dotted decimal IP address of the web server.

Step 13 Click Next.

The Connecting to Cisco Secure Server dialog box appears.

Step 14 Type the IP address of the ACS to which you want UCP to send user password changes. Use dotted decimal format for the IP address.

Step 15 Click Next.

Setup tests the connection to ACS that you specified, and then the Setup Complete dialog box appears.

Step 16 To complete the installation, click Finish.

UCP is installed. If the web server is running and accessible, users can change ACS passwords with UCP. For information about accessing UCP, see Determining the UCP URL.


Determining the UCP URL

After you have successfully installed UCP, you can access UCP with a supported web browser. For a list of supported web browsers, see the release notes for the version of ACS that you are accessing. The latest revision to the Release Notes is posted on Cisco.com.

The URL for the UCP web page is:

http://webserver/secure/login.htm

where webserver is the hostname or IP address of the web server running UCP and secure is the secure virtual directory alias created in Preparing the Web Server.


Tip For a shorter URL to the UCP page, add login.htm to the default documents on the web server. The URL would then be http://webserver/secure.


Upgrading UCP

To upgrade the UCP software:


Step 1 Uninstall the old version of UCP by performing the steps in Uninstalling UCP.

Step 2 Perform the steps in Preparing Cisco Secure ACS for UCP.

Step 3 Using the version of UCP to which you want to upgrade, perform the steps in Installing UCP.


Uninstalling UCP

To uninstall the User-Changeable Password software:


Step 1 On the computer running UCP, choose Windows Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs to uninstall ACS User-Changeable Passwords.

Step 2 In IIS, remove the virtual directories created for the UCP HTML and CGI files. The default names of these directories are secure and securecgi-bin; however, you might have customized the directory names when you installed UCP.

Step 3 Verify that the directories to which the virtual directories were mapped are deleted. This deletion should occur during Step 1. If the directories are not deleted, delete them now.

Step 4 If the web server runs IIS 6.0, consider whether you want IIS to continue to allow unknown CGI extensions. To change this setting, use the Web Service Extension page in the IIS Manager window and modify the status of Allow Unknown CGI Extensions.

Step 5 In the ACS HTML interface, delete the AAA server configuration that corresponds to the server that ran UCP. For more information about deleting AAA server configurations, see the user guide for your version of ACS.


Changing Your Password


Note Check with your system administrator to ensure that you have the appropriate permissions to change your password.


To change your password by using the web server:


Step 1 Using a web browser, open the UCP page by using the URL that your administrator provided.

Step 2 Type your username and password, and then click Submit.

The Change Password page opens. The username that you entered on the previous page appears in the Username box.

Step 3 Enter the:

Current Password—Type your current password.

New Password—Type the new password.


Note Your password might need to fulfill certain special requirements, such as minimum length. Check with your system administrator for details.


Confirm New Password—Retype the new password.

Step 4 Click Submit.

Your password is changed.

Step 5 To exit, click Logout.