Information
Performs accounting for all system-level events not associated with users, such as reloads.
Rationale:
Authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) systems provide an authoritative source for managing and monitoring access for devices. Centralizing control improves consistency of access control, the services that may be accessed once authenticated and accountability by tracking services accessed. Additionally, centralizing access control simplifies and reduces administrative costs of account provisioning and de-provisioning, especially when managing a large number of devices. AAA Accounting provides a management and audit trail for user and administrative sessions through RADIUS and TACACS+.
Solution
Configure AAA accounting system.
hostname(config)#aaa accounting system {default | list-name | guarantee-first}
{start-stop | stop-only | none} {radius | group group-name}
Impact:
Enabling aaa accounting system creates accounting records for all system-level events. Organizations should regular monitor these records for exceptions, remediate issues, and report findings regularly.
Default Value:
AAA accounting is not enabled.
References:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios-xml/ios/security/a1/sec-cr-a1.html#GUID-0520BCEF-89FB-4505-A5DF-D7F1389F1BBA
Notes:
When system accounting is used and the accounting server is unreachable at system startup time, the system will not be accessible for approximately two minutes.