Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Manual page 90

Setting the Default TACACS+ Server Timeout Interval and Retransmits
Setting the Default TACACS+ Server Timeout Interval and Retransmits
By default, a switch retries a TACACS+ server only once. This number can be configured. The maximum is
five retries per server. You can also configure the timeout value for the TACACS+ server.
Setting the Timeout Value
You can configure a global timeout value between transmissions for all TACACS+ servers.
Note If timeout values are configured for individual servers, those values override the globally configured values.
To set the global timeout value for TACACS+ servers, follow these steps:
Procedure
Step 1
switch# configure terminal
Enters configuration mode.
Step 2 switch(config)# tacacs-server timeout 30
Configures the global timeout period in seconds for the switch to wait for a response from all TACACS+
servers before the switch declares a timeout failure. The time ranges from 1 to 1440 seconds.
Step 3 switch(config)# no tacacs-server timeout 30
(Optional) Deletes the configured timeout period and reverts to the factory default of 5 seconds.
About TACACS+ Servers
By default, the TACACS+ feature is disabled in all switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family. Fabric Manager
or Device Manager enables the TACACS+ feature automatically when you configure a TACACS+ server.
If a secret key is not configured for a configured server, a warning message is issued if a global key is not
configured. If a server key is not configured, the global key (if configured) is used for that server.
Note
Prior to Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 2.1(2), you can use the dollar sign ($) in the key but the key must be
enclosed in double quotes, for example "k$". The percent sign (%) is not allowed. In Cisco MDS SAN-OS
Release 2.1(2) and later, you can use the dollar sign ($) without double quotes and the percent sign (%) in
global secret keys.
You can configure global values for the secret key for all TACACS+ servers.
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Security Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
72
Configuring Security Features on an External AAA Server