WEP KEY GENERATOR UTILITY QUICK GUIDE

© Nokia Networks | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 INTERNET

Contents 1.

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1

2.

THE WEPGEN UTILITY................................................................................................. 1 1.1 RUNNING THE WEPGEN UTILITY ............................................................................ 1

3.

LOADING A PREVIOUSLY STORED KEY FILE ........................................................... 2

4.

ENTERING USERS THAT HAVE WEP KEYS............................................................... 3 4.1 NORMAL WIRELESS CLIENT.................................................................................... 3 4.2 NOKIA SMART CARD SOLUTION ............................................................................. 3 4.3 ENTERING USERS THAT DO NOT HAVE WEP KEYS ............................................. 3 4.4 ENTERING BRIDGE IDENTIFIERS............................................................................ 3

5.

STORING THE ENTRIES IN A DATABASE FILE .......................................................... 4 5.1 TRANSFERRING THE KEY DATABASE TO AN ACCESS POINT............................. 4 5.1.1 USING THE WEPGEN UTILITY .......................................................................... 4 5.1.2 USING TFTP ....................................................................................................... 5 1.2 TRANSFERRING A KEY DATABASE FROM AN ACCESS POINT ............................ 5 5.1.3 USING THE WEPGEN UTILITY .......................................................................... 5 5.2 MAKING A CLIENT KEY DISKETTE .......................................................................... 5

Legal Notice Copyright © Nokia Internet Communications Inc 1999-2000. All rights reserved. Nokia and Nokia Connecting People are registered trademarks of Nokia Corporation. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks or trade names of their respective owners. Nokia operates a policy of continuous development. Therefore we reserve the right to make changes and improvements to any of the products described in this document without prior notice. Under no circumstances shall Nokia be responsible for any loss of data, or income or any direct, special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages howsoever caused.

© Nokia Networks | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 INTERNET

1.

INTRODUCTION

This guide offers an overview of the WEP Key Generator utility (WEPGen) supplied in the utilities with the Nokia A032. After reading this quick guide, you should understand the concepts of using the WEPGen and benefits it gives. Nokia wireless LAN products and specific network planning are not explained in this guide. Other aspects of Wireless LAN security including Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) are not covered in this guide. There is a separate guide available explaining WEP and how it is implemented in the Nokia A032.

2.

THE WEPGEN UTILITY

The WEPGen Utility has been designed to enable network managers to utilise personal WEP keys more efficiently. It achieves this by allowing network managers carry out the following tasks 1. Create and store a list of usernames and WEP keys 2. Enable the list to be downloaded to a Nokia A032 access point 3. Create a disk file which can be used to load the keys into an authentication server. 4. Create client files for importing into client computers This enables databases to carry complete lists of usernames and WEP keys.

1.1

RUNNING THE WEPGEN UTILITY

To run the WEPGen utility: Click Start > Programs > Nokia A032 > Nokia WEP Key Generator and the a window will be displayed (figure 1): The database of usernames and keys are stored in an encrypted state and to decrypt the list on the database a shared secret is needed. The shared secret is a text string up to 16 characters long. It must be the same as that configured into the access points with which you intend to use the generated keys. The shared secret is used as follows: An encrypted version of the secret is placed at the start of the key information when it is transferred to the access point. The access point will reject the transfer unless the secret matches its own stored value. The WEP keys that are transferred to the access point or entered into an external authentication database are encrypted using the shared secret. Before the access point uses the keys it internally decrypts them using its own copy of the shared secret. The shared secret is also checked when the utility loads a previously stored set of keys. Load a previously stored key file Start to create a new stored key file.

© Nokia Networks. | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 | Author: P Barnes INTERNET

1/6

Note: Files cannot be uploaded or downloaded without a Shared Secret being entered correctly.

Figure 1. WEPGen utility window.

3.

LOADING A PREVIOUSLY STORED KEY FILE

To load a previously stored file: Click the from File radio button next to the Load button. Click Load at the top of the window. When prompted, navigate to the file you want to load. Make sure the fully encrypted option is set correctly according to the file contents Click Open. The key file is usually called nids.txt. This file can also be uploaded to the access point using the TFTP utility.

© Nokia Networks. | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 | Author: P Barnes INTERNET

2/6

4.

ENTERING USERS THAT HAVE WEP KEYS

Now you are ready to add, delete or modify keys. The information you enter will depend on whether you are using a normal wireless client or a special Nokia wireless client using Smart Card WEP key storage.

4.1

NORMAL WIRELESS CLIENT

In the case of a normal wireless client, take the following steps: Enter a NID Name. This is normally a text string and is used purely as a label. This name will be reported on management screen but is otherwise not used for security. It must be longer than four letters. Enter the MAC Address of the wireless client. Enter the WEP Key value for the wireless client. Here you have some choices: •

You can enter the key as a text string, taking care to enter the correct number of characters for the key length required. The utility will not accept keys which do not match the selected key size.

•

By clicking the In Hex box you can enter the key as a hexadecimal number

•

By clicking the Auto Generate box and selecting the key Strength from the drop-down menu (40, 56, 64, 96 or 128 bits) the utility will create a random number of its own choosing and enter it into the WEP Key field. In this case you should make a note of the hex value so that you can enter the same key into the wireless client later.

When you have entered the information, make sure that the Bridge Entry box is clear and click Add. The key should appear in the display window.

4.2

NOKIA SMART CARD SOLUTION

If you are using the Nokia Smart card solution you should follow the same procedure above, except that: •

The NID Name and the WEP Key must be entered as supplied with the Smart card

•

The MAC Address field should be left clear

4.3

ENTERING USERS THAT DO NOT HAVE WEP KEYS

If you are using NID names simply to identify MAC addresses, or as part of the NID name security feature, you can also enter those names using the WEPGen utility. In this case enter the NID Name and the MAC Address, but leave the WEP Key field empty

4.4

ENTERING BRIDGE IDENTIFIERS

If you are using the wireless bridging or repeater function of the access point, you need to specify to the access point which devices are peer bridges. You can use the WEPGen utility

© Nokia Networks. | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 | Author: P Barnes INTERNET

3/6

to enter these devices by adding the NID Name and MAC Address of the bridge device and checking the Bridge Entry box.

5.

STORING THE ENTRIES IN A DATABASE FILE

When you have finished entering or modifying the key you can save it as a key database (recommended) or transfer the values directly to an access point using TFTP. To save the information as a file: Click the radio button Create a WEP database. Click Go do it When prompted, re-enter the shared secret as a confirmation: Specify whether you want the file to be fully encrypted. If you check the fully encrypted box, the resulting file will be unreadable to a normal text editor. Otherwise the file will be written using a text format in which only the key values are encrypted. 5 Click OK.

5.1

TRANSFERRING THE KEY DATABASE TO AN ACCESS POINT

There are two methods by which you can transfer keys to an access point: •

Using the WEPGen utility

•

Via a TFTP client.

Both methods actually use TFTP to transfer via the LAN (or WLAN) network. In both cases, the choice of encryption must match the configuration of the access point. In other words, if you choose the fully encrypted option the access point must also be configured with the check box Use encrypted nids.txt on the WEP screen setup page.

5.1.1

Using the WEPGen utility

To transfer the database directly from the WEPGen utility to the access point: Click the radio button Transfer keys to an Access Point. Click Go do it When prompted, confirm the Shared Secret and set the encryption appropriately Click OK. Enter the IP address of the target access point. Click Send The data will be transferred. Any errors that occur should be reported at this time. The TFTP dialog box will remain on the screen so that you can send to several access points in turn by modifying the IP address. When you’re finished, click Close.

© Nokia Networks. | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 | Author: P Barnes INTERNET

4/6

5.1.2

Using TFTP

If you have saved a WEP key database using the name nids.txt you can transfer it to the access point using a TFTP client utility Briefly: Enter the IP address of the access point. Specify nids.txt as the target filename (destination)

1.2

TRANSFERRING A KEY DATABASE FROM AN ACCESS POINT

If you want to retrieve the keys that are stored on an access point, you can: Download directly to the WEPGen utility using TFTP Read nids.txt via a TFTP client utility In the latter case the keys will be sent by the access point in the same format as generated by the WEPGen utility – either fully encrypted or partly encrypted, depending on the configuration of the access point.

5.1.3

Using the WEPGen utility

To transfer a key database from an access point directly into WEPGen: Make sure that you have entered the Shared Secret corresponding to the access point. Click the from Access Point radio button. Click Load. When prompted, confirm the Shared Secret. Enter the IP address of the access point. Specify whether the fully encrypted format is expected. Click OK. The transfer should occur and the keys will be displayed in the main key window from where they can be edited or saved.

5.2

MAKING A CLIENT KEY DISKETTE

If you are using a Nokia wireless client, you can use the WEPGen utility to generate a file that can be loaded into the client to ensure that the client’s copy of the specific key matches that of the access point. To create such a file: Select one key in the key window. Click the radio button Make Nokia Client Key File. Click Go do it

© Nokia Networks. | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 | Author: P Barnes INTERNET

5/6

Confirm the Shared Secret. Enter a key name and a comment. Specify the destination for the file. Click OK to create the file.

© Nokia Networks. | Filename: A032QG_AP_WEPGen.doc | Date: 18.08.00 | Author: P Barnes INTERNET

6/6