Guidelines for planning the structure of a static ACL

After determining the filtering type (standard or extended) and ACL application (VACL or static port ACL) to use at a particular point in your network, determine the order in which to apply individual ACEs to filter IPv4 traffic. For information on ACL applications, see ACL applications.

  • The sequence of ACEs is significant. When the switch uses an ACL to determine whether to permit or deny a packet on a particular VLAN, it compares the packet to the criteria specified in the individual Access Control Entries (ACEs) in the ACL, beginning with the first ACE in the list and proceeding sequentially until a match is found. When a match is found, the switch applies the indicated action (permit or deny) to the packet.

  • The first match in an ACL dictates the action on a packet. Subsequent matches in the same ACL areignored.However, if a packet is permitted by one ACL assigned to an interface, but denied by another ACL assigned to the same interface, the packet will be denied on the interface.

  • On any ACL, the switch implicitly denies IPv4 packets that are not explicitly permitted or denied by the ACEs configured in the ACL. If you want the switch to forward a packet for which there is not a match in an ACL, append an ACE that enables Permit Any forwarding as the last ACE in the ACL. This ensures that no packets reach the Implicit Deny case for that ACL.

  • Generally, you should list ACEs from the most specific (individual hosts) to the most general (subnets or groups of subnets) unless doing so permits traffic that you want dropped. For example, an ACE allowing a small group of workstations to use a specialized printer should occur earlier in an ACL than an entry used to block widespread access to the same printer.