How to Enable Local DNS and Portal Authentication with Huawei Access Controller

Background

In a UK XXX project, the customer required that the portal authentication page display a domain name (e.g., www.yuming.com) without using a public IP address. The domain is non‑public, provided by the customer, and should be resolved locally via DNS before falling back to public DNS (e.g., 8.8.8.8).

Customer Requirements

Portal authentication page must show the domain name.

The domain is non‑public and requires local DNS resolution, but the customer has no dedicated DNS server.

When accessing the website, DNS resolution should first be attempted locally; if it fails, it should fall back to public DNS.

Solution

Huawei proposes the following solution using the Access Controller (AC):

AC supports local DNS resolution with a configurable static DNS list.

AC acts as a DNS relay, forwarding DNS requests on behalf of users.

AC first queries DNS locally; if the query fails, it forwards the request to public DNS for resolution.

Key Configuration

Configure the following on the AC:

Enable DNS dynamic resolution, DNS list, and DNS relay functions.

Set up a static DNS resolution list.

Configure the appropriate portal free rule.

Configure the web template.

Configure DNS on the user VLAN interface.

Relevant configuration screenshots are shown below:

Terminal Association Verification

Verification steps:

After the user connects to Wi‑Fi, the AC has no user entry but can ping DNS and portal servers.

Entering local domain names such as “lmt.test.com” or “www.baidu.com” redirects to the portal authentication page (e.g., wireless.scc.com).

After entering correct credentials, authentication succeeds and the AC creates a user entry.

Entering the local domain “lmt.test.com” redirects to the AC’s web page (e.g., 192.168.7.25).

Validate the DNS resolution results.

Verification screenshots are included below.