OUR SITES NetworkRADIUS FreeRADIUS

Introduction

VERSION 4 IS IN DEVELOPMENT AND HAS NOT BEEN OFFICIALLY RELEASED. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

The configuration may change. The behavior may change. The documentation may change.

Please wait for an official release before using version 4.

This is the FreeRADIUS version 4 documentation that is available under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial license.

FreeRADIUS is a complex piece of software with many configuration options. In most circumstances, the default configuration works with minimal effort to install a server. For more complex requirements, FreeRADIUS can be difficult to setup because of more features and infinite configurations. The question for an administrator, then, is what piece of the configuration to change, and how to change it.

This documentation answers your basic and advanced questions about functionality, configuration, and other scenarios. The FreeRADIUS team has updated the documentation for this major release. Everything in the server is fully documented with examples, developer information, and additional resources to help you.

This documentation is divided into sections by subject area and organized by task-based results as follows:

  • Getting Started guide and FAQ to help you get setup in record time.

  • Concepts and overview provides a high level explanation for newcomers.

  • Reference documentation includes the Unlang syntax and Configuration Files.

  • Howto guides step you through various tasks and includes Installing and Upgrade guide.

  • Tutorials task based learning with real-world configurations and debugging exercises.

  • Developers section outlines coding standards, raising bugs, and contributing with GitHub.

  • Troubleshooting section to help you resolve the most common issues with FreeRADIUS installations and configurations.

Within each section, the documentation is organized into subsections, smaller pages, and relavent cross-links. This hierarchy ensures that you can find information quickly and extract the instructions you need. For example, the Howto guides are split into a series of small steps, each of which can be performed quickly.

What’s new in FreeRADIUS version 4

FreeRADIUS version 4 is in "alpha" right now. If version 4 works, continue to use. If you have issues, return to using FreeRADIUS version 3.

As of the time of this release, FreeRADIUS:

  • It’s possible to proxy one packet to multiple destinations.

  • Can capture a failed proxy, and fall back to local authentication.

  • The server supports multiple clients with different shared secrets behind one NAT gateway.

  • DHCP and VMPS are integrated with full functionality and features.

  • The server supports TACACS+.

  • Connections to databases are asynchronous to ensure stable access, and prevents server lockups.

  • The Python and Lua modules do not fully support the v4 "nested" attributes.

  • Enums are prefixed with ::, as in Service-Type == ::Framed-User.

  • The server still does not always require (or print) the :: prefix. That will change.

  • By implementing :: for enums, the requirement to use & as a prefix for attribute names is not needed.

  • This change may require changes to all of the configuration. We will try to allow & or not, but that may not be possible.

  • Dynamic expansions have changed from %{md5:foo} to a more standard syntax of %md5(foo).

  • The new syntax supports multiple comma-separated arguments such as %function(a, b, c).

  • Expansions such as %{User-Name} still work in addition to expressions like %{1+2} too.

  • Alternation %{%{foo}:-%{bar}} has been replaced by %{&foo || &bar}, which is clearer and uses less nesting.

  • RADIUS/TLS (RadSec) is not implemented.

  • TEAP and EAP-FAST are not implemented.

  • the "haproxy" and "reverse CoA' features are not implemented.

Administrators who have version 3 and wish to upgrade to version 4 must read the Upgrade guide. This guide explains the differences between the two versions, and how an existing configuration can be reproduced in the latest release. Do not use version 3 configuration files with version 4. These configuration files are not compatible on a major version upgrade.

Do not open bug reports about those features being missing. All such bug reports will be closed without comment.

We do not recommend that operating systems or Linux distributions create their own packages for 4.0.0-alpha. Our experience has been that packaging "alpha" releases results in confused and upset users. People will install it due to the belief that "it’s stable because it is packaged". They will then run into issues, and will blame us.

Such behavior is antisocial and is strongly discouraged.

Network Prequesites

Operating Systems

The FreeRADIUS protocol works on all Unix based systems. Selecting a familiar operating system is A FreeRADIUS server has minimal requirements. A basic FreeRADIUS installation uses 8 megabytes of RAM, under one hundred megabytes of disk space, and minimal CPU power. An Internet Service Provider with 10,000 or fewer users will not have any problems with any commodity system available at the time of this printing.

If the ISP has more than 10,000 users, the overall system design becomes much more important than the specifications of an individual server. Windows does not currently support FreeRADIUS.

CPU/RAM/disk space requirements

A FreeRADIUS server has minimal requirements. A basic FreeRADIUS installation uses 8 megabytes of RAM, under one hundred megabytes of disk space, and minimal CPU power. An Internet Service Provider with 10,000 or fewer users will not have any problems with any commodity system available at the time of this printing. If the ISP has more than 10,000 users, the overall system design becomes much more important than the specifications of an individual server.

Datastores

Debugging

If you have ANY issues with your server, then restart the server in Debugging mode. Review the logs to determine what the root problem is and make changes accordingly. Do only ONE change at a time and restart your server.

More Information

Many resources, experts, and documentation sets are available to help you with your RADIUS server. Refer to Getting Help for more details.