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ODBC Driver (rlm_sql_unixodbc)

FreeRADIUS supports connections to ODBC data sources by interfacing with the unixODBC framework together with a backend driver.

Where FreeRADIUS provides a specific SQL driver for a particular database server, using the specific driver is usually preferable since less indirection often leads to better performance and stability. Nevertheless, you may have a reason to use ODBC.

ODBC is a library specification for accessing multiple data sources using a common API. FreeRADIUS uses the unixODBC implementation of ODBC and the data source is normally hosted by a database server. The ODBC implementation is seperate from FreeRADIUS with a discrete configuration that must be configured and tested first.

Since FreeRADIUS is not interfacing directly with the backend database the configuration is necessarily more involved than for a module for a native driver. The database connection details are not only present in the usual mods-available/sql file but are included in configuration files required by the ODBC library:

/etc/odbc.ini

Data sources are typically defined here. Each entry has a name ("DSN") that is provided in the server parameter of the rlm_sql instance.

/etc/odbcinst.ini

Backend drivers must be installed and then registered here. Each entry in odbc.ini will normally have a reference in its Driver property to one of the entries in odbcinst.ini, unless the driver’s library is specified directly in odbc.ini.

The locations of the various ODBC configuration files can be determined from the output of running odbcinst -j.

Configuring FreeRADIUS to connect to a data source using ODBC requires the following steps:

  1. Test connectivity directly using a native database client, if possible

  2. Install a backend database driver for ODBC

  3. Register the backend driver

  4. Configure a DSN for the data source

  5. Test the ODBC connection using the DSN

  6. Configure an instance of the rlm_sql module to use the rlm_sql_unixodbc driver to connect to the DSN

  7. Test FreeRADIUS connectivity in debug mode (-X)

Not all errors arising from ODBC issues are reported to FreeRADIUS in a meaningful way. In the event that you have ODBC-related problems connecting the a data source you should first consult the documentation for unixODBC (or ODBC generally) and/or backend driver. For some issues you should consider enabling ODBC tracing as described later in this document.

Worked example: FreeRADIUS with MS SQL Server over ODBC

The following procedure has been demonstrated to work in this environment:

  • CentOS 7

  • FreeRADIUS from the Network RADIUS package repository

  • unixODBC 2.3 (from the Linux distribution)

  • Microsoft ODBC driver for SQL Server 17 from Microsoft MSSQL-Release repository

It will likely also work with other operating systems and package versions but the details will need to be modified accordingly.

For connecting to Microsoft SQL Server it may be better to use a native driver such as rlm_sql_freetds, where possible.

Prepare: Configure the required package repositories

It is recommended that you use Network RADIUS supplied packages for FreeRADIUS which include the rlm_unixodbc module. If your operating system provides FreeRADIUS packages that include the rlm_unixodbc module then these may also work, however they are likely to be out of date.

Follow the instructions for installing the Network RADIUS repository: https://networkradius.com/freeradius-packages/

Follow the instructions for installing the Microsoft MSSQL-Release repository for RHEL/CentOS 7 from here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/connect/odbc/linux-mac/installing-the-microsoft-odbc-driver-for-sql-server?view=sql-server-ver15#redhat17

The specific step that is required is as follows, but the remainder of the instructions are worth reviewing:

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7/prod.repo \
    > /etc/yum.repos.d/mssql-release.repo

Test native database connectivity

Install the MS SQL Tools package:

yum install mssql-tools

Verify that non-ODBC connectivity to the database server functions correctly using sqlcmd:

/opt/mssql-tools/bin/sqlcmd -S tcp:192.0.2.1,1433 \
    -U radius -P radPass_123 -d radius -Q 'SELECT * FROM sys.schemas'

The above command assumes a pre-existing database radius on the server 192.0.2.1 that can be accessed via TCP/1433 using the username radius and password radPass_123.

In the event of difficulties connecting using the native tools check server reachability, firewalling, credentials, database permissions, etc.

Example 1. Example of deploying a schema and application-specific user via CLI

Configuring a production MS SQL Server to permit the required access and deploying a database is beyond the scope of this document, however if the FreeRADIUS schema and user do not already exist and the server is accessible with a database administrator account (e.g. sa) then the schema and user can be deployed as follows:

sqlcmd -S tcp:192.0.2.1,1433 -U sa -P 'Admin123!'                     \
    -Q "CREATE DATABASE radius"
sqlcmd -S tcp:192.0.2.1,1433 -U sa -P 'Admin123!' -d radius           \
    -Q 'CREATE LOGIN radius WITH password='"'"'radPass_123'"'"''
sqlcmd -S tcp:192.0.2.1,1433 -U sa -P 'Admin123!' -d radius           \
    -Q "CREATE USER radius"
sqlcmd -S tcp:192.0.2.1,1433 -U sa -P 'Admin123!' -d radius           \
    -Q "GRANT CONTROL TO radius"
sqlcmd -S tcp:192.0.2.1,1433 -U radius -P radPass_123 -d radius -e    \
    -i /etc/raddb/mods-config/sql/main/mssql/schema.sql
Do not proceed until the above non-ODBC test is known to work using the database and credentials that will be used by FreeRADIUS.

Install the ODBC backend driver

Install the package for Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server:

yum install msodbcsql17 unixodbc

Register the driver

The Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server package will normally register itself as a ODBC driver. This means that the /etc/odbcinst.ini should include a config section such as the following:

Example 2. Example driver definition in /etc/odbcinit.ini
[ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server]
Description=Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server
Driver=/opt/microsoft/msodbcsql17/lib64/libmsodbcsql-17.5.so.2.1
UsageCount=1

An entry such as the above should be created manually if it does not already exist. In this case it is important to ensure that the backend driver referenced by Driver has been installed correctly:

$ ldd /opt/microsoft/msodbcsql17/lib64/libmsodbcsql-17.5.so.2.1
       linux-vdso.so.1 =>  (0x00007fff2bb12000)
       libdl.so.2 => /lib64/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f25f0459000)
       librt.so.1 => /lib64/librt.so.1 (0x00007f25f0251000)
       libodbcinst.so.2 => /lib64/libodbcinst.so.2 (0x00007f25f003f000)
...
The config section name in [square brackets] is the ODBC name of the database driver. It is an arbitrary name but must be referenced exactly in the DSN definitions within /etc/odbc.ini.

You can verify that the ODBC driver definition can be successfully found by name with:

odbcinst -q -d -n "ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server"

Configure a DSN for the data source

Create a DSN for the database server, referencing the ODBC driver by its exact config section name.

Example 3. Example data source definition in /etc/odbc.ini
[MSSQLdb]
Driver = ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server
Description = My DSN for the FreeRADIUS database
Server = tcp:192.0.2.1,1443
Database = radius

Replace the values for Server and Database with your own. The config must include a Database parameter since this is not indicated by the rlm_sql configuration.

The config section name in [square brackets] is the name of the DSN which is the lookup key for the connection. It is an arbitrary name but it must be referenced identically in connection strings such as in the FreeRADIUS rlm_sql module configuration.

Test the ODBC connection

unixODBC includes a basic tool called isql that can be used to make ODBC connections a data source using its DSN.

Run the following which is the ODBC equivalent of the native test performed earlier:

echo 'SELECT * FROM sys.schemas' | isql -b -v MSSQLdb radius radPass_123

If isql fails then double check the odbc.ini and odbcinst.ini entries. If the failure isn’t obvious then ODBC tracing can be enabled by adding an additional entry to odbcinst.ini, as follows:

Example 4. Example /etc/odbcinst.ini entry to enable tracing
[ODBC]
Trace = yes
TraceFile = /tmp/odbc_trace.log
Do not proceed with testing FreeRADIUS until the above ODBC test is known to work.

Configure an instance of rlm_sql to use rlm_sql_unixodbc

The rlm_sql module can be configured as follows:

Example 5. Example configuration for an ODBC connection in /etc/raddb/mods-available/sql
sql {
    dialect = "mssql"
    driver = "unixodbc"
    server = "MSSQLdb"           # The exact "[DSN]" from odbc.ini
    login = "radius"
    password = "radPass_123"
#   radius_db = "radius"         # Ignored! Database is set in odbc.ini
...
}

The rlm_sql module should be enabled as follows:

cd /etc/raddb/mods-enabled
ln -s ../mods-available/sql

Test FreeRADIUS in debug mode

Start FreeRADIUS in debug mode:

radiusd -X

Look for the following lines which indicate that FreeRADIUS has successfully made a connection to the database.

Example 6. Example FreeRADIUS debug output for successful ODBC connections
rlm_sql (sql): Opening additional connection (0), 1 of 8 pending slots used
rlm_sql (sql): Opening additional connection (1), 1 of 8 pending slots used
rlm_sql (sql): Opening additional connection (2), 1 of 8 pending slots used

If there is a problem then FreeRADIUS will usually terminate with a descriptive error message identifying the issue, such as the following:

Example 7. Example FreeRADIUS debug output showing errors from rlm_sql_unixodbc
rlm_sql (sql): Opening additional connection (0), 1 of 8 pending slots used
rlm_sql_unixodbc: 28000 [unixODBC][Microsoft][ODBC Driver for SQL Server]
                        [SQL Server]Login failed for user 'radius'.
rlm_sql_unixodbc: Connection failed
rlm_sql_unixodbc: Socket destructor called, closing socket
rlm_sql (sql): Opening connection failed (0)
rlm_sql (sql): Removing connection pool
/etc/raddb/mods-enabled/sql[1]: Instantiation failed for module "sql"

If you need a test user then you may be able to add one as follows if you permissions permit this:

sqlcmd -S tcp:192.0.2.1,1433 -U radius -P radPass_123 -d radius   \
    -Q "INSERT INTO radcheck (username, attribute, op, value)     \
        VALUES ('bob', 'Password.Cleartext', ':=', 'radpass')"

Finally, attempt an authentication:

Example 8. Example successful authentication
$ radtest bob test 127.0.0.1 0 testing123
Sent Access-Request Id 53 from 0.0.0.0:12345 to 127.0.0.1:1812
       Password.Cleartext = "test"
       User-Name = "bob"
       User-Password = "test"
       NAS-IP-Address = 192.0.2.10
       NAS-Port = 0
       Message-Authenticator = 0x00
Received Access-Accept Id 53 from 127.0.0.1:1812 to 0.0.0.0:12345
       User-Name = "bob"
If ODBC tracing has been enabled during testing then you should remember to disable this before moving into production.