1 FreeRADIUS as a proxy RADIUS server.
2 ====================================
8 It is possible to use FreeRADIUS as a proxy RADIUS server. This
9 means that it can consult a remote RADIUS server to validate a user.
10 This is handy for roaming setups, or for renting ports to someone else.
15 If a user logs in with a defined realm syntax, the "realm" portion is
16 matched against the configuration to determine how the request should
17 be handled. Common realm formats are:
26 The realm parsing syntax ( and search order ) is user definable via the
27 realm module config in the ``/etc/raddb/radiusd.conf`` configuration file.
29 You can define multiple instances of the realm module to support multiple
30 realm syntax's at the same time. Be sure to pay close attention to the
31 search order that you define, as you may inadvertently get unexpected
32 behaviour ( by having a user use ``realm1/username@realm2`` for instance ).
33 If you need to proxy to IPASS, it should go first, because usernames will
34 be in the form ``IPASS/username@realm`` and you want to proxy these users to
35 IPASS, not to the realm behind the ``@``.
37 The realms are configured in the file ``/etc/raddb/proxy.conf``, which is
38 included by ``radiusd.conf``. The formats and sample configurations are
41 The realm ``DEFAULT`` (without the quotes) matches all realms.
42 The realm ``NULL`` matches any requests WITHOUT a realm.
44 If you set the remote server to ``LOCAL``, the request will be handled
45 locally as usual, without sending it to a remote radius server.
47 There are several options you can add in both files:
50 By default the realm is stripped from the username before sending it
51 on to the remote radius server. By specifying the "nostrip" option
52 the @realm suffix will not be stripped.
54 By default the original username is sent to the remote radius
55 server. By specifying the "hints" option the username will be
56 sent as it is after the "hints" file was processed.
58 By default if a realm is matched, it will be proxied to the server
59 specified. However, if you are using Replication functionality, you
60 may want to override this behaviour. This option will prevent a
61 user who enters ``user@foobar`` from being proxied if the ``foobar``
62 realm configuration contains ``notrealm``. This function used to be
63 called ``notsuffix``, and the old syntax is still supported.
65 The ``/etc/raddb/realms`` file is deprecated and should not be used anymore.
66 If you use the ``/etc/raddb/realms`` file to enter realm configurations you will
67 need to add the hostname and secret for the remote server in the
68 file ``/etc/raddb/clients.conf``.
69 It is not recommended to use both the realms file and the proxy.conf file,
70 as that could cause confusion.
75 All accounting data for proxied requests does `not` get stored in the
76 standard logfiles, but in a separate directory. The name of this
77 directory is the name of the remote radius server.
82 When your server proxies requests to another server, it acts as a NAS for
83 the remote server. On the remote server, you need to add the hostname of
84 your server and the same secret to ``/etc/raddb/clients.conf`` as well.
86 As you might not control the remote radius server, you might want to
87 control the attributes sent back by the remote server in an Access-Accept
88 packet. Have a look at the attrs file for this!
92 The exact thing that happens is this:
94 - A user logs in with a realm
95 - The hints file gets processed as usual
96 - The user is checked against the huntgroups file. At this point
97 the user `might` already be rejected.
98 - The realm is looked up in the realms file. If it isn't defined,
99 the users file is processed normally.
100 - If the ``notrealm`` option is defined, the user is processed
102 - The realm is stripped from the username unless ``nostrip`` was
103 set, and the request is sent to a remote radius server. Note that
104 any stripping done in the hints file doesn't have an effect on the
105 username sent to the remote radius server unless you set the
107 - The remote server replies with Access-Accept or Access-Reject
111 On Access-Accept: The initial Auth-Type is set to Accept
112 On Access-Reject: The initial Auth-Type is set to Reject
114 Then the users file is processed as usual. The username used at
115 this point is the one after hints file processing (regardless of
116 the ``hints`` option). It also includes the realm (regardless of the
117 setting of the ``nostrip`` option) unless the realm is ``LOCAL``.