3 The FreeRADIUS Server Project is a high performance and highly
4 configurable RADIUS server that is available under the terms of the
5 GNU GPLv2. Using RADIUS allows authentication and authorization for a
6 network to be centralized, and minimizes the number of changes that
7 have to be done when adding ordeleting new users.
9 FreeRADIUS can authenticate users on systems such as 802.1x (WiFi),
10 dialup, PPPoE, VPN's, VoIP, and many others. It supports back-end
11 databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft Active Directory,
12 OpenLDAP, and many more. It is used daily to authenticate the
13 Internet access for hundreds of millions of people, in sites ranging
14 from 10 users, to 10 million and more users.
16 Version 2.0 of the server is similar in many respects to previous
17 versions. It also contains many new features, such as "virtual
18 server" support (raddb/sites-available/README), and a simple policy
19 language ("man unlang"). Administrators upgrading from a previous
20 version should install this version in a different location from their
21 existing systems. They should then migrate their current
22 configuration to the new server, being careful to take advantage of
23 the new features which can greatly simply the servers configuration.
25 Please see the web page http://www.freeradius.org for more
26 information. The wiki (http://wiki.freeradius.org) also contains a
27 large amount of documentation that addresses common scenarios.
32 To install the server, please see the INSTALL file in this
36 3. DEBUGGING THE SERVER
38 Run the server in debugging mode, (radiusd -X) and READ the output.
39 We cannot emphasize this point strongly enough. The vast majority of
40 problems can be solved by carefully reading the debugging output,
41 which includes WARNINGs about common issues, and suggestions for how
44 Read the FAQ. Many questions are answered there. See the Wiki
46 http://wiki.freeradius.org
48 Read the configuration files. Many parts of the server have NO
49 documentation, other than comments in the configuration file.
51 Search the mailing lists. There is a Google link on the bottom of
54 http://www.freeradius.org/list/users.html
56 Type some key words into the search box, and you should find
57 discussions about common problems and solution.
60 4. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
62 See 'doc/README' for more information about FreeRADIUS.
64 There is an O'Reilly book available, which we recommend for people
65 new to RADIUS. It is almost 5 years old, however, and is not much
66 more than a basic introduction to the subject.
68 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596003226/freeradiusorg-20/
70 For other RADIUS information, the Livington internet site had a lot
71 of information on radius online. Unfortunately Livingston, and the
72 site, don't exist anymore but there is a copy of the site still at:
74 http://portmasters.com/www.livingston.com/
76 Especially worth a read is the "RADIUS for Unix administrators guide"
78 HTML: http://portmasters.com/tech/docs/radius/1185title.html
79 PDF: http://portmasters.com/tech/docs/pdf/radius.pdf
82 5. PROBLEMS AND CONCERNS
84 We understand that the server may be difficult to configure,
85 install, or administer. It is, after all, a complex system with many
86 different configuration possibilities.
88 The most common problem is that people change large amounts of the
89 configuration without understanding what they're doing, and without
90 testing their changes. The preferred method of operation is the
93 1) Start off with the default configuration files.
94 2) Save a copy of the default configuration: It WORKS everywhere.
95 3) Verify that the server starts. (You ARE using debugging mode, right?)
96 4) Send it test packets using "radclient", or a NAS or AP.
97 5) Verify that the server does what you expect.
98 a) If it does not work, change the configuration, and go to step (3)
99 If you're stuck, revert to using the "last working" configuration.
100 b) If it works, proceed to step (6).
101 6) Save a copy of the working configuration, along with a note
102 of what you changed, and why.
103 7) Make a SMALL change to the configuration.
104 8) Repeat from step (3).
106 This method will ensure that you have a working configuration that
107 is customized to your site as quickly as possible. While it may seem
108 frustrating to proceed via a series of small steps, the alternative is
114 If you have any comments, bug reports, problems, or concerns, please
115 send them to the 'freeradius-users' list (see the URL above). We will
116 do our best to answer your questions, to fix the problems, and to
117 generally improve the server in any way we can.
119 What you should NOT do is complain that the developers aren't
120 answering your questions quickly enough, or fixing the problems
121 quickly enough, or that they're being mean for telling you to do some
122 work yourself. FreeRADIUS is the cumulative effort of many years of
123 work by many people, and you've gotten it for free. No one gets paid
124 to work on FreeRADIUS, and no one is getting paid to answer your
125 questions. This is free software, and the only way it gets better is
126 if you contribute work back to the project.
128 We will note that the people who complain the loudest about the
129 developers being mean usually can't program, can't write
130 documentation, won't pay others to do that work, demand that their
131 every desire be satisifed immediately by the developers for free, and
132 worst of all, don't understand why their attitude is unproductive.
133 They seem to believe that because they've received something (the
134 server) for free, that they have every right to demand more free
135 support and development from the list. That's simply not true.
137 So please submit bug reports, suggestions, or patches. That
138 feedback gives the developers a guide as to where they should focus
139 their work. If you like the server, feel free to mail the list and