Sections
Important
The configuration for 3.2 is compatible with 3.0. The only change is that the correct_escapes configuration has been removed, and is not the default.
A number of configuration items have moved into the "security" subsection of radiusd.conf. If you use these, you should move them. Otherwise, they can be ignored.
The list of moved options is:
chroot user group allow_core_dumps reject_delay status_server
These entries should be moved from "radiusd.conf" to the "security" subsection of that file.
Many names used by configuration items were inconsistent in earlier versions of the server. These names have been unified in version 3.
If a file is being referenced or created the config item filename
is used.
If a file is being created, the initial permissions are set by the
permissions config item.
If a directory hierarchy needs to be created, the permissions are set
by dir_permissions.
If an external host is referenced in the context of a module the
server config item is used.
Unless the config item is a well recognised portmanteau
(as filename is for example), it must be written as multiple
distinct words separated by underscores _.
The configuration items file, script_file, module,
detail, detailfile, attrsfile, perm, dirperm,
detailperm, and hostname are deprecated. As well as any false
portmanteaus, and configuration items that used hyphens as word
delimiters. e.g. foo-bar has been changed to foo_bar. Please
update your module configuration to use the new syntax.
In most cases the server will tell you the replacement config item to use. As always, run the server in debugging mode to see these messages.
As of version 3, the modules/ directory no longer exists.
Instead, all "example" modules have been put into the
mods-available/ directory. Modules which can be loaded by the
server are placed in the mods-enabled/ directory. All of the
modules in that directory will be loaded. This means that the
instantiate section of radiusd.conf is less important. The only
reason to list a module in the instantiate section is to force
ordering when the modules are loaded.
Modules can be enabled by creating a soft link. For module foo, do:
$ cd raddb/mods-enabled $ ln -s ../mods-available/foo
To create "local" versions of the modules, we suggest copying the file
instead. This leaves the original file (with documentation) in the
mods-available/ directory. Local changes should go into the
mods-enabled/ directory.
Module-specific configuration files are now in the mods-config/
directory. This change allows for better organization, and means that
there are fewer files in the main raddb directory. See
mods-config/README.rst for more details.
The following modules have been changed.
The SQL configuration has been moved from sql.conf to
mods-available/sql. The sqlippool.conf file has also been
moved to mods-available/sqlippool.
The SQL module configuration has been changed. The old connection pool options are no longer accepted:
num_sql_socks connect_failure_retry_delay lifetime max_queries
Instead, a connection pool configuration is used. This configuration contains all of the functionality of the previous configuration, but in a more generic form. It also is used in multiple modules, meaning that there are fewer different configuration items. The mapping between the configuration items is:
num_sql_socks -> pool { max }
connect_failure_retry_delay -> pool { retry_delay }
lifetime -> pool { lifetime }
max_queries -> pool { uses }
The pool configuration adds a number of new configuration options, which allow the administrator to better control how FreeRADIUS uses SQL connection pools.
The following parameters have been changed:
trace -> removed tracefile -> logfile
The logfile is intended to log SQL queries performed. If you need to
debug the server, use debugging mode. If logfile is set, then
all SQL queries will go to logfile.
You can now use a NULL SQL database:
driver = rlm_sql_null
This is an empty driver which will always return "success". It is
intended to be used to replace the sql_log module, and to work in
conjunction with the radsqlrelay program. Simply take your normal
configuration for raddb/mods-enabled/sql, and set:
driver = rlm_sql_null
...
logfile = ${radacctdir}/sql.log
All of the SQL queries will be logged to that file. The connection
pool does not need to be configured for the null SQL driver. It
can be left as-is, or deleted from the SQL configuration file.
The rlm_sql_sybase module has been renamed to rlm_sql_freetds
and the old rlm_sql_freetds module has been removed.
rlm_sql_sybase used the newer ct-lib API, and rlm_sql_freetds
used an older API and was incomplete.
The new rlm_sql_freetds module now also supports database
selection on connection startup so use statements no longer
have to be included in queries.
Queries for post-auth and accounting calls have been re-arranged. The SQL module will now expand the 'reference' configuration item in the appropriate sub-section, and resolve this to a configuration item. This behaviour is similar to rlm_linelog. This dynamic expansion allows for a dynamic mapping between accounting types and SQL queries. Previously, the mapping was fixed. Any "new" accounting type was ignored by the module. Now, support for any accounting type can be added by just adding a new target, as below.
Queries from v2 may be manually copied to the new v3
dialup.conf file (raddb/mods-config/sql/main/<dialect>/queries.conf).
When doing this you may also need to update references to the
accounting tables, as their definitions will now be outside of
the subsection containing the query.
The mapping from old "fixed" query to new "dynamic" query is as follows:
accounting_onoff_query -> accounting.type.accounting-on.query accounting_update_query -> accounting.type.interim-update.query accounting_update_query_alt +> accounting.type.interim-update.query accounting_start_query -> accounting.type.start.query accounting_start_query_alt +> accounting.type.start.query accounting_stop_query -> accounting.type.stop.query accounting_stop_query_alt +> accounting.type.stop.query postauth_query -> post-auth.query
Alternatively a v2 config may be patched to work with the v3 module by adding the following:
accounting {
reference = "%{tolower:type.%{Acct-Status-Type}.query}"
type {
accounting-on {
query = "${....accounting_onoff_query}"
}
accounting-off {
query = "${....accounting_onoff_query}"
}
start {
query = "${....accounting_start_query}"
query = "${....accounting_start_query_alt}"
}
interim-update {
query = "${....accounting_update_query}"
query = "${....accounting_update_query_alt}"
}
stop {
query = "${....accounting_stop_query}"
query = "${....accounting_stop_query_alt}"
}
}
}
post-auth {
query = "${..postauth_query}"
}
In general, it is safer to migrate the configuration rather than trying to "patch" it, to make it look like a v2 configuration.
Note that the sub-sections holding the queries are labelled
accounting-on, and not accounting_on. The reason is that the
names of these sections are taken directly from the
Accounting-Request packet, and the Acct-Status-Type field.
The sql module looks at the value of that field, and then looks
for a section of that name, in order to find the query to use.
That process means that the server can be extended to support any new
value of Acct-Status-Type, simply by adding a named sub-section,
and a query. This behavior is preferable to that of v2, which had
hard-coded queries for certain Acct-Status-Type values, and was
ignored all other values.
The LDAP module configuration has been substantially changed. Please
read raddb/mods-available/ldap. It now uses a connection pool,
just like the SQL module.
Many of the configuration items remain the same, but they have been moved into subsections. This change is largely cosmetic, but it makes the configuration clearer. Instead of having a large set of random configuration items, they are now organized into logical groups.
You will need to read your old LDAP configuration, and migrate it manually to the new configuration. Simply copying the old configuration WILL NOT WORK.
Users upgrading from v2 who used to call the ldap module in
post-auth should now set edir_autz = yes, and remove the ldap
module from the post-auth section.
In v2 the registration of the LDAP-Group pair comparison was done
by the last instance of rlm_ldap to be instantiated. In v3 this has
changed so that only the default ldap {} instance registers
LDAP-Group.
If <instance>-LDAP-Group is already used throughout your configuration
no changes will be needed.
In v2 the LDAP module had a set_auth_type configuration item,
which forced Auth-Type := ldap. This was removed in 3.x.x as it
often did not work, and was not consistent with the rest of the
server. We generally recommend that LDAP should be used as a
database, and that FreeRADIUS should do authentication.
The only reason to use Auth-Type := ldap is when the LDAP server
will not supply the "known good" password to FreeRADIUS, and where
the Access-Request contains User-Password. This situation happens
only for Active Directory. If you think you need to force Auth-Type
:= ldap in other situations, you are very likely to be wrong.
The following is an example of what should be inserted into the
authorize {} and authenticate {} sections of the relevant
virtual-servers, to get functionality equivalent to v2.x:
authorize {
...
ldap
if ((ok || updated) && User-Password) {
update control {
Auth-Type := ldap
}
}
...
}
authenticate {
...
Auth-Type ldap {
ldap
}
...
}
The EAP configuration has been moved from eap.conf to
mods-available/eap. A new pwd subsection has been added for
EAP-PWD.
The rlm_expiration and rlm_logintime modules no longer add a Reply-Message,
the same behaviour can be achieved checking the return code of the module and
adding the Reply-Message with unlang:
expiration
if (userlock) {
update reply {
Reply-Message := "Your account has expired"
}
}
The unix module does not have an authenticate section. So you
cannot set Auth-Type := System. The unix module has also been
deleted from the examples in sites-available/. Listing it there
has been deprecated for many years.
The PAP module can do crypt authentication. It should be used instead of Unix authentication.
The Unix module still can pull the passwords from /etc/passwd, or
/etc/shadow. This is done by listing it in the authorize
section, as is done in the examples in sites-available/. However,
some systems using NIS or NSS will not supply passwords to the
unix module. For those systems, we recommend putting users and
passwords into a database, instead of relying on /etc/passwd.
In v2 huntroups and users files were loaded from default locations
without being configured explicitly. Since 3.x.x you need to set
huntgroups and users configuration item(s) in module section in order
to get them being processed.
Instances of rlm_date register an xlat method which can translate integer and date values to an arbitrarily formatted date time string, or an arbitrarily formated time string to an integer, depending on the attribute type passed.
The rest module is used to translate RADIUS requests into
RESTfull HTTP requests. Currently supported body types are JSON
and POST.
The unpack module is used to turn data buried inside of binary
attributes. e.g. if we have Class = 0x00000001020304 then:
Tmp-Integer-0 := "%{unpack:&Class 4 short}"
will unpack octets 4 and 5 as a "short", which has value 0x0304. All integers are assumed to be in network byte order.
The yubikey module can be used to forward yubikey OTP token
values to a Yubico validation server, or decrypt the token
using a PSK.
The following modules have been deleted, and are no longer supported in Version 3. If you are using one of these modules, your configuration can probably be changed to not need it. Otherwise email the freeradius-devel list, and ask about the module.
This module has been replaced by the "acct_unique" policy. See raddb/policy.d/accounting.
The method for calculating the value of acct_unique has changed. However, as this method was configurable, this change should not matter. The only issue is in having a v2 and v3 server writing to the same database at the same time. They will calculate different values for Acct-Unique-Id.
You should use rlm_linelog instead. That module has a superset of the acctlog functionality.
The attr_rewrite module looked for an attribute, and then re-wrote it, or created a new attribute. All of that can be done in "unlang".
A sample configuration in "unlang" is:
if (request:Calling-Station-Id) {
update request {
Calling-Station-Id := "...."
}
}
We suggest updating all uses of attr_rewrite to use unlang instead.
The checkval module compared two attributes. All of that can be done in "unlang":
if (&request:Calling-Station-Id == &control:Calling-Station-Id) {
ok
}
We suggest updating all uses of checkval to use unlang instead.
No one seems to use it. There is no sample configuration for it. There is no speed advantage to using it over the "files" module. Modern systems are fast enough that 10K entries can be read from the "users" file in about 10ms. If you need more users than that, use a real database such as SQL.
No one seems to use it. It has been deprecated since Version 2.0.0. The "files" module was rewritten so that the "fastusers" module was no longer necessary.
No one seems to use it. Almost all of its functionality is available via "unlang".
The rlm_sim_files module has been deleted. It was never marked "stable", and was never used in a production environment. There are better ways to test EAP.
If you want similar functionality, see rlm_passwd. It can read CSV files, and create attributes from them.
This has been replaced with the "null" sql driver. See raddb/mods-available/sql for an example configuration.
The main SQL module has more functionality than rlm_sql_log, and results in less code in the server.
The following is a list of new / changed functionality.
RadSec (or RADIUS over TLS) is now supported. RADIUS over bare TCP is also supported, but is recommended only for secure networks.
See sites-available/tls for complete details on using TLS. The server
can both receive incoming TLS connections, and also originate outgoing
TLS connections.
The TLS configuration is taken from the old EAP-TLS configuration. It is largely identical to the old EAP-TLS configuration, so it should be simple to use and configure. It re-uses much of the EAP-TLS code, so it is well-tested and reliable.
Once RadSec is enabled, normal debugging mode will not work. This is because the TLS code requires threading to work properly. Instead of doing:
$ radiusd -X
you will need to do:
$ radiusd -fxx -l stdout
That's the price to pay for using RadSec. This limitation may be lifted in a future version of the server.
From version 3 onwards the server no longer supports authenticating against a cleartext password in the 'User-Password' attribute. Any occurences of this (for instance, in the users file) should now be changed to 'Cleartext-Password' instead.
e.g. change entries like this:
bob User-Password == "hello"
to ones like this:
bob Cleartext-Password := "hello"
If this is not done, authentication will likely fail. The server will also print a helpful message in debugging mode.
If it really is impossible to do this, the following unlang inserted above the call to the pap module may be used to copy User-Password to the correct attribute:
if (!control:Cleartext-Password && control:User-Password) {
update control {
Cleartext-Password := "%{control:User-Password}"
}
}
However, this should only be seen as a temporary, not permanent, fix. It is better to fix your databases to use the correct configuration.
The unlang policy language is compatible with v2, but has a number of
new features. See man unlang for complete documentation.
ERRORS
Many more errors are caught when the server is starting up. Syntax
errors in unlang are caught, and a helpful error message is
printed. The error message points to the exact place where the error
occurred:
./raddb/sites-enabled/default[230]: Parse error in condition
ERROR: if (User-Name ! "bob") {
ERROR: ^ Invalid operator
update sections are more generic. Instead of doing update
reply, you can do the following:
update {
reply:Class := 0x0000
control:Cleartext-Password := "hello"
}
This change means that you need fewer update sections.
COMPARISONS
Attribute comparisons can be done via the & operator. When you
needed to compare two attributes, the old comparison style was:
if (User-Name == "%{control:Tmp-String-0}") {
This syntax is inefficient, as the Tmp-String-0 attribute would be
printed to an intermediate string, causing unnecessary work. You can
now instead compare the two attributes directly:
if (&User-Name == &control:Tmp-String-0) {
See man unlang for more details.
CASTS
Casts are now permitted. This allows you to force type-specific comparisons:
if (<ipaddr>"%{sql: SELECT...}" == 127.0.0.1) {
This forces the string returned by the SELECT to be treated as an IP
address, and compare to 127.0.0.1. Previously, the comparison
would have been done as a simple string comparison.
NETWORKS
IP networks are now supported:
if (127.0.0.1/32 == 127.0.0.1) {
Will be true. The various comparison operators can be used to
check IP network membership:
if (127/8 > 127.0.0.1) {
Returns true, because 127.0.0.1 is within the 127/8
network. However, the following comparison will return false:
if (127/8 > 192.168.0.1) {
because 192.168.0.1 is outside of the 127/8 network.
OPTIMIZATION
As unlang is now pre-compiled, many compile-time optimizations are
done. This means that the debug output may not be exactly the same as
what is in the configuration files:
if (0 && (User-Name == "bob')) {
The result will always be false, as the if 0 prevents the
following && ... from being evaluated.
Not only that, but the entire contents of that section will be ignored entirely:
if (0) {
this_module_does_not_exist
and_this_one_does_not_exist_either
}
In v2, that configuration would result in a parse error, as there is
no module called this_module_does_not_exist. In v3, that text is
ignored. This ability allows you to have dynamic configurations where
certain parts are used (or not) depending on compile-time configuration.
Similarly, conditions which always evaluate to true will be
optimized away:
if (1) {
files
}
That configuration will never show the if (1) output in debugging mode.
The dialup_admin directory has been removed. No one stepped forward to maintain it, and the code had not been changed in many years.