FreeRADIUS Genie
An installer to setup and configure FreeRADIUS for use with Sonar., (*1)
Getting started
This installer is designed to be run on Ubuntu 16.04 64bit, but should work on most versions of Ubuntu. Download and install Ubuntu on the server you wish to run FreeRADIUS on. If you want to host it online, I recommend Digital Ocean., (*2)
Once Ubuntu is installed, SSH in and run the following commands to prepare installation:, (*3)
sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get upgradesudo apt-get install php-cli php-mbstring php-mysql unzip
If you're using an older version of Ubuntu, you may need to run sudo apt-get install php5-cli php5-mbstring php5-mysql unzip instead., (*4)
Once these commands are complete, you should install MariaDB (a replacement for MySQL) and the FreeRADIUS server. Run the following commands to complete this step:, (*5)
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-clientsudo apt-get install freeradius freeradius-common freeradius-utils freeradius-mysql
Once these commands are complete, you can download FreeRADIUS Genie by executing wget https://github.com/SonarSoftwareInc/freeradius_genie-v2/archive/master.zip and then unzip master.zip. Once unzipped, enter the directory by typing cd freeradius_genie-v2-master., (*6)
A note on hosting
If you're hosting this online, it's likely that your server does not have any swap memory setup. If you've selected a server with a low amount of RAM (1-2G), or even if you've picked more, it can be worthwhile setting up a swap partition to make sure you don't run into any out of memory errors.
Your swap file size should be, at minimum, be equal to the amount of physical RAM on the server. It should be, at maximum, equal to 2x the amount of physical RAM on the server. A good rule of thumb is to just start by making it equal to the amount of available RAM, increasing to double the RAM if you run into out of memory errors.
If you run into out of memory errors after moving to 2x the amount of RAM, you should increase the amount of RAM on your server rather than increasing swap. The SwapFaq on ubuntu.com can be helpful as well., (*7)
To setup swap, run the following commands as root (or by putting 'sudo' in front of each command):, (*8)
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/usr/bin/fallocate -l 4G /swapfile where 4G is equal to the size of the swap file in gigabytes.
/bin/chmod 600 /swapfile/sbin/mkswap /swapfile/sbin/swapon /swapfileecho "/swapfile none swap sw 0 0" >> /etc/fstab/sbin/sysctl vm.swappiness=10echo "vm.swappiness=10" >> /etc/sysctl.conf/sbin/sysctl vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50echo "vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50" >> /etc/sysctl.conf
Completing preliminary installation
Now that all the necessary software to run your FreeRADIUS server is installed, you will need to configure your SQL database. To do this, run sudo /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation and answer the questions using the following:, (*9)
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Enter current password for root (enter for none): - Press enter
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Set root password? [Y/n] - Press 'y'
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New password: - Enter a strong password and write it down - we will need this password shortly!
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Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] - Press 'y'
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Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] - Press 'y'
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Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] - Press 'y'
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Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] - Press 'y'
Once this is done, we have a very basic server setup - FreeRADIUS and the MySQL database are installed we're ready to move onto the initial configuration., (*10)
Configuration
In order to allow the Sonar genie tool to setup everything else for you, you need to enter the MySQL root password you setup a minute ago in a .env file. Type cp .env.example .env and then nano .env. You'll see a line that says MYSQL_PASSWORD=changeme. Use
the backspace key to delete changeme and replace it with the MySQL root password you setup. Press CTRL+X to exit, and save your changes. Make sure you record this root password somewhere, as you will need it in the future!, (*11)
Once that's done, we're ready to start using genie!, (*12)
Genie
Genie is a command line tool we built to help automate the setup and configuration of your FreeRADIUS server. We're going to step through each initial setup item to get our initial configuration out of the way. Type php genie and you'll see something like this:, (*13)
, (*14)
This is the tool you'll use to do all of your configuration - no need to jump into configuration files or the MySQL database!, (*15)
First steps
Let's start by getting the database setup. Highlight the Initial Configuration option, press the space bar to select it, and then press enter. You'll see an option titled Setup initial database structure - press the space bar to select it, press enter, and your database will be configured. If you
receive an error message about credentials, double check the root password you placed into your .env file in the Configuration section., (*16)
Once that's completed, we need to setup the FreeRADIUS configuration files. Select Perform initial FreeRADIUS configuration by using the space bar to select it, and then pressing enter. This will configure your FreeRADIUS server to use the SQL server as a backend, and restart it., (*17)
Managing your NAS
NAS stands for Network Access Server - this is the device that you will be connecting to your RADIUS server to manage your clients. Typically, in an ISP network where the NAS is used to manage individual clients, the NAS
will be something like a PPPoE concentrator. Let's step through adding a new NAS to the FreeRADIUS server using Genie, and then configuring our NAS (a MikroTik router) to use the FreeRADIUS server., (*18)
In Genie (remember, to bring up Genie, just type php genie) make sure you're at the top level, and then select NAS Configuration followed by Add NAS. You will be asked for the IP address of the client, and to enter a short name for it., (*19)
, (*20)
The tool will then return a random secret to you - copy this, as you will need to enter it into the PPPoE concentrator!, (*21)
We can now add this RADIUS server to our MikroTik to use it to manage our PPPoE sessions. This step will differ depending on your NAS manufacturer - refer to the manual if you're unsure. Jump into your MikroTik using WinBox., (*22)
, (*23)
Click RADIUS on the left, click the + button in the window that appears, and then fill in the following fields:, (*24)
- Check the PPP checkbox.
- Enter the IP address of your RADIUS server in the Address field.
- Enter the random secret Genie provided you with in the Secret field.
- Under Src. Address, enter the IP that you entered into Genie when you created the NAS.
OK, your MikroTik is now setup to use RADIUS for PPP! We'll get into some deeper configuration later on., (*25)
You can also view all the NAS you've setup in your RADIUS server by selecting the List NAS Entries in Genie, and you can remove a NAS by using the Remove NAS option., (*26)
Configuring MySQL for remote access
We also need to configure the MySQL server to allow remote access from Sonar, so that Sonar can write and read records for the RADIUS server. Let's do that now. Navigate into the MySQL remote access configuration menu, and select Enable remote access., (*27)
, (*28)
This makes the MySQL server listen for connections on all interfaces on the server, rather than just to localhost (127.0.0.1). Now we need to setup a remote user account, so that your Sonar instance can access the database. To do this, select Add a remote access user in the same menu., (*29)
Genie will ask you to use the defaults or the IP address of the remote server. It is recommended to use the Sonar defaults for Sonar V2 instances. If using Sonar V1 and you don't know the IP of your Sonar instance, you can ping it to get the IP:, (*30)
, (*31)
Once you add the remote access user, Genie will give you back a random username and password. Copy this down - we'll need it in a minute!, (*32)
, (*33)
If you ever need to add a new user, view the existing users, or remove a user, you can also do that in this menu., (*34)
Linking your FreeRADIUS server to Sonar
Once this configuration is done, we need to add the RADIUS server into Sonar. Inside your Sonar instance, enter the Network navigation menu entry and click RADIUS Server., (*35)
, (*36)
Enter all the information you have - the Database Name is radius and the Database Port is 3306. Once the information is entered, click the Validate Credentials button at the top and you should see Current Server Status show Accessible., (*37)
Basic PPPoE configuration
Once this is done, you'll have a basic setup in place to enable PPPoE. Here's a quick tutorial on setting up a simple PPPoE configuration on a MikroTik router., (*38)
First, we need to setup our IP pools. These should correspond to IP pools you have created in your Sonar IPAM - refer to the Sonar documentation for details on this! To configure pools, navigate to IP > Pool in your MikroTik. You can create
as many IP pools here as you need, and chain them together so that if one pool is full, the next one is used. You can statically assign IPs to users from within Sonar by associating an IP with their RADIUS account. If you don't do this, then an IP will
be selected from an available pool when the client connects, and Sonar will dynamically learn that IP and enter it as a soft assignment inside Sonar., (*39)
, (*40)
The pool configuration is pretty simple - a start IP, an end IP, and the next pool to use if this one is full., (*41)
Once you've configured your pools, click PPP in the menu on the left and then click the Profiles tab. Click the + button to create a new profile., (*42)
We're going to configure a very basic profile. Enter a name, select a local address to use for the profile (in this example, I used the first IP in the subnet for my pool - note that this IP is not included in my pool range!) and for remote address, select your first pool.
Enter some DNS servers to assign to users, and under the Limits tab, set a session timeout. This will disconnect users after a certain period of time and they will have to reconnect. If you want to allow infinite sessions, don't set a timeout. Something like 24 hours is a reasonable
setting if you want to have a timeout value., (*43)
, (*44)
Once your profile is configured, click the Secrets tab, and click the PPP Authentication&Accounting button., (*45)
, (*46)
Make sure Use Radius is checked, and that Accounting is checked. Make sure Interim Update is set to a reasonable value in minutes. This is how frequently this MikroTik will send accounting data to your RADIUS server. If you make this too short, and you have a lot of clients, your server will become overloaded.
There is no hard and fast rule as to what to use here. The shorter the time, the more often accounting data will be sent to the RADIUS server, and the more frequently you'll see updates as to users data usage in Sonar. If you have a very small network (a few hundred users) you can probably set this to a low value (1-5 minutes) without
much impact. For larger networks, set this to at least 15 minutes - you may need to increase it even more for very large networks!, (*47)
Now click the PPPoE Servers tab, and click the + button to create a server., (*48)
, (*49)
Enter a name for the server, select the interface that your clients will be connecting on, and select the profile we created earlier. If you only want to allow one PPPoE session per host (which you probably do!) check One Session Per Host. Make sure all the authentication options at the bottom are checked., (*50)
You now have a very basic, functioning PPPoE server. Login to your Sonar instance, navigate to a user account, and access the Network tab, and then the RADIUS tab. Create a new RADIUS account and note the username and password., (*51)
Now, back in the MikroTik, Click the Active Connections tab and try connecting using a PPPoE client, authenticating using the credentials you just created in Sonar. You should be assigned an IP from the pool, and the connection will show up in the list! To assign a static IP, navigate back into Sonar,
go to the Network tab on an account, and then IP Assignments. Assign an IP to the RADIUS account, and then disconnect and reconnect your PPPoE client. You will be assigned the static IP you selected., (*52)
Scaling FreeRADIUS to large networks
The FreeRADIUS guide to scaling is pretty simple. The short version is, give it lots of RAM, CPU, fast disks, and tweak the couple of settings mentioned in the scalability guide. If you're running a big network with hundreds of thousands and subscribers, and you want some help, let us know!, (*53)
Further security
It's possible to further secure your FreeRADIUS installation with a couple of steps, detailed below. These steps are not required, but are recommended., (*54)
Configuring the connectivity between Sonar and FreeRADIUS to use TLS
Configuring Sonar to use TLS to connect to the SQL server backing FreeRADIUS will ensure all data transferred is encrypted. The overhead is minimal, it just requires some effort to do the initial setup and make the necessary changes in Sonar. This guide assumes you have followed the steps above, you're using Ubuntu 16.04 and MariaDB., (*55)
In order for SSL connectivity to work, your RADIUS server must be entered into Sonar with a hostname (e.g. radius.sonar.software) and not an IP address. The certificate we generate below must match the hostname exactly., (*56)
First, we're going to make a folder to store our certs in., (*57)
mkdir /etc/mysql/certs, (*58)
Now we're going to create the certificates. Run the commands below., (*59)
openssl genrsa 2048 > /etc/mysql/certs/ca-key.pem, (*60)
openssl req -sha1 -new -x509 -nodes -days 10000 -key /etc/mysql/certs/ca-key.pem > /etc/mysql/certs/ca-cert.pem, (*61)
When running the second command, you will be prompted to enter some variables. Just fill in some reasonable data here, but make sure the Common Name field is NOT the exact hostname of your RADIUS server. Set it to something different, for example SonarRadius., (*62)
openssl req -sha1 -newkey rsa:2048 -days 10000 -nodes -keyout /etc/mysql/certs/server-key.pem > /etc/mysql/certs/server-req.pem, (*63)
You will again be prompted to enter variables here. Enter the same data as you entered previously, but this time make sure the Common Name field is the exact hostname of your RADIUS server. When prompted for a challenge password, just press enter., (*64)
openssl x509 -sha1 -req -in /etc/mysql/certs/server-req.pem -days 10000 -CA /etc/mysql/certs/ca-cert.pem -CAkey /etc/mysql/certs/ca-key.pem -set_serial 01 > /etc/mysql/certs/server-cert.pem, (*65)
openssl rsa -in /etc/mysql/certs/server-key.pem -out /etc/mysql/certs/server-key.pem, (*66)
openssl req -sha1 -newkey rsa:2048 -days 10000 -nodes -keyout /etc/mysql/certs/client-key.pem > /etc/mysql/certs/client-req.pem, (*67)
Again, fill in the variables. This time, set Common Name to Sonar, and leave the challenge password blank., (*68)
openssl x509 -sha1 -req -in /etc/mysql/certs/client-req.pem -days 10000 -CA /etc/mysql/certs/ca-cert.pem -CAkey /etc/mysql/certs/ca-key.pem -set_serial 01 > /etc/mysql/certs/client-cert.pem, (*69)
openssl rsa -in /etc/mysql/certs/client-key.pem -out /etc/mysql/certs/client-key.pem, (*70)
You now have all the certificates generated that we'll need to enable TLS connectivity. We now need to reconfigure MariaDB to use these certificates., (*71)
nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf, (*72)
Once inside the configuration file, add these lines to the end of the file:, (*73)
ssl-ca=/etc/mysql/certs/ca-cert.pem, (*74)
ssl-cert=/etc/mysql/certs/server-cert.pem, (*75)
ssl-key=/etc/mysql/certs/server-key.pem, (*76)
Now restart MariaDB:, (*77)
service mysql restart, (*78)
You can verify if SSL is now enabled by doing the following:, (*79)
mysql -uroot -p<YOUR ROOT MYSQL PASSWORD HERE>, (*80)
Once in the MySQL command line, do show global variables like 'have_ssl'; and you should see have_ssl with a value of YES. If you do not, go back through the preceeding steps and redo all steps until the value becomes YES., (*81)
You now need to transfer the client files and the ca-cert.pem file from this server to your Sonar instance. A quick and easy way to do this is to use FileZilla to connect via SFTP, and then download the files. You will need client-key.pem, client-cert.pem, and ca-cert.pem., (*82)
Navigate to the Sonar RADIUS configuration page at Network > Provisioning > RADIUS Server. Configure your RADIUS server here, and save. After that's done, check the checkbox labelled Enable SSL connectivity and upload the client key, client certificate, and CA certificate from your RADIUS server. Click Save and then click Validate Credentials at the top of the page. If the credential validation now fails (and it was working previously) then you have not performed a step here properly - go back to the beginning and start over. The most common cause of the error is not entering the proper values in the Common Name fields when generating the certificates, or misconfiguring the MySQL server., (*83)
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