## ProFTPD module `mod_radius`

This module is contained in the `mod_radius.c` file for ProFTPD 1.3.x, and is not compiled by default. Installation instructions are discussed here.

This module is used to authenticate users using the `RADIUS` protocol. It can also be used to do logging via `RADIUS` accounting packets. A more in-depth discussion of the usage of this module follows the configuration directive documentation.

The most current version of `mod_radius` is distributed with the ProFTPD source code.

## Author

Please contact TJ Saunders <tj at castaglia.org> with any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding this module.

## Thanks

2002-06-26: Thanks to Josh Wilsdon <josh at wizard.ca> for correcting a bad assumption in the code that caused data corruption under some circumstances.

2002-12-18: Many thanks to Steffen Clausjuergens <stcl at clausjuergens.de> for helping to track down several bugs with accounting packets.

2003-03-20: Many thanks to Boris Kovalenko <boris at tagnet.ru > for testing many versions of the VSA code.

## Directives

- RadiusAcctServer
- RadiusAuthServer
- RadiusEngine
- RadiusGroupInfo
- RadiusLog
- RadiusNASIdentifier
- RadiusOptions
- RadiusQuotaInfo
- RadiusRealm
- RadiusUserInfo
- RadiusVendor

### RadiusAcctServer

Syntax: RadiusAcctServer server[:port] shared-secret [timeout]
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.5rc2 and later

The `RadiusAcctServer` is used to specify a RADIUS server to be used for accounting. The server parameter may be either an IP address or a DNS hostname. If not specified, the port used will be the IANA-registered 1813. The optional timeout parameter is used to tell `mod_radius` how long to wait for a response from the server; it defaults to 30 seconds.

Multiple `RadiusAcctServer`s may be configured; each will be tried, in order of appearance in the configuration file, until that server times out or `mod_radius` receives a response.

If no `RadiusAcctServer`s are configured, `mod_radius` will not use RADIUS for accounting.

See also: RadiusAuthServer

### RadiusAuthServer

Syntax: RadiusAuthServer server[:port] shared-secret [timeout]
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.5rc2 and later

The `RadiusAuthServer` is used to specify a RADIUS server to be used for authentication. The server parameter may be either an IP address or a DNS hostname. If not specified, the port used will be the IANA-registered 1812. The optional timeout parameter is used to tell `mod_radius` how long to wait for a response from the server; it defaults to 30 seconds.

Multiple `RadiusAuthServer`s may be configured; each will be tried, in order of appearance in the configuration file, until that server times out or `mod_radius` receives a response.

If no `RadiusAuthServer`s are configured, `mod_radius` will not use RADIUS for authentication.

See also: RadiusAcctServer

### RadiusEngine

Syntax: RadiusEngine on|off
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.5rc2 and later

The `RadiusEngine` directive enables or disables the module's runtime RADIUS engine. If it is set to off this module does no RADIUS authentication or accounting at all. Use this directive to disable the module instead of commenting out all `mod_radius` directives.

### RadiusGroupInfo

Syntax: RadiusGroupInfo primary-group-name suppl-group-names suppl-group-ids
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.9rc1 and later

The `RadiusGroupInfo` directive is used to configure group membership information used for every user authenticated via RADIUS. The primary-group-name parameter is used to configure the name that matches the user's GID (which can be configured via the `RadiusUserInfo` directive). The suppl-group-names and suppl-group-ids parameters are used to specify supplemental group membership for each user; the number of names and IDs must match if these parameters, each a comma-delimited list, are used. As many of ProFTPD's directives can operate based on group names, these textual group names may be important.

In order to support RADIUS servers that may use custom attributes in their `Access-Accept` response packets to supply user information back to the RADIUS client (`mod_radius` in this case), this directive allows the following syntax for some of its parameters:

      $(attribute-id:default-value)

where the enclosing `$()` signals that the parameter is to be supplied by the RADIUS server, `attribute-id` is the Vendor Specific Attribute (VSA) ID for which to search in the response packet, and `default-value` is the value to use in case the requested attribute is not present in the response packet. See the `RadiusVendor` directive description for more information about VSAs.

See Also: `RadiusUserInfo`, `RadiusVendor`

### RadiusLog

Syntax: RadiusLog file|"none"
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.5rc2 and later

The `RadiusLog` directive is used to specify a log file for `mod_radius` reporting and debugging, and can be done a per-server basis. The file parameter must be the full path to the file to use for logging. Note that this path must not be to a world-writeable directory and, unless `AllowLogSymlinks` is explicitly set to on (generally a bad idea), the path must not be a symbolic link.

If file is "none", no logging will be done at all; this setting can be used to override a `RadiusLog` setting inherited from a `<Global>` context.

### RadiusNASIdentifier

Syntax: RadiusNASIdentifier id
Default: RadiusNASIdentifier ftp
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.3.1rc2 and later

The `RadiusNASIdentifier` directive configures an NAS identifier string that will be in the constructed RADIUS packets. By default, the NAS identifier is "ftp" for FTP sessions, and "ssh2" for SFTP/SCP sessions (via the `mod_sftp` module).

Example:

      RadiusNASIdentifier customID

### RadiusOptions

Syntax: RadiusOptions opt1 ...
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.3.6rc1 and later

The `RadiusOptions` directive is used to configure various optional behavior of `mod_radius`.

For example:

      RadiusOptions RequireMAC IgnoreReplyMessage

The currently implemented options are:

- `IgnoreClass`

  Some RADIUS servers will send the `Class` attribute in their `Access-Accept` response, containing a value that should be sent in every accounting requesting. To tell `mod_radius` to ignore/not send this `Class` attribute, use this option.

  Note that this option first appeared in `proftpd-1.3.6rc1`.

- `IgnoreReplyMessage`

  Some RADIUS servers will send the `Reply-Message` attribute in their `Access-Accept` and `Access-Reject` responses, containing messages that should be displayed to the connecting user. To tell `mod_radius` to ignore/not display these `Reply-Message` attributes, use this option.

  Note that this option first appeared in `proftpd-1.3.6rc1`.

- `IgnoreIdleTimeout`

  Some RADIUS servers will send the `Idle-Timeout` attribute in their `Access-Accept` response, containing a timeout value to be used for idle sessions. To tell `mod_radius` to ignore/not use this `Idle-Timeout` value, use this option.

  Note that this option first appeared in `proftpd-1.3.6rc1`.

- `IgnoreSessionTimeout`

  Some RADIUS servers will send the `Session-Timeout` attribute in their `Access-Accept` response, containing a timeout value to be used for maximum session durations. To tell `mod_radius` to ignore/not use this `Session-Timeout` value, use this option.

  Note that this option first appeared in `proftpd-1.3.6rc1`.

- `RequireMAC`

  Some RADIUS servers will send the `Message-Authenticator` attribute in their `Access-Accept` and `Access-Reject` responses, used for protecting against spoof attacks. Some RADIUS servers, though, do not use this attribute. To be very secure, and to tell `mod_radius` to require the use of this attribute, use this option.

  Note that this option first appeared in `proftpd-1.3.6rc1`.

### RadiusQuotaInfo

Syntax: RadiusQuotaInfo per-sess limit-type bytes-in bytes-out bytes-xfer files-in files-out files-xfer
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.3.0rc1 and later

The `RadiusQuotaInfo` directive is used to configure quota information used for every user. This information will be used, in conjunction with the `mod_quotatab_radius` module, for provisioning per-user quota information via RADIUS.

In order to support RADIUS servers that may use custom attributes in their `Access-Accept` response packets to supply user information back to the RADIUS client (`mod_radius` in this case), this directive allows the following syntax for some of its parameters:

      $(attribute-id:default-value)

where the enclosing `$()` signals that the parameter is to be supplied by the RADIUS server, `attribute-id` is the Vendor Specific Attribute (VSA) ID for which to search in the response packet, and `default-value` is the value to use in case the requested attribute is not present in the response packet. See the `RadiusVendor` directive description for more information about VSAs.

The `RadiusQuotaInfo` directive can be used to configure unchanging numbers, rather than custom attributes, if need be.

An example configuration might look like:

      <IfModule mod_quotatab_radius.c>
        QuotaLimitTable radius:
        QuotaTallyTable file:/home/tj/proftpd/devel/build/cvs/etc/ftpquota.tallytab

        # mod_radius attributes
        RadiusEngine on
        RadiusAuthServer localhost:1812 testing123 5
        RadiusLog /var/ftpd/log/radius.log

        # This sets unchanging quota limit values, rather than using custom attributes
        # from a RADIUS server
        RadiusQuotaInfo false soft 3.0 2.0 1.0 7 8 9

      </IfModule>

See Also: `RadiusVendor`

### RadiusRealm

Syntax: RadiusRealm realm
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.5rc2 and later

The `RadiusRealm` directive configures a realm string that will be added to the username in the constructed RADIUS packets.

Example:

      RadiusRealm .castaglia.org

### RadiusUserInfo

Syntax: RadiusUserInfo uid gid home shell
Default: None
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.5rc2 and later

The `RadiusUserInfo` directive is used to configure login information used for every user authenticated via RADIUS. Group membership information can be configured by using the `RadiusGroupInfo` directive.

In order to support RADIUS servers that may use custom attributes in their `Access-Accept` response packets to supply user information back to the RADIUS client (`mod_radius` in this case), this directive allows the following syntax for some of its parameters:

      $(attribute-id:default-value)

where the enclosing `$()` signals that the parameter is to be supplied by the RADIUS server, `attribute-id` is the Vendor Specific Attribute (VSA) ID for which to search in the response packet, and `default-value` is the value to use in case the requested attribute is not present in the response packet. See the `RadiusVendor` directive description for more information about VSAs.

If `RadiusUserInfo` is not used, `mod_radius` will perform pure "yes/no" authentication only, in the style of PAM. The information that would have been configured via this directive will be pulled from other sources (e.g. `/etc/passwd`, `AuthUserFile`s, MySQL tables, etc).

See Also: `RadiusGroupInfo`, `RadiusVendor`

### RadiusVendor

Syntax: RadiusVendor name id
Default: RadiusVendor Unix 4
Context: server config, `<VirtualHost>`, `<Global>`
Module: mod_radius
Compatibility: 1.2.9rc1 and later

The `RadiusVendor` directive is used to configure the vendor name and ID for which `mod_radius` will search when it looks for vendor-specific attributes in RADIUS response packets.

Earlier versions of `mod_radius` could be configured to look up custom RADIUS attributes by normal RADIUS attribute type IDs. However, those normal IDs can only be from 0 to 255, putting a limit on the number of such custom attributes. Fortunately, the RADIUS RFCs define a specific attribute ID, 26, for vendor-specific attributes. The values for such attributes contains an ID for the specific vendor, and then the vendor-specific attribute. The vendor IDs come from the IANA's enterprise numbers hierarchy:

      http://www.iana.org/assignments/enterprise-numbers

By default, `mod_radius` will look for a vendor ID of 4 (Unix); this configuration directive is used to tell `mod_radius` to expect a different vendor.

## Usage

Strong authentication is in demand for Internet services. For many, this means using the RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) protocol.

However, there are caveats to using RADIUS for authentication. RADIUS packets are sent in the clear, which means that they can easily be sniffed. First, do not have your authenticating RADIUS servers exposed to the Internet; keep them protected within your LAN. Second, it is highly recommended to use separate RADIUS servers for each of your services.

RADIUS Authentication
The RADIUS protocol can be used for answering the question "Should this user be allowed to login?" However, the "yes/no" answer is not everything that `proftpd` needs to log a user in; the server also requires the UID and GID to use for the authenticated user, home directory, and shell. This information is usually not available from the RADIUS servers, which means that using RADIUS to provide all the necessary login information can be problematic. The `RadiusUserInfo` directive is meant to be used to address this issue, to provide the missing information.

In those cases where the RADIUS servers can provide that additional login information, via custom attributes, the `RadiusUserInfo` directive can also be used obtain that information as well.

RADIUS Accounting
While RADIUS is primarily used for authentication, the protocol also allows for accounting of user activities. The `mod_radius` module makes use of this ability, using RADIUS accounting packets to transmit the following data:

- Acct-Authentic: How the user was authenticated (e.g. locally, or via RADIUS)
- Acct-Session-Id: The process ID of the FTP session
- Acct-Session-Time: The duration of the FTP session, in seconds
- Acct-Input-Octets: The number of bytes uploaded (includes appending to files)
- Acct-Output-Octets: The number of bytes downloaded
- Acct-Terminate-Cause: The reason the session ended
- Event-Timestamp: The number of seconds since the Unix epoch

Merely configuring a `RadiusAcctServer` enables the module's accounting capabilities.

Common Attributes
The following RADIUS attributes are sent with every RADIUS packet generated by `mod_radius`:

- User-Name: The name of the logging-in user
- NAS-Identifier: "ftp" (or "ssh2" for SFTP/SCP sessions)
- NAS-IP-Address or NAS-IPv6-Address: IP address of server
- NAS-Port: Port of server
- NAS-Port-Type: Always `Virtual`.
- Calling-Station-Id: IP address of connecting client
- Message-Authenticator: MAC of request, per RFC 3579

## Installation

The `mod_radius` module is distributed with ProFTPD. Simply follow the normal steps for using third-party modules in ProFTPD:

      $ ./configure --enable-openssl --with-modules=mod_radius

To build `mod_radius` as a DSO module:

      $ ./configure --enable-dso --enable-openssl --with-shared=mod_radius

Then follow the usual steps:

      $ make
      $ make install

Alternatively, if your `proftpd` was compiled with DSO support, you can use the `prxs` tool to build `mod_radius` as a shared module:

      $ prxs -c -i -d mod_radius.c

Logging
The `mod_radius` module supports different forms of logging. The main module logging is done via the `RadiusLog` directive. For debugging purposes, the module also uses trace logging, via the module-specific log channels:

- radius

Thus for trace logging, to aid in debugging, you would use the following in your `proftpd.conf`:

      TraceLog /path/to/radius-trace.log
      Trace radius:20

This trace logging can generate large files; it is intended for debugging use only, and should be removed from any production configuration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Why is ProFTPD trying to open UDP sockets that are blocked by my SELinux policies?
Answer: The RADIUS protocol uses UDP, and thus using the `mod_radius` module means that ProFTPD will open UDP sockets. In terms of SELinux policies, RADIUS is very similar to NIS in its use of UDP, and thus to allow these RADIUS UDP sockets, you can use:

    $ setsebool -P nis_enabled 1

© Copyright 2000-2021 TJ Saunders
All Rights Reserved