The software is currently unmaintained, might not work using more recent PHP versions, and possibly has some security issues. Using this software is deprecated.

Dialup Admin Web Administration Interface

The server includes dialup_admin, a PHP4 based web administration interface for the server. Dialup Admin supports:

• Users in LDAP database
• Users and Groups in SQL database (MySQL, PostgreSQL and partial Oraclesupport)
• Create, test, delete, change personal information, check accounting and change dialup settings for a user
• Accounting Report Generator
• Bad Users facility to keep a record of users creating problems
• Online finger facility
• Test radius server
• Online Usage Statistics

Installation

This section will take you step by step to create system suitable for dialup admin to run properly.

Obtaining Dialup Admin

There are several ways to obtain the dialup admin package.

1. Either download the latest FreeRadius package which most likely contains the latest dialup admin available. The FreeRADIUS Package can be obtained through the current release at http://www.freeradius.org
2. Dialup Admin has it’s own web page hosted at Sourceforge at http://sourceforge.net/projects/dialup-admin/ though that page is not updated very often. The primary store for dialupadmin is the freeradius CVS tree so the latest version will always be contained there
3. Finally one could get the cvs version of Dialup Admin by issuing the following commands:

   shell> cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dialup-admin login

   • When prompted for a password simply press the Enter Key

   shell> cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dialup-admin co dialup_admin

Prerequisities

Dialup Admin requires the following in order to have full functionality:

• PHP
• Date::Manip Perl Module

Installing & System Configuration

At this point we presume that either you have successfully installed PHP and Date::Manip Perl Module or that your distribution has came with both of them precompiled and already installed.

Unpacking and installation

In order to install the dialup admin first of all the package must be uncompressed presuming that we have it in a .tar.gz format and be placed at a certain directory at the system (Could be anything, we use /usr/local/dialup_admin)

 shell> tar xfvz dialup_admin-X.XX.tar.gz
 shell> mv dialup_admin /usr/local

The dialup admin contains a number of directories necessary for the program to operate. Let’s concentrate on the htdocs directory. This directory contains the php scripts needed. In order to have it accessable through our web server we must set a symbolic link between the two locations. We presume that the DefaultRoot of the Apache Web Server is /var/www/htdocs

 shell> ln -s /usr/local/dialup_admin/htdocs /var/www/htdocs/dialup

Apache Configuration

Enabling PHP Support on Apache

Apache must be configured to execute PHP scripts. In order to do so locate the httpd.conf file (for Slackware Linux this is /etc/apache). We must enter the following lines inside the httpd.conf

LoadModule php4_module libexec/libphp4.so

AddModule mod_php4.c

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php3 # This is most important since many of the PHP scripts of Dialup Admin have this extension

Creating a more secure web interface

Since dialup admin does not come with any kind of administrators authorisation of its own it would be safe to protect this ourselves.

Add the following to your httpd.conf file:

AuthName “Restricted Area”

AuthType Basic

AuthUserFile /var/www/.htpasswd

require valid-user

Changing of course the directory path to match yours as well as the AuthUserFile argument to point to the place where the usernames/passwords are stored.In order to create the htpasswd file the htpasswd utility is required (It is provided with the apache web server)

Let’s create our first user:

 shell> htpasswd -c /var/www/.htpasswd -m administrator password

Note: The -c argument should not be used from that point on since it creates a new password file.

On the next restart of apache the dialup/ directory is only accessable by a username/password verification which in our case is administrator:password

The HTTP authentication we have just configured can be used by dialupadmin when connecting to the ldap and sql databases (see sections on sql and ldap options).

At this point when we connect to the url http://localhost/dialup we should see the Dialup Admin pages

Creating the MySQL tables

In order to have dialup admin work to the maximum you should create a few tables in your MySQL. We assume at this point you have a fair ammount of MySQL knowledge and have a MySQL running somewhere on your network.

First of all you should create a database for all the tables to be stored into it. We will call this radius.

 shell> mysql -h mysql.host.com -u username -p
 mysql> CREATE DATABASE radius;
 mysql> exit

This step is only necessary if you haven’t already created a corresponding database for the freeradius server.

At dialup_admin/sql there are four files containg the SQL command to create the required tables. This is done as follows:

 shell> mysql -h mysql.host.com -u username -p radius  mysql -h mysql.host.com -u username -p radius  mysql -h mysql.host.com -u username -p radius  mysql -h mysql.host.com -u username -p radius

The userinfo table though is only needed if you want to keep your user database in sql. If you keep your users in ldap then it’s not needed.

NOTE: Remember we named our database “radius”. Have you named it somewhat different replace the “radius” argument on the above commands with the name you used

Configuration

This is the most important part of this document since the configuration must match your needs.

The configuration file is located at dialup_admin/conf/admin.conf

Configuration Options

A few variables must be set to the correct values in order for dialup admin to work.

General Options

General configuration options

 > general_base_dir: /usr/local/dialup_admin

This is the location where we have installed dialup admin. Refer to Section 2.3.1 for more information

 > general_radiusd_base_dir: /usr/local/bin

This is the location where the radiusd binary and various radius related programs resides. Check where FreeRadius has been installed

 > general_domain: domain.gr

Set the domain name of your network.

Realms Options

For more informations on realms consult the documentations provided with FreeRadius under the doc/ directory

 > general_strip_realms : yes

Should Dialup Admin strip the realm from the username when displaying this? Values: Yes / No (Default Yes)

 > general_realm_delimiter: @

The delimiter used in realms. Default is @

 > general_realm_format: suffix

The format of the realms. Can be either suffix (realm is after the username) or prefix (realm is before the username). Default is suffix

LDAP/SQL Options

Options that specifies the way dialup admin handles users. SQL or LDAP

 > general_lib_type: sql

This can have as values either ldap or sql.

For the following values there shouldn’t be any need for changes

 > general_ldap_attrmap: /etc/raddb/ldap.attrmap
 > general_sql_attrmap: %{general_base_dir}/conf/sql.attrmap
 > general_extra_ldap_attrmap: %{general_base_dir}/conf/extra.ldap-attrmap
 > general_user_edit_attrs_file: %{general_base_dir}/conf/user_edit.attrs
 > general_sql_attrs_file: %{general_base_dir}/conf/sql.attrs
 > general_default_file: %{general_base_dir}/conf/default.vals

NAS Querying

In general the nas querying provides the dialup admin with information regarding the Online Users.

 > general_finger_type: snmp

What should be the default quering method of the nas. It can be ‘snmp’ (for snmpfinger) or empty to query the radacct table without first querying the nas

 > general_snmpfinger_bin: %{general_base_dir}/bin/snmpfinger

This probably does not need to be changed. For now snmpfinger will only work with Cisco equipment.

 > general_radclient_bin: /usr/local/bin/radclient

Must point to the radclient binary

 > general_nas_type: cisco

Defines the nas type. This is only used by snmpfinger; cisco and lucent are supported for now

Test Variables

The following variables which are self explained are being used while the “Check Server” button is being pressed to verify that the radius server is working. The username and password must be of a valid dialup account

 > general_test_account_login: dummy
 > general_test_account_password: dummy_password

 > general_radius_server: localhost

The hostname where the FreeRadius Server runs

 > general_radius_server_port: 1645

The port that FreeRadius uses on the hostname

 > general_radius_server_auth_proto: chap

The method of connecting. Could be either ‘chap’ or ‘pap’

 > general_radius_server_secret: secret_password

The secret of the server that dialup admin should use while connecting.

NOTE: You must have a correct entry in clients.conf for the host running the dialup admin. For more information consult the documentations that come with FreeRadius

 > general_auth_request_file: %{general_base_dir}/conf/auth.request

The file conf/auth.request contains the options passed while the authentification is performed. Should you need to add anything edit this file

Encryption Method

 > general_encryption_method: md5

How the passwords of the users are stored (or should be) in the database. Could be ‘clear’, ‘md5’, ‘des’. See Also Section 3.1.9

NAS Information

 > nas1_name: host.%{general_domain}

The name of the NAS. Only the host must be replaced to match yours, provided that the nas are on the general_domain specified above

 > nas1_model: Lucent

The model of the NAS.

 > nas1_ip: 10.0.0.1

The IP of the NAS

 > nas1_port_num: 120

The port number to connect to on the NAS

 > nas1_community: community string

The community string used by the nas for queries via snmp

 > nas1_finger_type: snmp

The finger type for the specific nas. Comment out to use the general_finger_type from above.

 > nas1_type: cisco

The nas type for the specific nas. Comment out to use the general_nas_type from above.

LDAP Options

 > ldap_server: ldap.%{general_domain}

The ldap server to connect to. Both ldap_server and ldap_write_server can be a space-separated list of ldap hostnames. In that case the library will try to connect to the servers in the order that they appear. If the first host is down ldap_connect will ask for the second ldap host and so on.

 > ldap_write_server: master.%{general_domain}

There are many cases where we have a small write master and a lot of fast read only replicas. If that is the case uncomment ldap_write_server and point it to the write master. It will be used only when writing to the directory, not when reading

 > ldap_base: dc=company,dc=com

The LDAP base for the ldap searches

 > ldap_binddn: cn=Directory Manager
 > ldap_bindpw: XXXXXXX

The DN and password which will be used to bind to the LDAP server. If we don’t use http credentials (see below) than these setting will be used for all ldap operations (both searches and modifies/adds).

 > ldap_default_new_entry_suffix: ou=dialup,ou=guests,%{ldap_base}

The LDAP suffix under which all new user entries created through the new user page will be placed

 > ldap_default_dn: uid=default-dialup,%{ldap_base}

The DN of an ldap entry containing radius user settings which will be applied for all users. Though these settings are applied *before* the regular profile and per user settings, so they can be easily overwritten. That way we could for example set Session-Timeout to 4 hours for all our users and set it to a lower/higher value for specific users or groups of users

 > ldap_regular_profile_attr: dialupregularprofile

The ldap attribute which if present in a user entry will contain the DN of another ldap entry specifying radius user settings (check and reply items). That way we can keep these settings in only one entry and assign them to each user that we want through the regular profile attribute.

 > ldap_use_http_credentials: yes

If set to yes then the HTTP credentials (http authentication) will be used to bind to the ldap server instead of ldap_binddn and ldap_bindpw directives. That way multiple admins with different rights on the ldap database can connect through one dialup_admin interface. The ldap_binddn and ldap_bindpw are still needed to find the DN of the user to bind with (http authentication will only provide us with a username). As a result the ldap_binddn should be able to do a search with a filter of (uid=<username></username>). Normally, the anonymous (empty DN) user can do that.

 > ldap_directory_manager: cn=Directory Manager
 > ldap_map_to_directory_manager: admin

If we are using http credentials we can map a specific username to the directory manager entry (which usually does not correspond to a specific username)

 > ldap_debug: true

Set to true to enable ldap debugging

 > ldap_filter: (uid=%u)

Allow for defining the ldap filter used when searching for a user

Variables supported:

 %u: username
 %U: username provided though http authentication

One use of this would be to restrict access to only the user’s belonging to a specific administrator like this:

 ldap_filter: (&(uid=%u)(manager=uid=%U,ou=admins,o=company,c=com))

SQL Options

 > sql_type: mysql

The type of the database. Currenty dialup admin support MySQL (‘mysql’) and PostgreSQL(‘pg’)

 > sql_server: localhost
 > sql_port: 3306
 > sql_username: radius
 > sql_password: XXXXX

Information regarding the SQL database such as hostname, port, username and password to be used for connection

NOTE: The default port for MySQL is 3306 while for PostgreSQL is 5432. The Username and password are ones set in the database. Creating a new username is behond the scope of this documentation.

 > sql_database: radius

The database where all our tables are stored. Read Section 2.3.3

 > sql_accounting_table: radacct
 > sql_check_table: radcheck
 > sql_groupcheck_table: radgroupcheck
 > sql_groupreply_table: radgroupreply
 > sql_reply_table: radreply

The above tables are the ones used also directly through FreeRadius. The SQL file containing the way to create these tables are at src/modules/rlm_sql/drivers/rlm_sql_/db_.sql

For more information consult the documentation of FreeRadius

 > sql_badusers_table: badusers
 > sql_user_info_table: userinfo
 > sql_usergroup_table: usergroup
 > sql_total_accounting_table: totacct

These are the tables created during Section 2.3.3. There shouldn’t be any need to change those

 > sql_use_user_info_table: true
 > sql_use_operators: true

Could be true or false

 > sql_default_user_profile: DEFAULT

Set this to the value of the default_user_profile in your sql.conf if that one is set. If it is not set leave blank or commented out

 > sql_password_attribute: User-Password

The password attribute. Should be User-Password if encryption method is clear (See Section 3.1.6) or Crypt-Password if either md5 or des is choosen

 > sql_date_format: Y-m-d
 > sql_full_date_format: Y-m-d H:i:s

The date format

 > sql_row_limit: 40

The row limit used in the accounting page in order to limit the output

 > sql_connect_timeout: 3
 > sql_extra_servers: sql2.company.com sql3.company.com

The above options are used by bin/log_badlogins (See Section 3.2.2). The sql_connect_timeout is also used by the mysql driver and the sql_extra_servers is also used when adding users in the badusers table

 > sql_debug: false

Set to true to enable SQL debugging

 > sql_use_http_credentials: no

If set to yes then the HTTP credentials (http authentication) will be used to connect to the sql server instead of sql_username and sql_password. That way multiple admins with different rights on the sql database can connect through one dialup_admin interface.

 > sql_command: /usr/local/bin/mysql

This variable is used by the scripts in the bin folder. It should contain the path to the sql binary used to run sql commands (mysql is only supported for now)

Limits Timers

 > counter_default_daily: 14400
 > counter_default_weekly: 72000
 > counter_default_monthly: none

The dialup limit displayed on the Dialup Admin. Set to none for no limit

Various Options

 > general_accounting_info_order: desc

Can be either asc (older dates first) or desc (recent dates first)

 > general_stats_use_totacct: no

Use the totacct table for statistics

 > general_use_session: yes

Set it to yes to use sessions and cache the various mappings. You can also set use_session = 1 in config.php3 to also cache the admin.conf

NOTE: Remember to use the ‘Clear Cache’ page if you use sessions and do any changes in any of the configuration files.

 > general_most_recent_fl: 30

This is used by the failed logins page. It states the default back time in minutes.

 > general_prefered_lang: el
 > general_prefered_lang_name: Greek

It can be default or whatever language. Only greek are supported from non latin alphabet languages. These attribute only apply for ldap not for sql

 > general_charset: iso-8859-1

The charset which will be added as a meta tag in all pages

 > general_decode_normal_attributes: no

Uncomment this if normal attributes (not the ;lang-xx ones) in ldap are utf8 encoded.

The bin/ scripts

The snmpfinger script

This script make an snmp request to the nas server to retrieve the online users directly from the NAS and is being used by dialup admin when general_finger_type: snmp is set (or the per nas equivelant directive). (See Section 3.1.4).

You also must have installed the net-snmp package obtained at http://www.net-snmp.org

The snmpfinger script must be edited in order to point to the correct snmpwalk binary.

Edit the line $SNMPWALK=”/usr/local/bin/snmpwalk”; to represent the location of snmpwalk binary

Besides that the snmpfinger uses MIBs only for the CISCO XXXX NAS or for Lucent equipment (at least for the MAX 3000) which may not work if your NAS is different.

However the snmpfinger is not actually required if your accounting is working properly.

The log_badlogins script

The log_badlogins scripts actually does a tail -f to the radius.log and intercepts any authentification failure and passes it to the database. If you are interested in having the Failed Logins on the Dialup Admin you should execute it once like this:

 bin/log_badlogins /var/log/radius/radius.log /usr/local/dialup_admin/conf/admin.conf&

Of cource the proper file locations must be set

Also log_badlogins will concatenate the client shortname and the general_domain variable defined in admin.conf in order to find the nas ip address. So it is important to make sure that $client_shortname.$domain resolves to the correct nas ip address. regular expression matching is also supported. If the $regexp variable is set then only failed login lines matching the regular expression will be logged.

The clean_radacct script

The clean_radacct script can be used to clear the database of stale open sessions (sessions for which an Accounting-Stop has not been received hence they remain open). The $back_days variable can be changed to specify how many days we should leave the sessions open before removing them. Make sure though that all your user sesions are short lived (no DSL users for example) before using the script. If that is not the case edit the sql query to only match short lived sessions (depending on the NAS-Port-Type for example).

The truncate_radacct script

The truncate_radacct script can be used to delete all sessions which are older than a specified number of days. This number can be changed through the $back_days variable. The script will do a lock tables so make sure you run it during the night when the traffic is low. It will also only delete *closed* session, so the clean_radacct script should be used together to clear the possible open sessions.

The tot_stats script

This script will log aggregated per user information in the totacct table. It will log a row per user, per day. It should be run *once* every day to create the corresponding entries in the totacct table. The general_stats_use_totacct configuration directive could then be set to yes in order for the statistics page to use the totacct table instead of the radacct table.

The monthly_tot_stats script

This script can be used to aggregate the information from the totacct table into the mtotacct table creating aggregated accounting information for each spaning in one month period. If the current month has not ended it will log information up to the current month day. It should be run once a day to create the corresponding entries in the mtotacct table.

User Attributes

First of all check conf/user_edit.atts and see if the attribute you are interested in is commented out. If it is just enable it by uncommenting it. If the attribute is not included in the file add it.

If you use SQL check conf/sql.attrmap. Attributes that are not contained in this file are assumed to be reply items and map to the same name as the one used by dialup_admin

If you use LDAP check ${freeradius_install_dir}/etc/raddb/ldap.attrmap and check if the attribute is included in the attribute mapping.

If it is not then add it there also. Everything should work ok after that.

Finishing

The above sections should propably have brought you to a working dialup admin. Note however that if you are interested in logging the failed logins (See Section 3.2.2) you should execute the log_badlogins each time the system starts.

Troubleshooting

When I try to access some page I see the php code instead of html

See Section 2.3.2.1

When an attribute contains double (“) or single (‘) quotes something goes wrong

Make sure that magic quotes in PHP are turned off

Even though I have uncommented Dialup-Access in user_edits.attrs, when editing a user, that field is not available…

…Is this because in sql.attrmap I have:

 checkItem     Dialup-Access                   none

What should the attribute be?

Dialup-Access is an attribute used by the ldap module. It is not implemented in the sql module, that’s why the mapping is set to none. You could set Auth-Type to Reject instead.

Why do the personal information fields show multiple entries for attributes like name, department, etc in the user_admin page?

Set general_prefered_lang to en

After I make a few changes in one of the configuration files things only work like they worked before

If you are using sessions then remember to use the ‘Clear Cache’ page after making any changes. See Section 3.1.11

It is still not working

Check that the register_globals in php.ini is set to on. As of PHP 4.2.0 this is set to off by default. The latest versions of dialup_admin will work even if register_globals is set to off if the php version is > 4.1.0 (Thanks to Evren Yurtesen <eyurtese@turkuamk.fi></eyurtese@turkuamk.fi> for the suggestion).

In latest versions you can also enable sql debug (sql_debug: true) and ldap debug (ldap_debug: true)

HOWTO Information

This document is distributed under the terms of the GPL (GNU Public License).

Paris Stamatopoulos <mobius@hack.gr></mobius@hack.gr> (main author)

Kostas Kalevras <kkalev@noc.ntua.gr></kkalev@noc.ntua.gr> (a few additions)

Comments

It’s probably pretty obvious that you should follow the instructions.

On Ubuntu (and probably Debian) the instructions are well hidden in /usr/share/doc/freeradius-dialupadmin/HOWTO.gz

Once you find them things go smoothly.

You have to setup admin.conf and if you are not using LDAP you have to create additional MySQL tables. (This is covered in the HOWTO.)