Production

The last step for the administrator is to set the RADIUS server to production mode: enable the init script using service freeradius start, and type chkconfig freeradius on to set up the server to use the same start procedure when rebooted.

Conclusion

The components for device-based authentication of terminal devices exist in many environments. It is up to the administrator to combine those components.

For some people, Network Access Control includes additional aspects, such as technical validation of version status or up-to-date virus signatures, in line with a security policy. NAC offers a number of customization options: Besides LDAP or SQL database integration, more complex environments might want to deploy a PKI with the use of Tiny CA [10], for example. Smartcards such as the Aladdin E-Token protect private user certificates.

IPv6 is supported with FreeRADIUS Version 2 or later; however, some 802.1X-capable switches might not comply. If you are experimenting with IKEv2, check out the project's experimental.conf.

An identically named SourceForge project is also researching IKEv2 [11]. Thanks to the Hostapd project [12], administrators can soon look forward to a new implementation of EAP in FreeRADIUS known as EAP2.