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    Possible to use pfSense’s Freeradius server w/ a traditional Wifi router network?

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    • P
      pfSense_forum_user @johnpoz
      last edited by

      @johnpoz

      I like pfSense’s web interface. I tried to install and manage Freeradius using the command line in Ubuntu but it was cumbersome.  When you say to implement it in a docker or VM, do you mean running in an Ubuntu VM instance, for example?  Or is there a standalone Freeradius application that I can run in a VM that has a web interface?  Thanks for your help.

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      • johnpozJ
        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfSense_forum_user
        last edited by

        @pfsense_forum_user there are some gui for freerad.. daloRADIUS comes to mind.. there is https://radiusdesk.com/

        But to answer your question, sure pfsense could be used as just your radius server and doesn't actually have to be the firewall router on our network..

        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
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          pfSense_forum_user @johnpoz
          last edited by

          @johnpoz

          That is good to know.  I’ve looked online to find information about how to do that, but I haven’t found anything.

          Could you give me pointers about how to go about configuring pfSense that way?  I already have an instance running in a VM that I can access with a Lubuntu VM on its LAN.

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            pfSense_forum_user @pfSense_forum_user
            last edited by

            @pfsense_forum_user

            I have looked into daloRadius before, which looks interesting, but I think that is an additional installation that works with a Freeradius server that has already been installed using the command line.

            Is RADIUSdesk a font-end to a Freeradius instance that has already been installed similar to daloRadius?  Or is it it’s own Freeradius server as well?

            I would like to stick with pfSense if possible.  Thanks for your help.

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              pfSense_forum_user @pfSense_forum_user
              last edited by

              @pfsense_forum_user

              .. Also I would rather keep the factory firmware on the router.

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                pfSense_forum_user @pfSense_forum_user
                last edited by

                @pfsense_forum_user

                .. One more thing, I previously mentioned that I would rather not open ports in the pfSense firewall, but actually that would be fine if it would be the easiest and most effective method.

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                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfSense_forum_user
                  last edited by

                  @pfsense_forum_user what does it matter what ports? There is nothing else your going to be running on it other than freerad an the webgui? Any Any rule would be fine..

                  An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                  If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                  Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                  SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                  • P
                    pfSense_forum_user @johnpoz
                    last edited by

                    @johnpoz

                    Yes, I will only be using the GUI and the Freeradius server.  I have Freeradius currently running in pfSense.

                    I’m just learning pfSense so I’m not familiar with how to give access of those two things to the pfSense WAN.  Could you give me some specific pointers for doing that?

                    I have tried to allow access to the GUI from the WAN but nothing that I tried worked.

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                    • johnpozJ
                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfSense_forum_user
                      last edited by

                      @pfsense_forum_user did you create a lan as well.. Out of the box if pfsense only has a 1 interface it will put the antilock out there "the wan" and would allow gui access out of the box.

                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                      • P
                        pfSense_forum_user @johnpoz
                        last edited by

                        @johnpoz

                        pfSense’s web admin page is at 10.0.0.1, and I can access from an Lubuntu VM in pfSense’s LAN, but I’m not able to access it from browsers on the WAN.  I tried entering the same IP address in the WAN browsers but nothing happened, then I tried some instructions that I saw online but nothing worked. I also saw that it is possible to establish a VPN into the pfSense WAN but I suppose that would be overkill.

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                        • johnpozJ
                          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfSense_forum_user
                          last edited by

                          @pfsense_forum_user lay out your network.. How do you have your VMs setup - are you natting yoru vm.. What vm software are you running on?

                          So pfsense wan IP is 10.0.0.1 on your vm and this is bridged to your 10.0.0/24 network? And a client on this same network say 10.0.0.2 can not access it? Then you have something wrong with your VM setup to your network.

                          When you setup pfsense and only 1 interface, this would be pfsense wan, and it would have the antilock out rule set so any device on this wan network would be able to access the web gui.

                          If you can not then there is something else going on in your network, like your VM is behind a nat on your vm software, or its not actually bridged to your physical network, etc

                          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                            pfSense_forum_user @johnpoz
                            last edited by

                            @johnpoz

                            I’m using VirtualBox on OS X, and I have two adapters specified for it.  Adapter 1 is “bridged” as “en0:ethernet”, and Adapter 2 is “Internal Network” as “intent”.

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                              pfSense_forum_user @pfSense_forum_user
                              last edited by

                              @pfsense_forum_user

                              Which setting would you recommend for only one interface?  Bridged adapter or internal network?

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                              • johnpozJ
                                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfSense_forum_user
                                last edited by

                                @pfsense_forum_user I haven't used virtual box in long time.. It sure wouldn't be internal network, you need to bridge it to your normal network so you can access it.

                                Here I just set this up as vm on my nas. Its on my lan network 192.168.9/24 it got an IP from my dhcp server on my network.

                                I accessed the IP from my pc on the network that it got, walked thru the wizard and changed the password and there you go I am in. As you can see the default rules are anti lock out for gui with source of any. And it even auto disabled the block rfc1918 because its on a rfc1918 network.

                                pfsense.jpg

                                An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                                • P
                                  pfSense_forum_user @pfSense_forum_user
                                  last edited by

                                  @pfsense_forum_user

                                  Sorry I guess these are pretty basic questions. I presume I should use bridged.

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                                  • P
                                    pfSense_forum_user @pfSense_forum_user
                                    last edited by

                                    @pfsense_forum_user

                                    Thanks, I'll do some experimentation, it is good to know that the two adapters were causing issues.

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                                    • P
                                      pfSense_forum_user @pfSense_forum_user
                                      last edited by

                                      @pfsense_forum_user

                                      Awsome.. that works.  I can now access it from the computers on the hardware network.  Do you think it will work unmodified with Freeradius in the same way?

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                                      • johnpozJ
                                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfSense_forum_user
                                        last edited by

                                        @pfsense_forum_user well the default rules only allow access to the web gui, you would need to create a rule to allow your freerad ports.. 1812 is common, but since its not really doing anything other then webgui and freerad you could prob just set an any rule..

                                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                                        • P
                                          pfSense_forum_user @johnpoz
                                          last edited by

                                          @johnpoz

                                          That’s great.  Thanks for your help.

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