RADIUS

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Important information about integrating BeyondTrust with security providers

By integrating your B Series Appliance with your company's directory stores, IT administrators can easily manage user access to BeyondTrust accounts. Configure BeyondTrust to use your existing directory structure for user authentication and group lookup.

Access to existing user and group data

Rather than manually creating each BeyondTrust user account, an administrator can configure the B Series Appliance to query directories for existing users. Using the hierarchy and group settings already specified in these directories, the administrator can assign BeyondTrust account permissions to groups of users in addition to setting individual permissions.

Consistent authentication

Permitted users can log in to their BeyondTrust accounts with their system credentials. The use of existing credentials spares the administrator from having to assign an additional username and password to each user and saves the user from having to remember another set of credentials.

Dynamic user permissions

Because BeyondTrust can retrieve data straight from the directory, a change in a user's status will automatically be reflected in their BeyondTrust account settings. For instance, if someone is moved from the Internal Support group to the Customer Support group in the company directory, the B Series Appliance also will read that user as a member of the Customer Support group and accordingly will grant that user the privileges assigned to that group.

Immediate account deactivation

If a user is moved to a group that is not permitted to access your B Series Appliance, or if the user ceases employment and is deleted from the company directory, that user will no longer be able to log in to their BeyondTrust account. The account information will be present on the B Series Appliance for reporting purposes only.

Prerequisites

To define group policies based upon groups within a remote server, you must configure both the LDAP group provider and the RADIUS user provider. You then must enable group lookup from the user provider's configuration page. One group security provider can be used to authorize users from multiple servers, including LDAP, RADIUS, and Kerberos.

Authenticate using one-time passwords (OTP)

When using the Radius security provider, you can choose to use a one-time password (OTP) service provider, such as RSA SecurID. An OTP is simply a randomized password that is generated by a third-party service provider through a token or some other means and changes within a certain time frame to provide an extra layer of security upon login.

Within your OTP provider's interface, you can configure a prompt to appear asking for credentials on the login screens for the BeyondTrust representative console and /login administrative interface. Once configured, users must enter their BeyondTrust username and password and then the OTP into the prompt.

If the OTP is entered correctly, access to the BeyondTrust representative console or /login administrative interface will be granted.

However, if the OTP is entered incorrectly, a new prompt will appear asking for the password to be re-entered.

For assistance, log into the Customer Portal to chat with BeyondTrust Technical Support.

Configure the RADIUS security provider

1. Go to /login > Users & Security > Security Providers.
2. Click Add. From the dropdown, select the type of server you want to configure.
3. Alternatively, you can copy an existing provider configuration by clicking the ellipse on a listed provider and then selecting Copy.
4. If you want to copy one node in a cluster, click the ellipse for the node and then select Duplicate Node.
5. Enter the settings for this security provider configuration as detailed below:
   1. Name: Create a unique name to help identify this provider.
   2. Enabled: If checked, your BeyondTrust Appliance B Series can search this security provider when a user attempts to log in to the representative console or /login. If unchecked, this provider will not be searched.
   3. Keep display name synchronized with remote system: These values determine which fields should be used as the user's private and public display names.
   4. Authorization settings:
      1. Only allow the following users: You can choose to allow access only to specified users on your RADIUS server. Enter each username separated by a line break. Once entered, these users will be available from the Add Policy Member dialog when editing group policies on the /login > Users & Security > Group Policies page.
         If you leave this field blank, all users who authenticate against your RADIUS server will be allowed; if you allow all, you must also specify a default group policy.
      2. Default group policy: Each user who authenticates against an external server must be a member of at least one group policy in order to authenticate to your B Series Appliance, logging into either the /login interface or the representative console. You can select a default group policy to apply to all users allowed to authenticate against the configured server.
      3. LDAP group lookup: If you want users on this security provider to be associated with their groups on a separate LDAP server, choose one or more LDAP group servers to use for group lookup.

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         Note

         • If a default policy is defined, then any allowed user who authenticates against this server will potentially have access at the level of this default policy. Therefore, it is recommended that you set the default to a policy with minimum privileges to prevent users from gaining permissions that you do not wish them to have.
         • If a user is in a default group policy and is then specifically added to another group policy, the settings for the specific policy will always take precedence over the settings for the default, even if the specific policy is a lower priority than the default, and even if the default policy's settings are set to disallow override.

   5. Connection settings:
      1. Hostname: Enter the hostname of the server that houses your external directory store.
      2. Port: Specify the authentication port for your RADIUS server. This is typically port 1812.
      3. Timeout (seconds): Set the length of time to wait for a response from the server. Note that if the response is Response-Accept or Response-Challenge, then RADIUS will wait the entire time specified here before authenticating the account. Therefore, it is encouraged to keep this value as low as reasonably possible given your network settings. An ideal value is 3-5 seconds, with the maximum value at three minutes.
      4. Connection method: If you are using an external directory store in the same LAN as your BeyondTrust Appliance B Series, the two systems may be able to communicate directly, in which case you can leave the option Proxy from appliance through the Connection Agent unchecked and move on.
         If the two systems are unable to communicate directly, such as if your external directory server is behind a firewall, you must use a connection agent. Downloading the Win32 connection agent enables your directory server and your B Series Appliance to communicate via an SSL-encrypted, outbound connection, with no firewall configuration. The connection agent can be downloaded to either the directory server or a separate server on the same network as your directory server (recommended).
         In the case above, check Proxy from appliance through the Connection Agent. Create a Connection Agent Password for use in the connection agent installation process. Then click Download Connection Agent, run the installer, and follow the installation wizard. During installation, you will be prompted to enter the security provider name and the connection agent password you created above.

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         Note

         BeyondTrust Cloud customers must run the connection agent in order to use an external directory store.

      5. Shared secret: Provide a new shared secret so your B Series Appliance and your RADIUS server can communicate.
   6. Click Save to save this security provider configuration.

Windows 2000/2003 IAS

Each user who will be authenticating with your IAS server must have remote access permission. The remote access permission can be defined via the Active Directory Users and Computer snap-in. View the properties for the appropriate user. On the tab Dial-in, grant the Allow Access to Remote Access permission.

You can also configure this permission through the remote access policy. Consult your Windows documentation for the proper steps.

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Important

The policy must allow for authentication via PAP, as this is the only RADIUS method currently supported by BeyondTrust. Review your IAS policy and ensure this method is supported as a means of authenticating via your BeyondTrust Appliance B Series.

Cluster RADIUS providers

To create a cluster of security providers, first create a security provider configuration for a server you wish to include in the cluster. On the main security providers page, locate this security provider and click the ellipse, and then select Upgrade to a Cluster. This creates a cluster with one node. To add more servers to the cluster, click the ellipse and then select Duplicate Node. Edit the new node to point to a different server you want in this cluster.

When editing a cluster, you will see a section to modify the cluster settings.

Cluster settings (Visible Only for Clusters)

Member selection algorithm

Select the method to search the nodes in this cluster.

Top-to-bottom first attempts the server with the highest priority in the cluster. If that server is unavailable or the account is not found, the next highest priority server is attempted. The search moves down through the list of clustered servers until either the account is found or it is determined that the account does not exist on any of the specified and available servers.

Round-robin is designed to balance the load between multiple servers. The algorithm chooses at random which server to attempt first. If that server is unavailable or the account is not found, another random server is attempted. The search continues at random through the remaining servers in the cluster until either the account is found or it is determined that the account does not exist on any of the specified and available servers.

Retry delay

Set how long to wait after a cluster member becomes unavailable before trying that cluster member again.

To move a security provider from a cluster to a stand-alone security provider, click the ellipse for the cluster node and then select Copy. This copies the settings to a new, top-level security provider. You can then delete the originating node.

Test the integration

After entering configuration settings for a security provider, test the configuration at the bottom of the security provider's edit page.

Test settings

Username and password

Enter a username and password for an account that exists on the server you are testing. This account must match the criteria for login specified in the configuration above.

Try to obtain user attributes and group memberships if the credentials are accepted

If this option is checked, your successful credential test will also attempt to check user attributes and group lookup.

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Note

For these features to be successfully tested they must be supported and configured in your security provider.

Test

If your server is properly configured and you have entered a valid test username and password, you will receive a success message. Otherwise, you will see an error message and a log that will help in debugging the problem.

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Note

When testing a cluster, the cluster will test its member servers according to its operating mode, either in order or priority or at random. If the first attempted server is properly configured and you have entered a valid test username and password, you will receive a success message. Otherwise, the cluster will attempt the next security provider.

If the test username and password properly bind to any of the servers, you will receive a success message, even if the other servers are improperly configured. You will receive an error message only if you are unable to bind to any of the clustered servers.

Prioritize and manage security providers

Change order

Once you have set up your security providers, you can configure the order in which your B Series Appliance attempts to authenticate users.

On the Security Providers page, click Change Order. Then drag and drop the configured providers to set their priority. Clustered servers move as one unit and can be prioritized within the cluster.

After making changes to the order of priority, click the Save Order button.

Sync

Synchronize the users and groups associated with an external security provider. Synchronization occurs automatically once a day. Clicking this button forces a manual synchronization.

Disable

Disable this security provider connection. This is useful for scheduled maintenance, when you want a server to be offline but not deleted.

View log

View the status history for a security provider connection.

Troubleshoot the integration

Failed logins

The best way to troubleshoot a failed login is to test the settings in the security provider's configuration page. The section below helps you to understand the messages you may receive.

If testing a username and password from the Security Providers page provides no errors but the user cannot log in to BeyondTrust using those same credentials, check that at least one of the following sets of criteria is met.

1. The user has been expressly added to an existing group policy.
2. A default group policy has been set for the security provider configuration created to access the server against which the user is authenticating.
3. The user is a member of a group that has been expressly added to an existing group policy, and both user authentication and group lookup are configured and linked.

Message 1: authentication failed

1. The username and password that you are testing do not match.
2. Reenter the credentials or attempt another username and password.

Message 10: server unavailable

1. Your DNS information may be incorrect. You can test if your DNS server resolves by using the tools on the Support > Utilities page in your BeyondTrust /appliance interface.

2. You must use the correct shared secret between RADIUS and your B Series Appliance.

3. If a user who can normally authenticate cannot connect, check if the user's hours are restricted on the RADIUS server.

4. If you are using an IAS server, the user authenticating must have remote access permission enabled.

5. Authentication via PAP must be enabled. This is the only RADIUS method currently supported by BeyondTrust. Edit your IAS policy and ensure this method is supported as a means of authenticating via the B Series Appliance.

Error 6ca and slow logins

1. A 6ca error is a default response signifying that the B Series Appliance has not heard back from the DNS server. It may occur when attempting to log in to the representative console.
2. If users are experiencing extremely slow logins or are receiving the 6ca error, verify that DNS is configured in your /appliance interface.

Troubleshooting individual providers

When configuring an authentication method tied to group lookup, it is important to configure user authentication first, then group lookup, and finally group policy memberships. When troubleshooting, you will want to work in reverse.

1. Verify that the group policy is looking up valid data for a given provider and that you do not have any @@@ characters in the Policy Members field.
2. If a group provider is configured, verify that its connection settings are valid and that its group Search Base DN is in the proper format.
3. If you want to use group lookup, verify that the security provider is set to look up group memberships of authenticated users.
4. To test the user provider, set a default policy and see if your users are able to log in.