Only after NetDefendOS has made three attempts to reach the server will it conclude that the
accounting server is unreachable. The administrator can use the NetDefendOS advanced setting
Allow on error to determine how this situation is handled.
If the Allow on error setting is enabled, an already authenticated user's session will be
unaffected. If it is not enabled, any affected user will automatically be logged out even if they
have already been authenticated.
8.9.8. Accounting and System Shutdowns
In the case that the client for some reason fails to send a RADIUS
AccountingRequest
STOP
packet, the accounting server will never be able to update its user statistics, but will most likely
believe that the session is still active. This situation should be avoided.
In the case that the NetDefend Firewall administrator issues a shutdown command while
authenticated users are still online, the
AccountingRequest
STOP packet will potentially never be
sent. To avoid this, the advanced setting Logout at shutdown allows the administrator to
explicitly specify that NetDefendOS must first send a STOP message for any authenticated users
to any configured RADIUS servers before commencing with the shutdown.
8.9.9. Limitations with NAT
The User Authentication module in NetDefendOS is based on the user's IP address. Problems can
therefore occur with users who have the same IP address.
This can happen, for example, when several users are behind the same network using NAT to
allow network access through a single external IP address. This means that as soon as one user is
authenticated, traffic coming through that NAT IP address could be assumed to be coming from
that one authenticated user even though it may come from other users on the same network.
NetDefendOS RADIUS Accounting will therefore gather statistics for all the users on the network
together as though they were one user instead of individuals.
8.9.10. Advanced RADIUS Settings
The following advanced settings are available with RADIUS accounting:
Allow on error
If there is no response from a configured RADIUS accounting server when sending accounting
data for a user that has already been authenticated, then enabling this setting means that the
user will continue to be logged in.
Disabling the setting will mean that the user will be logged out if the RADIUS accounting server
cannot be reached even though the user has been previously authenticated.
Default:
Enabled
Logout at shutdown
If there is an orderly shutdown of the NetDefend Firewall by the administrator, then
NetDefendOS will delay the shutdown until it has sent RADIUS accounting STOP messages to
any configured RADIUS server.
If this option is not enabled, NetDefendOS will shut down even though there may be RADIUS
accounting sessions that have not been correctly terminated. This could lead to the situation
that the RADIUS server will assume users are still logged in even though their sessions have been
terminated.
Chapter 8: User Authentication
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Summary of Contents for NetDefendOS
Page 30: ...Figure 1 3 Packet Flow Schematic Part III Chapter 1 NetDefendOS Overview 30 ...
Page 32: ...Chapter 1 NetDefendOS Overview 32 ...
Page 144: ...Chapter 2 Management and Maintenance 144 ...
Page 284: ...Chapter 3 Fundamentals 284 ...
Page 392: ...Chapter 4 Routing 392 ...
Page 419: ... Host 2001 DB8 1 MAC 00 90 12 13 14 15 5 Click OK Chapter 5 DHCP Services 419 ...
Page 420: ...Chapter 5 DHCP Services 420 ...
Page 573: ...Chapter 6 Security Mechanisms 573 ...
Page 607: ...Chapter 7 Address Translation 607 ...
Page 666: ...Chapter 8 User Authentication 666 ...
Page 775: ...Chapter 9 VPN 775 ...
Page 819: ...Chapter 10 Traffic Management 819 ...
Page 842: ...Chapter 11 High Availability 842 ...
Page 866: ...Default Enabled Chapter 13 Advanced Settings 866 ...
Page 879: ...Chapter 13 Advanced Settings 879 ...