RADIUS applications in Okta
Okta RADIUS support can distinguish between different RADIUS-enabled apps and support them concurrently by setting up an Okta RADIUS app for each configuration. Additionally, the Okta RADIUS application supports policy creation and assignment of the application to groups.
RADIUS-enabled apps are easy to manage, as Admins can manage all of these apps and infrastructure configurations from the Okta Admin Console.
Supported factors
The following MFA
When integrating with Okta RADIUS, the maximum supported number of enrolled
MFA |
Password Authentication Protocol PAP |
Extensible Authentication Protocol - Generic Token Card EAP-GTC |
Extensible Authentication Protocol - Tunneled Transport Layer Security EAP-TTLS |
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Custom TOTP Authentication | Supported | Supported | Supported - as long as challenge is avoided. For example MFA only or "Password, passcode". |
Duo(Push, SMS and Passcode only) | Supported | Supported | Duo passcode only. |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported when string "EMAIL" is initially sent. |
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Supported | Supported | Supported - as long as challenge is avoided. For example MFA only or "Password, passcode". |
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Supported | Supported | Supported - as long as challenge is avoided. For example: MFA-only or "Password, MFA" for TOTP. Push can work with primary authentication with MFA as the push challenge is sent out-of-band. |
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Not supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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RSA Token/ On-prem MFA |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported - as long as challenge is avoided. |
Supported (Password and MFA only) | Supported (Password + MFA only). |
Not supported | |
SMS authentication | Supported | Supported |
Supported when string "SMS" is sent. See associated note. |
Symantec VIP | Supported | Supported | Supported - as long as challenge is avoided. For example MFA only or "Password, passcode". |
Supported | Supported | Supported when string "CALL" is sent. See associated note. |
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Supported | Supported | Supported - as long as challenge is avoided. For example MFA only or "Password, passcode". |
RADIUS supports three authentication methods:
- Password + MFA: Primary authentication using password, then user is prompted to select factors to complete the authentication.
- MFA Only: Instead of password, user enter either One Time Passcode, or one of “EMAIL”, “SMS”, “CALL”, “PUSH” (case insensitive).
- Password,Passcode: Password entered immediately followed by passcode in a request.
Must be in the same request, for example: Abcd1234,879890” or “Abcd1234,SmS”.
The following authentication methods are supported by protocol:
Protocol | Supports |
---|---|
PAP | Password and MFA, MFA, "Password and passcode". |
EAP-TTLS | MFA only, "Password and passcode". |
EAP-GTC | Password and MFA, MFA only, "Password and passcode". |
Must send the specified the string “EMAIL/SMS/CALL”, which will initially return a failure, but will result in the generation of an One Time Passcode(OTP) provided using the specified method. The provided OTP can then be used for authentication.
EAP-TTLS does not support enrollment
Authentication will fail unexpectedly when EAP-TTLS is enabled, either Okta Verify or Phone are specified as required enrollment policy, and the user is not enrolled in that
The U2F Security and Windows Hello MFA factors are not compatible with RADIUS-enabled implementations.
For additional information about the RADIUS apps refer to Configuring RADIUS applications in Okta.
Passwordless authentication
RADIUS authentication uses passwords as the primary authentication mechanism. Traditional RADIUS authentication cannot be performed with passwordless users. RADIUS can use other factors for authentication when the application setting property Okta performs primary authentication is unchecked. See2FA Only (Passwordless Mode) in RADIUS applications in Okta for addition detail.
For more information on passwordless authentication see Set up passwordless sign-in experience.
Supported features and limitations
Features
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Support for multiple RADIUS enabled apps and infrastructure
Each app and infrastructure component, such as VPNs, can be configured differently through the same Okta RADIUS Agent, because the improved RADIUS agent can listen to multiple distinct ports for separate RADIUS configurations; for example, Cisco AnyConnect uses RADIUS UDP port 1812 and another on-prem app could use RADIUS UDP port 1813.
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User and group specific configurations
Because of the new app model, you can limit access to specific users and groups as needed the same way you can restrict access to any app. Admins can restrict access to RADIUS enabled apps and infrastructure to specific groups of users instead of all Okta users
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Pass group ownership to RADIUS applications
Okta can now pass a list of all groups a user belongs to a RADIUS-enabled app or infrastructure. This allows admins to support fine-grained authorization with different levels of access and security based off the group membership of users.
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Provide multifactor authentication and security based on IP addresses
By resolving the IP address of the client attempting to connect to a RADIUS-enabled app or infrastructure admins can adjust levels of access depending on whether a user is within a certain IP range or network zone. For more information on ranges and zones, see Network.
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Centralized, Cloud-Based Configuration
Administrators can manage all of their RADIUS-enabled apps and infrastructure configurations from the Okta Admin Console, without making changes on the Okta RADIUS Agent server itself.
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You can configure a RADIUS-enabled app to only use the second factor in multifactor authentication. This is also known as passwordless mode.
When configuring the app, uncheck Okta performs primary authentication. The screenshot shown below shows the default configuration, which is not 2FA only. Additionally, the UDP port must be unique. Be sure to verify the Application username format when enabling 2FA mode.
Limitations
- The RADIUS port and shared secret are captured from the Okta Admin Console through any configured RADIUS applications or VPNs. Any information entered from prompts from the RADIUS agent is available if an org enables the feature after the information is entered.
- WiFi infrastructure is not supported.
- The RADIUS agent only supports PAP-based authentication. No other protocols are supported.
Typical workflow
Task |
Description |
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Download the RADIUS agent |
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Add the RADIUS application |
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Configure the RADIUS customer application |
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Test |
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Client IP reporting |
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Okta group membership information for authorization |
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RADIUS service address filtering |
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