1. INTRODUCTION

  The FreeRADIUS Server Project is a high performance and highly
configurable GPL'd free RADIUS server. It is stable, and is currently
being used in many deployments with millions of users.

  Please see the main web page (http://www.freeradius.org) for more
information.

2. INSTALLATION

  To install the server, please see the INSTALL file in this
directory.

  Version 1.1.4 contains a few key improvements over previous
versions.  The most important is the addition of the
Cleartext-Password attribute.  Using this attribute can make your
configuration MUCH simpler, and MUCH easier to understand.  Please
read "man rlm_pap" for more details.

  New users of FreeRADIUS should prefer using Cleartext-Password over
User-Password.  That is, if the documentation or a web page says to
configure User-Password in a database or server configuration file,
the documentation is likely out of date, and you should use
Cleartext-Password instead.

  The main differences between 1.1.3 and 1.1.4 are significantly
improved functionality in rlm_pap.  The module is MUCH smarter, which
means that many previous complicated configurations are now almost
trivial to do.  Please read "man rlm_pap" for details.

  Existing deployments of FreeRADIUS will NOT be affected by this
change to rlm_pap.  Existing configurations will work as before.
However, we do recommend reading the rlm_pap "man" page, to see how
your configuration may be made simpler by using the new functionality.

  The differences between 1.0.x and 1.1.0 are documented in the file
doc/ChangeLog.  What these differences mean for an administrator
upgrading from 1.0.x are as follows:

  * You MUST use the new dictionaries.  This is NOT done by default,
    because you may have edited the installed version of /etc/raddb/dictionary.
    If you have not edited /etc/raddb/dictionary, then you can make
    the server use the new dictionaries by copying the
    raddb/dictionary file from this directory to /etc/raddb.  Without
    this change, the server WILL NOT WORK PROPERLY.

  * Sites using SQL for logging should look into using the new
    rlm_sql_log module.  See it's "man" page for details.

  * Sites using rlm_x99_token will have to update their configuration
    to use rlm_otp.

3. DEBUGGING THE SERVER

  Run the server in debugging mode, (radiusd -X) and READ the output.
We really can't emphasize this enough.

  Read the FAQ.  Many questions are answered there.

  Read the configuration files.  Many parts of the server have NO
documentation, other than comments in the configuration file.

  Search the mailing lists.  There is a Google link on the bottom of
  the page:

	http://www.freeradius.org/list/users.html

  Type some key words into the search box, and you should find
discussions about common problems and solution.


  See the Wiki

	http://wiki.freeradius.org

4. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  See 'doc/README' for more information about FreeRADIUS.

  There is now an O'Reilly book available, which we recommend for
people new to RADIUS.  It covers an earlier version of the server, but
much of the information is applicable to this version also.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596003226/freeradiusorg-20/

  It contains information about RADIUS in general, and FreeRADIUS in
particular.


  For other RADIUS information, the Livington internet site had a lot
of information on radius online.  Unfortunately Livingston, and the
site, don't exist anymore but there's a copy of the site still at:

	http://portmasters.com/www.livingston.com/

  Especially worth a read is the "RADIUS for Unix administrators guide"

HTML:  http://portmasters.com/tech/docs/radius/1185title.html
PDF:   http://portmasters.com/tech/docs/pdf/radius.pdf


5. PROBLEMS AND CONCERNS

  We understand that the server may be difficult to configure,
install, or administer.  It is, after all, a complex system with many
different configuration possibilities.  If you have any comments, bug
reports, problems, or concerns, please send them to the
'freeradius-users' list (see the URL above).  We will do our best to
answer your questions, to fix the problems, and to generally improve
the server in any way we can.

  What you should NOT do is complain that the developers aren't
answering your questions quickly enough, or fixing the problems
quickly enough, or that they're being mean for telling you to do some
work yourself.  FreeRADIUS is the cumulative effort of many years of
work by many people, and you've gotten it for free.  No one gets paid
to work on FreeRADIUS, and no one is getting paid to answer your
questions.  This is free software, and the only way it gets better is
if you contribute work back to the project.

  We will note that the people who complain the loudest about the
developers being mean usually can't program, can't write
documentation, won't pay others to do that work, demand that their
every desire be satisifed immediately by the developers for free, and
worst of all, don't understand why their attitude is unproductive.
They seem to believe that because they've received something (the
server) for free, that they have every right to demand more free
support and development from the list.  That's simply not true.

  So please submit bug reports, suggestions, or patches.  That
feedback gives the developers a guide as to where they should focus
their work.  If you like the server, feel free to mail the list and
say so.
