[RADIATOR] Development Ver. Question

Wed Jan 11 17:47:08 CST 2012

Hello John -

An alternative approach that I always use is to keep all versions of Radiator in separate source directories, and run radiusd from the corresponding source directory when testing and in production.

Ie. here is my source repository:

TiTi:Radiator hugh$ pwd

/Local/src/Radiator

TiTi:Radiator hugh$ ls

EAP-SIM				Radiator-3.14.tgz		Radiator-3.9.save		Radiator-4.4.tgz		Radiator-Locked-3.17.1
Live CD				Radiator-3.15			Radiator-3.9.tgz		Radiator-4.5			Radiator-Locked-3.17.1.tgz
Radiator			Radiator-3.15.tgz		Radiator-4.0			Radiator-4.5.1			Radiator-Locked-4.2
Radiator-3.10			Radiator-3.16			Radiator-4.0.tgz		Radiator-4.5.1.tgz		Radiator-Locked-4.2.tgz
Radiator-3.10.tar.gz		Radiator-3.16.tgz		Radiator-4.0alpha		Radiator-4.5.tgz		Radiator-Locked-4.6
Radiator-3.11			Radiator-3.17			Radiator-4.0alpha.tgz		Radiator-4.6			Radiator-Locked-4.6.tgz
Radiator-3.11.hugh		Radiator-3.17.1			Radiator-4.0beta		Radiator-4.6.save		Radiator-Locked-4.7
Radiator-3.11.save		Radiator-3.17.1.save		Radiator-4.0beta.tgz		Radiator-4.6.save.2		Radiator-Locked-4.7.tgz
Radiator-3.11.tgz		Radiator-3.17.1.tgz		Radiator-4.1			Radiator-4.6.tgz		Radius-EAP-SIM
Radiator-3.11.xxx		Radiator-3.17.tgz		Radiator-4.1.tgz		Radiator-4.7			Radius-EAP-SIM-1.16
Radiator-3.12			Radiator-3.6			Radiator-4.2			Radiator-4.7.pt			Radius-EAP-SIM-1.16.tgz
Radiator-3.12.tgz		Radiator-3.6.tgz		Radiator-4.2.tgz		Radiator-4.7.tgz		Radius-EAP-SIM-1.17
Radiator-3.13			Radiator-3.7.1			Radiator-4.3			Radiator-4.8			Radius-EAP-SIM-1.17.tgz
Radiator-3.13-1.noarch.rpm	Radiator-3.7.1.tar		Radiator-4.3.1			Radiator-4.8.tgz		Radius-EAP-SIM-1.30
Radiator-3.13.save		Radiator-3.8			Radiator-4.3.1.tgz		Radiator-4.9			Radius-EAP-SIM-1.30.tgz
Radiator-3.13.tgz		Radiator-3.8.tar		Radiator-4.3.tgz		Radiator-4.9.tgz		Radius-EAP-SIM-Cisco-ITP.tgz
Radiator-3.14			Radiator-3.9			Radiator-4.4			Radiator-Demo-3.9		WFA
Radiator-3.14.save		Radiator-3.9.hugh		Radiator-4.4.save.for.now	Radiator-Demo-3.9.tar

Then, to run Radiator-4.9 for example:

cd Radiator-4.9

perl radiusd -foreground -log_stdout -trace 4 -config_file some.config

…..

Obviously, "some.config" is local to the source directory of the version of Radiator I am testing, and it will use different port numbers, log files and so on.

I use the same technique in production environments with the startup scripts referencing a particular source direcory.

This allows me to both do testing safely and to change versions in production in a safe manner and if necessary I can always go back to a previous version just by pointing to a different source directory.

NB: When installing new versions of Radiator in my source repository, I **do not** do "make install", which keeps the Perl file hierarchy free from Radiator source files. This also allows the use of different versions of Perl which is advantageous in some environments. In my case I have 5 or 6 different versions of Perl on my machine for testing and this allows me to do so in a safe and simple manner.

Hope that helps.

regards

Hugh

On 12 Jan 2012, at 08:12, Heikki Vatiainen wrote:

> On 01/11/2012 09:46 PM, John Goubeaux wrote:
> 
>> I have a basic "best practices" question on how I might best run a 
>> separate "development" ver of radiator for testing without impacting 
>> a production instance on my network.
> 
>> Can I, and should I do this on the same host running the production 
>> radiusd ?  Meaning can I safely run another instance that points to 
>> fresh config file and have it run on an alternate port ?
> 
> Yes, this is possible. Just see that log and pid file names etc. do not
> overlap. Read-only files, such as dictionary, can of course be shared.
> With careful configuration you should not have problems.
> 
> One common case is to have a separate authentication and accounting
> instance. So besides testing, multiple instances can be run for separate
> functionality and/or load balancing purposes too.
> 
>> I'd like to 
>> do some testing for a development wireless domain and minimize the 
>> impact on any current production use of radiator and would prefer not 
>> to have to do it on another box IF I can do so with no impact to 
>> production use.
> 
> I see no problem doing this. One option might be to run the instances
> under different uids and groups. If the test instance tries to e.g.,
> write to wrong log file, the file permissions should stop it causing any
> actual harm.
> 
> Thanks!
> Heikki
> 
> -- 
> Heikki Vatiainen <hvn at open.com.au>
> 
> Radiator: the most portable, flexible and configurable RADIUS server
> anywhere. SQL, proxy, DBM, files, LDAP, NIS+, password, NT, Emerald,
> Platypus, Freeside, TACACS+, PAM, external, Active Directory, EAP, TLS,
> TTLS, PEAP, TNC, WiMAX, RSA, Vasco, Yubikey, MOTP, HOTP, TOTP,
> DIAMETER etc. Full source on Unix, Windows, MacOSX, Solaris, VMS,
> NetWare etc.
> _______________________________________________
> radiator mailing list
> radiator at open.com.au
> http://www.open.com.au/mailman/listinfo/radiator

--

Hugh Irvine
hugh at open.com.au

Radiator: the most portable, flexible and configurable RADIUS server 
anywhere. SQL, proxy, DBM, files, LDAP, NIS+, password, NT, Emerald, 
Platypus, Freeside, TACACS+, PAM, external, Active Directory, EAP, TLS, 
TTLS, PEAP, TNC, WiMAX, RSA, Vasco, Yubikey, MOTP, HOTP, TOTP,
DIAMETER etc. 
Full source on Unix, Windows, MacOSX, Solaris, VMS, NetWare etc.