Configure TACACS+ Authentication
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Configure TACACS+ Authentication

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Configure TACACS+ Authentication

You can configure TACACS+ authentication for end users and firewall or Panorama administrators. You can also use a TACACS+ server to manage administrator authorization (role and access domain assignments) by defining Vendor-Specific Attributes (VSAs). For all users, you must configure a TACACS+ server profile that defines how the firewall or Panorama connects to the server. You then assign the server profile to an authentication profile for each set of users who require common authentication settings. What you do with the authentication profile depends on which users the TACACS+ server authenticates:
  • End users
    —Assign the authentication profile to an authentication enforcement object and assign the object to Authentication policy rules. For the full procedure, see Configure Authentication Policy.
  • Administrative accounts with authorization managed locally on the firewall or Panorama
    —Assign the authentication profile to firewall administrator or Panorama administrator accounts.
  • Administrative accounts with authorization managed on the TACACS+ server
    —The following procedure describes how to configure TACACS+ authentication and authorization for firewall administrators. For Panorama administrators, refer to Configure TACACS+ Authentication for PanoramaAdministrators.
  1. Add a TACACS+ server profile.
    The profile defines how the firewall connects to the TACACS+ server.
    1. Select
      Device
      Server Profiles
      TACACS+
      or
      Panorama
      Server Profiles
      TACAS+
      on Panorama™ and
      Add
      a profile.
    2. Enter a
      Profile Name
      to identify the server profile.
    3. (
      Optional
      ) Select
      Administrator Use Only
      to restrict access to administrators.
    4. Enter a
      Timeout
      interval in seconds after which an authentication request times out (default is 3; range is 1–20).
    5. Select the
      Authentication Protocol
      (default is
      CHAP
      ) that the firewall uses to authenticate to the TACACS+ server.
      Select
      CHAP
      if the TACACS+ server supports that protocol; it is more secure than
      PAP
      .
    6. Add
      each TACACS+ server and enter the following:
      • Name
        to identify the server
      • TACACS+ Server
        IP address or FQDN. If you use an FQDN address object to identify the server and you subsequently change the address, you must commit the change for the new server address to take effect.
      • Secret
        /
        Confirm Secret
        (a key to encrypt usernames and passwords)
      • Server
        Port
        for authentication requests (default is 49)
    7. Click
      OK
      to save the server profile.
  2. Assign the TACACS+ server profile to an authentication profile.
    The authentication profile defines authentication settings that are common to a set of users.
    1. Select
      Device
      Authentication Profile
      and
      Add
      a profile.
    2. Enter a
      Name
      to identify the profile.
    3. Set the
      Type
      to
      TACACS+
      .
    4. Select the
      Server Profile
      you configured.
    5. Select
      Retrieve user group from TACACS+
      to collect user group information from VSAs defined on the TACACS+ server.
      The firewall matches the group information against the groups you specify in the Allow List of the authentication profile.
    6. Select
      Advanced
      and, in the Allow List,
      Add
      the users and groups that are allowed to authenticate with this authentication profile.
    7. Click
      OK
      to save the authentication profile.
  3. Configure the firewall to use the authentication profile for all administrators.
    1. Select
      Device
      Setup
      Management
      and edit the Authentication Settings.
    2. Select the
      Authentication Profile
      you configured and click
      OK
      .
  4. Configure the roles and access domains that define authorization settings for administrators.
    If you already defined TACACS+ VSAs on the TACACS+ server, the names you specify for roles and access domains on the firewall must match the VSA values.
    1. Configure an Admin Role Profile if the administrator will use a custom role instead of a predefined (dynamic) role.
    2. Configure an access domain if the firewall has more than one virtual system—Select
      Device
      Access Domain
      ,
      Add
      an access domain, enter a
      Name
      to identify the access domain, and
      Add
      each virtual system that the administrator will access, and then click
      OK
      .
  5. Commit
    your changes to activate them on the firewall.
  6. Configure the TACACS+ server to authenticate and authorize administrators.
    Refer to your TACACS+ server documentation for the specific instructions to perform these steps:
    1. Add the firewall IP address or hostname as the TACACS+ client.
    2. Add the administrator accounts.
      If you selected
      CHAP
      as the
      Authentication Protocol
      , you must define accounts with reversibly encrypted passwords. Otherwise, CHAP authentication will fail.
    3. Define TACACS+ VSAs for the role, access domain, and user group of each administrator.
      When you predefine dynamic administrator roles for users, use lower-case to specify the role (for example, enter
      superuser
      , not
      SuperUser
      ).
  7. Verify that the TACACS+ server performs authentication and authorization for administrators.
    1. Log in the firewall web interface using an administrator account that you added to the TACACS+ server.
    2. Verify that you can access only the web interface pages that are allowed for the role you associated with the administrator.
    3. In the
      Monitor
      ,
      Policies
      , and
      Objects
      tabs, verify that you can access only the virtual systems that are allowed for the access domain you associated with the administrator.

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