: Configure RADIUS Authentication for Panorama Administrators
Focus
Focus

Configure RADIUS Authentication for Panorama Administrators

Table of Contents

Configure RADIUS Authentication for Panorama Administrators

You can use a RADIUS server to authenticate administrative access to the Panorama web interface. You can also define Vendor-Specific Attributes (VSAs) on the RADIUS server to manage administrator authorization. Using VSAs enables you to quickly change the roles, access domains, and user groups of administrators through your directory service, which is often easier than reconfiguring settings on Panorama.
You can use a RADIUS server to authenticate administrative access to the Panorama web interface. You can also define Vendor-Specific Attributes (VSAs) on the RADIUS server to manage administrator authorization. Using VSAs enables you to quickly change the roles, access domains, and user groups of administrators through your directory service, which is often easier than reconfiguring settings on Panorama.
You can Import the Palo Alto Networks RADIUS dictionary into RADIUS server to define the authentication attributes needed for communication between Panorama and the RADIUS server.
You can also use a RADIUS server to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for administrators.
  1. Add a RADIUS server profile.
    The profile defines how Panorama connects to the RADIUS server.
    1. Select
      Panorama
      Server Profiles
      RADIUS
      and
      Add
      a profile.
    2. Enter a
      Profile Name
      to identify the server profile.
    3. Enter a
      Timeout
      interval in seconds after which an authentication request times out (default is 3; range is 1–20).
      If you use the server profile to integrate Panorama with an MFA service, enter an interval that gives administrators enough time to respond to the authentication challenge. For example, if the MFA service prompts for a one-time password (OTP), administrators need time to see the OTP on their endpoint device and then enter the OTP in the MFA login page.
    4. Select the
      Authentication Protocol
      (default is
      CHAP
      ) that Panorama uses to authenticate to the RADIUS server.
      Select
      CHAP
      if the RADIUS server supports that protocol; it is more secure than
      PAP
      .
    5. Add
      each RADIUS server and enter the following:
      • Name
        to identify the server
      • RADIUS Server
        IP address or FQDN
      • Secret
        /
        Confirm Secret
        (a key to encrypt usernames and passwords)
      • Server
        Port
        for authentication requests (default is 1812)
    6. Click
      OK
      to save the server profile.
  2. Assign the RADIUS server profile to an authentication profile.
    The authentication profile defines authentication settings that are common to a set of administrators.
    1. Select
      Panorama
      Authentication Profile
      and
      Add
      a profile.
    2. Enter a
      Name
      to identify the authentication profile.
    3. Set the
      Type
      to
      RADIUS
      .
    4. Select the
      Server Profile
      you configured.
    5. Select
      Retrieve user group from RADIUS
      to collect user group information from VSAs defined on the RADIUS server.
      Panorama 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 administrators that are allowed to authenticate with this authentication profile.
    7. Click
      OK
      to save the authentication profile.
  3. Configure Panorama to use the authentication profile for all administrators.
    1. Select
      Panorama
      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.
    1. Configure an Admin Role Profile if the administrator uses a custom role instead of a predefined (dynamic) role.
    2. Configure an Access Domain if the administrator uses a Device Group and Template role.
  5. Commit your changes.
    Select
    Commit
    Commit to Panorama
    and
    Commit
    your changes.
  6. Configure the RADIUS server.
    Refer to your RADIUS server documentation for the specific instructions to perform these steps:
    1. Add the Panorama IP address or hostname as the RADIUS client.
    2. Add the administrator accounts.
      If the RADIUS server profile specifies
      CHAP
      as the
      Authentication Protocol
      , you must define accounts with reversibly encrypted passwords. Otherwise, CHAP authentication will fail.
    3. Define the vendor code for Panorama (25461) and define the RADIUS 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 RADIUS server performs authentication and authorization for administrators.
    1. Log in the Panorama web interface using an administrator account that you added to the RADIUS 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 device groups that are allowed for the access domain you associated with the administrator.

Recommended For You