Ubuntu Manpage: radclient - send packets to a RADIUS server, show reply

Provided by: freeradius-common_3.2.5+dfsg-3~ubuntu24.04.3_all

NAME

       radclient - send packets to a RADIUS server, show reply

SYNOPSIS

       radclient  [-4]  [-6]  [-b] [-c count] [-d raddb_directory] [-D dictionary_directory] [-f file] [-F] [-h]
       [-i id] [-n  num_requests_per_second]  [-p  num_requests_in_parallel]  [-q]  [-r  num_retries]  [-s]  [-S
       shared_secret_file] [-t timeout] [-v] [-x] server {acct|auth|status|coa|disconnect|auto} secret

DESCRIPTION

       radclient is a radius client program. It can send arbitrary radius packets to a radius server, then shows
       the  reply.  It can be used to test changes you made in the configuration of the radius server, or it can
       be used to monitor if a radius server is up.

       radclient reads radius attribute/value pairs from it standard input, or from  a  file  specified  on  the
       command  line.  It  then  encodes these attribute/value pairs using the dictionary, and sends them to the
       remote server.

       The User-Password and CHAP-Password attributes are automatically encrypted before the packet is  sent  to
       the server.

OPTIONS

-4 Use IPv4 (default)

-6 Use IPv6

-b Enforce the Blast RADIUS checks. All replies to an Access-Request packet must contain a Message-
Authenticator as the first attribute.

For compatibility with old servers, this flag is not set by default. However, radclient still
checks for the Blast RADIUS signature, and discards packets which match the attack.

-c count
Send each packet count times.

-d raddb_directory
The directory that contains the user dictionary file. Defaults to /etc/freeradius/3.0.

-D dictionary_directory
The directory that contains the main dictionary file. Defaults to /usr/share/freeradius.

-f file[:file]
File to read the attribute/value pairs from. If this is not specified, they are read from stdin.
This option can be specified multiple times, in which case packets are sent in order by file, and
within each file, by first packet to last packet. A blank line separates logical packets within a
file. If a pair of files separated by a colon is specified, the second file will be used to
filter the responses to requests from the first. The number of requests and filters must be the
same. A summary of filter results will be displayed if -s is passed.

-F Print the file name, packet number and reply code.

-h Print usage help information.

-i id Use id as the RADIUS request Id.

-n num_requests_per_second
Try to send num_requests_per_second, evenly spaced. This option allows you to slow down the rate
at which radclient sends requests. When not using -n, the default is to send packets as quickly
as possible, with no inter-packet delays.

Due to limitations in radclient, this option does not accurately send the requested number of
packets per second.

-p num_requests_in_parallel
Send num_requests_in_parallel, without waiting for a response for each one. By default, radclient
sends the first request it has read, waits for the response, and once the response is received,
sends the second request in its list. This option allows you to send many requests at
simultaneously. Once num_requests_in_parallel are sent, radclient waits for all of the responses
to arrive (or for the requests to time out), before sending any more packets.

This option permits you to discover the maximum load accepted by a RADIUS server.

-P proto
Use proto transport protocol ("tcp" or "udp"). Only available if FreeRADIUS is compiled with TCP
transport support.

-q Go to quiet mode, and do not print out anything.

-r num_retries
Try to send each packet num_retries times, before giving up on it. The default is 10.

-s Print out some summaries of packets sent and received.

-S shared_secret_file
Rather than reading the shared secret from the command-line (where it can be seen by others on the
local system), read it instead from shared_secret_file.

-t timeout
Wait timeout seconds before deciding that the NAS has not responded to a request, and re-sending
the packet. The default timeout is 3.

-v Print out version information.

-x Print out debugging information.

server[:port]
The hostname or IP address of the remote server. Optionally a UDP port can be specified. If no UDP
port is specified, it is looked up in /etc/services. The service name looked for is radacct for
accounting packets, and radius for all other requests. If a service is not found in /etc/services,
1813 and 1812 are used respectively. For coa and disconnect packets, port 3799 is used.

If a host name is specified, then radclient will do a DNS lookup, and use the A record to find the
IP address of the RADIUS server. If there is no A record, then radclient will look for an AAAA
record. If there is no AAAA record, an error will be produced.

IPv6 addresses may be specified by surrounding it in square brackets. For example,
[2002:c000:0201:0:0:0:0:0], or with a port, [2002:c000:0201:0:0:0:0:0]:18120.

The RADIUS attributes read by radclient can contain the special attribute Packet-Dst-IP-Address.
If this attribute exists, then that IP address is where the packet is sent, and the server
specified on the command-line is ignored.

If the RADIUS attribute list always contains the Packet-Dst-IP-Address attribute, then the server
parameter can be given as -.

The RADIUS attributes read by radclient can contain the special attribute Packet-Dst-Port. If
this attribute exists, then that UDP port is where the packet is sent, and the :port specified on
the command-line is ignored.

acct | auth | status | coa | disconnect | auto
Use auth to send an authentication packet (Access-Request), acct to send an accounting packet
(Accounting-Request), status to send a status packet (Status-Server), or coa to send a CoA-
Request, or disconnect to send a disconnection request. Instead of these values, you can also use
a decimal code here. For example, code 12 is also Status-Server.

The RADIUS attributes read by radclient can contain the special attribute Packet-Type. If this
attribute exists, then that type of packet is sent, and the type specified on the command-line is
ignored.

If the RADIUS attribute list always contains the Packet-Type attribute, then the type parameter
can be given as auto.

secret The shared secret for this client. It needs to be defined on the radius server side too, for the
IP address you are sending the radius packets from.

EXAMPLE

       A sample session that queries the remote server for Status-Server (not  all  servers  support  this,  but
       FreeRADIUS has configurable support for it).

              $ echo "Message-Authenticator = 0x00" | radclient 192.0.2.42 status s3cr3t
              Sending request to server 192.0.2.42, port 1812.
              radrecv: Packet from host 192.0.2.42 code=2, id=140, length=54
                  Reply-Message = "FreeRADIUS up 21 days, 02:05"

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