We have configured a captive portal that uses a RADIUS server for authentication. Thus, logging in to the captive portal involves the following steps:
- The end user enters their credentials on the captive portal login page and clicks on the Login button
- The pfSense captive portal takes these credentials, logs into the RADIUS server, and passes on the credentials to the RADIUS server
- The RADIUS server either authenticates or rejects the login attempt, depending on whether the credentials are valid
In this recipe, we installed freeradius3, the FreeRADIUS package, one of many third-party packages available for pfSense which can be used to extend the functionality of your pfSense system beyond what the base installation provides. If the base installation does not provide the functionality you require, be sure to check what packages are available before assuming it is a lost cause. You can do this by browsing to System | Package Manager and clicking on the Available Packages tab.