A RADIUS server is used only to authenticate user passwords. Using RADIUS authentication does not affect the privilege level of a user. RADIUS authentication is not supported for IPv6.

To configure RADIUS, you specify the location of a RADIUS server and specify the secret to be used to authenticate the user on the RADIUS server. A RADIUS secret is specified in plain text. It is stored in plain text on the system and used as part of a cryptographic operation for transferring authentication information securely over the network. When you view a RADIUS secret, it is displayed in plain text. A RADIUS secret must not contain spaces and is case sensitive.

Where RADIUS authentication is used, some delay can be expected; the amount of delay depends on the cumulative timeout values configured for all RADIUS servers.

If you are using RADIUS authentication, a user must still be configured in the Vyatta login database; otherwise, the user is not able to access the vRouter and, therefore, is not able to query the RADIUS server.