Your rules decide who gets in and into which VLAN
Each rule names a network, a sign-in method and the conditions that must hold, and returns the VLAN and attributes your switches and access points expect. RADIUSaaS goes through your rules from the top for every request, and a request no rule takes is rejected.
- First match wins
- 7 kinds of groups
- VLANs from certificate fields
- Backup and restore
First match wins
No rule matched the request.- Filters within a rule are combined with AND: every one has to fit
- A rule without filters applies everywhere its network type does
- A catch-all rule allows whatever reaches it, so RADIUSaaS always saves it last
Engine-Decision: acceptApplied-Rule: Corp Wi-Fi – laptops Assigned-VLAN: 20Engine-Decision: rejectReject-Description: No rule matched the request
Try an example rule set
Five rules for a fictional office. Pick the network, where the device connects and what it presents. Switch rules off, turn the fallback VLAN off, and see which rule takes the request, or why none does.
- 1Printers on floor 3LANUsername & password
A LAN request authenticating with username and password matching switch group Floor 3 switches and username ^prn- is granted VLAN 30.
Skipped: this is a LAN rule.
- 2Corp Wi-Fi – laptopsWi-FiCertificate only
A Wi-Fi request authenticating with a certificate from Contoso Device CA matching SSID group Corp is granted a VLAN from the certificate's OU, or VLAN 10 if no pattern matches.
Matched.
- 3Remote accessVPNCertificate only
A VPN request authenticating with a certificate matching NAS identifier vpn-gw-* is granted Filter-Id = remote-staff.
Not reached.
- 4GuestsWi-FiUsername & password
A Wi-Fi request authenticating with username and password matching SSID Contoso-Guest and owner .*@contoso\.com is granted VLAN 99.
Not reached.
- 5Catch-allGeneric allowDisabled
Any request that reaches this rule is allowed, and nothing is returned.
Not reached.
- Decision
- Accept
- Returned
- VLAN 20
- In plain words
- A Wi-Fi request authenticating with a certificate from Contoso Device CA matching SSID group Corp is granted a VLAN from the certificate's OU, or VLAN 10 if no pattern matches.
Engine-Decision: acceptApplied-Rule: Corp Wi-Fi – laptopsAssigned-VLAN: 20
Example data. The evaluation follows RADIUSaaS's rule order; the log lines are abridged.
Where a rule applies
Each rule belongs to one kind of network, and each kind brings the filters that make sense for it. Values or groups, any number of each.
| Filter | Wi-Fi | LAN | VPN |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSID | ✓ | — | — |
| Access point MAC | ✓ | — | — |
| Switch MAC | — | ✓ | — |
| NAS identifier | — | — | ✓ |
| NAS IP | — | — | ✓ |
| Client IP | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Accepted root CAs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Certificate fields (issuer, SAN, subject, extensions) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Intune ID in the certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Username or owner pattern | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
A catch-all rule has no filters and matches requests from any network.
Groups every rule can use
- 7 kinds: SSID, access point MAC, switch MAC, NAS identifier, NAS IP, client IP, Intune ID
- End an entry with
*for a prefix match:Corp-*, a whole MAC vendor prefix,nas-branch-* - MAC addresses in any notation; RADIUSaaS normalizes them
- Paste a list straight from your controller export; duplicates are skipped
- IPv4 and IPv6, single addresses or CIDR ranges
VLANs from the certificate
- Register private extensions by OID, or standard fields like subject CN, OU, SAN DNS name and UPN
- RADIUS attributes are assigned the same way as VLANs
- Several values for the same attribute in one answer
Read from Subject (DN) · OUPattern ^Sales$ → VLAN 20Pattern ^Engineering$ → VLAN 40Fallback → VLAN 10
The attributes your hardware understands
VLAN attributes
The standard RADIUS tunnel attributes for VLANs, plus the vendor-specific spellings some switches and access points insist on. Keep the ones your hardware understands; the rest stay out of the rule editor.
Other RADIUS attributes
Filter IDs, group names, vendor pairs: search the RADIUS dictionary in the portal and add what your rules may return. The catalogue shows which rules use each one.
Safeguards for changing rules
In plain words
Every rule shows a sentence that says what it does: which network, which sign-in, which conditions, what it grants.
Issues before you save
The rule list has an issues column. Errors block saving; warnings let you save and stay listed until you fix them.
Switch a rule off without losing it
Switch a rule off to test without it. It keeps its position and its settings.
Duplicate a rule
Copy a working rule and change the one thing that differs.
Backup and restore
Download the whole rule set, with groups and certificate extensions, as a file. Restoring replaces everything, after you confirm it.
The catch-all rule stays last
A generic allow rule is saved at the bottom, where it can't hide the rules below it.
Devices that can't do 802.1X
Write your first rule in the trial
Start a trial, connect one access point and let a rule put your test laptop in its own VLAN.