Cannot install freeradius server installation exits with code (1) - linux

Question

Trying to install freeradius package on Debian 10 buster and it fails.
$ sudo apt install freeradius
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
freeradius-krb5 freeradius-ldap freeradius-mysql freeradius-postgresql freeradius-python3
The following NEW packages will be installed:
freeradius
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 555 kB of archives.
After this operation, 2230 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian sid/main amd64 freeradius amd64 3.0.21+dfsg-2+b2 [555 kB]
Fetched 555 kB in 0s (2753 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package freeradius.
(Reading database ... 140557 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../freeradius_3.0.21+dfsg-2+b2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking freeradius (3.0.21+dfsg-2+b2) ...
Setting up freeradius (3.0.21+dfsg-2+b2) ...
update-rc.d: warning: start and stop actions are no longer supported; falling back to defaults
install: invalid user ‘freerad’
dpkg: error processing package freeradius (--configure):
installed freeradius package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
freeradius
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
install: invalid user ‘freerad’
Apparently it seems as if there's something wrong with the freerad user which doesn't exist?
Typing / checking inside /etc/passwd file learly shows there's no such user
$ cat /etc/passwd | grep freer*
Checking the syslog shows:
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 systemd[1]: freeradius.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 277.
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: FreeRADIUS Version 3.0.21
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: Copyright (C) 1999-2019 The FreeRADIUS server project and contributors
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: PARTICULAR PURPOSE
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: You may redistribute copies of FreeRADIUS under the terms of the
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: GNU General Public License
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: For more information about these matters, see the file named COPYRIGHT
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 freeradius[10918]: Errors reading /etc/freeradius/3.0: Permission denied
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 systemd[1]: freeradius.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 10 00:38:45 server-1 systemd[1]: freeradius.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Tried a**smarting this by adding the user manually with the command adduser freeradius
and then tried re-installing:
$ sudo apt install freeradius
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
freeradius is already the newest version (3.0.21+dfsg-2+b2).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up freeradius (3.0.21+dfsg-2+b2) ...
update-rc.d: warning: start and stop actions are no longer supported; falling back to defaults
chown: cannot access '/etc/freeradius': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing package freeradius (--configure):
installed freeradius package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
freeradius
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
now it fails prompting a new error: chown: cannot access '/etc/freeradius': No such file or directory
Tried purging / removing / clean / cache deleting / rebooting and then restarting the installation but it keeps reappearing.
Let me know if there's more info I can provide in manner to help you help me.
Cheers.

Answer 1

when removing freeradius (either by apt remove freeradius or apt purge freeradius) mind that config files are a seperate package called freeradius-config
so to completely wipe freeradius and do a reinstall do:
apt purge freeradius freeradius-config
rm -rf /etc/freeradius/
apt install freeradius

Answer 2

After installation of freeradius, add the following lines at the end of the client.conf file to set the access of your client:
#vi /etc/freeradius/3.0/clients.conf
For Example :
client SWITCH-01 {
ipaddr = 192.168.0.10
secret = kamisama123
}
client LINUX-01 {
ipaddr = 192.168.0.20
secret = vegeto123
}
In our example, we are adding 2 client devices, both devices will offer a login promt to authenticate on freeradius server database.
Now, locate and edit the freeradius users configuration file:
Example:
# vi /etc/freeradius/3.0/users
Adding Your Username And Password Like below:
freerad1 Cleartext-Password := "freerad1234"
freerad2 Cleartext-Password := "freerad2123"
Now, Restart freeradius server :
# service freeradius restart
Now, test your radius server configuration file :
#freeradius -CX
you can Test your radius authentication locally on the Radius server using the following commands:
# radtest freerad1 freerad1234 localhost 0 testing123
Here is an example of a successful radius authentication:
Sent Access-Request Id 151 from 0.0.0.0:34857 to 127.0.0.1:1812 length 75
User-Name = "freerad1"
User-Password = "freerad1234"
NAS-IP-Address = 172.31.41.98
NAS-Port = 0
Message-Authenticator = 0x00
Cleartext-Password = "freerad1234"
Received Access-Accept Id 151 from 127.0.0.1:1812 to 0.0.0.0:0 length 20
We are using the freerad1 username and the freerad1234 password to authenticate the user account.
The testing123 is a default device password included in the clients.conf file.
Now, go to the Linux server included on the clients.conf configuration file as LINUX-01.
Install the freeradius-utils package.
# apt-get install freeradius-utils
Test your radius authentication remotely on the Linux server (LINUX-01 OR YOUR CLIENT YOU ARE ADDED ON client.conf) using the following commands:
# radtest freerad freerad1234 192.168.0.50 0 vegeto123
** Congratulations, Your Freeradius server is on the service **