WatchGuard Management Server Integration with AuthPoint

Deployment Overview

This document describes how to set up AuthPoint multi-factor authentication (MFA) for the WatchGuard Management Server. Users must authenticate when they connect to the WatchGuard Management Server from WSM (WatchGuard System Manager).

Integration Summary

The hardware and software used in this guide include:

  • WatchGuard System Manager v12.9.0 or higher
  • WatchGuard Management Server v12.9.0 or higher
  • AuthPoint Gateway v7.0.1 or higher

WatchGuard Management Server Authentication Data Flow with AuthPoint

AuthPoint communicates with various cloud-based services and service providers with the RADIUS protocol. This diagram shows the data flow for RADIUS authentication with the WatchGuard Management Server and AuthPoint.

Diagram of the AuthPoint and WatchGuard Management Server integration topology

Before You Begin

Before you begin, make sure that:

  • A token is assigned to a user in AuthPoint
  • You have installed and configured AuthPoint Gateway v7.0.1 or higher. For more information, (see About Gateways)
  • You have installed WatchGuard System Manager v12.9.0 or higher
  • You have installed WatchGuard Management Server v12.9.0 or higher

Configure AuthPoint

Before AuthPoint can receive authentication requests from the WatchGuard Management Server, you must:

  • Specify the WatchGuard Management Server as a RADIUS client resource in AuthPoint. In AuthPoint, resources are the applications and services that your users connect to.
  • Add an authentication policy for the RADIUS client resource, or add the RADIUS client resource to an existing authentication policy. Authentication policies specify which resources users can authenticate to and which authentication methods they can use, such as Push, QR code, and One-Time Password (OTP).
  • Bind the RADIUS client resource to the AuthPoint Gateway.

Add a RADIUS Client Resource in AuthPoint

From the AuthPoint management UI:

  1. From the navigation menu, select Resources. Click Add Resource.
    The Add Resource page opens.

  1. From the Type drop-down list, select RADIUS Client.
    Additional fields appear.

  1. In the Name text box, type a descriptive name for the resource.
  2. In the RADIUS client trusted IP or FQDN text box, type the IP address of the Management Server.
  3. In the Value sent for RADIUS attribute 11 (Filter-ID) drop-down list, select User's AuthPoint group.

    4. If you use Active Directory groups for RADIUS authentication, select User's Active Directory groups.

  4. In the Shared Secret text box, type a shared secret key. This is the password that the RADIUS server (AuthPoint Gateway) and the RADIUS client (Management Server) use to communicate.
  5. Click Save.

Add a Group in AuthPoint

You must have at least one user group in AuthPoint to configure multi-factor authentication. If you have already configured a group, you do not have to add another group.

To add a WatchGuard Cloud-hosted group to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory:

  1. Go to Configure > Directories and Domain Services.
  2. Click the WatchGuard Cloud Directory domain name. If you have not yet added the WatchGuard Cloud Directory, click Add Authentication Domain and select the WatchGuard Cloud Directory.
    The New Group page appears.

Screenshot that shows the Directories and Domain Services page.

  1. In the Groups tab, click Add Group.
  2. In the Group Name text box, type a descriptive name for the group.
  3. (Optional) In the Description text box, type a description of the group.

Screen shot of the Add Group page.

  1. Click Save.
    Your group is added to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory and to AuthPoint.

Add an Authentication Policy to AuthPoint

Authentication policies specify which resources users can authenticate to and which authentication methods they can use.

WatchGuard Management Server only supports Push or OTP authentication. Users cannot choose between the two authentication methods. If you enable both the push and OTP authentication methods for a policy, RADIUS client resources will use push notifications to authenticate users. To allow users to authenticate with OTP, you must select only the password and OTP authentication methods.

You must have at least one authentication policy in AuthPoint that includes the RADIUS client resource. If you already have authentication policies, you do not have to create a new authentication policy. You can add this resource to your existing authentication policies.

Users that do not have an authentication policy for a specific resource cannot authenticate to log in to that resource.

To configure an authentication policy:

  1. From the navigation menu, select Authentication Policies.
  2. Click Add Policy.

Screenshot of the Add Policy button on the Authentication Policies page.

  1. Type a name for this policy.
  2. From the Select the authentication options drop-down list, select Authentication options and select the Password and Push check boxes.

    QR code authentication is not supported for RADIUS client resources. OTP authentication is not supported for RADIUS client resources with MS-CHAPv2 enabled.

  1. Select which groups this policy applies to. You can select more than one group. To configure this policy to apply to all groups, select All Groups.
  2. Select the resource that you created in the previous section. If you want this policy to apply to additional resources, select each resource this policy applies to. To configure this policy to apply to all resources, select All Resources.

Screenshot of the Add Policy page with the groups and resources selected

  1. (Optional) If you have configured policy objects such as a Network Location, select which policy objects apply to this policy. When you add a policy object to a policy, the policy only applies to user authentications that match the conditions of the policy objects. For example, if you add a Network Location to a policy, the policy only applies to user authentications that come from that Network Location. Users who only have a policy that includes a Network Location do not get access to the resource when they authenticate outside of that Network Location (because they do not have a policy that applies, not because authentication is denied).

    For RADIUS authentication, policies that have a Network Location do not apply because AuthPoint does not have the IP address of the user.

    If you configure policy objects, we recommend that you create a second policy for the same groups and resources without the policy objects. The policy with the policy objects should have a higher priority.

Screenshot of the Policy Objects drop-down list.

  1. Click Save.
    Your policy is created and added to the end of the policy list.

    When you create a new policy, we recommend that you review the order of your policies. AuthPoint always adds new policies to the end of the policy list.

Screenshot of the Save button on the Add Policy page.

Bind the RADIUS Client Resource to a Gateway

To use RADIUS authentication with AuthPoint, you must have the AuthPoint Gateway installed on your corporate network and you must assign your RADIUS client resources to the Gateway in the AuthPoint management UI. The Gateway functions as a RADIUS server.

If you have not already configured and installed the AuthPoint Gateway, see About Gateways.

To assign your RADIUS resources to the Gateway:

  1. From the navigation menu, select Gateway.
  2. Select the Name of the Gateway.

  3. From the RADIUS section, in the Port text box, type the port number used to communicate with the Gateway. The default ports are 1812 and 1645.

    If you already have a RADIUS server installed that uses port 1812 or 1645, you must use a different port for the AuthPoint Gateway.

  4. From the Select a RADIUS Resource drop-down list, select your RADIUS client resource.
  5. Click Save.

Add Users to AuthPoint

Before you assign users to a group, you must add the users to AuthPoint. There are two ways to add AuthPoint user accounts:

  • Sync users from an external user database
  • Add WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint users

Each user must be a member of a group. You must add at least one group before you can add users to AuthPoint.

To import users from Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, or an LDAP database, you must add an external identity in the AuthPoint management UI. External identities connect to user databases to get user account information and validate passwords.

  • To sync users from Active Directory or an LDAP database, you must add an LDAP external identity
  • To sync users from Microsoft Entra ID, you must add a Microsoft Entra ID external identity

When you sync users from an external user database, you can sync any number of users and they are all added to AuthPoint at one time. Users synced from an external user database use the password defined for their user account as their AuthPoint password.

To learn how to sync users, go to Sync Users from Active Directory or LDAP and Sync Users from Azure Active Directory.

You create WatchGuard Cloud-hosted users and groups from the WatchGuard Cloud Directory in WatchGuard Cloud. Directories and Domain Services is where you add shared authentication domains for WatchGuard Cloud devices and services, such as AuthPoint.

Users that you add to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory are automatically added to AuthPoint as well.

You add local AuthPoint users form Directories and Domain Services. You manage the users in AuthPoint on the Users page.

When you add WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint users, you choose whether the user is an MFA user or a non-MFA user.

  • MFA users are user accounts that will use AuthPoint multi-factor authentication to authenticate. This is not related to the AuthPoint Multi-Factor Authentication license type.
  • Non-MFA users are users that will only ever authenticate with a password, such as a service account user. Non-MFA users do not consume an AuthPoint user license and cannot authenticate to resources that require MFA. They can only authenticate to protected resources if the non-MFA user account has a password only authentication policy for that resource.

After you add a user, you can edit the user account if you need to change their account type. When you change a user account from MFA to non-MFA, AuthPoint deletes the tokens and password vault (if applicable) that belong to the user. This action cannot be undone.

Unlike users synced from an external user database, WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint users define and manage their own AuthPoint password. When you add a WatchGuard Cloud-hosted user account, the user receives an email that prompts them to set their password.

To learn how to add WatchGuard Cloud-hosted AuthPoint user accounts to the WatchGuard Cloud Directory, go to Add Local Users to an Authentication Domain.

Configure the WatchGuard Management Server

  1. Open the WatchGuard Server Center.
  2. Select Servers > Management Server.
  3. Select the RADIUS tab.
  4. Select the Enable RADIUS authentication check box.
  5. In the Server Address text box, type the IP address of the AuthPoint Gateway.
  6. In the Shared Secret text box, type the same shared secret that you configured in the RADIUS client resource.
  7. Click Apply.

    8. Screen shot of the Management Server RADIUS configuration tab

  8. Select Users.
  9. Click Add.

Screen shot of the User and Group Properties page for a user on the Management Server

  1. In the Name text box, type the same user name that you added in AuthPoint.
  2. Select the External User check box.

    3. You can also select the External Group check box for RADIUS group authentication. A user who belongs to this group can authenticate.

    If you use the AuthPoint group, in the Name text box, type the AuthPoint group name. If you use this option, make sure that you selected User's AuthPoint group in the RADIUS client resource configuration.

    If you use the Active Directory group, in the Name text box, type the Active Directory group name. If you use this option, make sure you selected User's Active Directory groups in the RADIUS client resource configuration.

  3. Select the Role Policy menu.
  4. Click Add.
  5. In the Role Policy Properties dialog box, select a role for the user, then click OK.

    6. Screen shot of the Role Policy Properties page for a user on the Management Server

  6. In the User and Group Properties dialog box, click OK.

Test the Integration

To test AuthPoint multi-factor authentication with the WatchGuard Management Server, authenticate with a mobile token on your mobile device or a hardware token. For WatchGuard Management Server, you can choose the Push or OTP methods. You can only use one of these methods.

  • If you choose Push as the authentication method, users receive a push notification in their mobile application that they must approve to authenticate.
  • If you choose OTP as the authentication method, type the password and your OTP together as the passphrase.

In this example, we authenticate with the OTP method.

  1. Open WatchGuard System Manager.
  2. Select File > Connect to Server.
  3. In the Management Server text box, type the IP address of the Management Server.
  4. In the Username text box, type the user name that you added in WatchGuard Server Center.
  5. In the Passphrase text box, type the password and your OTP together as the passphrase.

Screen shot of the Management Server login dialog box

  1. Click Login.
    WatchGuard Management Server appears if the login attempt is successful.

    2. log in success