Best Practices and Precautions for Running radiusdebug on Cloudpath Production Servers

Summary

This article outlines the recommended procedures, precautions, and recovery actions when using the radiusdebug utility command in Cloudpath environments. Running radiusdebug command on high-volume production systems or simultaneously on multiple nodes can potentially impact normal RADIUS operations. Following the guidance in this article helps ensure safe troubleshooting while minimizing service disruption.

Question

What are the recommended best practices and precautions when running the "radiusdebug" command on Cloudpath production servers, particularly in high-volume and Active/Active deployments?

Customer Environment

Cloudpath Production Environment High-volume authentication deployments Active/Active Cloudpath clusters Replicated Cloudpath nodes Environments requiring RADIUS authentication troubleshooting and debugging

Resolution

When using radiusdebug command in the cloudpath server CLI, follow the recommendations below to prevent disruption to authentication services:

1. Limit the Duration of Debug Capture

In high-volume environments, run radiusdebug only for the minimum time necessary to capture the issue.
Excessive debug duration can generate large amounts of output and may impact system performance.

2. Redirect Output to a Log File

Store the debug output in a file for later analysis:

radiusdebug > /var/log/radius/radiusdebug_output.log

3. Run on a Single Node Only

In replicated or Active/Active deployments, perform radiusdebug on only one node at a time.
Avoid running radiusdebug simultaneously on both nodes.

4. Properly Terminate the Debug Session

Stop the debug session using:

Ctrl+C

Do not simply close the terminal window.

5. Verify Normal RADIUS Operation

After stopping the debug session, confirm that standard RADIUS processing has resumed by monitoring:

tail -F /var/log/radius/radius-port1812.log

Verify that new authentication requests are being logged correctly.

6. Emergency Recovery Procedure

If radiusdebug becomes unresponsive or does not stop after pressing Ctrl+C, perform the following recovery steps:

kill -9 radiusd
system restart cloudpath-radiusd

After the service restart, verify normal operation by monitoring:

tail -F /var/log/radius/radius-port1812.log

Important Notes

Exercise caution when running radiusdebug on production systems.
Simultaneous execution on multiple nodes is not recommended.
Always confirm that RADIUS services have resumed normal operation after completing the debug capture.
Use the emergency recovery procedure only when the service does not recover normally after stopping radiusdebug.

Article Number:
000015563

Updated:
September 01, 2026 06:41 AM (2 days ago)

Tags:
Troubleshooting, Cloudpath

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