The hints File
Progressing along with the FreeRADIUS setup you will come to the /etc/raddb/hints file. This file can be used to provide “hints” to the RADIUS server about how to provision services for a specific user based on how his login name is constructed. For example, when you’ve configured your default service to be a SLIP connection, then a SLIP connection will be set up if a user logs in with her standard username (e.g., meis). However, if that same user wanted a PPP connection, she could alter her username to be Prneis, and the RADIUS server (knowing about that convention from the /etc/raddb/hints file) would set up a PPP connection for her. Suffixes on the end of the username work in the same way. More on the hints file will be provided later in the chapter. You shouldn’t need to edit this file initially since we’re just testing, but if you’d like to check it out, a sample /etc/raddb/hints file looks like this:
DEFAULT Prefix = "P", Strip-User-Name = Yes
Hint = "PPP",
Service-Type = Framed-User,
Framed-Protocol = PPP
DEFAULT Prefix = "S", Strip-User-Name = Yes
Hint = "SLIP",
Service-Type = Framed-User,
Framed-Protocol = SLIP
DEFAULT Suffix = "P", Strip-User-Name = Yes
Hint = "PPP",
Service-Type = Framed-User,
Framed-Protocol = PPP
DEFAULT Suffix = "S", Strip-User-Name = Yes
Hint = "SLIP",
Service-Type = Framed-User,
Framed-Protocol = SLIP