Read this article to know a simple method to enable pfSense HAProxy Authentication. Bobcares, as a part of our pfSense Support offers solutions to every query that comes our way.

Steps for pfSense HAProxy Authentication

Step 1: Make Custom Password Encryption

Make a unique password using an example hash. Here, we use Debian.

• Now install the whois package using the code below:

  sudo apt install whois
• Then use the below code to create the password hash after the installation.

  printf "TheSuperSecretPasswordHere" | mkpasswd --stdin --method=sha-512
• Now we can see the below text:

  apauna@MSI:~$ printf “TheSuperSecretPasswordHere” | mkpasswd –stdin –method=sha-512
  $6$uQz8XOERPi$ylyDGyzAhXIT3k.PwqhJoIULW21UvhjyHX2zoR.wsLBDLnBvEo3TlYNrClXNh/58w5j/F4DZxfXGPbykTHTDR/
• Use the final line and save it in Custom Options.

Step 2: Change the Settings Custom Options

• In pfSense, add Custom Option on the Settings page.
• It is important to set up special user groups like the one below in order to use Authentication.

  userlist UserGroup
  user admin password <Password hash from step 1 above>
  
• Remember to make these two lines the last items in the custom options list.
• After saving, edit the backend to use the custom authentications. We can add as many users as needed for access. Here, we’re considering only one user.

Step 3: Add ACl to the backend in HAProxy

• Open Backend in the issue.
• Click the pointer to the far right of the item we want to change.
• Then on the backend editor, dropdown the Access control lists and Actions item.
• Take note of the name, Custom acl: dropdown item, and associated http_auth(UserGroup) Note: The usergroup indicated above was created in step 2 above, therefore use the same name as in step 2. It’s named “UserGroup” in here.
• Example of an ACL Action that associates acl with the “UserGroup” realm unless BackendAccess authentication is used. Again, this should correspond to the user group name specified in Step 2 above.

[Looking for a solution to another query? We are just a click away.]

Conclusion

With a HAProxy package for pfSense, we’ll be having a good web UI, along with a reliable and flexible open-source load balancer for TCP and HTTP. To conclude, we provide a simple method from our Support team to enable pfSense HAProxy authentication.