Aruba ClearPass and Purple WiFi: Integration and Deployment Guide

This guide provides a complete technical reference for integrating HPE Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager with the Purple WiFi platform, covering RADIUS proxy architecture, captive portal configuration, and dynamic VLAN role mapping. It is designed for IT managers and network architects in Aruba-heavy environments who need to retain ClearPass for NAC while deploying Purple for guest authentication and analytics. Implementing this integration closes a critical vendor gap, enabling enterprise-grade security and compliance alongside Purple's market-leading visitor intelligence capabilities.

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Welcome to this technical briefing on integrating HPE Aruba ClearPass with the Purple WiFi platform. I'm your host, and today we're diving deep into the architecture, deployment strategies, and operational benefits of combining ClearPass Policy Manager's robust network access control with Purple's industry-leading guest WiFi and analytics capabilities.

For IT managers, network architects, and CTOs managing large-scale venues — whether that's a sprawling retail chain, a high-density stadium, or a complex healthcare campus — delivering secure, segmented, and insightful wireless access is paramount. ClearPass is phenomenal at context-aware policy enforcement and 802.1X authentication for corporate devices. However, when it comes to guest onboarding, captive portals, and extracting actionable marketing analytics from visitor data, Purple is the undisputed leader.

The core question we're answering today is: How do you configure ClearPass to use Purple as the captive portal, while retaining ClearPass for NAC and dynamic role-based VLAN assignment? Let's get into it.

First, let's establish the architecture. At a high level, the integration relies on standard RADIUS protocols and HTTP redirect mechanisms. Your Aruba Mobility Controllers or Instant Access Points broadcast the guest SSID. When an unauthenticated device connects, the controller intercepts the HTTP traffic and redirects the user's browser to the Purple captive portal. This redirect is the first critical piece to get right.

Now, the user authenticates via Purple. This might be a social login through Facebook or Google, a custom email and password form, or even OpenRoaming, where Purple acts as a free identity provider under the Connect licence. Once Purple validates the user, it sends a RADIUS Access-Accept message back through the chain to the controller, which then grants network access.

But here's where ClearPass becomes essential. Rather than the Aruba controller talking directly to Purple's RADIUS servers, you insert ClearPass as a RADIUS proxy in the middle. The controller sends all RADIUS requests to ClearPass. ClearPass evaluates the request and, if it matches your guest service routing policy, forwards it to Purple's cloud RADIUS servers. Purple responds, and ClearPass passes that response back to the controller, but crucially, it can append its own policy attributes before doing so.

This proxy architecture gives you the best of both worlds. ClearPass maintains a complete audit log of every authentication event on your network, both corporate and guest. You get a single pane of glass for security operations. And Purple handles the user-facing experience and analytics without you needing to replace your existing NAC investment.

Let's talk about dynamic VLAN assignment, because this is where things get really powerful — and where most deployments run into trouble if they're not careful.

ClearPass uses a concept called Roles and Enforcement Profiles. When an authentication request comes in, ClearPass evaluates the context: who is the user, what device are they on, what time is it, what location are they connecting from? Based on these factors, it assigns a Role. For a standard guest, that might be ROLE_GUEST. For a VIP, it might be ROLE_VIP. For a contractor, ROLE_CONTRACTOR.

This Role is then mapped to an Enforcement Profile, which defines the specific RADIUS attributes to return to the Aruba controller. The most important attribute here is the Aruba-User-Role Vendor-Specific Attribute, or VSA. This tells the controller exactly which role to place the user in on the wireless side.

On the Aruba controller, each role maps to a specific VLAN and a set of firewall policies. So ROLE_GUEST maps to VLAN 20, with internet-only access and a 10 megabit per second bandwidth limit. ROLE_VIP maps to VLAN 40, with a 50 megabit limit. ROLE_IOT maps to VLAN 30, a completely isolated segment with no internet access, just local connectivity for smart devices.

This segmentation is not just good practice — it's a compliance requirement. Under PCI DSS, any network that touches cardholder data must be isolated from guest networks. Under GDPR, you need to be able to demonstrate that personal data collected through the guest portal is handled appropriately and that guest traffic cannot traverse your corporate infrastructure.

Now, let me walk you through a real-world scenario. A large hotel chain with 500 rooms across multiple properties. They have Aruba controllers at every site, ClearPass deployed centrally, and they want to roll out Purple for guest WiFi.

The deployment looks like this. Two SSIDs per site: Hotel_Corp and Hotel_Guest. Hotel_Corp uses 802.1X with certificates, authenticated against Active Directory via ClearPass. Hotel_Guest is an open SSID that triggers the Purple captive portal.

In ClearPass, they create two Services. Service One matches Hotel_Corp and handles 802.1X authentication locally. Service Two matches Hotel_Guest and uses a RADIUS Routing Policy to proxy requests to Purple. The Enforcement Policy for Service Two returns the Aruba-User-Role of guest-authenticated, which maps to VLAN 20 on the controller.

For IoT devices — smart TVs, thermostats, door locks — they use a third SSID, Hotel_IoT, with MAC-based authentication. ClearPass profiles the device using its OUI and assigns ROLE_IOT, dropping it into VLAN 30.

The result? Staff get full corporate access. Guests get a branded, engaging portal experience with social login and marketing opt-ins. IoT devices are isolated. And the IT team has complete visibility across all three user types in ClearPass's Access Tracker.

Now let's talk about the pitfalls, because there are several that will catch you out if you're not prepared.

Number one: the walled garden. This is the most common source of captive portal failures. Before a device is authenticated, the Aruba controller only allows traffic to a pre-defined list of destinations — the walled garden. If Purple's portal URL, its backend API endpoints, and the social login provider domains are not in that list, the portal simply won't load. You need to maintain this list proactively. Social login providers like Facebook and Google regularly change their IP ranges and CDN domains. Treat the walled garden as a living configuration.

Number two: RADIUS timeouts. The default RADIUS timeout on most Aruba controllers is three seconds. In a proxy architecture, the request travels from the AP to the controller, to ClearPass, across the internet to Purple's cloud RADIUS, and back. On a congested network, that round trip can easily exceed three seconds. Increase your timeout to at least ten seconds and configure retry logic.

Number three: shared secret mismatches. This one causes silent failures that are notoriously difficult to diagnose. The shared secret between the Aruba controller and ClearPass must match exactly. The shared secret between ClearPass and Purple's RADIUS servers must also match exactly. A single character difference will cause authentication to fail with no meaningful error message to the end user. Always double-check these.

Number four: role name case sensitivity. The Aruba-User-Role VSA returned by ClearPass must exactly match — including capitalisation — the role name defined on the Aruba controller. If ClearPass returns guest-authenticated but the controller has Guest-Authenticated defined, the user will fall back to the default role, which is typically the logon role with no internet access.

Number five: RADIUS accounting. Many deployments configure authentication proxying correctly but forget to proxy accounting as well. Purple uses RADIUS accounting data to track session duration, data usage, and to populate its analytics dashboards. If accounting isn't flowing to Purple, your analytics will be incomplete.

Let's move to the rapid-fire questions section.

Can I use a single SSID for both employees and guests? Yes, you can. Configure ClearPass to handle both 802.1X and MAC-Auth on the same SSID. Use Service Rules to differentiate the traffic type and route accordingly. It's more complex to manage but reduces SSID proliferation.

Does Purple support Change of Authorization? Yes. CoA allows the controller to dynamically update a user's session without requiring them to reconnect. This is useful for time-limited access or tier upgrades.

Can I use this integration with Aruba Instant rather than a full Mobility Controller? Yes, Aruba Instant supports external RADIUS servers and captive portal redirect. The configuration is slightly different but the principles are identical.

Does this integration work with WPA3? Yes. WPA3-SAE for personal networks and WPA3-Enterprise for 802.1X are both supported. For guest networks using captive portals, WPA3-SAE or an open SSID with Opportunistic Wireless Encryption are the typical choices.

To summarise today's briefing. The ClearPass and Purple integration is a RADIUS proxy architecture. ClearPass remains your central policy decision point for all network access. Purple handles the guest-facing experience and analytics. The Aruba controller enforces the resulting policies through dynamic VLAN assignment. The three most critical configuration elements are the walled garden, RADIUS timeouts, and role name consistency. Get those right, and you have a robust, compliant, and commercially valuable guest WiFi deployment.

Thank you for listening. If you want to explore this further, visit purple.ai to speak with a solutions architect about your specific deployment.

Key Takeaways

✓The integration uses a RADIUS proxy architecture: the Aruba controller sends all RADIUS requests to ClearPass, which routes guest authentication to Purple's cloud RADIUS servers while handling corporate 802.1X locally.
✓ClearPass remains the central policy decision point for all network access, maintaining a unified audit trail that satisfies PCI DSS and GDPR compliance requirements.
✓Dynamic VLAN assignment is achieved through ClearPass Role Mapping and the Aruba-User-Role VSA, enabling secure segmentation of guests, staff, IoT devices, and VIPs on a single SSID.
✓The walled garden is the most operationally sensitive configuration element — it must include Purple's portal domains, social login provider endpoints, and OS-level captive portal detection URLs.
✓Increase the RADIUS timeout on the Aruba controller to at least 10 seconds to accommodate the additional network hop to Purple's cloud infrastructure.
✓RADIUS Accounting must be proxied to Purple alongside authentication — without it, Purple's analytics dashboards will show incomplete session data.
✓This integration closes a critical vendor gap for Aruba-heavy enterprises, enabling Purple's advanced guest analytics and marketing capabilities without replacing the existing ClearPass NAC investment.

Executive Summary

For enterprise environments heavily invested in HPE Aruba infrastructure, managing complex network access policies while delivering a seamless, data-rich guest WiFi experience presents a significant architectural challenge. While ClearPass Policy Manager excels at Network Access Control (NAC) and IEEE 802.1X authentication for corporate devices, venue operators increasingly require the advanced captive portal, analytics, and marketing capabilities provided by Purple WiFi.

This guide details the architecture and deployment strategy for integrating Aruba ClearPass with Purple WiFi using a RADIUS proxy model. By configuring ClearPass to proxy guest authentication requests to Purple's RADIUS-as-a-Service, organisations can maintain centralised security policies, enforce dynamic role-based VLAN assignments, and simultaneously leverage Purple's robust visitor insights platform. This integration is critical for large-scale deployments in Retail , Hospitality , Healthcare , and Transport hubs where compliance, security, and customer engagement must coexist without compromise. The result is a deployment where ClearPass decides, Purple engages, and Aruba enforces.

Technical Deep-Dive

Architecture Overview

The integration relies on a standard RADIUS proxy architecture underpinned by RFC 2865 (RADIUS) and RFC 5176 (Dynamic Authorisation Extensions). The Aruba Mobility Controller or Instant AP cluster is configured to use ClearPass as its primary RADIUS server for all SSIDs. ClearPass handles corporate 802.1X authentication locally against Active Directory or an internal certificate authority, but is configured with a RADIUS Service Routing policy to forward guest authentication requests to Purple's cloud RADIUS servers.

This architecture preserves the investment in ClearPass as the central policy decision point while delegating the guest experience layer entirely to Purple. Every authentication event — corporate or guest — is logged in ClearPass's Access Tracker, providing a unified audit trail that satisfies compliance requirements under PCI DSS v4.0 and GDPR Article 30 (Records of Processing Activities).

Authentication Flow: Step by Step

Understanding the precise sequence of events is essential for both initial deployment and subsequent troubleshooting. The flow for a guest device is as follows.

Step	Actor	Action
1	Guest Device	Associates with open Guest SSID
2	Aruba Controller	Assigns pre-auth IP and places device in logon role
3	Guest Device	Sends HTTP request (e.g., http://example.com )
4	Aruba Controller	Intercepts and HTTP 302 redirects to Purple portal URL
5	Guest Device	Loads Purple captive portal via walled garden
6	Guest User	Authenticates (social login, form, or OpenRoaming)
7	Purple Platform	Sends RADIUS Access-Request to Aruba Controller
8	Aruba Controller	Forwards RADIUS request to ClearPass
9	ClearPass	Matches guest Service Rule, proxies to Purple RADIUS
10	Purple RADIUS	Returns Access-Accept
11	ClearPass	Appends Aruba VSAs (User-Role), forwards Accept
12	Aruba Controller	Moves device to post-auth role, assigns guest VLAN

The behaviour of the captive portal detection mechanism — specifically Apple's Captive Network Assistant (CNA), Android's connectivity check, and Microsoft NCSI — has a direct bearing on whether the portal loads correctly. For a detailed breakdown of these OS-level behaviours, refer to Apple CNA, Android Connectivity Check, Microsoft NCSI: How Captive Portal Detection Actually Works .

Dynamic VLAN Assignment and ClearPass Role Mapping

Network segmentation is a non-negotiable requirement for PCI DSS compliance and sound security architecture. ClearPass enables dynamic VLAN assignment through its Role Mapping and Enforcement Profile framework.

When ClearPass processes an authentication request, it evaluates contextual attributes — user identity, device type (profiled via DHCP fingerprinting or HTTP User-Agent), time of day, and connection location — and assigns a Role. This Role is then mapped to an Enforcement Profile that returns specific RADIUS attributes to the Aruba controller, most critically the Aruba-User-Role Vendor-Specific Attribute (VSA, Vendor ID 14823, Attribute 1).

The Aruba controller maps each User-Role to a VLAN and a set of stateful firewall policies. A representative segmentation model for a large venue is shown below.

User Type	ClearPass Role	VLAN	Bandwidth Policy	Firewall Policy
Corporate Employee	ROLE_CORP	10	100 Mbps	Full internal access
Standard Guest	ROLE_GUEST	20	10 Mbps	Internet only
IoT Device	ROLE_IOT	30	5 Mbps	Local only, no internet
VIP / Premium Guest	ROLE_VIP	40	50 Mbps	Internet + select services
Contractor	ROLE_CONTRACTOR	50	20 Mbps	Limited internal access

RADIUS Proxy Configuration in ClearPass

The RADIUS proxy configuration in ClearPass Policy Manager requires three components: a RADIUS Proxy Target (defining Purple's RADIUS server endpoints), a Service Routing Policy (defining which requests to proxy), and an Enforcement Profile (defining the VSAs to append on the return path).

The Proxy Target is configured under Administration > External Servers > RADIUS Servers. Add Purple's RADIUS IP addresses (available from the Purple portal under Hardware > RADIUS Settings), the shared secret, and the authentication port (UDP 1812) and accounting port (UDP 1813).

The Service is configured under Configuration > Services. Create a new service with the type set to RADIUS Proxy. Under Service Rules, add a condition matching the Called-Station-ID (the SSID name) or NAS-Identifier to identify guest traffic. Under Authentication, select the RADIUS Proxy Target created above.

Critically, ensure that RADIUS Accounting is also proxied to Purple. Purple uses accounting data (Acct-Start, Acct-Interim-Update, Acct-Stop) to populate session duration, data consumption, and real-time presence data in its WiFi Analytics platform. Omitting accounting is a common deployment error that results in incomplete analytics dashboards.

Implementation Guide

Phase 1: Aruba Controller Configuration

Step 1 — Define ClearPass as RADIUS Server. Navigate to Configuration > Security > Authentication Servers. Add ClearPass's primary and secondary IP addresses. Set the shared secret, authentication port (1812), and accounting port (1813). Configure the timeout to 10 seconds and retries to 3 to account for the proxy hop to Purple's cloud infrastructure.

Step 2 — Configure the Guest SSID. Create a new SSID profile for guest access. Set the security mode to Open or WPA3-SAE (recommended for GDPR compliance). Under the AAA profile, set the initial role to a pre-defined logon role that has only walled garden access.

Step 3 — Configure the Captive Portal Profile. Create a captive portal profile pointing to Purple's splash page URL. This URL is obtained from the Purple portal under Locations > [Your Venue] > Splash Page URL. Enable the option to redirect to the original URL after authentication.

Step 4 — Configure the Walled Garden. This is the most operationally sensitive step. The walled garden must include Purple's portal domains, CDN endpoints, and all social login provider domains. At minimum, include:

*.purple.ai and *.purple-portal.com
*.facebook.com, *.fbcdn.net (for Facebook login)
*.google.com, *.googleapis.com (for Google login)
Apple's CNA check endpoint: captive.apple.com
Microsoft NCSI: www.msftconnecttest.com

Step 5 — Define Post-Auth Roles. Create the roles that ClearPass will assign post-authentication (e.g., guest-authenticated). Each role maps to a VLAN and a firewall policy permitting internet-only access.

Phase 2: ClearPass Policy Manager Configuration

Step 1 — Add Aruba Controllers as Network Devices. Under Configuration > Network > Devices, add each Aruba controller with its management IP, shared secret, and vendor (Aruba Networks).

Step 2 — Add Purple as a RADIUS Proxy Target. Under Administration > External Servers > RADIUS Servers, add Purple's RADIUS endpoints with the shared secret provided in the Purple portal.

Step 3 — Create the Guest Authentication Service. Under Configuration > Services, create a new service. Set the service type to RADIUS Proxy. Configure Service Rules to match the guest SSID (e.g., Called-Station-SSID EQUALS GuestWiFi). Under Authentication, select the Purple RADIUS Proxy Target.

Step 4 — Create the Enforcement Profile. Under Configuration > Enforcement > Profiles, create a RADIUS enforcement profile. Add the attribute Aruba-User-Role with the value guest-authenticated. This instructs the Aruba controller to move the user into the post-auth guest role.

Step 5 — Configure Accounting Proxy. Ensure the service is also configured to proxy RADIUS Accounting to Purple's accounting server (UDP 1813).

Phase 3: Purple Platform Configuration

Step 1 — Register Hardware. In the Purple portal, navigate to Locations > Hardware. Add the Aruba controller's public IP address or NAS-Identifier. This allows Purple to associate authentication requests with the correct venue.

Step 2 — Configure the Splash Page. Design the captive portal experience using Purple's portal builder. Configure authentication methods, terms and conditions, and marketing opt-in fields in compliance with GDPR.

Step 3 — Retrieve RADIUS Credentials. Under Locations > [Venue] > RADIUS Settings, retrieve the RADIUS server IP addresses, shared secret, and ports. Use these values in the ClearPass Proxy Target configuration.

Best Practices

Walled Garden Maintenance. Treat the walled garden as a living configuration. Social login providers regularly update their CDN domains and IP ranges. Establish a quarterly review process and subscribe to change notifications from major providers.

RADIUS Redundancy. Configure both of Purple's RADIUS server IPs in ClearPass for failover. Similarly, deploy ClearPass in a subscriber/publisher cluster to eliminate single points of failure in the authentication path.

Accounting Integrity. Verify that RADIUS Accounting Stop records are being received by Purple for every session. Orphaned sessions (Start without Stop) indicate a network issue and will skew analytics data.

Certificate Management for 802.1X. For corporate SSIDs using EAP-TLS or PEAP, ensure server certificates are renewed well before expiry. A lapsed certificate will lock out all corporate devices simultaneously — a high-impact incident.

IoT Device Profiling. Leverage ClearPass Device Insight or the built-in profiling engine to automatically classify IoT devices by OUI and DHCP fingerprint. This enables automated VLAN assignment without manual MAC address management.

GDPR Compliance. Purple captures personal data (email, name, social profile) during guest authentication. Ensure your Purple splash page includes a compliant privacy notice and that data retention policies in the Purple portal align with your organisation's GDPR obligations.

Troubleshooting & Risk Mitigation

Captive Portal Not Displaying

Symptom: Client connects to the guest SSID but no portal appears; device shows "Connected, no internet."

Diagnosis: Use a packet capture on the controller uplink to verify that DNS queries for the portal URL are resolving and that HTTP traffic is being intercepted. Check the CNA/NCSI check endpoints are in the walled garden.

Resolution: Add missing domains to the walled garden. Verify the captive portal profile is correctly associated with the guest SSID AAA profile.

Silent Authentication Failures

Symptom: User completes the portal form, but network access is denied. ClearPass Access Tracker shows an Access-Reject.

Diagnosis: Open the Access Tracker entry and examine the authentication failure reason. Common causes are RADIUS shared secret mismatch, Purple RADIUS server unreachable, or an incorrect Service Rule matching the wrong service.

Resolution: Verify shared secrets on both the Aruba controller-to-ClearPass and ClearPass-to-Purple legs. Test Purple RADIUS reachability from the ClearPass server using radtest.

Incorrect VLAN Assignment

Symptom: Guest authenticates successfully but receives an IP address in the corporate subnet (VLAN 10).

Resolution: Verify the Aruba-User-Role value in the ClearPass Enforcement Profile exactly matches (including case) the role name defined on the Aruba controller. Check the ClearPass Access Tracker output attributes to confirm the VSA is being sent.

RADIUS Timeout Errors

Symptom: Authentication fails intermittently, particularly under load. Access Tracker shows timeout errors.

Resolution: Increase the RADIUS server timeout on the Aruba controller to 10 seconds. Verify UDP ports 1812 and 1813 are open and not subject to rate limiting on the firewall between ClearPass and Purple's cloud infrastructure.

ROI & Business Impact

Deploying this integrated architecture delivers measurable returns across IT, security, and commercial functions. From a security and compliance perspective, centralising all authentication events in ClearPass provides a unified audit trail that simplifies PCI DSS and GDPR compliance reporting. Dynamic VLAN segmentation eliminates the risk of guest traffic traversing corporate infrastructure, directly reducing the attack surface.

From a commercial perspective, Purple's Guest WiFi platform transforms the guest network from a cost centre into a first-party data asset. Every authenticated guest session generates opt-in marketing data — email addresses, visit frequency, dwell time, and device type — that feeds directly into CRM and marketing automation platforms. Venues deploying Purple alongside existing Aruba infrastructure consistently report measurable improvements in email list growth, repeat visit rates, and campaign conversion.

The integration also eliminates the need to replace existing ClearPass licences or Aruba hardware, making it a low-risk, high-return addition to an existing infrastructure investment. For organisations managing multiple sites — a retail chain, a hotel group, or a university campus — Purple's centralised management portal provides cross-site analytics that ClearPass alone cannot deliver.

For environments where understanding physical visitor behaviour is as important as network security — such as large retail floors or transport hubs — Purple's analytics integrate naturally with Indoor Positioning System data to provide spatial intelligence alongside connectivity metrics.

Key Terms & Definitions

RADIUS Proxy

A configuration where a RADIUS server (ClearPass) forwards authentication requests to another RADIUS server (Purple) based on specific matching criteria, such as the SSID name or NAS-Identifier.

Used when an organisation wants to maintain a single NAC solution internally while utilising a third-party cloud service for guest authentication. The proxy preserves the central audit log in ClearPass while delegating the authentication decision to Purple.

Change of Authorization (CoA)

A RADIUS extension defined in RFC 5176 that allows a RADIUS server to dynamically modify the session authorisation attributes of an active client connection without requiring the client to disconnect.

Critical for captive portal deployments. CoA allows Purple to signal the Aruba controller to transition a user from the pre-authentication logon role to the post-authentication guest role the moment the user completes the portal form.

Walled Garden

A pre-authentication access control list on the Aruba controller that permits unauthenticated devices to reach specific IP addresses and domains required for the captive portal to function.

If the device cannot reach the portal URL, social login provider endpoints, or OS-level captive portal detection URLs (Apple CNA, Microsoft NCSI), the portal will fail to load. This is the most common source of captive portal deployment failures.

Vendor-Specific Attribute (VSA)

Custom RADIUS attributes defined by network equipment vendors (Vendor ID 14823 for Aruba) to extend the standard RADIUS protocol with proprietary instructions.

The Aruba-User-Role VSA (Attribute 1) is the primary mechanism by which ClearPass instructs the Aruba controller which role to assign to an authenticated user. The value must exactly match a role defined on the controller.

Dynamic VLAN Assignment

The process of placing a user or device into a specific VLAN based on their authenticated identity or assigned role, rather than the physical port or SSID they connected to.

Enables venue operators to broadcast a single guest SSID while securely segmenting standard guests, VIP guests, IoT devices, and contractors onto separate, isolated network segments — a requirement for PCI DSS compliance.

Enforcement Profile

A ClearPass configuration object that defines the specific RADIUS attributes and values to return to the network device when a device successfully matches an authentication service.

This is where the business logic of 'if guest, then assign guest role' is translated into specific RADIUS VSAs sent to the Aruba controller. A misconfigured Enforcement Profile is a common cause of incorrect VLAN assignment.

Captive Network Assistant (CNA)

The mini-browser built into iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows that automatically detects a captive portal by making HTTP requests to known endpoints and prompts the user to authenticate.

Understanding CNA behaviour is essential for troubleshooting portal display issues on specific device types. The CNA endpoints (captive.apple.com, www.msftconnecttest.com) must be in the walled garden.

Access Tracker

The real-time diagnostic tool within ClearPass Policy Manager that logs every RADIUS authentication and accounting event, including the request attributes, matched service, applied enforcement profile, and result.

The first diagnostic tool to consult when troubleshooting authentication failures or incorrect role assignments. It provides a complete record of what ClearPass received, what decision it made, and what it returned to the network device.

RADIUS-as-a-Service (RaaS)

A cloud-delivered RADIUS authentication service where the RADIUS server infrastructure is managed and hosted by a third-party provider rather than on-premises.

Purple's RADIUS-as-a-Service eliminates the need for venues to deploy and manage their own RADIUS infrastructure for guest authentication, while integrating with existing on-premises NAC solutions like ClearPass via the proxy architecture described in this guide.

Case Studies

A 500-room hotel group with Aruba controllers and ClearPass deployed centrally needs to provide secure 802.1X WiFi for staff, a branded captive portal for guests, and isolated connectivity for IoT devices (smart TVs, thermostats, door locks). How should they architect the authentication flow?

Deploy three SSIDs: Hotel_Corp (802.1X, WPA2-Enterprise), Hotel_Guest (open SSID with captive portal redirect), and Hotel_IoT (open SSID with MAC-based authentication). All three SSIDs point to ClearPass as the RADIUS server. In ClearPass, create three Services: Service 1 matches Hotel_Corp and authenticates against Active Directory via PEAP-MSCHAPv2, returning ROLE_CORP (VLAN 10, full internal access). Service 2 matches Hotel_Guest and uses a RADIUS Routing Policy to proxy requests to Purple's RADIUS servers; the Enforcement Profile returns Aruba-User-Role = guest-authenticated (VLAN 20, internet only, 10 Mbps). Service 3 matches Hotel_IoT and uses ClearPass Device Profiling to classify devices by OUI; the Enforcement Profile returns ROLE_IOT (VLAN 30, local only, no internet). The walled garden on the Aruba controller includes Purple's portal domains, Facebook, Google, and Apple's CNA endpoint.

Implementation Notes: This architecture correctly separates the three authentication paths while maintaining ClearPass as the single policy decision point. The key design decision is using RADIUS proxy for guest traffic rather than configuring the Aruba controller to talk directly to Purple — this preserves the unified audit trail in ClearPass and allows the organisation to apply additional ClearPass policies (e.g., time-of-day restrictions) to guest sessions in the future without changing the Aruba configuration.

A retail chain is rolling out Purple across 120 stores, all running Aruba Instant APs. Guest authentication latency is high and portal drop-offs are occurring. Preliminary investigation shows the RADIUS timeout is set to the default 3 seconds.

Increase the RADIUS server timeout on all Aruba Instant APs to 10 seconds and configure 3 retries. Deploy both of Purple's RADIUS server IPs as primary and secondary servers in the Instant AP configuration to provide failover. Review the walled garden configuration to ensure all social login provider domains are included, as incomplete walled gardens cause the portal page to load slowly or partially, increasing perceived latency. Enable RADIUS Accounting on the Instant APs to ensure Purple receives session data. Finally, review the Purple portal design to minimise the number of external resource calls (fonts, images) that must load before the authentication form is displayed.

Implementation Notes: The 3-second default timeout is a common source of intermittent failures in proxy architectures. The request travels from the AP to Purple's cloud and back, and on a congested or high-latency WAN link this can easily exceed 3 seconds. Increasing the timeout is the immediate fix, but the root cause investigation should also examine whether the ClearPass-to-Purple network path is optimal and whether Purple's RADIUS servers are geographically close to the ClearPass deployment.

Scenario Analysis

Q1. Your deployment requires guests to authenticate via Facebook login. The Purple portal loads, but when users tap the Facebook button, the page times out and returns an error. Corporate 802.1X authentication is working correctly. What is the most likely cause and how do you resolve it?

💡 Hint:Consider what the device is permitted to access before it has completed authentication. The portal page loaded, so the portal domain is in the walled garden — but what about the resources the portal needs to call?

Show Recommended Approach

The walled garden configuration on the Aruba controller is missing the required Facebook authentication domains and CDN endpoints (*.facebook.com, *.fbcdn.net, *.facebook.net). Pre-authentication traffic to Facebook's OAuth servers is being blocked by the controller's default-deny policy. Resolution: add the missing Facebook domains to the walled garden. Also verify that Google's domains are included if Google login is also offered. Use a browser developer tools network trace from a test device to identify any additional blocked domains.

Q2. You want to use a single SSID ('VenueWiFi') for both corporate employees (802.1X) and guests (captive portal via Purple). How do you configure ClearPass to correctly differentiate and route the two authentication types?

💡 Hint:ClearPass Services are matched in priority order. Consider how 802.1X and MAC-Auth requests differ at the RADIUS protocol level, and how Service Rules can exploit this difference.

Show Recommended Approach

Create two ClearPass Services, both matching the SSID 'VenueWiFi'. Service 1 (higher priority) uses a Service Rule matching on the RADIUS attribute 'Service-Type EQUALS Framed-User' or the presence of EAP attributes, identifying 802.1X requests. It authenticates against Active Directory and returns ROLE_CORP. Service 2 (lower priority) matches MAC-Auth requests (Service-Type EQUALS Call-Check or Authenticate-Only). It uses a RADIUS Routing Policy to proxy the request to Purple. The Enforcement Profile for Service 2 returns the pre-auth logon role, triggering the captive portal. When Purple sends the post-authentication RADIUS request, it is matched by Service 2 and returns the guest-authenticated role.

Q3. Guest authentication is successful — the Purple dashboard shows the user as active and the ClearPass Access Tracker shows an Access-Accept. However, the user cannot access the internet and the Aruba controller shows the user is still in the 'logon' role. What are the two most likely causes?

💡 Hint:The authentication succeeded and ClearPass sent an Accept. The problem is therefore in what ClearPass sent back, or in how the Aruba controller interpreted it.

Show Recommended Approach

Cause 1: The ClearPass Enforcement Profile is not configured to return the Aruba-User-Role VSA, or is returning an empty value. Check the Enforcement Profile and verify the VSA is explicitly set. Cause 2: The Aruba-User-Role value returned by ClearPass does not exactly match (including capitalisation) a role defined on the Aruba controller. For example, ClearPass returns 'guest-authenticated' but the controller has 'Guest-Authenticated' defined. Resolution: Open the ClearPass Access Tracker entry, expand the Output Attributes section, and verify the Aruba-User-Role value. Then cross-reference this value against the role names defined on the Aruba controller under Configuration > Roles.

Q4. A stadium venue wants to offer tiered guest WiFi: a free tier with 5 Mbps and mandatory portal authentication, and a premium tier with 50 Mbps for ticket holders who have pre-registered. Both tiers use the same SSID. How would you architect this using ClearPass and Purple?

💡 Hint:Think about how ClearPass can differentiate between the two user types post-authentication, and how Purple can pass identity information to ClearPass to enable this differentiation.

Show Recommended Approach

Configure Purple to pass a user attribute (e.g., a custom RADIUS attribute or the Class attribute) indicating whether the user is a registered ticket holder. In ClearPass, create a Role Mapping Policy that checks this attribute: if present and valid, assign ROLE_VIP; otherwise assign ROLE_GUEST. Create two Enforcement Profiles: ROLE_GUEST returns Aruba-User-Role = guest-standard (VLAN 20, 5 Mbps bandwidth contract); ROLE_VIP returns Aruba-User-Role = guest-premium (VLAN 40, 50 Mbps). On the Aruba controller, define both roles with the appropriate VLAN and bandwidth contracts. This approach uses a single SSID and single Purple portal while delivering differentiated service levels based on user identity.