IU Secure wireless connections: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x and 6.x

To connect to the IU Secure wireless network at Indiana University using Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you must first obtain a valid Thawte certificate. For other Linux distributions, see IU Secure wireless connections: Linux.

On this page:

• Obtaining a Thawte certificate
• Connecting to IU Secure

Obtaining a Thawte certificate

The IU Secure authentication server uses Thawte as its root certificate authority. You need a valid Thawte root certificate in Privacy-Enhanced Mail (PEM) format to connect to IU Secure.

UITS recommends that you use the certificate installed with your operating system. If you do not have the root certificate installed, you can download it from Thawte's Download Root Certificates.

After you download the thawte-roots.zip file, extract the Thawte Root Certificates/thawte Premium Server CA/Thawte Premium Server CA.pem file to your home directory.

In the default installations of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can find the certificate in /etc/pki/tls/cert.pem . However, this file does not work for connections to IU Secure. Instead, download the certificate from Thawte's Download Root Certificates.

Connecting to IU Secure

1. To verify that your NetworkManager is running, click System, then Administration, and then Services. Check NetworkManager if it is not already checked. Click Start if it is not already running.
   
   
2. Click the NetworkManager applet (a pair of superimposed monitors, typically in the upper bar on the right), and select IU Secure. The Wireless Network Authentication Required window will appear.
   
   
3. Configure the settings as follows:
   
   
   • Next to "Wireless Security:", select WPA & WPA2 Enterprise.
   • Next to "Authentication:", select Protected EAP (PEAP).
   • Leave the "Anonymous Identity:" field blank.
   • Click the button next to "CA Certificate:", and then browse to the Thawte certificate.
   • Next to "PEAP Version:", choose Version 0.
   • Make sure "Inner Authentication:" is set to MSCHAPv2.
   • Next to "User Name:" and "Password:", enter your IU Network ID credentials.

     Note: Do not check Show password, as it will display your Network ID passphrase in clear text.

4. Click Connect. If the connection fails, you will be prompted to re-enter configuration details.

When you successfully connect, you'll see a series of blue bars of increasing height in place of the superimposed monitors.

At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

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