Quick Start Guide
Get Warden up and running in 10 minutes or less
Welcome to Warden! This guide walks you through the essential steps to get your first authentication working. By the end, you'll have users authenticating through your network devices using Warden's RADIUS service.
VM Appliance Quick Start (macOS)
Running Warden as a VM appliance on macOS? Here's the fastest path to get started:
- Prerequisites: Install VMware Fusion 25H2 or newer
-
Import: Unzip the appliance package and double-click the
.vmxfile - Network: Configure VM network settings as needed (bridged mode recommended for LAN access)
- Boot & Configure: Start the VM, press 2 for network config, then 2 again for DHCP
- Wait: Allow ~15 seconds for background services to initialize
- Access: Browse to the displayed IP address, accept the self-signed certificate, and complete the setup wizard
Before You Start
- Warden is installed and you can access the web interface
- You know the IP address of your network device (switch, AP, firewall)
- You have credentials for a user in your directory (AD, LDAP, etc.)
- Your network device supports RADIUS authentication
First, tell Warden where your users live. Navigate to My Providers and click Add Provider.
For most organizations, you'll choose one of these:
- LDAP - For Active Directory or OpenLDAP servers
- Azure AD - For Microsoft 365 / Azure Active Directory
- Google Workspace - For Google-based organizations
Before going further, verify Warden can reach your identity provider. Click the menu (⋮) next to your provider and select Test Connection.
Enter a real username and password from your directory. You should see a success message with the user's details.
Policies define how authentication works. Go to Policies and click Create Policy.
At minimum, you need to:
- Give your policy a name (e.g., "Standard Access")
- Add your identity provider to the authentication chain
- Save the policy
That's enough to get started! You can add 2FA requirements, time restrictions, and RADIUS attributes later.
Now tell Warden about the device that will send authentication requests. Go to Hosts and click Add Host.
Enter:
- Name - A friendly name (e.g., "Lobby Switch")
- IP Address - The device's IP (this is how Warden identifies it)
- RADIUS Secret - A shared password (you'll use this same secret on the device)
- Policy - Select the policy you just created
On your switch, access point, or firewall, configure RADIUS authentication:
- RADIUS Server IP - Warden's IP address
- Authentication Port - 1812 (standard RADIUS)
- Accounting Port - 1813 (if using accounting)
- Shared Secret - Same secret you entered in Warden
You're ready! Try authenticating through your network device using a real user account.