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- <!--#set var="STANDALONE" value="" -->
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- <!--#if expr="$QUERY_STRING = TOC" -->
- <!--#set var="TOC" value="YES" -->
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- <!--#set var="TOC" value="" -->
- <!--#set var="CONTENT" value="YES" -->
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-<!--#else -->
- <!--#set var="STANDALONE" value="YES" -->
- <!--#set var="INCLUDED" value="" -->
- <!--#set var="TOC" value="" -->
- <!--#set var="CONTENT" value="" -->
-<!--#endif -->
-<!--#if expr="$STANDALONE" -->
-<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
-<HTML>
- <HEAD>
- <TITLE>Apache Server Frequently Asked Questions</TITLE>
- </HEAD>
-<!-- Background white, links blue (unvisited), navy (visited), red (active) -->
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- BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
- TEXT="#000000"
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- >
- <!--#include virtual="header.html" -->
- <H1 ALIGN="CENTER">Apache Server Frequently Asked Questions</H1>
- <P>
- $Revision: 1.5 $ ($Date: 2001/02/28 03:36:00 $)
- </P>
- <P>
- The latest version of this FAQ is always available from the main
- Apache web site, at
- &lt;<A
- HREF="http://www.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html"
- REL="Help"
- ><SAMP>http://www.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html</SAMP></A>&gt;.
- </P>
-<!-- Notes about changes: -->
-<!-- - If adding a relative link to another part of the -->
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-<!-- the horizontal and vertical indenting right. -->
-<!-- - Don't forget to include an HR tag after the last /P tag -->
-<!-- but before the /LI in an item. -->
- <P>
- If you are reading a text-only version of this FAQ, you may find numbers
- enclosed in brackets (such as &quot;[12]&quot;). These refer to the list of
- reference URLs to be found at the end of the document. These references
- do not appear, and are not needed, for the hypertext version.
- </P>
- <H2>The Questions</H2>
-<OL TYPE="A">
-<!--#endif -->
-<!--#if expr="$TOC || $STANDALONE" -->
- <LI VALUE="7"><STRONG>Authentication and Access Restrictions</STRONG>
- <OL>
- <LI><A HREF="#dnsauth">Why isn't restricting access by host or domain name
- working correctly?</A>
- </LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#user-authentication">How do I set up Apache to require
- a username and password to access certain documents?</A>
- </LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#remote-auth-only">How do I set up Apache to allow access
- to certain documents only if a site is either a local site
- <EM>or</EM> the user supplies a password and username?</A>
- </LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#authauthoritative">Why does my authentication give
- me a server error?</A>
- </LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#auth-on-same-machine">Do I have to keep the (mSQL)
- authentication information on the same machine?</A>
- </LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#msql-slow">Why is my mSQL authentication terribly slow?</A>
- </LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#passwdauth">Can I use my <SAMP>/etc/passwd</SAMP> file
- for Web page authentication?</A>
- </LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#prompted-twice">Why does Apache ask for my password
- twice before serving a file?</a>
- </LI>
- </OL>
- </LI>
-<!--#endif -->
-<!--#if expr="$STANDALONE" -->
-</OL>
-
-<HR>
-
- <H2>The Answers</H2>
-<!--#endif -->
-<!--#if expr="! $TOC" -->
- <H3>G. Authentication and Access Restrictions</H3>
-<OL>
-
- <LI><A NAME="dnsauth">
- <STRONG>Why isn't restricting access by host or domain name
- working correctly?</STRONG>
- </A>
- <P>
- Two of the most common causes of this are:
- </P>
- <OL>
- <LI><STRONG>An error, inconsistency, or unexpected mapping in the DNS
- registration</STRONG>
- <BR>
- This happens frequently: your configuration restricts access to
- <SAMP>Host.FooBar.Com</SAMP>, but you can't get in from that host.
- The usual reason for this is that <SAMP>Host.FooBar.Com</SAMP> is
- actually an alias for another name, and when Apache performs the
- address-to-name lookup it's getting the <EM>real</EM> name, not
- <SAMP>Host.FooBar.Com</SAMP>. You can verify this by checking the
- reverse lookup yourself. The easiest way to work around it is to
- specify the correct host name in your configuration.
- </LI>
- <LI><STRONG>Inadequate checking and verification in your
- configuration of Apache</STRONG>
- <BR>
- If you intend to perform access checking and restriction based upon
- the client's host or domain name, you really need to configure
- Apache to double-check the origin information it's supplied. You do
- this by adding the <SAMP>-DMAXIMUM_DNS</SAMP> clause to the
- <SAMP>EXTRA_CFLAGS</SAMP> definition in your
- <SAMP>Configuration</SAMP> file. For example:
- <P>
- <DL>
- <DD><CODE>EXTRA_CFLAGS=-DMAXIMUM_DNS</CODE>
- </DD>
- </DL>
- <P></P>
- <P>
- This will cause Apache to be very paranoid about making sure a
- particular host address is <EM>really</EM> assigned to the name it
- claims to be. Note that this <EM>can</EM> incur a significant
- performance penalty, however, because of all the name resolution
- requests being sent to a nameserver.
- </P>
- </LI>
- </OL>
- <HR>
- </LI>
-
- <LI><A NAME="user-authentication">
- <STRONG>How do I set up Apache to require a username and
- password to access certain documents?</STRONG>
- </A>
- <P>
- There are several ways to do this; some of the more popular
- ones are to use the <A HREF="../mod/mod_auth.html">mod_auth</A>,
- <A HREF="../mod/mod_auth_db.html">mod_auth_db</A>, or
- <A HREF="../mod/mod_auth_dbm.html">mod_auth_dbm</A> modules.
- </P>
- <P>
- For an explanation on how to implement these restrictions, see
- <A HREF="http://www.apacheweek.com/"><CITE>Apache Week</CITE></A>'s
- articles on
- <A HREF="http://www.apacheweek.com/features/userauth"
- ><CITE>Using User Authentication</CITE></A>
- or
- <A HREF="http://www.apacheweek.com/features/dbmauth"
- ><CITE>DBM User Authentication</CITE></A>.
- </P>
- <HR>
- </LI>
-
- <LI><A NAME="remote-auth-only">
- <STRONG>How do I set up Apache to allow access to certain
- documents only if a site is either a local site <EM>or</EM>
- the user supplies a password and username?</STRONG>
- </A>
- <P>
- Use the <A HREF="../mod/core.html#satisfy">Satisfy</A> directive,
- in particular the <CODE>Satisfy Any</CODE> directive, to require
- that only one of the access restrictions be met. For example,
- adding the following configuration to a <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP>
- or server configuration file would restrict access to people who
- either are accessing the site from a host under domain.com or
- who can supply a valid username and password:
- </P>
- <P>
- <DL>
- <DD><CODE>Deny from all
- <BR>
- Allow from .domain.com
- <BR>
- AuthType Basic
- <BR>
- AuthUserFile /usr/local/apache/conf/htpasswd.users
- <BR>
- AuthName "special directory"
- <BR>
- Require valid-user
- <BR>
- Satisfy any</CODE>
- </DD>
- </DL>
- <P></P>
- <P>
- See the <A HREF="#user-authentication">user authentication</A>
- question and the <A HREF="../mod/mod_access.html">mod_access</A>
- module for details on how the above directives work.
- </P>
- <HR>
- </LI>
-
- <LI><A NAME="authauthoritative">
- <STRONG>Why does my authentication give me a server error?</STRONG>
- </A>
- <P>
- Under normal circumstances, the Apache access control modules will
- pass unrecognized user IDs on to the next access control module in
- line. Only if the user ID is recognized and the password is validated
- (or not) will it give the usual success or &quot;authentication
- failed&quot; messages.
- </P>
- <P>
- However, if the last access module in line 'declines' the validation
- request (because it has never heard of the user ID or because it is not
- configured), the <SAMP>http_request</SAMP> handler will give one of
- the following, confusing, errors:
- </P>
- <UL>
- <LI><SAMP>check access</SAMP>
- </LI>
- <LI><SAMP>check user. No user file?</SAMP>
- </LI>
- <LI><SAMP>check access. No groups file?</SAMP>
- </LI>
- </UL>
- <P>
- This does <EM>not</EM> mean that you have to add an
- '<SAMP>AuthUserFile&nbsp;/dev/null</SAMP>' line as some magazines suggest!
- </P>
- <P>
- The solution is to ensure that at least the last module is authoritative
- and <STRONG>CONFIGURED</STRONG>. By default, <SAMP>mod_auth</SAMP> is
- authoritative and will give an OK/Denied, but only if it is configured
- with the proper <SAMP>AuthUserFile</SAMP>. Likewise, if a valid group
- is required. (Remember that the modules are processed in the reverse
- order from that in which they appear in your compile-time
- <SAMP>Configuration</SAMP> file.)
- </P>
- <P>
- A typical situation for this error is when you are using the
- <SAMP>mod_auth_dbm</SAMP>, <SAMP>mod_auth_msql</SAMP>,
- <SAMP>mod_auth_mysql</SAMP>, <SAMP>mod_auth_anon</SAMP> or
- <SAMP>mod_auth_cookie</SAMP> modules on their own. These are by
- default <STRONG>not</STRONG> authoritative, and this will pass the
- buck on to the (non-existent) next authentication module when the
- user ID is not in their respective database. Just add the appropriate
- '<SAMP><EM>XXX</EM>Authoritative yes</SAMP>' line to the configuration.
- </P>
- <P>
- In general it is a good idea (though not terribly efficient) to have the
- file-based <SAMP>mod_auth</SAMP> a module of last resort. This allows
- you to access the web server with a few special passwords even if the
- databases are down or corrupted. This does cost a
- file open/seek/close for each request in a protected area.
- </P>
- <HR>
- </LI>
-
- <LI><A NAME="auth-on-same-machine">
- <STRONG>Do I have to keep the (mSQL) authentication information
- on the same machine?</STRONG>
- </A>
- <P>
- Some organizations feel very strongly about keeping the authentication
- information on a different machine than the webserver. With the
- <SAMP>mod_auth_msql</SAMP>, <SAMP>mod_auth_mysql</SAMP>, and other SQL
- modules connecting to (R)DBMses this is quite possible. Just configure
- an explicit host to contact.
- </P>
- <P>
- Be aware that with mSQL and Oracle, opening and closing these database
- connections is very expensive and time consuming. You might want to
- look at the code in the <SAMP>auth_*</SAMP> modules and play with the
- compile time flags to alleviate this somewhat, if your RDBMS licences
- allow for it.
- </P>
- <HR>
- </LI>
-
- <LI><A NAME="msql-slow">
- <STRONG>Why is my mSQL authentication terribly slow?</STRONG>
- </A>
- <P>
- You have probably configured the Host by specifying a FQHN,
- and thus the <SAMP>libmsql</SAMP> will use a full blown TCP/IP socket
- to talk to the database, rather than a fast internal device. The
- <SAMP>libmsql</SAMP>, the mSQL FAQ, and the <SAMP>mod_auth_msql</SAMP>
- documentation warn you about this. If you have to use different
- hosts, check out the <SAMP>mod_auth_msql</SAMP> code for
- some compile time flags which might - or might not - suit you.
- </P>
- <HR>
- </LI>
-
- <LI><A NAME="passwdauth">
- <STRONG>Can I use my <SAMP>/etc/passwd</SAMP> file
- for Web page authentication?</STRONG>
- </A>
- <P>
- Yes, you can - but it's a <STRONG>very bad idea</STRONG>. Here are
- some of the reasons:
- </P>
- <UL>
- <LI>The Web technology provides no governors on how often or how
- rapidly password (authentication failure) retries can be made. That
- means that someone can hammer away at your system's
- <SAMP>root</SAMP> password using the Web, using a dictionary or
- similar mass attack, just as fast as the wire and your server can
- handle the requests. Most operating systems these days include
- attack detection (such as <EM>n</EM> failed passwords for the same
- account within <EM>m</EM> seconds) and evasion (breaking the
- connection, disabling the account under attack, disabling
- <EM>all</EM> logins from that source, <EM>et cetera</EM>), but the
- Web does not.
- </LI>
- <LI>An account under attack isn't notified (unless the server is
- heavily modified); there's no &quot;You have 19483 login
- failures&quot; message when the legitimate owner logs in.
- </LI>
- <LI>Without an exhaustive and error-prone examination of the server
- logs, you can't tell whether an account has been compromised.
- Detecting that an attack has occurred, or is in progress, is fairly
- obvious, though - <EM>if</EM> you look at the logs.
- </LI>
- <LI>Web authentication passwords (at least for Basic authentication)
- generally fly across the wire, and through intermediate proxy
- systems, in what amounts to plain text. &quot;O'er the net we
- go/Caching all the way;/O what fun it is to surf/Giving my password
- away!&quot;
- </LI>
- <LI>Since HTTP is stateless, information about the authentication is
- transmitted <EM>each and every time</EM> a request is made to the
- server. Essentially, the client caches it after the first
- successful access, and transmits it without asking for all
- subsequent requests to the same server.
- </LI>
- <LI>It's relatively trivial for someone on your system to put up a
- page that will steal the cached password from a client's cache
- without them knowing. Can you say &quot;password grabber&quot;?
- </LI>
- </UL>
- <P>
- If you still want to do this in light of the above disadvantages, the
- method is left as an exercise for the reader. It'll void your Apache
- warranty, though, and you'll lose all accumulated UNIX guru points.
- </P>
- <HR>
- </LI>
- <LI><A NAME="prompted-twice"><STRONG>Why does Apache ask for my password
- twice before serving a file?</STRONG></a>
- <P>
- If the hostname under which you are accessing the server is
- different than the hostname specified in the
- <A HREF="../mod/core.html#servername"><CODE>ServerName</CODE></A>
- directive, then depending on the setting of the
- <A HREF="../mod/core.html#usecanonicalname"><CODE>UseCanonicalName</CODE></A>
- directive, Apache will redirect you to a new hostname when
- constructing self-referential URLs. This happens, for example, in
- the case where you request a directory without including the
- trailing slash.
- </P>
- <P>
- When this happens, Apache will ask for authentication once under the
- original hostname, perform the redirect, and then ask again under the
- new hostname. For security reasons, the browser must prompt again
- for the password when the host name changes.
- </P>
- <P>
- To eliminate this problem you should
- </P>
-
- <OL>
- <LI>Always use the trailing slash when requesting directories;
- <LI>Change the <CODE>ServerName</CODE> to match the name you are
- using in the URL; and/or
- <LI>Set <CODE>UseCanonicalName off</CODE>.
- </OL>
- <HR>
- </LI>
-
-</OL>
-<!--#endif -->
-<!--#if expr="$STANDALONE" -->
- <!-- Don't forget to add HR tags at the end of each list item.. -->
-
-<!--#include virtual="footer.html" -->
-</BODY>
-</HTML>
-<!--#endif -->