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677N/A --><title>mod_auth_dbm- Apache HTTP Server</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/style/manual.css"/></head><body><blockquote><div align="center"><img src="/images/sub.gif" alt="[APACHE DOCUMENTATION]"/><h3>Apache HTTP Server Version 2.0</h3></div><h1 align="center">Apache Module mod_auth_dbm</h1><table bgcolor="#cccccc" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><table bgcolor="#ffffff"><tr><td valign="top"><span class="help">Description:</span></td><td>Provides for user authentication using DBM
677N/A files</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="module-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></td><td>Extension</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="module-dict.html#ModuleIdentifier">Module&nbsp;Identifier:</a></td><td>auth_dbm_module</td></tr></table></td></tr></table><h2>Summary</h2>
677N/A <p>This module provides for HTTP Basic Authentication, where
677N/A the usernames and passwords are stored in DBM type database
677N/A files. It is an alternative to the plain text password files
677N/A provided by <code><a href="mod_auth.html">mod_auth</a></code>.</p>
677N/A<h2>Directives</h2><ul><li><a href="#authdbmauthoritative">AuthDBMAuthoritative</a></li><li><a href="#authdbmgroupfile">AuthDBMGroupFile</a></li><li><a href="#authdbmtype">AuthDBMType</a></li><li><a href="#authdbmuserfile">AuthDBMUserFile</a></li></ul><p><strong>See also </strong></p><ul><li><a class="directive" href="core.html#authname"><code class="directive">AuthName</code></a></li><li><a class="directive" href="core.html#authtype"><code class="directive">AuthType</code></a></li><li><a class="directive" href="core.html#require"><code class="directive">Require</code></a></li><li><a class="directive" href="core.html#satisfy"><code class="directive">Satisfy</code></a></li></ul><hr/><h2><a name="AuthDBMAuthoritative">AuthDBMAuthoritative</a> <a name="authdbmauthoritative">Directive</a></h2><table bgcolor="#cccccc" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1"><tr><td><table bgcolor="#ffffff"><tr><td><strong>Description: </strong></td><td>Sets whether authentication and authorization will be
677N/Apasswed on to lower level modules</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></td><td>AuthDBMAuthoritative on|off</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></td><td><code>AuthDBMAuthoritative on</code></td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></td><td>directory, .htaccess</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></td><td>AuthConfig</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></td><td>Extension</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></td><td>mod_auth_dbm</td></tr></table></td></tr></table>
677N/A
677N/A<blockquote><table><tr><td bgcolor="#e0e5f5">This information has not been updated to take into account the
677N/Anew module ordering techniques in Apache 2.0</td></tr></table></blockquote>
677N/A
677N/A <p>Setting the <code class="directive">AuthDBMAuthoritative</code>
677N/A directive explicitly to <strong>'off'</strong> allows for both
677N/A authentication and authorization to be passed on to lower level
677N/A modules (as defined in the <code>Configuration</code> and
677N/A <code>modules.c</code> file if there is <strong>no userID</strong>
677N/A or <strong>rule</strong> matching the supplied userID. If there is
677N/A a userID and/or rule specified; the usual password and access
677N/A checks will be applied and a failure will give an Authorization
677N/A Required reply.</p>
677N/A
677N/A <p>So if a userID appears in the database of more than one module;
677N/A or if a valid <a class="directive" href="core.html#require"><code class="directive">Require</code></a>
677N/A directive applies to more than one module; then the first module
677N/A will verify the credentials; and no access is passed on;
677N/A regardless of the <code class="directive">AuthAuthoritative</code> setting.</p>
677N/A
677N/A <p>A common use for this is in conjunction with one of the
677N/A basic auth modules; such as <code><a href="mod_auth.html">mod_auth</a></code>. Whereas this
677N/A DBM module supplies the bulk of the user credential checking; a
677N/A few (administrator) related accesses fall through to a lower
677N/A level with a well protected .htpasswd file.</p>
677N/A
677N/A <p>By default, control is not passed on and an unknown userID
677N/A or rule will result in an Authorization Required reply. Not
677N/A setting it thus keeps the system secure and forces an NCSA
677N/A compliant behaviour.</p>
677N/A
677N/A <p>Security: Do consider the implications of allowing a user to
677N/A allow fall-through in his .htaccess file; and verify that this
677N/A is really what you want; Generally it is easier to just secure
677N/A a single .htpasswd file, than it is to secure a database which
677N/A might have more access interfaces.</p>
677N/A<hr/><h2><a name="AuthDBMGroupFile">AuthDBMGroupFile</a> <a name="authdbmgroupfile">Directive</a></h2><table bgcolor="#cccccc" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1"><tr><td><table bgcolor="#ffffff"><tr><td><strong>Description: </strong></td><td>Sets the name of the database file containing the list
677N/Aof user groups for authentication</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></td><td>AuthDBMGroupFile <em>file-path</em></td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></td><td>directory, .htaccess</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></td><td>AuthConfig</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></td><td>Extension</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></td><td>mod_auth_dbm</td></tr></table></td></tr></table>
<p>The <code class="directive">AuthDBMGroupFile</code> directive sets the
name of a DBM file containing the list of user groups for user
authentication. <em>File-path</em> is the absolute path to the
group file.</p>
<p>The group file is keyed on the username. The value for a
user is a comma-separated list of the groups to which the users
belongs. There must be no whitespace within the value, and it
must never contain any colons.</p>
<p>Security: make sure that the
<code class="directive">AuthDBMGroupFile</code> is stored outside the
document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em> put it in the
directory that it protects. Otherwise, clients will be able to
download the <code class="directive">AuthDBMGroupFile</code> unless
otherwise protected.</p>
<p>Combining Group and Password DBM files: In some cases it is
easier to manage a single database which contains both the
password and group details for each user. This simplifies any
support programs that need to be written: they now only have to
deal with writing to and locking a single DBM file. This can be
accomplished by first setting the group and password files to
point to the same DBM:</p>
<blockquote><table cellpadding="10"><tr><td bgcolor="#eeeeee"><code>
AuthDBMGroupFile /www/userbase<br/>
AuthDBMUserFile /www/userbase
</code></td></tr></table></blockquote>
<p>The key for the single DBM is the username. The value consists
of</p>
<blockquote><table cellpadding="10"><tr><td bgcolor="#eeeeee"><code>Unix Crypt-ed Password : List of Groups [ : (ignored)
]</code></td></tr></table></blockquote>
<p>The password section contains the Unix <code>crypt()</code>
password as before. This is followed by a colon and the comma
separated list of groups. Other data may optionally be left in the
DBM file after another colon; it is ignored by the authentication
module. This is what www.telescope.org uses for its combined
password and group database.</p>
<hr/><h2><a name="AuthDBMType">AuthDBMType</a> <a name="authdbmtype">Directive</a></h2><table bgcolor="#cccccc" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1"><tr><td><table bgcolor="#ffffff"><tr><td><strong>Description: </strong></td><td>Sets the type of database file that is used to
store passwords</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></td><td>AuthDBMType default|SDBM|GDBM|DB</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></td><td><code>AuthDBMType default</code></td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></td><td>directory, .htaccess</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></td><td>AuthConfig</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></td><td>Extension</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></td><td>mod_auth_dbm</td></tr><tr><td valign="top" align="left"><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></td><td>Available in version 2.0.30 and later.</td></tr></table></td></tr></table>
<p>Sets the type of database file that is used to store the passwords.
The default database type is determined at compile time. The
availability of other types of database files also depends on
compile-time settings.</p>
<p>It is crucial that whatever program you use to create your password
files is configured to use the same type of database.</p>
<hr/><h2><a name="AuthDBMUserFile">AuthDBMUserFile</a> <a name="authdbmuserfile">Directive</a></h2><table bgcolor="#cccccc" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1"><tr><td><table bgcolor="#ffffff"><tr><td><strong>Description: </strong></td><td>Sets thename of a database file containing the list of users and
passwords for authentication</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></td><td>AuthDBMUserFile <em>file-path</em></td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></td><td>directory, .htaccess</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></td><td>AuthConfig</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></td><td>Extension</td></tr><tr><td><a class="help" href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></td><td>mod_auth_dbm</td></tr></table></td></tr></table>
<p>The <code class="directive">AuthDBMUserFile</code> directive sets the
name of a DBM file containing the list of users and passwords for
user authentication. <em>File-path</em> is the absolute path to
the user file.</p>
<p>The user file is keyed on the username. The value for a user is
the <code>crypt()</code> encrypted password, optionally followed
by a colon and arbitrary data. The colon and the data following it
will be ignored by the server.</p>
<p>Security: make sure that the
<code class="directive">AuthDBMUserFile</code> is stored outside the
document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em> put it in the
directory that it protects. Otherwise, clients will be able to
download the <code class="directive">AuthDBMUserFile</code>.</p>
<p>Important compatibility note: The implementation of
"dbmopen" in the apache modules reads the string length of the
hashed values from the DBM data structures, rather than relying
upon the string being NULL-appended. Some applications, such as
the Netscape web server, rely upon the string being
NULL-appended, so if you are having trouble using DBM files
interchangeably between applications this may be a part of the
problem.</p>
<p>A perl script called
<a href="/programs/dbmmanage.html">dbmmanage</a> is included with
Apache. This program can be used to create and update DBM
format password files for use with this module.</p>
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