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This module allows "anonymous" user access to authenticated areas.
Status: Extension
Source File: mod_auth_anon.c
Module Identifier: anon_auth_module
Compatibility: Available in Apache 1.1 and later.
This module does access control in a manner similar to anonymous-ftp sites; i.e. have a 'magic' user id 'anonymous' and the email address as a password. These email addresses can be logged.
Combined with other (database) access control methods, this allows for effective user tracking and customization according to a user profile while still keeping the site open for 'unregistered' users. One advantage of using Auth-based user tracking is that, unlike magic-cookies and funny URL pre/postfixes, it is completely browser independent and it allows users to share URLs.
The example below (when combined with the Auth directives of a htpasswd-file based (or GDM, mSQL etc.) base access control system allows users in as 'guests' with the following properties:
Anonymous_NoUserId)Anonymous_MustGiveEmail)Anonymous_VerifyEmail)anonymous guest www test welcome and comparison is not case sensitive.Anonymous_LogEmail)Excerpt of httpd.conf:
Anonymous_NoUserId off Anonymous_MustGiveEmail on Anonymous_VerifyEmail on Anonymous_LogEmail on Anonymous anonymous guest www test welcome AuthName "Use 'anonymous' & Email address for guest entry" AuthType basic # An AuthUserFile/AuthDBUserFile/AuthDBMUserFile # directive must be specified, or use # Anonymous_Authoritative for public access. # In the .htaccess for the public directory, add: <Files *> Order Deny,Allow Allow from all Require valid-user </Files>
Anonymous user [user] ...
Default: none
Context: directory, .htaccess
Override: AuthConfig
Status: Extension
Module: mod_auth_anon
A list of one or more 'magic' userIDs which are allowed access without password verification. The userIDs are space separated. It is possible to use the ' and " quotes to allow a space in a userID as well as the \ escape character.
Please note that the comparison is case-IN-sensitive.
I strongly suggest that the magic username 'anonymous' is always one of the allowed userIDs.
Example:
Anonymous anonymous "Not Registered" 'I don\'t know'
This would allow the user to enter without password verification by using the userId's 'anonymous', 'AnonyMous','Not Registered' and 'I Don't Know'.
Anonymous_Authoritative on|off
Default: Anonymous_Authoritative off
Context: directory, .htaccess
Override: AuthConfig
Status: Extension
Module: mod_auth_anon
When set 'on', there is no fall-through to other authorization methods. So if a userID does not match the values specified in the Anonymous directive, access is denied.
Be sure you know what you are doing when you decide to switch it on. And remember that it is the linking order of the modules (in the Configuration / Make file) which details the order in which the Authorization modules are queried.
Anonymous_LogEmail on|off
Default: Anonymous_LogEmail on
Context: directory, .htaccess
Override: AuthConfig
Status: Extension
Module: mod_auth_anon
When set 'on', the default, the 'password' entered (which hopefully contains a sensible email address) is logged in the error log. The message is logged at a level of info, and so you must have LogLevel set to at least info in order to see this message.
Log entries will look like the following example:
[Fri Apr 26 14:49:50 2002] [info] [client 192.168.1.105] Anonymous: Passwd <user@example.com> Accepted
Anonymous_MustGiveEmail on|off
Default: Anonymous_MustGiveEmail on
Context: directory, .htaccess
Override: AuthConfig
Status: Extension
Module: mod_auth_anon
Specifies whether the user must specify an email address as the password. This prohibits blank passwords.
Anonymous_NoUserID on|off
Default: Anonymous_NoUserID off
Context: directory, .htaccess
Override: AuthConfig
Status: Extension
Module: mod_auth_anon
When set 'on', users can leave the userID (and perhaps the password field) empty. This can be very convenient for MS-Explorer users who can just hit return or click directly on the OK button; which seems a natural reaction.
Anonymous_VerifyEmail on|off
Default: Anonymous_VerifyEmail off
Context: directory, .htaccess
Override: AuthConfig
Status: Extension
Module: mod_auth_anon
When set 'on' the 'password' entered is checked for at least one '@' and a '.' to encourage users to enter valid email addresses (see the above Auth_LogEmail).
