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10 <title>mod_authn_socache - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.5</title>
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26 <div id="page-content">
27 <div id="preamble"><h1>Apache Module mod_authn_socache</h1>
29 <p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/mod/mod_authn_socache.html" title="English"> en </a> |
30 <a href="../fr/mod/mod_authn_socache.html" hreflang="fr" rel="alternate" title="Français"> fr </a></p>
32 <table class="module"><tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Manages a cache of authentication credentials to relieve
33 the load on backends</td></tr>
34 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
35 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#ModuleIdentifier">Module Identifier:</a></th><td>authn_socache_module</td></tr>
36 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#SourceFile">Source File:</a></th><td>mod_authn_socache.c</td></tr>
37 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Version 2.3 and later</td></tr></table>
40 <p>Maintains a cache of authentication credentials, so that a new backend
41 lookup is not required for every authenticated request.</p>
43 <div id="quickview"><h3>Topics</h3>
45 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#intro">Authentication Cacheing</a></li>
46 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#usage">Usage</a></li>
47 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#dev">Cacheing with custom modules</a></li>
48 </ul><h3 class="directives">Directives</h3>
50 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authncachecontext">AuthnCacheContext</a></li>
51 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authncacheenable">AuthnCacheEnable</a></li>
52 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authncacheprovidefor">AuthnCacheProvideFor</a></li>
53 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authncachesocache">AuthnCacheSOCache</a></li>
54 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authncachetimeout">AuthnCacheTimeout</a></li>
56 <h3>Bugfix checklist</h3><ul class="seealso"><li><a href="https://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/CHANGES_2.4">httpd changelog</a></li><li><a href="https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_status=__open__&list_id=144532&product=Apache%20httpd-2&query_format=specific&order=changeddate%20DESC%2Cpriority%2Cbug_severity&component=mod_authn_socache">Known issues</a></li><li><a href="https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=Apache%20httpd-2&component=mod_authn_socache">Report a bug</a></li></ul><h3>See also</h3>
58 <li><a href="#comments_section">Comments</a></li></ul></div>
59 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
61 <h2><a name="intro" id="intro">Authentication Cacheing</a></h2>
62 <p>Some users of more heavyweight authentication such as SQL database
63 lookups (<code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_dbd.html">mod_authn_dbd</a></code>) have reported it putting an
64 unacceptable load on their authentication provider. A typical case
65 in point is where an HTML page contains hundreds of objects
66 (images, scripts, stylesheets, media, etc), and a request to the page
67 generates hundreds of effectively-immediate requests for authenticated
68 additional contents.</p>
69 <p>mod_authn_socache provides a solution to this problem by
70 maintaining a cache of authentication credentials.</p>
71 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
73 <h2><a name="usage" id="usage">Usage</a></h2>
74 <p>The authentication cache should be used where authentication
75 lookups impose a significant load on the server, or a backend or
76 network. Authentication by file (<code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_file.html">mod_authn_file</a></code>)
77 or dbm (<code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_dbm.html">mod_authn_dbm</a></code>) are unlikely to benefit,
78 as these are fast and lightweight in their own right (though in some
79 cases, such as a network-mounted file, cacheing may be worthwhile).
80 Other providers such as SQL or LDAP based authentication are more
81 likely to benefit, particularly where there is an observed
82 performance issue. Amongst the standard modules, <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authnz_ldap.html">mod_authnz_ldap</a></code> manages its own cache, so only
83 <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_dbd.html">mod_authn_dbd</a></code> will usually benefit from this cache.</p>
84 <p>The basic rules to cache for a provider are:</p>
85 <ol><li>Include the provider you're cacheing for in an
86 <code class="directive">AuthnCacheProvideFor</code> directive.</li>
87 <li>List <var>socache</var> ahead of the provider you're
88 cacheing for in your <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_auth_basic.html#authbasicprovider">AuthBasicProvider</a></code> or <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_auth_digest.html#authdigestprovider">AuthDigestProvider</a></code> directive.</li>
90 <p>A simple usage example to accelerate <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_dbd.html">mod_authn_dbd</a></code>
91 using dbm as a cache engine:</p>
92 <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">#AuthnCacheSOCache is optional. If specified, it is server-wide
94 <Directory "/usr/www/myhost/private">
96 AuthName "Cached Authentication Example"
97 AuthBasicProvider socache dbd
98 AuthDBDUserPWQuery "SELECT password FROM authn WHERE user = %s"
99 AuthnCacheProvideFor dbd
102 AuthnCacheContext dbd-authn-example
103 </Directory></pre>
105 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
106 <div class="section">
107 <h2><a name="dev" id="dev">Cacheing with custom modules</a></h2>
108 <p>Module developers should note that their modules must be enabled
109 for cacheing with mod_authn_socache. A single optional API function
110 <var>ap_authn_cache_store</var> is provided to cache credentials
111 a provider has just looked up or generated. Usage examples are
112 available in <a href="http://svn.eu.apache.org/viewvc?view=revision&revision=957072">r957072</a>, in which three authn providers are enabled for cacheing.</p>
114 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
115 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthnCacheContext" id="AuthnCacheContext">AuthnCacheContext</a> <a name="authncachecontext" id="authncachecontext">Directive</a></h2>
116 <table class="directive">
117 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Specify a context string for use in the cache key</td></tr>
118 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>AuthnCacheContext <var>directory|server|custom-string</var></code></td></tr>
119 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></th><td><code>directory</code></td></tr>
120 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>directory</td></tr>
121 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
122 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_authn_socache</td></tr>
124 <p>This directive specifies a string to be used along with the supplied
125 username (and realm in the case of Digest Authentication) in constructing
126 a cache key. This serves to disambiguate identical usernames serving
127 different authentication areas on the server.</p>
128 <p>Two special values for this are <var>directory</var>, which uses
129 the directory context of the request as a string, and <var>server</var>
130 which uses the virtual host name.</p>
131 <p>The default is <var>directory</var>, which is also the most
132 conservative setting. This is likely to be less than optimal, as it
133 (for example) causes <var>$app-base</var>, <var>$app-base/images</var>,
134 <var>$app-base/scripts</var> and <var>$app-base/media</var> each to
135 have its own separate cache key. A better policy is to name the
136 <code class="directive">AuthnCacheContext</code> for the password
137 provider: for example a <var>htpasswd</var> file or database table.</p>
138 <p>Contexts can be shared across different areas of a server, where
139 credentials are shared. However, this has potential to become a vector
140 for cross-site or cross-application security breaches, so this directive
141 is not permitted in <var>.htaccess</var> contexts.</p>
144 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
145 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthnCacheEnable" id="AuthnCacheEnable">AuthnCacheEnable</a> <a name="authncacheenable" id="authncacheenable">Directive</a></h2>
146 <table class="directive">
147 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Enable Authn caching configured anywhere</td></tr>
148 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>AuthnCacheEnable</code></td></tr>
149 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>server config</td></tr>
150 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
151 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_authn_socache</td></tr>
153 <p>This directive is not normally necessary: it is implied if
154 authentication cacheing is enabled anywhere in <var>httpd.conf</var>.
155 However, if it is not enabled anywhere in <var>httpd.conf</var>
156 it will by default not be initialised, and is therefore not
157 available in a <var>.htaccess</var> context. This directive
158 ensures it is initialised so it can be used in <var>.htaccess</var>.</p>
161 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
162 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthnCacheProvideFor" id="AuthnCacheProvideFor">AuthnCacheProvideFor</a> <a name="authncacheprovidefor" id="authncacheprovidefor">Directive</a></h2>
163 <table class="directive">
164 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Specify which authn provider(s) to cache for</td></tr>
165 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>AuthnCacheProvideFor <var>authn-provider</var> [...]</code></td></tr>
166 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></th><td><code>None</code></td></tr>
167 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>directory, .htaccess</td></tr>
168 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></th><td>AuthConfig</td></tr>
169 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
170 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_authn_socache</td></tr>
172 <p>This directive specifies an authentication provider or providers
173 to cache for. Credentials found by a provider not listed in an
174 AuthnCacheProvideFor directive will not be cached.</p>
176 <p>For example, to cache credentials found by <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_dbd.html">mod_authn_dbd</a></code>
177 or by a custom provider <var>myprovider</var>, but leave those looked
178 up by lightweight providers like file or dbm lookup alone:</p>
179 <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">AuthnCacheProvideFor dbd myprovider</pre>
183 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
184 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthnCacheSOCache" id="AuthnCacheSOCache">AuthnCacheSOCache</a> <a name="authncachesocache" id="authncachesocache">Directive</a></h2>
185 <table class="directive">
186 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Select socache backend provider to use</td></tr>
187 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>AuthnCacheSOCache <var>provider-name[:provider-args]</var></code></td></tr>
188 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>server config</td></tr>
189 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
190 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_authn_socache</td></tr>
191 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Optional provider arguments are available in
192 Apache HTTP Server 2.4.7 and later</td></tr>
194 <p>This is a server-wide setting to select a provider for the
195 <a href="../socache.html">shared object cache</a>, followed by
196 optional arguments for that provider.
197 Some possible values for <var>provider-name</var> are "dbm", "dc",
198 "memcache", or "shmcb", each subject to the appropriate module
199 being loaded. If not set, your platform's default will be used.</p>
202 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
203 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthnCacheTimeout" id="AuthnCacheTimeout">AuthnCacheTimeout</a> <a name="authncachetimeout" id="authncachetimeout">Directive</a></h2>
204 <table class="directive">
205 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Set a timeout for cache entries</td></tr>
206 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>AuthnCacheTimeout <var>timeout</var> (seconds)</code></td></tr>
207 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></th><td><code>300 (5 minutes)</code></td></tr>
208 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>directory, .htaccess</td></tr>
209 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></th><td>AuthConfig</td></tr>
210 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
211 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_authn_socache</td></tr>
213 <p>Cacheing authentication data can be a security issue, though short-term
214 cacheing is unlikely to be a problem. Typically a good solution is to
215 cache credentials for as long as it takes to relieve the load on a
216 backend, but no longer, though if changes to your users and passwords
217 are infrequent then a longer timeout may suit you. The default 300
218 seconds (5 minutes) is both cautious and ample to keep the load
219 on a backend such as dbd (SQL database queries) down.</p>
220 <p>This should not be confused with session timeout, which is an
221 entirely separate issue. However, you may wish to check your
222 session-management software for whether cached credentials can
223 "accidentally" extend a session, and bear it in mind when setting
228 <div class="bottomlang">
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