|
Overview
By default ParaChat server authenticates user logins based on ParaChat's
own user profiles. User profiles are stored under "users" directory, with
one profile per user. A user login is successful when the user's profile
is found under "users" directory and the password user entered matches the
password in the profile file
An admin user is created when ParaChat is installed. This user name is called
"admin" with profile stored as "admin.profile" in the "users" directory.
The data flow of user authentication in this case looks like
- User enters name and password in chat applet of a web browser.
- Chat server looks up local file system.
- Chat server responds with Success or Failure of login.
ParaChat HTTP user authentication is designed to authenticate users whose
profiles are stored in an external database. A third party provides a URL
for ParaChat. ParaChat uses that URL for authentication. By default, ParaChat server looks up local user profiles under "users" first before attempting
HTTP authentication.
The authentication with HTTP follows these steps.
- User enters name and password in chat applet of a web browser.
- Chat server looks up local file system. If user is found, authentication is done. Otherwise, go to step 3.
- Chat server connects to a server using a URL with user name and password.
- Chat server gets a reply from the server with authentication status such as Success or Failure.
User Name Case Sensitivity
User names are case insensitive by default. When you create users manually
under ParaChat server directory "users", make sure the file names are all
in lower case. This applies mainly to Unix systems as Windows file systems
are case insensitive.
A Quick Example
Here is a quick example of how to set up a ParaChat server to run HTTP user authentication.
Step 1. Install ParaChat server. See ParaChat documents for instructions.
http://www.parachat.com/documentation/550/
Step 2. Open ./config/pchatd.conf in a text editor, and put these 2 lines at the end of the file
(No leading or trailing spaces).
pchatd.UserAuth.class=paralogic.auth.WebUserAuth
pchatd.UserAuth.Web.AuthURL=http://parachat.com/cgi-bin/webAuth/auth.cgi
Step 3. Restart ParaChat server.
Now ParaChat server uses this URL for user authentication.
http://parachat.com/cgi-bin/webAuth/auth.cgi
For example, to authenticate user "dummy" with password "secret", it sends this URL to parachat.com
Set up Your Own HTTP User Authentication
To set up your own HTTP user authentication using your own database, you
need to provide ParaChat server a URL. Typically, you need to set up a web
server and write a CGI program which connects to your own database and does
the authentication. Refer to ParaChat sample code below for your implementation.
This table summarizes what your CGI program is supposed to return.
Return String
|
Meaning
|
| Result=Success
|
User is a member. Authentication is successful.
|
Result=UserNotFound
|
User is not in database. i.e. not a member.
|
Result=WrongPassword
|
User is in database. The password is wrong.
|
| Result=Error |
Internal error. User login to a ParaChat room is denied.
|
Once you have tested your CGI program, it is very simple to integrate it
with ParaChat server. Follow these steps. Suppose your URL is
http://my_host_name.com/cgi-bin/parachatAuth.cgi
If the web server is on the same machine as ParaChat server, you can use localhost,
http://localhost/cgi-bin/parachatAuth.cgi
1. Install ParaChat Server. If it is installed and is running, shut it down.
2. Open ./config/pchatd.conf in a text editor, and put these 2 lines at the end of the file
(No leading or trailing spaces).
pchatd.UserAuth.class=paralogic.auth.WebUserAuth
pchatd.UserAuth.Web.AuthURL=http://my_host_name.com/cgi-bin/parachatAuth.cgi
3. Restart ParaChat server.
How to Make a Members only Chat Room
By default, a chat room allows non-member logins. That is to say, if a user
is not found in "users" directory and is not in the external database, the
user is allowed to login and chat. Members are still protected this way by
password.
To make a room for members only, add this to the room you want to restrict to members only.
For more details, refer to
http://www.parachat.com/documentation/550/conf/roomnameconf.php
Cookie Authentication
Authentication based on a cookie is allow possible. It is up to the CGI program
to validate a cookie. There are 3 parameters passed to the authentication
URL:
for example,
http://parachat.com/cgi-bin/webAuth/auth.cgi?user=someone&pass=xxx&cookie=donotcare
Cookie authentication is more involved. Typically, this is what happens.
Step 1. A user signs in to a web site.
Step 2. A user goes to a chat page.
Step 3. The web server for the site generates that chat page dynamically. It writes
the user name, user
cookie and auto-login config to ParaChat applet code
in the page.
Step 4. User name and user cookie are sent to ParaChat server. It may also send password if there is one.
Step 5. Chat server looks up local file system. If the user is found, authentication is done. Otherwise, go to
step 6.
Step 6. Chat server connects to a server using a URL with user name, password and cookie.
Step 7. Chat server gets a reply from the server with authentication status such as Success or Failure.
Authentication on ParaChat Web Based Admin Pages
ParaChat HTTP user authentication is a simple way of authenticating users
in an external database in a read-only mode. Usually you have your own user
interface for creating, editing, and deleting users in the external database.
ParaChat server has a set of web based admin pages that a super user manages users. The URL looks like,
http://your_host_name:7877/plynx/parachat/index.lhtml
When ParaChat server is configured to user HTTP authentication, the web based
admin pages still work with the users stored under "users" directory. The
web based admin pages does not write to the external database.
Note also when you create a new user on web based admin pages, you
have blocked the same user name in the external database as local users are
looked up first. For example, "admin" is created when ParaChat is installed.
If you have a user called "admin" in the external database, you may want
to rename the local "admin". To do this, simply change the file name of "admin.profile"
to a different file name, for instance, "parachatadmin.profile".
|
