[users@httpd] Authentication from within

[Jeff Anderson <je...@programmerq.net>]

From what I can tell, the only way to get a user authenticated in apache
is through the popup box prompting for a username and password. I don't
mind the box, but some people think that they are ugly, unprofessional,
etc...

I'd like to be able to take a web application (pick your flavor, cgi,
perl, php, mod_python, fastcgi, etc...) and authenticate to an apache
authentication mechanism. I would like to be able to make the call to
apache to execute the authentication method with supplied data. Usually
this comes in the http request packet from a user agent.

The only way I can think of that would accomplish that is to have a
javascript form send an ajax request with the user information in the
header, and I'm not 100% positive that javascript/ajax can actually do
that. I'd much rather have it be on the server side anyway.

This would solve a few problems we have at work-- we have several web
apps all with their own authentication methods. Almost all of them can
be configured to be happy about an apache user being authenticated. The
popup box would make the people upstairs in the big chairs unhappy.
Being able to tell apache from a web application running on the server
that a user is authenticated would be a marvelous solution to make
everyone happy.

If anyone has any insights, let me know.
Thanks!

Jeff Anderson