MSNTAUTH readme

# MSNT Auth v3.0.0
Squid web proxy NT authentication module
Modified by the Squid HTTP Proxy team
Original release by Antonino Iannella, Stellar-X Pty Ltd

## Contents

- Introduction
- Installation
- Configuration
- Squid.conf changes
- Testing
- Support details

## Introduction

This is an authentication module for the Squid proxy server to use an NT domain server.

It originates from the Samba and SMB packages by Andrew Tridgell and Richard Sharpe. It is sourced from the Pike authentication module by William Welliver (hwellive@intersil.com), and the SMB 1.0.1 libraries. Releases up to version 2.0.3 were created by Antonino Iannella (antonino@rager.com.au, http://stellarx.tripod.com). The module is now distributed with Squid, and is maintained by the Squid proxy team as an Open Source effort. Msntauth is released under the GNU General Public License.

basic_msnt_auth follows the standard Squid basic authentication helper protocol. See https://wiki.squid-cache.org/Features/AddonHelpers#basic-scheme for details. Problems are logged to syslog.

Msntauth works in environments with NT domain controllers on Windows (TM) NT 4, 2000, and Samba. It only uses the ancient Lanman protocol, the authenticating systems must be configured to accept it.

## Installation

Msntauth will be compiled when you compile Squid, using their autoconf system. Refer to Squid documentation for details. If the build is suitable, you can skip this section.

## Configuration

As of version 3.0.0, a configuration file is no longer needed. The specification of the domains and domain controllers to use is passed as a list of arguments on the command line. The syntax is:

    basic_msnt_auth domain1/domaincontroller1 [domain2/domaincontroller2 ...]

An arbitrary number of domain controllers can be specified, for any number of daomains. Domain controllers will be attempted in the same order they are configured, until any of them successfully authenticates the user passed by squid. If all domain controllers fail to authenticate the user, then access is denied. Domain controllers can be specified by their NetBios name.

WARNING! this means that a wrong password will be attempted a number of times. Watch out for domain lock-out policies!

## Squid.conf changes

Refer to Squid documentation for the required changes to squid.conf. You will need to set the following lines to enable authentication for your access list -

      acl yourACL proxy_auth REQUIRED
      http_access allow password
      http_access allow yourACL
      http_access deny all

You will also need to review the following directives. The number of msntauth children spawned is set with authenticate_children. The number of children needed is site-dependent, so some experimentation may be required to find the best number. There should be no visible delay in performance with Squid once msntauth is in use. Please see http://www.squid-cache.org/Doc/config/auth_param/ or your `squid.conf.default` file to check how to configure squid to make use of this helper.

## Testing

I strongly urge that Msntauth is tested prior to being used in a production environment. It may behave differently on different platforms. To test it, run it from the command line, and enter username and password pairs separated by a space.

It should behave in the following way -

     - Press ENTER to get an OK or ERR message.
     - Make sure pressing CTRL-D behaves the same as a carriage return.
     - Make sure pressing CTRL-C aborts the program.
     - Test that entering no details does not result in an OK or ERR message.
     - Test that entering an invalid username and password results in
       an ERR message. Note that if NT guest user access is allowed on
       the PDC, an OK message may be returned instead of ERR.
     - Test that entering an valid username and password results in an OK message.
       Try usernames which are and aren't in the denied/allowed user files,
       if they're in use.
     - Test that entering a guest username and password returns the correct response.

If the above didn't work as expected, you may need to modify the main() function in msntauth.c. Inform the Squid maintainers of any problems.

Usernames and passwords are expected to be URL-encoded (see RFC 1738 for details)

## Support details

Refer to the Squid website at http://www.squid-cache.org. You can submit problems or fixes using the Squid project's Bugzilla database.