[thelist] authenticating with mozilla/opera/w3 validator

Paul Cowan evolt at funkwit.com
Thu Nov 21 16:26:00 CST 2002


Chris W. Parker wrote:
> when i try to reach the site using http://servername/ both mozilla and
> opera effectively say "we cannot authenticate so access is denied". how
> do i send user credentials with those browsers? (IE does it
> automatically).

Wild guess here (well, not really, but kind of): you're using IIS as
your web server, and you're using NTLM authentication. IE can
authenticate NTLM automatically (as in, transparently), whereas Mozilla
(and, as far as I know, Opera) can not do it at all.

In IIS5, you want (site) -> Properties -> Directory Security ->
Anonymous access and authentication control -> Edit ->
Authenticated access. I'm taking a stab that you've got "Integrated
Windows Authentication" checked, and not Basic. To enable Moz/Opera
to authenticate, you need Basic authentication enabled.

(if you're using IIS4, it's in a similar spot, but the wording is
different)

Note that passwords for Basic auth are sent in clear text -- if
you're using NTLM now, then people are logging on with Windows
Domain credentials, and if they're using their actual windows logon,
you won't want that sent in cleartext if it's being accessed at
all over a public network. If that's the case, you might want to
look at ssl-encrypting all traffic to the site so you can have it
both ways.

FYI, an enhancement request to add NTLM support to Mozilla is at:
    http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23679

Hope this helps; if you're not using IIS then, well, ignore me.

Cheers,

Paul




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