ext_session_acl(8)					      System Manager's Manual						ext_session_acl(8)

NAME

       ext_session_acl - Squid session tracking external acl helper.

       Version 1.2

SYNOPSIS

       ext_session_acl [-t timeout ] [-b database ] [-a]

DESCRIPTION

       ext_session_acl	maintains  a concept of sessions by monitoring requests and timing out sessions. The timeout is based either on idle use (
       -t ) or a fixed period of time ( -T ). The former is suitable for displaying terms and conditions to a user; the latter is suitable for the
       display	of advertisments or other notices (both as a splash page - see config examples in the wiki online). The session helper can also be
       used to force users to re-authenticate if the %LOGIN and -a are both used.

OPTIONS

       -t timeout  Idle timeout for any session. The default if not specified (set to 3600 seconds).

       -T timeout  Fixed timeout for any session. This will end the session after the timeout regardless of a user's activity. If used with active
		   mode, this will terminate the user's session after timeout , after which another LOGIN will be required.  LOGOUT will reset the
		   session and timeout.

       -b path	   Path to persistent database. If a file is specified then that single file is used as the database. If a path  is  specified,  a
		   Berkeley  DB  database  environment	is  created  within  the directory. The advantage of the latter is better database support
		   between multiple instances of the session helper. Using multiple instances of the session helper with a  single  database  file
		   will  cause	synchronisation  problems  between processes.  If this option is not specified the session details will be kept in
		   memory only and all sessions will reset each time Squid restarts its helpers (Squid restart or rotation of logs).

       -a	   Active mode. In this mode sessions are started by evaluating an acl with the argument LOGIN , or  terminated  by  the  argument
		   LOGOUT .  Without this flag the helper automatically starts the session after the first request.

CONFIGURATION

       The ext_session_acl helper is a concurrent helper; therefore, the concurrency= option must be specified in the configuration.

       Passive session configuration example using the default automatic mode
	      external_acl_type session ttl=300 negative_ttl=0 children=1 concurrency=200 %LOGIN /usr/local/squid/libexec/ext_session_acl
	      acl session external session
	      http_access deny !session
	      deny_info http://your.server.example.com/bannerpage?url=%s session

       Then  set  up  http://your.server.example.com/bannerpage to display a session startup page and then redirect the user back to the requested
       URL given in the url query parameter.

AUTHOR

       This program and documentation was written by Henrik Nordstrom <henrik@henriknordstrom.net> Andrew Beverley <andy@andybev.com>

COPYRIGHT

       This program and documentation is copyright to the authors named above.

       Distributed under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) version 2 or later (GPLv2+).

QUESTIONS

       Questions on the usage of this program can be sent to the Squid Users mailing list <squid-users@squid-cache.org>

REPORTING BUGS

       Bug reports need to be made in English.	See http://wiki.squid-cache.org/SquidFaq/BugReporting for details of what you need to include with
       your bug report.

       Report bugs or bug fixes using http://bugs.squid-cache.org/

       Report serious security bugs to Squid Bugs <squid-bugs@squid-cache.org>

       Report ideas for new improvements to the Squid Developers mailing list <squid-dev@squid-cache.org>

SEE ALSO

       squid(8), GPL(7),
       The Squid FAQ wiki http://wiki.squid-cache.org/SquidFaq
       The Squid Configuration Manual http://www.squid-cache.org/Doc/config/

								  9 October 2011						ext_session_acl(8)