Using Apache Basic Authentication
Movable Type supports a pluggable and extensible authentication framework that allows administrators to delegate authentication to systems external to Movable Type. One popular source for authentication credentials is Apache itself, and users wishing to plugin Movable Type into this system can easily do so with the Apache Basic Authentication driver. Here is how you set it up:
Instructions
The first thing to do is set up an install and set your Movable Type administrator username to match one of your Apache auth usernames. Then, add this line to your mt-config.cgi file:
AuthenticationModule Basic
Once you do that, Movable Type will expect itself to be run from a location where auth is required by Apache (see Sample Apache Config below). It will rely on the REMOTE_USER environment variable (for CGI/FastCGI) to determine the username. It will not prompt for a password itself and should hide any password fields from user profiles screens also.
Now for other accounts, you will either need to create other user accounts that have matching usernames with the Apache auth usernames OR, you can enable the mt-config.cgi setting “ExternalUserManagement 1”, which will cause MT to accept any REMOTE_USER username. If this is enabled, new Movable Type accounts will be automatically created when someone accesses MT for the first time.
Sample Apache Config
<Directory /var/www/cgi-bin/mt>
AuthType Basic
AuthName "Movable Type Users"
AuthUserFile /usr/local/apache/passwd/passwords
AuthGroupFile /usr/local/apache/passwd/groups
Require group authors
</Directory>
To add a user to either the groups file or authors file, you can use the following command:
htpasswd -c /usr/local/apache/passwd/passwords username
Please consult the complete Apache documentation for more detailed information.
Other Drivers Available:
- MT::Auth::LDAP - a part of the Movable Type Enterprise Solution
- MT::Auth::OSSO - Oracle Sign-On driver a part of the Movable Type Enterprise Solution
