ACE00002.gif Passing User Information to CGI Programs


You can use environment variables to pass user login names and the authentication method from the Web server to your CGI programs. (These variables are set by the Web server using information that the user's browser sends in the HTTP requests after the user has been authenticated.)

Note: These instructions assume that the user has been authenticated and given a WebID cookie.


Passing User Login Names (the REMOTE_USER variable)

For example, if users access a banking application through their Web browser, the user's login name can be read from the REMOTE_USER environment variable at request time and then passed to the banking application. The banking application could then be configured to present only that individual’s account information.

In addition, login names can be passed to authenticate user access to an initial query form, as well as the resultant dynamically created pages that the Web server provides. For example, if users access a sales database through their Web browser, the user’s login name can be passed through the Web server to his or her database view.

To obtain user login names to gateway programs:


Passing the Authentication Method (the AUTH_TYPE Variable)

You can also use the authentication method by which a user gained access to the Web server to tailor access to your protected CGI programs. (When a SecurID-authenticated user sends a request to a CGI program, the AUTH_TYPE environment variable will be "securid.") This allows you to filter access based on the method by which each user was authenticated.

For example, if you have CGI programs that you want to be accessible only to trusted SecurID users, you can test each request at the gateway to verify that the user has authenticated with a SecurID token. Users whose requests have "securid" in the AUTH_TYPE variable would be given access to the protected program, whereas users who have any other AUTH_TYPE value would not be given access the program.

To obtain the authentication method to gateway programs:


Distributing WebID Cookies

Distributing Domain Cookies