ProFTPD module mod_auth

ProFTPD module `mod_auth_cdb`

This module is contained in the mod_auth_cdb.c file for ProFTPD 1.2, found here, and is not compiled by default. Installation instructions are discussed here.

This authentication module provides the ability to read password and group information from files in Dan J. Bernstein's CDB (Constant Database) format:

  http://cr.yp.to/cdb.html

Benefits provided by CDB are (from the site):

fast lookups: a successful lookup in a large database normally takes just two disk accesses. An unsuccessful lookup takes only one.

low overhead: a database uses 2048 bytes, plus 24 bytes per record, plus the space for keys and data.

no random limits: cdb can handle any database up to 4 gigabytes. There are no other restrictions; records don't even have to fit into memory. Databases are stored in a machine-independent format.

fast atomic database replacement: cdbmake can rewrite an entire database two orders of magnitude faster than other hashing packages.

fast database dumps: cdbdump prints the contents of a database in cdbmake-compatible format.

This module is also distributed with a tool, cdbconv, that can be used to convert /etc/passwd or AuthUserFiles, /etc/group or AuthGroupFiles, into cdb files suitable for use with by this module.

The most current version of mod_auth_cdb can be found at:

  http://www.castaglia.org/proftpd/

Author

Please contact TJ Saunders <tj at castaglia.org> with any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding this module.

Thanks

2001-08-22: Many thanks to Marten Lehmann <lehmann at cnm.de> for helping track down several bugs

AuthCDBGroupFile

Syntax: AuthCDBGroupFile path
Default: None
Context: server config, <VirtualHost>, <Global>
Module: mod_auth_cdb
Compatibility: 1.2.1 and later

This directives configures an alternate groups file in the CDB format, and if specified, is used during authentication and group lookups for directory/access control operations. The path parameter should be the full path to the groups file. AuthCDBGroupFile can be configured on a per-<VirtualHost> basis, so that virtual FTP servers can each have their own authentication database (most often used in conjunction with AuthCDBUserFile).

AuthCDBUserFile

Syntax: AuthCDBUserFile path
Default: None
Context: server config, <VirtualHost>, <Global>
Module: mod_auth_cdb
Compatibility: 1.2.1 and later

This directive configures an alternate password file in the CDB format, and if specified, is used during authentication and user lookups for directory/access control operations. The path argument should be the full path to the specified file. AuthCDBUserFile can be configured on a per-<VirtualHost> basis, so that virtual FTP servers can each have their own authentication database (most often used in conjunction with AuthCDBGroupFile).

Installation

To install mod_auth_cdb, copy the mod_auth_cdb.c file into:

  proftpd-dir/contrib/

Then follow the usual steps for using third-party modules with proftpd:

  ./configure --with-modules=mod_auth_cdb
  make
  make install

Author: $Author: tj $
Last Updated: $Date: 2002/01/14 23:08:44 $