Authentication

Enabling HTTPS authentication

Authentication is the process of determining a user's identity so that the user becomes known to the system. The appliance authenticates Web requests from clients using HTTPS when authentication for HTTP is enabled.

You can select and configure the type of authentication you want to use on the Authentication pages under the Setup tab in the Appliance Manager.

In addition to verifying a user's identity, authentication can be used in conjunction with access control to enforce local security domains, allocate resources, control bandwidth usage, and record traffic and filter requests based on content.

Note
See Chapter 1, Authenticating NetCache Users, for a description of client authentication and supported methods for authenticating administrators and users.

SSL context

All HTTPS sessions require an SSL context. SSL secures HTTP transmissions to appliance port 443 by providing an encrypted exchange between the appliance and a client.

An SSL context is a set of parameters that is required for establishing a secure SSL connection. The SSL context provides secure information, for example, encryption algorithms, certificates, keys, and other options, such as those that specify the number of SSL sessions that can be cached and how long the sessions are cached.

An SSL context is evaluated as part of a connection request for either inbound or outbound traffic.

Inbound

This SSL context is set to handle inbound connections and is evaluated for each connection request that is accepted by the appliance on an HTTPS port.

Outbound

This SSL context is set to handle outbound connections and is evaluated for each request initiated by the appliance to the origin server.

Note
Each SSL context must be associated with a context rule that specifies connections to which the context is applied. If HTTPS is enabled for outbound traffic, you must set an outbound context rule. Similarly, if HTTPS is enabled for inbound traffic, you must set an inbound context rule. For more information, see HTTPS acceleration rules.

Configuring an SSL context

An SSL context is defined using the following parameters:

Name

Certificate file

Private key file

Direction (applied to inbound or outbound connections)

Certificate authentication (enabled or disabled)

Supported protocol (SSL version 2, SSL version 3, TLS version 1)

Strength of data encryption (weak or strong)

Ciphers to use for this connection

Number of SSL sessions that may be cached for SSL resumption

Session timeout, to specify which sessions are not reused

Root certificates used to authenticate incoming certificates

For detailed parameter descriptions, see the Appliance Manager online Help.