2.4.x/docs/manual/mod/mod_session_cookie.xml

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<modulesynopsis metafile="mod_session_cookie.xml.meta">

<name>mod_session_cookie</name>
<description>Cookie based session support</description>
<status>Extension</status>
<sourcefile>mod_session_cookie.c</sourcefile>
<identifier>session_cookie_module</identifier>
<compatibility>Available in Apache 2.3 and later</compatibility>

<summary>
    <note type="warning"><title>Warning</title>
      <p>The session modules make use of HTTP cookies, and as such can fall
      victim to Cross Site Scripting attacks, or expose potentially private
      information to clients. Please ensure that the relevant risks have
      been taken into account before enabling the session functionality on
      your server.</p>
    </note>

    <p>This submodule of <module>mod_session</module> provides support for the
    storage of user sessions on the remote browser within HTTP cookies.</p>

    <p>Using cookies to store a session removes the need for the server or
    a group of servers to store the session locally, or collaborate to share
    a session, and can be useful for high traffic environments where a
    server based session might be too resource intensive.</p>

    <p>If session privacy is required, the <module>mod_session_crypto</module>
    module can be used to encrypt the contents of the session before writing
    the session to the client.</p>

    <p>For more details on the session interface, see the documentation for
    the <module>mod_session</module> module.</p>

</summary>
<seealso><module>mod_session</module></seealso>
<seealso><module>mod_session_crypto</module></seealso>
<seealso><module>mod_session_dbd</module></seealso>

    <section id="basicexamples"><title>Basic Examples</title>

      <p>To create a simple session and store it in a cookie called
      <var>session</var>, configure the session as follows:</p>

      <example><title>Browser based session</title>
      <highlight language="config">
Session On
SessionCookieName session path=/
        </highlight>
      </example>

      <p>For more examples on how the session can be configured to be read
      from and written to by a CGI application, see the
      <module>mod_session</module> examples section.</p>

      <p>For documentation on how the session can be used to store username
      and password details, see the <module>mod_auth_form</module> module.</p>

    </section>

<directivesynopsis>
<name>SessionCookieName</name>
<description>Name and attributes for the RFC2109 cookie storing the session</description>
<syntax>SessionCookieName <var>name</var> <var>attributes</var></syntax>
<default>none</default>
<contextlist><context>server config</context>
<context>virtual host</context>
<context>directory</context>
<context>.htaccess</context>
</contextlist>

<usage>
    <p>The <directive>SessionCookieName</directive> directive specifies the name and
    optional attributes of an RFC2109 compliant cookie inside which the session will
    be stored. RFC2109 cookies are set using the <code>Set-Cookie</code> HTTP header.
    </p>

    <p>An optional list of cookie attributes can be specified, as per the example below.
    These attributes are inserted into the cookie as is, and are not interpreted by
    Apache. Ensure that your attributes are defined correctly as per the cookie specification.
    </p>

    <example><title>Cookie with attributes</title>
    <highlight language="config">
Session On
SessionCookieName session path=/private;domain=example.com;httponly;secure;version=1;
      </highlight>
    </example>

</usage>
</directivesynopsis>

<directivesynopsis>
<name>SessionCookieName2</name>
<description>Name and attributes for the RFC2965 cookie storing the session</description>
<syntax>SessionCookieName2 <var>name</var> <var>attributes</var></syntax>
<default>none</default>
<contextlist><context>server config</context>
<context>virtual host</context>
<context>directory</context>
<context>.htaccess</context>
</contextlist>

<usage>
    <p>The <directive>SessionCookieName2</directive> directive specifies the name and
    optional attributes of an RFC2965 compliant cookie inside which the session will
    be stored. RFC2965 cookies are set using the <code>Set-Cookie2</code> HTTP header.
    </p>

    <p>An optional list of cookie attributes can be specified, as per the example below.
    These attributes are inserted into the cookie as is, and are not interpreted by
    Apache. Ensure that your attributes are defined correctly as per the cookie specification.
    </p>

    <example><title>Cookie2 with attributes</title>
    <highlight language="config">
Session On
SessionCookieName2 session path=/private;domain=example.com;httponly;secure;version=1;
    </highlight>
    </example>

</usage>
</directivesynopsis>

<directivesynopsis>
<name>SessionCookieRemove</name>
<description>Control for whether session cookies should be removed from incoming HTTP headers</description>
<syntax>SessionCookieRemove On|Off</syntax>
<default>SessionCookieRemove Off</default>
<contextlist><context>server config</context>
<context>virtual host</context>
<context>directory</context>
<context>.htaccess</context>
</contextlist>

<usage>
    <p>The <directive>SessionCookieRemove</directive> flag controls whether the cookies
    containing the session will be removed from the headers during request processing.</p>

    <p>In a reverse proxy situation where the Apache server acts as a server frontend for
    a backend origin server, revealing the contents of the session cookie to the backend
    could be a potential privacy violation. When set to on, the session cookie will be
    removed from the incoming HTTP headers.</p>

</usage>
</directivesynopsis>

</modulesynopsis>