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<h2><b>ProFTPD module <code>mod_autohost</code></b></h2>
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<p>
For sites that run a large number of <code><VirtualHost></code>s for
<code>proftpd</code>, it can be cumbersome to configure them all in
the <code>proftpd.conf</code> file. Adding or removing virtual server
configurations require restarting the daemon, as do changes to one of the
server configurations. The daemon also consumes memory for each server
configuration, and the memory footprint for the daemon process can grow
large for large numbers of servers.
<p>
The <code>mod_autohost</code> module allows for server configurations to
be configured in individual files, and for those configuration to be used
in an "on demand" fashion. Rather than loading the configurations into
memory when the daemon starts up, the daemon will check the IP address and
port being contacted by a connecting client, check in the filesystem for
a <code>mod_autohost</code> configuration file for that address/port,
dynamically parse the configuration, and insert the configuration into
the session's process space. Thus changes to the configuration are
seen whenever a client connects, without requiring a daemon restart.
The memory footprint is reduced because <code>proftpd</code>, via
<code>mod_autohost</code>, only reads and uses the needed configuration.
<p>
This module is contained in the <code>mod_autohost</code> file for
ProFTPD 1.3.<i>x</i>, and is not compiled by default. Installation
instructions are discussed <a href="#Installation">here</a>.
<p>
The most current version of <code>mod_autohost</code> can be found at:
<pre>
<a href="http://www.castaglia.org/proftpd/">http://www.castaglia.org/proftpd/</a>
</pre>
<h2>Author</h2>
<p>
Please contact TJ Saunders <tj <i>at</i> castaglia.org> with any
questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding this module.
<h2>Directives</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#AutoHostConfig">AutoHostConfig</a>
<li><a href="#AutoHostEngine">AutoHostEngine</a>
<li><a href="#AutoHostLog">AutoHostLog</a>
<li><a href="#AutoHostPorts">AutoHostPorts</a>
</ul>
<hr>
<h2><a name="AutoHostConfig">AutoHostConfig</a></h2>
<strong>Syntax:</strong> AutoHostConfig <em>path</em><br>
<strong>Default:</strong> None<br>
<strong>Context:</strong> "server config"<br>
<strong>Module:</strong> mod_autohost<br>
<strong>Compatibility:</strong> 1.3.0rc1 and later
<p>
The <code>AutoHostConfig</code> directive specifies the path that
<code>mod_autohost</code> checks for, when handling incoming connections.
The given <em>path</em> must be an absolute path, and may contain the
following variables, which will be interpolated:
<ul>
<li><dt>%0</dt>
<dd>the entire IP address</dd>
<li><dt>%1</dt>
<dd>the first octet of an IPv4 address</dd>
<li><dt>%2</dt>
<dd>the second octet of an IPv4 address</dd>
<li><dt>%3</dt>
<dd>the third octet of an IPv4 address</dd>
<li><dt>%4</dt>
<dd>the fourth octet of an IPv4 address</dd>
<li><dt>%p</dt>
<dd>the port number</dd>
</ul>
<b>Note</b>: This directive is <b>required</b> for <code>mod_autohost</code>
to function.
<p>
<b>Examples</b><br>
With an <code>AutoHostConfig</code> of:
<pre>
/etc/ftpd/vhosts/%0/autohost.conf
</pre>
and a client connecting to 1.2.3.4, the above <em>path</em> would expand into:
<pre>
/etc/ftpd/vhosts/1.2.3.4/autohost.conf
</pre>
Given a <em>path</em> of:
<pre>
/etc/ftpd/vhosts/%1/%2/%3/%4/%p/vhost.conf
</pre>
and a client connecting to 1.2.3.4, port 2121, <code>mod_autohost</code>
would check for the following file:
<pre>
/etc/ftpd/vhosts/1/2/3/4/2121/vhost.conf
</pre>
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="AutoHostEngine">AutoHostEngine</a></h2>
<strong>Syntax:</strong> AutoHostEngine <em>on|off</em><br>
<strong>Default:</strong> None<br>
<strong>Context:</strong> "server config"<br>
<strong>Module:</strong> mod_autohost<br>
<strong>Compatibility:</strong> 1.3.0rc1 and later
<p>
The <code>AutoHostEngine</code> directive enables or disables the module's
runtime checks for dynamic server configuration files. If it is set to
<em>off</em> this module does no checking. Use this directive to disable the
module instead of commenting out all <code>mod_autohost</code> directives.
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="AutoHostLog">AutoHostLog</a></h2>
<strong>Syntax:</strong> AutoHostLog <em>path</em><br>
<strong>Default:</strong> None<br>
<strong>Context:</strong> "server config"<br>
<strong>Module:</strong> mod_autohost<br>
<strong>Compatibility:</strong> 1.3.0rc1 and later
<p>
The <code>AutoHostLog</code> directive is used to a specify a log file for
<code>mod_autohost</code> reporting and debugging. The <em>path</em>
parameter must be the full path to the file to use for logging. Note that
this path must <b>not</b> be to a world-writeable directory and, unless
<code>AllowLogSymlinks</code> is explicitly set to <em>on</em> (generally a
bad idea), the path must <b>not</b> be a symbolic link.
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="AutoHostPorts">AutoHostPorts</a></h2>
<strong>Syntax:</strong> AutoHostPorts <em>port1 ... portN</em><br>
<strong>Default:</strong> None<br>
<strong>Context:</strong> "server config"<br>
<strong>Module:</strong> mod_autohost<br>
<strong>Compatibility:</strong> 1.3.2rc1 and later
<p>
The <code>AutoHostPorts</code> directive is used to specify a list of
port numbers on which <code>proftpd</code> should listen. By default,
<code>proftpd</code> listens on a <i>wildcard</i> socket, which means
that a single socket can be used to listen for all address <i>for a given
port</i>. But there is no such thing as a socket which can listen on
<i>all ports</i>. Thus <code>mod_autohost</code> needs to know when to
listen on other ports.
<p>
<b>Note</b> that the <code>AutoHostPorts</code> directive is only needed
<i>if</i> your <code>AutoHostConfig</code> path uses the "%p" variable
(<i>i.e.</i> uses the port number to which the client connected as part
of the path to the matching configuration).
<p>
For example, if your <code>AutoHostConfig</code> path included configurations
for servers on non-standard ports, you would need to use the
<code>AutoHostPorts</code> directive to list those ports, so that
<code>proftpd</code> could handles connections to them:
<pre>
<IfModule mod_autohost.c>
AutoHostEngine on
AutoHostLog /etc/ftpd/var/autohost.log
# This is required for mod_autohost to work
AutoHostConfig /etc/ftpd/vhosts/%0/%p/autoconf.conf
# Define the other non-standard ports for which we have config files
AutoHostPorts 2121 2222 4444
</IfModule>
</pre>
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="Installation">Installation</a></h2>
To install <code>mod_autohost</code>, copy the <code>mod_autohost.c</code>
file into:
<pre>
<i>proftpd-dir</i>/contrib/
</pre>
after unpacking the latest proftpd-1.3 source code. For including
<code>mod_autohost</code> as a staticly linked module:
<pre>
./configure --with-modules=mod_autohost
</pre>
Alternatively, <code>mod_autohost</code> could be built as a DSO module:
<pre>
./configure --enable-dso --with-shared=mod_autohost
</pre>
Then follow the usual steps:
<pre>
make
make install
</pre>
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="Usage">Usage</a></h2>
<p>
Example configuration:
<pre>
<IfModule mod_autohost.c>
AutoHostEngine on
AutoHostLog /etc/ftpd/var/autohost.log
# This is required for mod_autohost to work
AutoHostConfig /etc/ftpd/vhosts/%0/autoconf.conf
</IfModule>
</pre>
With this configuration, a client connecting to 1.2.3.4 would cause
<code>mod_autohost</code> to look for the following path:
<pre>
/etc/ftpd/vhosts/1.2.3.4/autohost.conf
</pre>
If the file is not present, <code>proftpd</code> handles the connection
as it normally would.
<p>
<b>Caveats</b><br>
The <code>SocketBindTight</code> directive <b>cannot</b> be "on"
if <code>mod_autohost</code> is to work directly. With
<code>SocketBindTight</code> being off by default, <code>proftpd</code>
listens for incoming connections on a <i>wildcard</i> socket, which will
receive connections to all IP addresses on that port.
<code>mod_autohost</code> relies on this behavior. If
<code>SocketBindTight</code> is set to on, then <code>proftpd</code> will
listen <i>only</i> to the addresses of the servers configured in
<code>proftpd.conf</code>, and any <code>autohost.conf</code> files will
be useless.
<p>
The <code>DefaultServer</code> directive will have no effect if it appears
in an <code>autohost.conf</code> file.
<p>
The <code>mod_tls</code> module will not be able to properly prompt for
passphrases for keys in an <code>autohost.conf</code> file on server startup.
<p>
IPv6 addresses are not currently handled by <code>mod_autohost</code>.
<p>
<hr><br>
Author: <i>$Author: tj $</i><br>
Last Updated: <i>$Date: 2009/03/03 19:00:07 $</i><br>
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© Copyright 2004-2009 TJ Saunders<br>
All Rights Reserved<br>
</i></b></font>
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