Libraries are maintained using MKAdmin (MasterKey
Admin). Specifically, those used by MKWS are generally maintained on
the "MKC Admin" installation at
- http://mkx-admin.indexdata.com/console/
+`http://mkx-admin.indexdata.com/console/`
In general, Index Data will create a library for each customer, then
give the customer a username/password pair that they can use to enter
Most importantly, customers' administrators can add authentication
credentials that the Service Proxy will used on their behalf when
accessing subscription resources -- username/password pairs or proxies
-to use for IP-based authentication. Note that IT IS THEN CRUICIAL TO
-SECURE THE LIBRARY FROM USE BY UNAUTHORISED CLIENTS, otherwise the
+to use for IP-based authentication. Note that **it is then crucial to
+secure the library from use by unauthorised clients**, otherwise the
customer's paid subscriptions will be exploited.
Access to libraries is managed by creating one or more "User Access"
Setting up such a library is a process of several stages.
-Stage A: create the User Access account
+### Stage A: create the User Access account
Log in to MKAdmin administrate your library:
- - Go to http://mkc-admin.indexdata.com/console/
- - Enter the adminstrative username/password
- - Go to the User Access tab
- - Create an end-user account
- - Depending on what authentication method it be used, set the
- User Access account's username and password, or IP-address
- range, or referring URL, or hostname.
+
+* Go to `http://mkc-admin.indexdata.com/console/`
+* Enter the adminstrative username/password
+* Go to the User Access tab
+* Create an end-user account
+* Depending on what authentication method it be used, set the
+ User Access account's username and password, or IP-address range, or
+ referring URL, or hostname.
If your MWKS application runs at a well-known, permanent address --
-http://yourname.com/app.html, say -- you can set the User Access
+`http://yourname.com/app.html`, say -- you can set the User Access
record so that this originating URL is recognised by setting it into
the "Referring URL" field.
If your application accesses the Service Proxy by a unique virtual
hostname -- yourname.sp-mkws.indexdata.com, say -- you can tie the use
of this hostname to your library by setting the User Access record's
-"Host Name" field to name of the host where the SP is accessed. NOTE
-THAT THIS IS NOT SECURE, AS OTHER APPLICATIONS CAN USE THIS VIRTUAL
-HOSTNAME TO GAIN ACCESS TO YOUR LIBRARY.
+"Host Name" field to name of the host where the SP is accessed. **Note
+that this is not secure, as other applications can use this virtual
+hostname to gain access to your library.**
-### Authentication by IP address does not yet work correctly -- see
-bug MKWS-234 ("Improve SP configuration/proxying for better
-authentication").
+> TODO Authentication by IP address does not yet work correctly -- see
+> bug MKWS-234 ("Improve SP configuration/proxying for better
+> authentication").
Alternatively, your application can authenticate by username and
password credentials. This is a useful approach in several situations,
uses Referring URL, and another that uses a username/password pair to
be used when running an application from a different URL.
-Stage B: tell the application to use the library
+### Stage B: tell the application to use the library
In the HTML of the application, tell MKWS to authenticate on to the
Service Proxy. When IP-based, referer-based or hostname-based
<script type="text/javascript">
var mkws_config = { service_proxy_auth:
"//sp-mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy/?command=auth&action=perconfig" };
- </script>
+ </script>
-### This should be the default setting
+> TODO This should be the default setting
And ensure that access to the MWKS application is from the correct
Referrer URL or IP-range.
-Stage C1 (optional): access by a different virtual hostname
+### Stage C1 (optional): access by a different virtual hostname
When hostname-based authentication is in use, it's necessary to access
the Service Proxy as the correctly named virtual host. This can be
URL containing that hostname, such as
//yourname.sp-mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy/?command=auth&action=perconfig
-### It should be possible to change just the hostname without needing
-to repeat the rest of the URL (protocol, path, query)
+> TODO It should be possible to change just the hostname without
+> needing to repeat the rest of the URL (protocol, path, query)
-### When changing the SP authentication URL, the Pazpar2 URL should in
-general change along with it.
+> TODO When changing the SP authentication URL, the Pazpar2 URL should
+> in general change along with it.
-Stage C2 (optional): embed credentials for access to the library
+### Stage C2 (optional): embed credentials for access to the library
When credential-based authentication is in use (username and
password), it's necessary to pass these credentials into the Service
by setting the service_proxy_auth configuration item to a URL such as
//sp-mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy/?command=auth&action=perconfig&username=mike&password=swordfish
-### It should be possible to add the username and password to the
-configuration without needing to repeat the rest of the URL.
+> TODO It should be possible to add the username and password to the
+> configuration without needing to repeat the rest of the URL.
-Stage D (optional): conceal credentials from HTML source
+### Stage D (optional): conceal credentials from HTML source
Using a credential-based Service-Proxy authentication URL such as the
one above reveals the the credentials to public view -- to anyone who
projects / mkws-moved-to-github.git / blobdiff