[WEB4LIB] Remote access (proxy/VPN, etc)?

[Thomas Bennett]

I use a python script(below) that automatically checks the user's IP
number when the page is opened.  I only need to check the first two
octets.  In my page I use something like:

<dtml-call "REQUEST.set('local',my_script(REMOTE_ADDR))">

<dtml-if local><a href="my.local.url"><dtml-else><a
href="my.notlocal.url"></dtml-if>Click Here</a>

A value of 1 or 0 is assigned to "local".  This is a Zope server but I
suspect you could do it with Apache, python or perl, and PHP.  In this
case the local URL is the URL that normally connects to the database or
product.  Having a III system, the notlocal URL rewrites the URL to use
the III proxy.

So this will work if you have access to the server for scripting and you
have some type of proxy service available.  


Also, at the UNC Cause Conference in October 2004 in Boone, NC there was
a presentation which described how the user would authenticate through a
Novell Server which the Novell Server would then proxy all links he
connected through.  I think there was some Java also.  This was the UNC
Charlotte Library.  http://library.uncc.edu/remote/new.php
Maybe someone from UNC C can chime in.

Link to UNC CAUSE proposal for this presentation:
http://www.unccause.org/cause04/ProposalDetails.php?id=64

Link to UNC CAUSE Schedule for that day:
http://www.unccause.org/cause04/schedule-TUES.html

Thomas



my_script.py (this could easily be rewritten in Perl or other scripting
languages or your choice):

import string

#Split the IP address on the dots
my_split=string.split(ipnum,'.')

#check for 123
if (my_split[0]=='123'):
  match1=1
else:
  match1=0

#check for 12
if my_split[1]=='12':
  match2=1
else:
  match2=0

if match1 and match2:
  return 1
else:
  return 0




On Wed, 2005-01-19 at 10:33, Randy Norwood wrote:
> My library is currently looking at alternatives to VPN for controlling
> access to online databases and journals. We've used VPN for one year, with
> varying levels of success. Before that, we used ezproxy, with the default
> URL rewriting/dynamic port assignment method. A year ago, our campus IT
> department closed off most ports at the campus firewall, necessitating our
> switch to VPN.
> 
> I'd like some feedback from other libraries concerning their method of
> remote access control. Please reply off-list. If there are enough replies, I
> will compile the results and post to the list.
> 
> In particular, I'd like to know:
> 
> ** Do you use a proxy server, VPN or something else?
> ** If a proxy server, what is the product name?
> ** If ezproxy, do you use rewriting/dynamic ports or proxy by hostname?
> ** Do you authenticate with the campus "single sign-on" system, the library
> patron database, or something else?
> 
> 
> Thanks.