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2a. Domain Install Detailed

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izmeez edited this page Oct 4, 2024 · 3 revisions

This is the contents of the INSTALL.txt file.

CONTENTS

  1. Introduction
  2. Installation 2.1 Before Installing 2.2 Server Configuration 2.3 Setting DOMAIN_INSTALL_RULE 2.4 Setting DOMAIN_SITE_GRANT 2.5 Setting DOMAIN_ASSIGN_USERS
  3. Installing the Module 3.1 Using Drush 3.2 After Installation
  4. Configuring settings.php 4.1 $base_url 4.2 $databases 4.3 $cookie_domain 4.4 Add settings.inc 4.4.1 Installation 4.4.2 Option 1 4.4.3 Option 2 4.4.4 Testing Your Configuration 4.4.5 Additional Resources 4.5 custom_url_rewrite_outbound()
  5. Additional Module Installation 5.1 Domain Strict
  6. Uninstalling
  1. Introduction

The Domain Access module is a Node Access module. It is designed to restrict access to content.

WARNINGS:

  • Failure to install or uninstall this module according to instructions may cause errors in your site.
  • Node Access rules never apply to user 1 (the site admin) or to users with the 'administer nodes' permission. As such, these users will always be able to see all content on your site(s). To verify that Domain Access is working correctly, you will need to turn on its debug mode or view the site as a user without this permission. You may also enable the 'Enforce rules on administrators' setting, which will apply Domain Access restrictions to all users. (See section 4.3.3 of README.txt for more details on this feature.)
  1. Installation

This module requires some advanced understanding of Backdrop and of how DNS servers behave. If you simply untar the download and activate the module, it may not work correctly.

Domain Access works by reading the inbound HTTP_HOST request and serving content appropriate to the requested domain. For this to work properly, all domains for your site must be routed to the same Backdrop installation on your webserver.

Domain Access was not designed to run on shared hosts, and you may need assistance from your provider to make it work correctly.

For more background on DNS and virtual host configuration, please try the following documentation:

For a general overview:

In-depth documentation with many examples for specific situations:

When you enable the module, it will create a {domain} table in your Backdrop database.

On installation, all existing nodes on your site will be assigned to the default (primary) domain for your web site as well as to all subdomains. In order to change this behavior, see sections 2.3 and 2.4 below.

2.1 Before Installing

You will need to do the following before you install the module.

  • Read this document
  • Configure your web server DNS records appropriately
  • Read the supplied README.txt
  • Install and configure Backdrop normally.

WARNING: The Domain Access module series instructs you to add a file include to your settings.php file. Do not add this command until after you have installed Backdrop.

2.2 Server Configuration

For the module to work correctly, the DNS record of your server must accept multiple DNS entries [most servers do]. Your new virtual host(s) must then be correctly configured for your server. In general, this involves small additions to the hosts file and the httpd.conf file.

In order for the Apache server to find your virtual host(s), it absolutely needs two pieces of information: the ServerName (hostname & port the server uses to identify itself) and an IP address.

The two basic methods for doing this are to either:

  • Set up WildCard DNS, so that *.example.com resolves to your Backdrop site. (The asterisk indicates any and all names carrying the < example.com > suffix)
  • Set up each VirtualHost specifically, so that one.example.com, two.example.com, (and so on) all resolve to your Backdrop site.

For example, on a local testing machine, VirtualHosts in my hosts file could be configured in the following way:

  • ken.test => 127.0.0.1
  • one.ken.test => 127.0.0.1
  • two.ken.test => 127.0.0.1
  • foo.test => 127.0.0.1

With their port and document root defined (WildCard set up) in the httpd.conf file:

<VirtualHost *:80> DocumentRoot /path/to/Backdrop/install ServerName ken.test ServerAlias *.ken.test foo.test

In this case any subdomain (*.ken.test) and another domain foo.test resolve to the same location. When configuring DNS for Domain Access, the document root is the same for all the VirtualHosts. The DocumentRoot directive sets the directory from which httpd will serve files. For DA, there is one Backdrop installation and it is this installation built on a single database that is serving the files.

This becomes even clearer when the VirtualHosts are set up specifically, each with its own VirtualHost block in the httpd.conf file, for example:

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:80> DocumentRoot /path/to/Backdrop/install ServerName ken.test

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:80> DocumentRoot /path/to/Backdrop/install ServerName two.ken.test

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:80> DocumentRoot /path/to/Backdrop/install ServerName foo.test

This example gives a general idea of what is involved, but it is beyond the scope of this document to explain how to configure your specific DNS server situation, which may involve considerable research, trial & error or a call for help. Shared server situations can be particularly complicated and you should contact their administration for help with configuration if their online help files do not make things clear enough.

After you have enabled multiple DNS entries to resolve to your single, default Backdrop installation, you may activate the module and configure its settings at Admin > Structure > Domains.

2.3 Setting DOMAIN_INSTALL_RULE

This is an advanced instruction, and may be ignored.

At the top of the domain.module file, you will find this line:

define('DOMAIN_INSTALL_RULE', TRUE);

This setting controls the default behavior of the module when installing over an existing installation. If set to TRUE, the Domain Access module will assign all existing nodes to be viewable by your primary domain.

If you set this value to FALSE, existing content will not be visible on your primary domain unless DOMAIN_SITE_GRANT is set to TRUE.

For more details, see section 5 of README.txt.

2.4 Setting DOMAIN_SITE_GRANT

At the top of the domain.module file, you will find this line:

define('DOMAIN_SITE_GRANT', TRUE);

This setting controls the default behavior for viewing affiliate content. By design, the Domain Access module allows site administrators to assign content to 'all affiliates.' If this value is set to TRUE, then content assigned to all affiliates can be seen by all users on all current domains.

On install, setting this value to TRUE will assign all current content to be viewable on all domains.

Normally, you will not need to edit this value.

2.5 Setting DOMAIN_ASSIGN_USERS

At the top of the domain.module file, you will find this line:

define('DOMAIN_ASSIGN_USERS', TRUE);

After you install the Domain Access module, all new users who register will automatically be assign to the domain from which their account was created. This value is used to determine advanced editing access and can be used by modules such as Domain Strict.

On install, setting this value to TRUE will assign all current users to be members of the default domain. Set the value to FALSE and the module will not assign users to any domains.

Normally, you will not need to edit this value.

After installation and configuration, users with the appropriate permissions may batch assign users to domains from Administer > User Management > Users.

  1. Installing the Module

After you have prepared your server and made any edits to the default module behavior, you may install Domain Access like any other Backdrop module.

3.1 Using Bee

When using bee to install, you must pass the URI value for your site. Include the full path to the installation, as below:

bee pm-enable domain --site=example.com/optional_subdirectory

If your site is not installed in a subdirectory, the command would be:

bee pm-enable domain --site=example.com

Passing the --site variable tells Domain Access what the default domain for your site will be. Without this information, the default domain cannot be created from the command line.

After installing via bee, you must rebuild the node access table. Run the command:

bee ev "node_access_rebuild();"

Also clear all caches:

bee cache-clear

When prompted, select option [0].

3.2 After Installation

Note that the primary domain is created for you on installation.

The primary domain will use the SERVER_NAME value of the request made when installing the module. This value may be edited by going to Admin > Structure > Domains and editing the Primary Domain value.

After you install the module, you should visit Admin > People > Permissions and set the module permissions; normally you will give your site administrators the following permissions:

-- 'administer domains'
-- 'set domain access'

After saving permissions, go to Admin > Structure > Domains and configure your site's Primary Domain.

For more information, see README.txt.

  1. Configuring settings.php

Remember, the Domain Access module lets you run multiple sites from a single installation. You only need one settings.php file.

As a result, some options in your settings.php file need to be considered carefully.

4.1 $base_url

The $base_url setting is normally not set. With Domain Access, you cannot set this value manually.

Since multiple domains are involved, Backdrop needs to be allowed to set this value. (For the technical, this happens in the conf_init() function).

If you need to install Backdrop in a subdirectory and wish to hide that subdirectory from site visitors, you may set $base_url dynamically.

See the instructions at http://drupal.org/node/633726.

4.2 $databases

The $databases value allows for table prefixing of your Backdrop database in the event that you run more than one site from a single database.

$databases can be used normally with Domain Access.

4.3 $cookie_domain

By design, Backdrop cookies are set for the current website on login. That is, if you login from www.example.com, the cookie will be set from the domain 'www.example.com.'

However, a cookie from www.example.com is not valid on one.example.com.

In order to provide for login across your active domains, you must set the $cookie_domain value to the string indicating your root domain.

Typically, this value is '.example.com'.

If your domains do not share the top-level, then you may need to login to each site separately or use a module such as Single SignOn.

NOTE: After you change your cookie value, you will need to logout and log back in for the new cookie to take effect.

4.4 Add settings.inc

For Domain Access to work, you must add some code to your settings.php file. This code will load the Domain Access bootstrap routines that determine how your site is being requested.

If you do not add settings.inc to your settings.php file, Domain Access will fail to load and report an error message to site administrators.

IMPORTANT: You must add these lines to settings.php after $databases has been set; otherwise, Backdrop will fail to load. Normally, you should add these lines to the end of the settings.php file.

NOTE: If you perform a Backdrop core major version upgrade, you must remove these lines from settings.php. See UPGRADE.txt for details.

4.4.1 Installation

In the Domain Access download, find the following file:

domain > settings.inc

You will need to load this file from inside your settings.php file. There are two methods for this.

4.4.2 Option 1 -- Preferred

This method is preferred, since any updates to the module release will be reflected in this file.

NOTE: the elements inside the ==== marks are php code that should be copied into your settings.php file. DO NOT COPY THE ==== MARKS.

Add the following lines to the end of your settings.php file:

==== /**

  • Add the domain module setup routine. */ include BACKDROP_ROOT . '/path/to/modules/domain/settings.inc'; ====

In this case, change 'path/to/modules' with the directory where your modules are stored. Typically this will be '/modules', which makes the lines:

==== /**

  • Add the domain module setup routine. */ include BACKDROP_ROOT . '/modules/domain/settings.inc'; ====

4.4.3 Option 2

If you are having difficulty determining the correct path, copy the following files into your settings folder.

domain > domain.bootstrap.inc domain > settings.inc domain > settings_custom_url.inc

The files should be in the same directory as your active settings.php file. Then add the following lines:

==== /**

  • Add the custom_url_rewrite_outbound function. */ include 'settings.inc'; ====

4.4.4 Testing Your Configuration

After editing your settings.php file, go to Admin > Structure > Domains. You may see a warning at the top of the page:

"Domain access failed to load during phase: bootstrap include. Please check your settings.php file and site configuration."

This message means that your PHP server cannot find the include file. You may need to test other path options for the include code.

When this occurs, the default domain will be loaded, but custom settings or themes for other domains will not.

If the module is working correctly and you are getting persistent errors due to web crawlers, you may disable this warning. To do so, edit settings.php and add the following lines to the bottom of the file:

$config['domain.settings']['domain_hide_errors'] = TRUE;

This will suppress the warning messages. See http://drupal.org/node/774692 for background.

4.4.5 Additional Resources

If you are having trouble configuring the include, you should check your PHP include path. You may need to use an absolute path to your server root.

http://us3.php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php#ini.include-path

You may also copy the entire function custom_url_rewrite_outbound() directly into your settings.php file.

  1. Additional Module Installation

The Domain Access module includes several sub-modules. Two of these have their own INSTALL.txt instructions.

5.1 Domain Strict

While this module requires no additional installation, it fundamentally changes the behavior of the Domain Access module.

Under Domain Strict, only authenticated users (those who have registered) are given any domain-specific privileges.

Anonymous users will only be able to view content that is assigned to "all affiliates."

As a result, enabling this module may cause content to disappear from your site for users who are not logged in. This is by design.

Refer to domain > domain_strict > README.txt

  1. Uninstalling

When you disable this module, it will reset your {node_access} tables and remove all records from the {domain_access} table. This will remove all access rules associated with this module.

You may then uninstall the module normally.

You should also remove any extra code from your settings.php file.

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