How to Set Up a Custom Login Page for Authentication

With the Barracuda Load Balancer ADC, you can use a custom login page to prompt users for their login credentials when they try to access a protected web application. After you create and deploy the custom login page, configure the application authorization policy to use the page. If you enabled authorization for the entire website (i.e., the URL Match setting of the authorization policy is /*), you must also create an authorization policy for the custom login page.

Prerequisite

Verify that an authentication service and an authorization policy have been created for the service of the web application.

For instructions, see How to Configure Authentication and Access Control (AAA).

Step 1. Create and Deploy the Custom Login Page

Create and deploy the custom login page on the web server for the application.

1. Create a custom login page named login.html. The page must contain the following parameters and values:
   • form id="nclogin"
   • name="login"
   • action="/nclogin.submit"
   • method=POST
   • User name field named f_username
   • Password field named f_passwd
   • An additional hidden parameter named f_method that is specified with value "LOGIN"

   The form will look something like this:

   <form id="nclogin" name="login" action="/nclogin.submit" method=POST>    
         <p>User Name: <input TYPE="text" name="f_username">    
          <p>Password: <input TYPE="password" name="f_passwd">      
          <p><input type=hidden name="f_method" value="LOGIN"><input TYPE="submit" Value="Login"><input TYPE="reset" Value="Reset">
   </form>

2. Deploy the custom login page on the web server for the application. For example, if the IP address of the web server is 192.168.128.10, make the page available at http://192.168.128.10/login.html.

Step 2. Edit the Authorization Policy to Use the Custom Login Page

Edit the authorization policy of the service to display the custom login page to unauthenticated users.

1. Go to the ACCESS CONTROL > Authorization page.
2. Click Edit next to the policy. 
3. In the Edit Authentication Policy window, configure these settings:

   • Auth Not done URL – Enter /login.html

     The Auth Not done URL section indicates that whenever there is no Authentication header present, the ADC will redirect users to this page. By default, it redirects users to the /nclogin.submit page (on the ADC).

   • Login Method – Select HTML Form.
   • Send Basic Authentication – Select Yes.
4. Click Save.

Step 3. Create an Authorization Policy for the Login Page

Create an authorization policy with the URL of the login page.

1. Go to the ACCESS CONTROL > Authorization page. 
2. In the Add Authorization Policy section:
   1. From the Service list, select the service that you are configuring the authorization policy for.
   2. Enter a name for the policy.
   3. Set the Status to Off.
   4. In the URL Match field, enter the URL of the login page. For example: /login.html
   5. Specify the host and any other expressions that must match requests.

   6. Specify the Login Method. If you want to create a custom login or challenge page, select HTML Form.

      If you are using a custom challenge page, it does not support the HTTP Basic Authentication login method.

3. Click Add. The authorization policy appears in the Existing Authorization Policies section.
4. Next to the policy, click Edit.
5. In the Edit Authorization Policy window, specify if you want to allow or deny the request to all authenticated users or only specific users and groups.
6. Click Save.