[drupal-devel] [bug] Some URLs get ?PHPSESSID added to them
kbahey
drupal-devel at drupal.org
Mon Jul 25 08:45:51 UTC 2005
Issue status update for
http://drupal.org/node/4109
Post a follow up:
http://drupal.org/project/comments/add/4109
Project: Drupal
Version: cvs
Component: base system
Category: bug reports
Priority: normal
Assigned to: Eric Scouten
Reported by: Eric Scouten
Updated by: kbahey
Status: patch
There are cases where no parameter will fix this issue. On shared
hosting systems where you do not have access to php.ini, and the
hosting company has setup things in a way that they cannot be
overriden.
I found this out the hard way, after lobbying for the settings to be
included in the init_set() statements in the settings.php prior to 4.6
being released. They are simply ignored on some hosts. On other hosts,
you need to have a php.ini of your own, if suphp or SuExec is being
used.
In some cases, the only way to make things work is to compile your own
PHP as a CGI (detailed writeup) [1]. This can have disadvantages too,
such some performance impact, as well as excessive CPU utilization
(hosting company may not like it).
[1]
http://baheyeldin.com/drupal/how-to-get-rid-of-phpsessid-in-drupal-and-other-php-applications.html
kbahey
Previous comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thu, 13 Nov 2003 00:22:39 +0000 : Eric Scouten
Some URLs get ?PHPSESSID=(whatever) added to them. I find this
distracting and unnecessary for anonymous users. Submitting patch #147
for consideration to remove this issue.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fri, 05 Dec 2003 14:39:25 +0000 : Kjartan
This is a local PHP configuration issue. Don't see it as something
Drupal should mess with, the less PHP settings Drupal messes with the
better.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fri, 05 Dec 2003 15:11:33 +0000 : killes at www.drop.org
Could you elaborate which config setting one has to tweak?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fri, 05 Dec 2003 15:18:11 +0000 : Anonymous
php_flag session.use_trans_sid off
php_flag session.use_only_cookies on
The first will disable the automatic addition of the session ID to
internal URLs, the second will remove support for passing session IDs
in URLs. See http://php.net/session [2] for more info. BTW the above
settings are for Apache, in PHP.ini you should not add the php_flag
part, and you should use = inbetween the name and value...
[2] http://php.net/session
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mon, 07 Jun 2004 22:42:06 +0000 : shane
It seems that Drupal (via the .htaccess file) already "messes with" a
bunch of PHP settings. For example, my Drupal install "came with"
these messed with settings:
php_value register_globals 0
php_value track_vars 1
php_value short_open_tag 1
php_value magic_quotes_gpc 0
php_value magic_quotes_runtime 0
php_value magic_quotes_sybase 0
php_value arg_separator.output "&"
php_value session.cache_expire 200000
php_value session.gc_maxlifetime 200000
php_value session.cookie_lifetime 2000000
php_value session.auto_start 0
php_value session.save_handler user
php_value session.cache_limiter none
php_value allow_call_time_pass_reference On
I'm not sure that adding two more "php_value" flags to the stock
.htaccess file is going to arguably mess with more than already is.
Personally I find it extremely un-professional and very un-clean to
have funky PHPSESSID url strings tacked onto a majority of my URLs.
I've worked extremely hard to implement clean URLs (above and beyond
the already great "clean url" feature of Drupal - I don't like them
being turned into muck.
I'd vote that these two flags be added to the .htaccess file that is
distributed with Drupal. However, I'm uncertain of the overall true
impact of making these changes, so barring an technical reason - I
would absolutely request this as a feature. I've implemented these in
many of my production sites already (just today) - we'll see what
impact they have.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue, 08 Jun 2004 02:56:00 +0000 : marky
It's a performance thing. You need to remember that while not everyone
has edit access to php.ini, those of us that do control our own servers
see no need for .htaccess directives that set php options.
>From the Apache docs [3]:
"Apache will look in every directory for .htaccess files. Thus,
permitting .htaccess files causes a performance hit, whether or not you
actually even use them! Also, the .htaccess file is loaded every time a
document is requested."
Ok, I'm lucky in that I control my own server, so I can effectively
remove the .htaccess file and move its config options to php.ini and
the vhost section of httpd.conf, thus speeding up the responsiveness of
my server.
But if you don't have that option there's nothing wrong with adding
those directives to your directory .htaccess file. That's what it's for
- it allows directory specific config options for those that don't have
access to their server config.
As Kjartan said, "the less PHP settings Drupal messes with the better".
I've got to agree - as far as I'm concerned it's already big enough. The
"php_value short_open_tag 1", "php_value session.auto_start 0" and
"php_value session.cache_limiter none" for example serve little
purpose, as they mirror the installation default settings (apart from
the last, where the available options are: nocache, private or public).
If you don't have the choice, use .htaccess, and add whatever
directives you see fit. But please remember that not everyone uses it.
Anyway, just my 2 beads.
[3] http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/howto/htaccess.html#when
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue, 08 Jun 2004 04:38:32 +0000 : cel4145
Why not add them, but commented out with an explanation? When I
encountered this problem, I had to spend a little time on drupal.org
finding the solution. However, I am familiar with the .htaccess file
from doing installs. If it had been included there commented out, I
would have probably remembered it. After all, this is much the same
way that httpd.conf functions with it's many, optional, commented out
configuration options. Just makes it easier when a non-standard
configuration option has to be used.
Besides, I've also seen many Drupal sites with this problem. I suspect
that some of those sites would have implemented these flags if they had
been an option in the .htaccess file. And it looks bad. People that
visit the sites that don't know any better will assume it's Drupal, not
the lack of proper PHP settings.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:39:27 +0000 : killes at www.drop.org
It wouldn't hurt if Drupal had a better documented and possibly extended
.htaccess file.
Those who whish not to use it should really not care...
session.save_handler = user should probably included as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:17:06 +0000 : robertDouglass
If you use these settings:
php_flag session.use_trans_sid off
php_flag session.use_only_cookies on
won't it make it so that people with cookies disabled cannot have
session state? And if the PHPSESSID is in the URL, isn't that an
indication that the browser being used refused to take a cookie? I'd
really like clarification on this, if anyone knows the answers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue, 27 Jul 2004 13:25:46 +0000 : JonBob
The original issue is definitely by design, as these URLs need the
session ID to preserve the session when running under the given PHP
settings. A better-documented .htaccess is a different issue entirely.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thu, 19 Aug 2004 18:04:13 +0000 : gtoddv
It hasn't been mentioned in this thread or anywhere else that I can
find, but this session ID issue breaks validation. I don't know is this
will cause accessibility issues too. I have tried the .htaccess fix and
that doesn't change anything.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sat, 06 Nov 2004 07:17:21 +0000 : wazdog
The non-validating problem is another problem with your server setup.
PHP can be setup to used encoded &'s or not. Your server isn't if the
url isn't validating. You'd have to talk to your server admin to fix
that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thu, 30 Dec 2004 20:32:35 +0000 : m_freeman2004
This is what you have to include in the .htaccess file:
# Fix for ?PHPSESSID in clean URLs
php_value session.use_trans_sid 0
php_value session.use_only_cookies 1
# End of fix
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed, 01 Jun 2005 19:07:53 +0000 : dr05
The code in .htaccess file:
# Fix for ?PHPSESSID in clean URLs
php_value session.use_trans_sid 0
php_value session.use_only_cookies 1
# End of fix
don't work!
Error: "Internal Server Error!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:25:22 +0000 : jasonwhat
Anyone else looking into this? Can one get rid of the id added onto the
url but still keep the sessions going?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mon, 25 Jul 2005 06:16:22 +0000 : Eric Scouten
dr05, what version of Apache and what OS are you using? I've been using
this same patch with no problems on Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD-based
servers using both Apache 1.3.x and 2.0.x.
Attached patch will apply these changes to .htaccess. (IMHO, this is
useful for the majority of users; those who are smart enough to
understand the performance issues can comment out these lines.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mon, 25 Jul 2005 06:57:18 +0000 : clydefrog
You forgot the patch, Eric.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:02:26 +0000 : Eric Scouten
Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/htaccess-no-session-ids.patch (383 bytes)
D'oh!
More information about the drupal-devel
mailing list