TROUBLESHOOTING

Users are prompted multiple times for their name and password
You can configure Domino Web sites so that Domino authenticates and asks Web users for their credentials only once when they access different locations. Like other Web servers, Domino adheres to the HTTP authentication model. When a user accesses a page on a Domino Web site, the browser keeps track of user credentials, based on the realm that the Domino server sends to the browser. A realm is a string, which is typically a URL path, that the server sends to indicate the location, or path, for which the user has been authenticated.

For example, if your server name is www.acme.com, then www.acme.com is the top-level realm and www.acme.com/doc, www.acme.com/hr, and www.acme.com/marketing are the lower-level realms. If a user authenticates with the server when accessing the home page for www.acme.com, then the user is authenticated for www.acme.com and all lower-level realms.

However, if the user accesses www.acme.com/doc first, enters a name and password and is authenticated, and then accesses www.acme.com/hr, Domino prompts the user for credentials again. This second prompt occurs because the browser examines the list of realms for which Domino has successfully authenticated the user and finds www.acme.com/doc in the browser realm list. Since www.acme.com/hr is not a subdirectory of www.acme.com/doc, Domino requires the user to enter credentials again.

To prevent users from being prompted multiple times for their names and passwords, direct them to access and authenticate with the highest level realm that they need to access. This way, Domino asks users for their credentials only once during the browser session.

If a Web site includes a link to a site on another server and that site requires authentication, users will be prompted again for their credentials.

See also