What is Proxy Chaining?

In Muse, there are 2 types of proxy chaining:

a) “ProxyChaining” happens when the MNM chains with the proxy used for source authentication. In a Muse application where we have configured a MNM_HOST to re-write the record links and a PROXY_HOST to use for authentication we have the following scenarios:

1) If the MNM and PROXY fields have different values then at runtime when the end user navigates on a rewritten link the following happens:
– enduser makes HTTP request to MNM_HOST
– the MNM_HOST makes the HTTP request to PROXY_HOST, thus chaining.
– the PROXY_HOST makes the HTTP request to the native data source.

This scenario is described in the Muse Advanced Configuration.pdf document, chapter “Data Services IP Authentication” and applies in all ASP Muse environments where IP authentications are used. For example, this type of proxy chaining is used in all our hosted Muse instances.

2) If the MNM is the same as the PROXY_HOST then the proxy chaining does not occur anymore.

Note that the proxy chaining feature works only if the com.edulib.muse.proxy.filter.ProxyChain filter is enabled in the $MUSE_HOME/proxy/MuseProxy.xml configuration file.
Also note that the proxy chaining feature works with other proxies than Muse Proxy used for source authentication, e,g, when PROXY_HOST is other proxy than Muse Proxy .

b) Another type of proxy chaining is when the Muse Proxy is configured to use another proxy, meaning that it will forward all HTTP requests to the configured proxy. This happens when the following fields from the "$MUSE_HOME/proxy/MuseProxy.xml" file are configured:
<PROXY_HOST&agt;</PROXY_HOST>
<PROXY_PORT>&lt;/PROXY_PORT>
<PROXY_USER_NAME></PROXY_USER_NAME>
<PROXY_USER_PASSWORD></PROXY_USER_PASSWORD>

Type a) of proxy chaining is the most encountered in the Muse installations.