Module mod_usertrack

Previous releases of Apache have included a module which generates a 'clickstream' log of user activity on a site using cookies. This was called the "cookies" module, mod_cookies. In Apache 1.2 and later this module has been renamed the "user tracking" module, mod_usertrack. This module has been simplified and new directives added.

Logging

Previously, the cookies module (now the user tracking module) did its own logging, using the CookieLog directive. In this release, this module does no logging at all. Instead, a configurable log format file should be used to log user click-streams. This is possible because the logging module now allows multiple log files. The cookie itself is logged by using the text %{cookie}n in the log file format. For example:


CustomLog logs/clickstream "%{cookie}n %r %t"

For backward compatibility the configurable log module implements the old CookieLog directive, but this should be upgraded to the above CustomLog directive.

CookieExpires

Syntax: CookieExpires expiry-period
Context: server config, virtual host
Status: optional
Module: mod_usertrack

When used, this directive sets an expiry time on the cookie generated by the usertrack module. The expiry-period can be given either as a number of seconds, or in the format such as "2 weeks 3 days 7 hours". Valid denominations are: years, months, weeks, hours, minutes and seconds.

If this directive is not used, cookies last only for the current browser session.

CookieTracking

Syntax: CookieTracking on | off
Context: server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess
Override: FileInfo
Status: optional
Module: mod_usertrack

When the user track module is compiled in, and "CookieTracking on" is set, Apache will start sending a user-tracking cookie for all new requests. This directive can be used to turn this behavior on or off on a per-server or per-directory basis. By default, compiling mod_usertrack will not activate cookies.