User prompted to repeat log in on Safari

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1

Disclaimer: the source of this issue may not be in the source code of Open Ondemand, but I am currently unable to determine what component is responsible.

Scenario

The user logs in to the Open Ondemand portal via basic user/password authentication and, a few minutes later, launches an application - such as the Linux Desktop, or JupyterLab.

Observed behavior

Once the session is ready, when clicking on “Launch Linux Desktop”, the user is prompted to log in to Open Ondemand again.
The same happens when using JupyterLab - in the case of JupyterLab, the user even keeps being prompted to log in again every couple of minutes.

Context

This issue

  • is only observed when using Safari (not e.g. Edge / FireFox). Safari version in test: 16.4
  • is only observed when launching an app (not e.g. browsing the OnDemand dashboard)

Open Ondemand version: 2.0.29

Has anybody encountered a similar problem, or an idea what might be the cause of the issue?

2

There is a known issue with Safari and basic authentication. I’d suggest you switch from basic authentication as it’s very insecure, and obviously buggy with Safari.

3

Thanks for the quick reply, Jeff!

There is a known issue with Safari and basic authentication.

I see, could you point me to where I can find more details, please?

I’d suggest you switch from basic authentication as it’s very insecure, and obviously buggy with Safari.

Noted! It can still be useful as a fallback option, e.g. for a first sandbox deployment that is already protected in other ways (e.g. by running inside a virtual private network).

4

Looks like it’s something to do with websockets. This documents noVNC, but Jupyter also uses websockets.

https://osc.github.io/ood-documentation/latest/issues/overview.html?highlight=safari#novnc-does-not-work-with-safari-and-apache-basic-auth

5

Somehow my original online search had not turned up this paragraph, thanks for pointing me to it!