# HTML Form-based Authentication

## Contents
Overview Configuration

## Overview
HTML Form-based Authentication enables users to supply their user name and password details in an HTML form, and submit them to login to a system. Using HTML form-based authentication, normal HTTP authentication features such as HTTP Basic or HTTP Digest are not used. Instead, the user name and password are typically sent as HTML `<FORM>` data in an HTTP `POST` over SSL. When the HTML Form-based Authentication filter is configured, the Enterprise Gateway can authenticate the user details specified in the HTML form against a user profile stored in the Enterprise Gateway local repository, a database, or an LDAP directory.
## Configuration
To configure the HTML Form-based Authentication filter, complete the following fields: Name Enter an appropriate name for the filter. Username Enter the name of the HTML form field in which the user enters their username. Defaults to `username`. Password Enter the name of the HTML form field in which the user enters their password. Defaults to `password`. Credential Format You must specify the format of the user credentials presented by the client because the Enterprise Gateway has no way of telling one credential format from another. Select from `User Name` or `Distinguished Name` in the drop-down list. The selected format is then used internally by the Enterprise Gateway when performing authorization lookups against third-party Identity Management servers. Repository Name This specifies the name of the Authentication Repository where all user profiles are stored. This can be in the Enterprise Gateway's local repository, in a database, or in an LDAP directory. Select a pre-configured Repository Name from the drop-down list. You can add a new repository on the External Connections tab by right-clicking the appropriate node under Authentication Repository Profiles (for example, Database Repositories), and selecting Add a new Repository. For more details, see the Authentication Repository tutorial.