Apache/Varnish/PHP: Just to confirm, is it possible to automatically update $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] to have the real client's IP?

I just cannot seem to get the real client IP to show in PHP's $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']. It shows in $_SERVER['X_FORWARDED_FOR'], but the $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] always points to the Varnish service IP.

I've played around with just about every Varnish vcl suggestion I could find. I've installed Apache module mod_rpaf. But I still cannot get $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] to reflect the client's real IP...

So my question is, is this even possible? Does everyone who uses Varnish have to do something like this for all PHP applications?:

$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = $_SERVER['X_FORWARDED_FOR'];

Or am I simply not configuring it correctly?

Solution 1:

mod_extract_forwarded is most supported, stable and available module for this. Included in all major distributions.

http://www.openinfo.co.uk/apache/

Solution 2:

As mentioned, use mod_extract_forwarded.

If you get the following error when reloading the apache configuration:

Syntax error on line 1 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/mod_extract_forwarded.conf: Cannot load /etc/httpd/modules/mod_extract_forwarded.so into server: /etc/httpd/modules/mod_extract_forwarded.so: undefined symbol: proxy_hook_scheme_handler

Just load the mod_proxy module before mod_extract_forwarded. Works fine on CentOS 6.4.