When your website content is delivered through the Atomile CDN platform, user requests are first directed to CDN servers. If the requested content is not cached on the CDN servers, the requests are forwarded to your origin server to retrieve the required content. As a result, in most cases, your origin server cannot directly obtain the real IP address of the end client.

This can create challenges if you need to perform business analysis based on the real client IP, such as determining the client’s geographic location or tracking user activity, for example, posting frequency. To address this issue, the Atomile CDN platform provides a feature that forwards the real client IP to the origin server, allowing your website to obtain the end client’s IP address for further analysis.

How to Configure Forward Client IP

1. Log in to the Atomile Console and select the appropriate product.
2. Go to Configuration, locate the domain you want to configure, and click Edit Configuration at the top, or click Edit to the right of the domain.
3. On the configuration page, find Forward Client IP under Advanced Configuration, and adjust the settings for one or more domains as needed.

The available configuration parameters are as follows:

Parameter	Description
Cdn-Src-Ip	By default, the CDN platform uses the Cdn-Src-Ip header to retrieve and record the client IP. This header reflects the IP address from which the request originates and connects to the CDN server. No additional configuration is required, because your origin server can extract the client IP from this header.
X-Forwarded-For	When the CDN server sends a request to the origin server, it automatically includes the X-Forwarded-For header. If you select this option, the header carries the client IP obtained from Cdn-Src-Ip.
Pass Original X-Forwarded-For	In some cases, clients include the X-Forwarded-For header when making requests to the CDN server. If you select this option, the CDN server passes the original X-Forwarded-For value received from the client directly to the origin server.

After completing the configuration, click OK, and then click Next to submit your settings. To minimize any potential impact on your production environment, we strongly recommend performing a Pre-deploy test in a staging environment. This step helps ensure that your configurations are correct before they go live.

After you verify that the settings are correct, click Deploy Now to apply them to the live environment. The configuration typically takes effect within 3 to 5 minutes. For detailed guidance on pre-deployment testing and how to verify the effectiveness of your configuration, refer to Deploy the Configurations to Staging Environment for Validation.

Notes

If you select Pass Original X-Forwarded-For, be aware that some clients may use proxy IP schemes. As a result, the IP address obtained from this header may not be the real client IP and may contain multiple IP addresses.