ASP ServerVariables Collection

The ASP ServerVariables Collection retrieves the values of predetermined environment variables and request header information. The ASP ServerVariables collection can provide you with quite a bit of information found in the headers such as IP addresses, server name, virtual path, request method, etc. It is a common approach to use the ServerVariables collection to obtain your visitors’ IP address, user agent (browser) info, etc. The list of ServerVariables will depends on the server software and on the browser being used.

Syntax

Request.ServerVariables (SERVER_VARIABLE)

Example

In this example, you can use the Response.Write method in conjuction with a For..Next loop to enumerate the ServerVariables Collection

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>Server Variables</title>
<style type="text/css">
table {width:60%;margin:20px auto;border:1px solid gray;border-collapse:collapse;}
tr {border:1px solid gray;vertical-align:top;}
td {border:1px solid gray;padding:10px;}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<%
Response.Write("<table>")

For Each x In Request.ServerVariables
  Response.Write("<tr>")
  Response.Write("<td>" & x & "</td><td>" & Request.ServerVariables(x) & "</td>")
  Response.Write("</tr>")
Next

Response.Write("</table>")
%>

</body>
</html>

The following is a listing of the server variables that can be accessed in the ASP ServerVariables Collection

Server_Variable	Description
ALL_HTTP	All HTTP headers sent by the client
ALL_RAW	Retrieves all headers in raw form
APPL_MD_PATH	Retrieves the metabase path of the application
APPL_PHYSICAL_PATH	Retrieves the physical path corresponding to the meta base path
AUTH_PASSWORD	Retrieves the value entered in the client's authentication dialog
AUTH_TYPE	The authentication method that the server uses to validate users
AUTH_USER	Retrieves the raw authenticated user name
CERT_COOKIE	Retrieves the unique ID for client certificate as a string
CERT_FLAGS	bit0 is set to 1 if the client certificate is present and bit1 is set to 1 if the certification authority of the client in invalid
CERT_ISSUER	Retrieves the issuer field of the client certificate
CERT_KEYSIZE	Retrieves the number of bits in Secure Sockets Layer connection key size
CERT_SECRETKEYSIZE	Retrieves the number of bits in server certificate private key
CERT_SERIALNUMBER	Retrieves the serial number field of the client certificate
CERT_SERVER_ISSUER	Retrieves the issuer field of the server certificate
CERT_SERVER_SUBJECT	Retrieves the subject field of the server certificate
CERT_SUBJECT	Retrieves the subject field of the client certificate
CONTENT_LENGTH	Retrieves the length of the content as sent by the client
CONTENT_TYPE	Retrieves the data type of the content
GATEWAY_INTERFACE	Retrieves the revision of the CGI specification used by the server
HTTP_<HeaderName>	Retrieves the value stored in the header HeaderName
HTTP_ACCEPT	Retrieves the value of the Accept header
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE	Retrieves a string describing the language to use for displaying content
HTTP_COOKIE	Retrieves the cookie string included with the request
HTTP_REFERER	Retrieves a string containing the URL of the page that referred the request. If redirected, HTTP_REFERER is empty
HTTP_USER_AGENT	Retrieves a string describing the browser that sent the request
HTTPS	Retrieves ON or OFF depending on if the request came in through HTTPS or not
HTTPS_KEYSIZE	Retrieves the number of bits in Secure Sockets Layer connection key size
HTTPS_SECRETKEYSIZE	Retrieves the number of bits in server certificate private key
HTTPS_SERVER_ISSUER	Retrieves the issuer field of the server certificate
HTTPS_SERVER_SUBJECT	Retrieves the subject field of the server certificate
INSTANCE_ID	The ID for the IIS instance in textual format
INSTANCE_META_PATH	The meta base path for the instance of IIS that responds to the request
LOCAL_ADDR	Retrieves the server address on which the request came in
LOGON_USER	Retrieves the Windows account that the user is logged into
PATH_INFO	Retrieves extra path information as given by the client
PATH_TRANSLATED	A translated version of PATH_INFO that takes the path and performs any necessary virtual-to-physical mapping
QUERY_STRING	Retrieves the variables and values stored in the string following the question mark (?) in the HTTP request
REMOTE_ADDR	Retrieves the IP address of the remote host making the request
REMOTE_HOST	Retrieves the name of the host making the request
REMOTE_USER	Retrieves an unmapped user-name string sent in by the user
REQUEST_METHOD	Retrieves the method used to make the request
SCRIPT_NAME	Retrieves a virtual path to the script being executed
SERVER_NAME	Retrieves the server's host name, DNS alias, or IP address as it would appear in self-referencing URLs
SERVER_PORT	Retrieves the port number to which the request was sent
SERVER_PORT_SECURE	Retrieves a string that contains 0 or 1. If the port is secure, value will be 1. Otherwise, 0
SERVER_PROTOCOL	Retrieves the name and revision of the request information protocol
SERVER_SOFTWARE	Retrieves the name and version of the server software that answers the request and runs the gateway
URL	Retrieves the base portion of the URL

In the case where you only need to retrieve one server_variable, you could do so by using the Request.ServerVariables collections.

<%
Response.Write(Request.ServerVariables("REMOTE_ADDR"))
%>

Did you find the page informational and useful? Share it using one of your favorite social sites.

Recommended Books & Training Resources

Sams Teach Yourself Active Server Pages 3.0 in 21 Days