=head1 NAME
Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Authorization - Catalyst Tutorial - Chapter 6: Authorization
=head1 OVERVIEW
This is B<Chapter 6 of 10> for the Catalyst tutorial.
L<Tutorial Overview|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial>
=over 4
=item 1
L<Introduction|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Intro>
=item 2
L<Catalyst Basics|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::CatalystBasics>
=item 3
L<More Catalyst Basics|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::MoreCatalystBasics>
=item 4
L<Basic CRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::BasicCRUD>
=item 5
L<Authentication|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Authentication>
=item 6
B<Authorization>
=item 7
L<Debugging|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Debugging>
=item 8
L<Testing|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Testing>
=item 9
L<Advanced CRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::AdvancedCRUD>
=item 10
L<Appendices|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Appendices>
=back
=head1 DESCRIPTION
This chapter of the tutorial adds role-based authorization to the
existing authentication implemented in Chapter 5. It provides simple
examples of how to use roles in both TT templates and controller
actions. The first half looks at basic authorization concepts. The
second half looks at how moving your authorization code to your model
can simplify your code and make things easier to maintain.
You can checkout the source code for this example from the catalyst
subversion repository as per the instructions in
L<Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Intro|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Intro>.
=head1 BASIC AUTHORIZATION
In this section you learn the basics of how authorization works under
Catalyst.
=head2 Update Plugins to Include Support for Authorization
Edit C<lib/MyApp.pm> and add C<Authorization::Roles> to the list:
# Load plugins
use Catalyst qw/-Debug
ConfigLoader
Static::Simple
StackTrace
Authentication
Authorization::Roles
Session
Session::Store::FastMmap
Session::State::Cookie
/;
B<Note:> As discussed in MoreCatalystBasics, different versions of
C<Catalyst::Devel> have used a variety of methods to load the plugins.
You can put the plugins in the C<use Catalyst> statement if you
prefer.
=head2 Add Role-Specific Logic to the "Book List" Template
Open C<root/src/books/list.tt2> in your editor and add the following
lines to the bottom of the file:
...
<p>Hello [% c.user.username %], you have the following roles:</p>
<ul>
[% # Dump list of roles -%]
[% FOR role = c.user.roles %]<li>[% role %]</li>[% END %]
</ul>
<p>
[% # Add some simple role-specific logic to template %]
[% # Use $c->check_user_roles() to check authz -%]
[% IF c.check_user_roles('user') %]
[% # Give normal users a link for 'logout' %]
<a href="[% c.uri_for('/logout') %]">User Logout</a>
[% END %]
[% # Can also use $c->user->check_roles() to check authz -%]
[% IF c.check_user_roles('admin') %]
[% # Give admin users a link for 'create' %]
<a href="[% c.uri_for(c.controller.action_for('form_create')) %]">Admin Create</a>
[% END %]
</p>
This code displays a different combination of links depending on the
roles assigned to the user.
=head2 Limit Books::add to 'admin' Users
C<IF> statements in TT templates simply control the output that is sent
to the user's browser; it provides no real enforcement (if users know or
guess the appropriate URLs, they are still perfectly free to hit any
action within your application). We need to enhance the controller
logic to wrap restricted actions with role-validation logic.
For example, we might want to restrict the "formless create" action to
admin-level users by editing C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm> and
updating C<url_create> to match the following code:
=head2 url_create
Create a book with the supplied title and rating,
with manual authorization
=cut
sub url_create :Chained('base') :PathPart('url_create') :Args(3) {
# In addition to self & context, get the title, rating & author_id args
# from the URL. Note that Catalyst automatically puts extra information
# after the "/<controller_name>/<action_name/" into @_
my ($self, $c, $title, $rating, $author_id) = @_;
# Check the user's roles
if ($c->check_user_roles('admin')) {
# Call create() on the book model object. Pass the table
# columns/field values we want to set as hash values
my $book = $c->model('DB::Books')->create({
title => $title,
rating => $rating
});
# Add a record to the join table for this book, mapping to
# appropriate author
$book->add_to_book_authors({author_id => $author_id});
# Note: Above is a shortcut for this:
# $book->create_related('book_authors', {author_id => $author_id});
# Assign the Book object to the stash for display in the view
$c->stash->{book} = $book;
# Set the TT template to use
$c->stash->{template} = 'books/create_done.tt2';
} else {
# Provide very simple feedback to the user.
$c->response->body('Unauthorized!');
}
}
To add authorization, we simply wrap the main code of this method in an
C<if> statement that calls C<check_user_roles>. If the user does not
have the appropriate permissions, they receive an "Unauthorized!"
message. Note that we intentionally chose to display the message this
way to demonstrate that TT templates will not be used if the response
body has already been set. In reality you would probably want to use a
technique that maintains the visual continuity of your template layout
(for example, using the "status" or "error" message feature added in
Chapter 3 or C<detach> to an action that shows an "unauthorized" page).
B<TIP>: If you want to keep your existing C<url_create> method, you can
create a new copy and comment out the original by making it look like a
Pod comment. For example, put something like C<=begin> before
C<sub add : Local {> and C<=end> after the closing C<}>.
=head2 Try Out Authentication And Authorization
Press C<Ctrl-C> to kill the previous server instance (if it's still
running) and restart it:
$ script/myapp_server.pl
Now trying going to L<http://localhost:3000/books/list> and you should
be taken to the login page (you might have to C<Shift+Reload> or
C<Ctrl+Reload> your browser and/or click the "User Logout" link on the book
list page). Try logging in with both C<test01> and C<test02> (both
use a password of C<mypass>) and notice how the roles information
updates at the bottom of the "Book List" page. Also try the "User Logout"
link on the book list page.
Now the "url_create" URL will work if you are already logged in as user
C<test01>, but receive an authorization failure if you are logged in as
C<test02>. Try:
http://localhost:3000/books/url_create/test/1/6
while logged in as each user. Use one of the "logout" links (or go to
L<http://localhost:3000/logout> in your browser directly) when you are
done.
=head1 ENABLE MODEL-BASED AUTHORIZATION
Hopefully it's fairly obvious that adding detailed permission checking
logic to our controllers and view templates isn't a very clean or
scalable way to build role-based permissions into out application. As
with many other aspects of MVC web development, the goal is to have
your controllers and views be an "thin" as possible, with all of the
"fancy business logic" built into your model.
For example, let's add a method to our C<Books.pm> Result Class to
check if a user is allowed to delete a book. Open
C<lib/MyApp/Schema/Result/Books.pm> and add the following method
(be sure to add it below the "C<DO NOT MODIFY ...>" line):
=head2 delete_allowed_by
Can the specified user delete the current book?
=cut
sub delete_allowed_by {
my ($self, $user) = @_;
# Only allow delete if user has 'admin' role
return $user->has_role('admin');
}
Here we call a C<has_role> method on our user object, so we should add
this method to our Result Class. Open
C<lib/MyApp/Schema/Result/Users.pm> and add the following method below
the "C<DO NOT MODIFY ...>" line:
=head 2 has_role
Check if a user has the specified role
=cut
use Perl6::Junction qw/any/;
sub has_role {
my ($self, $role) = @_;
# Does this user posses the required role?
return any(map { $_->role } $self->roles) eq $role;
}
Now we need to add some enforcement inside our controller. Open
C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm> and update the C<delete> method to
match the following code:
=head2 delete
Delete a book
=cut
sub delete :Chained('object') :PathPart('delete') :Args(0) {
my ($self, $c) = @_;
# Check permissions
$c->detach('/error_noperms')
unless $c->stash->{object}->delete_allowed_by($c->user->get_object);
# Use the book object saved by 'object' and delete it along
# with related 'book_authors' entries
$c->stash->{object}->delete;
# Use 'flash' to save information across requests until it's read
$c->flash->{status_msg} = "Book deleted";
# Redirect the user back to the list page
$c->response->redirect($c->uri_for($self->action_for('list')));
}
Here, we C<detach> to an error page if the user is lacking the
appropriate permissions. For this to work, we need to make
arrangements for the '/error_noperms' action to work. Open
C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Root.pm> and add this method:
=head2 error_noperms
Permissions error screen
=cut
sub error_noperms :Chained('/') :PathPath('error_noperms') :Args(0) {
my ($self, $c) = @_;
$c->stash->{template} = 'error_noperms.tt2';
}
And also add the template file by putting the following text into
C<root/src/error_noperms.tt2>:
<span class="error">Permission Denied</span>
Then run the Catalyst development server script:
$ script/myapp_server.pl
Log in as C<test01> and create several new books using the C<url_create>
feature:
http://localhost:3000/books/url_create/Test/1/4
Then, while still logged in as C<test01>, click the "Delete" link next
to one of these books. The book should be removed and you should see
the usual green "Book deleted" message. Next, click the "User Logout"
link and log back in as C<test02>. Now try deleting one of the books.
You should be taken to the red "Permission Denied" message on our
error page.
Use one of the 'Logout' links (or go to the
L<http://localhost:3000/logout> URL directly) when you are done.
=head1 AUTHOR
Kennedy Clark, C<hkclark@gmail.com>
Please report any errors, issues or suggestions to the author. The
most recent version of the Catalyst Tutorial can be found at
L<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/Catalyst-Manual/5.70/trunk/lib/Catalyst/Manual/Tutorial/>.
Copyright 2006-2008, Kennedy Clark, under Creative Commons License
(L<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/>).