Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Authorization - Catalyst Tutorial - Part 6: Authorization
This is Part 6 of 10 for the Catalyst tutorial.
Tutorial Overview
Introduction
Catalyst Basics
More Catalyst Basics
Basic CRUD
Authentication
Authorization
Debugging
Testing
Advanced CRUD
Appendices
This part of the tutorial adds role-based authorization to the existing authentication implemented in Part 5. It provides simple examples of how to use roles in both TT templates and controller actions. The first half looks at manually configured authorization. The second half looks at how the ACL authorization plugin can simplify your code.
You can checkout the source code for this example from the catalyst subversion repository as per the instructions in Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Intro.
In this section you learn how to manually configure authorization.
Edit lib/MyApp.pm and add Authorization::Roles to the list:
lib/MyApp.pm
Authorization::Roles
__PACKAGE__->setup(qw/ -Debug ConfigLoader Static::Simple StackTrace Authentication Authorization::Roles Session Session::Store::FastMmap Session::State::Cookie /;
Edit myapp.conf and update it to match the following (the role_relation and role_field definitions are new):
myapp.conf
role_relation
role_field
# rename this file to MyApp.yml and put a : in front of "name" if # you want to use yaml like in old versions of Catalyst name MyApp <authentication> default_realm dbic <realms> <dbic> <credential> # Note this first definition would be the same as setting # __PACKAGE__->config->{authentication}->{realms}->{dbic} # ->{credential} = 'Password' in lib/MyApp.pm # # Specify that we are going to do password-based auth class Password # This is the name of the field in the users table with the # password stored in it password_field password # Switch to more secure hashed passwords password_type hashed # Use the SHA-1 hashing algorithm password_hash_type SHA-1 </credential> <store> # Use DBIC to retrieve username, password & role information class DBIx::Class # This is the model object created by Catalyst::Model::DBIC # from your schema (you created 'MyApp::Schema::User' but as # the Catalyst startup debug messages show, it was loaded as # 'MyApp::Model::DB::Users'). # NOTE: Omit 'MyApp::Model' here just as you would when using # '$c->model("DB::Users)' user_class DB::Users # This is the name of a many_to_many relation in the users # object that points to the roles for that user role_relation roles # This is the name of field in the roles table that contains # the role information role_field role </store> </dbic> </realms> </authentication>
Open root/src/books/list.tt2 in your editor and add the following lines to the bottom of the file:
root/src/books/list.tt2
<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') %]">Logout</a> [% END %] [% # Can also use $c->user->check_roles() to check authz -%] [% IF c.check_user_roles('admin') %] [% # Give admin users a link for 'create' %] <a href="[% c.uri_for('form_create') %]">Create</a> [% END %] </p>
This code displays a different combination of links depending on the roles assigned to the user.
Books::add
admin
IF statements in TT templates simply control the output that is sent to the user's browser; it provides no real enforcement (if users know or guess the appropriate URLs, they are still perfectly free to hit any action within your application). We need to enhance the controller logic to wrap restricted actions with role-validation logic.
IF
For example, we might want to restrict the "formless create" action to admin-level users by editing lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm and updating url_create to match the following code:
lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm
url_create
=head2 url_create Create a book with the supplied title and rating, with manual authorization =cut sub url_create : Local { # In addition to self & context, get the title, rating & author_id args # from the URL. Note that Catalyst automatically puts extra information # after the "/<controller_name>/<action_name/" into @_ my ($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; # This is a hack to disable XSUB processing in Data::Dumper # (it's used in the view). This is a work-around for a bug in # the interaction of some versions or Perl, Data::Dumper & DBIC. # You won't need this if you aren't using Data::Dumper (or if # you are running DBIC 0.06001 or greater), but adding it doesn't # hurt anything either. $Data::Dumper::Useperl = 1; # 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 if statement that calls 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 Part 3).
if
check_user_roles
TIP: If you want to keep your existing 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 =begin before sub add : Local { and =end after the closing }.
=begin
sub add : Local {
=end
}
Press Ctrl-C to kill the previous server instance (if it's still running) and restart it:
Ctrl-C
$ script/myapp_server.pl
Now trying going to http://localhost:3000/books/list and you should be taken to the login page (you might have to Shift+Reload or Ctrl+Reload your browser and/or click the "Logout" link on the book list page). Try logging in with both test01 and test02 (both use a password of mypass) and notice how the roles information updates at the bottom of the "Book List" page. Also try the Logout link on the book list page.
Shift+Reload
Ctrl+Reload
test01
test02
mypass
Logout
Now the "url_create" URL will work if you are already logged in as user test01, but receive an authorization failure if you are logged in as 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 http://localhost:3000/logout in your browser directly) when you are done.
This section takes a brief look at how the Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::ACL plugin can automate much of the work required to perform role-based authorization in a Catalyst application.
Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::ACL
Open lib/MyApp.pm in your editor and add the following plugin to the __PACKAGE__->setup statement:
__PACKAGE__->setup
Authorization::ACL
Note that the remaining use Catalyst plugins from earlier sections are not shown here, but they should still be included.
use Catalyst
Open lib/MyApp.pm in your editor and add the following BELOW the __PACKAGE__->setup statement:
# Authorization::ACL Rules __PACKAGE__->deny_access_unless( "/books/form_create", [qw/admin/], ); __PACKAGE__->deny_access_unless( "/books/form_create_do", [qw/admin/], ); __PACKAGE__->deny_access_unless( "/books/delete", [qw/user admin/], );
Each of the three statements above comprises an ACL plugin "rule". The first two rules only allow admin-level users to create new books using the form (both the form itself and the data submission logic are protected). The third statement allows both users and admins to delete books. The /books/url_create action will continue to be protected by the "manually configured" authorization created earlier in this part of the tutorial.
/books/url_create
The ACL plugin permits you to apply allow/deny logic in a variety of ways. The following provides a basic overview of the capabilities:
The ACL plugin only operates on the Catalyst "private namespace". You are using the private namespace when you use Local actions. Path, Regex, and Global allow you to specify actions where the path and the namespace differ -- the ACL plugin will not work in these cases.
Local
Path
Regex
Global
Each rule is expressed in a separate __PACKAGE__->deny_access_unless() or __PACKAGE__->allow_access_if() line (there are several other methods that can be used for more complex policies, see the METHODS portion of the Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::ACL documentation for more details).
__PACKAGE__->deny_access_unless()
__PACKAGE__->allow_access_if()
METHODS
Each rule can contain multiple roles but only a single path.
The rules are tried in order (with the "most specific" rules tested first), and processing stops at the first "match" where an allow or deny is specified. Rules "fall through" if there is not a "match" (where a "match" means the user has the specified role). If a "match" is found, then processing stops there and the appropriate allow/deny action is taken.
If none of the rules match, then access is allowed.
The rules currently need to be specified in the application class lib\MyApp.pm after the __PACKAGE__->setup; line.
lib\MyApp.pm
__PACKAGE__->setup;
By default, Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::ACL throws an exception when authorization fails. This will take the user to the Catalyst debug screen, or a "Please come back later" message if you are not using the -Debug flag. This step uses the access_denied method in order to provide more appropriate feedback to the user.
-Debug
access_denied
Open lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm in your editor and add the following method:
=head2 access_denied Handle Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::ACL access denied exceptions =cut sub access_denied : Private { my ($self, $c) = @_; # Set the error message $c->stash->{error_msg} = 'Unauthorized!'; # Display the list $c->forward('list'); }
Then run the Catalyst development server script:
Log in as test02. Once at the book list, click the "Create" link to try the form_create action. You should receive a red "Unauthorized!" error message at the top of the list. (Note that in the example code the "Create" link code in root/src/books/list.tt2 is inside an IF statement that only displays the list to admin-level users.) If you log in as test01 you should be able to view the form_create form and add a new book.
form_create
When you are done, use one of the 'Logout' links (or go to the http://localhost:3000/logout URL directly) when you are done.
Kennedy Clark, hkclark@gmail.com
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 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 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/).
To install Catalyst::Manual, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Catalyst::Manual
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Catalyst::Manual
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.