saint-peter

This package provides a set of express routers that handle authentication and user management.

Binary

If you simply need to run an HTTP authentication server that provides user management, you can use the command saint-peter:

node ./node_modules/.bin/saint-peter -p <port> -i <ip> --db sqlite://auth.sqlite

or add to the scripts section of your package.json something like:

{
  "scripts": {
    "start-auth-server": "saint-peter -p <port> -i <ip> --db sqlite://<sqlite file to be created>"
  }
}

You can use any db supported by sequelize (e.g. mysql://user:password@host:port/db)

The section defaultRouters below describes all the HTTP resources provided by this server.

The binary accepts the following command line options:

Options:
  --address, -a         address the server will listen on   [default: "0.0.0.0"]
  --port, -p            port the server will listen on           [default: 3000]
  --db                  database URL           [default: "sqlite://auth.sqlite"]
  --secret              secret used to generate the JSON Web Token
  --issuer, --iss       token issuer (iss field of the jwt)        [default: ""]
  --root-path, -r       root path; the API will be available as subpaths of this
                                                                  [default: "/"]
  --token-lifetime      token lifetime in seconds                [default: 3600]
  --token-idle-timeout  how long (in seconds) after a token has expired can it
                        be renewed without having to authenticate again
                                                                [default: 86400]
  --default-username    user created if no user is found      [default: "admin"]
  --default-password    password assigned to the default user [default: "admin"]
  --default-group       group created if no group is found    [default: "admin"]

Library

In order to use this package as a library, instead, you need to require saint-peter, which exports a class, and instantiate a an object of that type:

var express = require('express');
var SaintPeter = require('saint-peter');
 
var config = {
  jwtSecret: 'secret',
  dbType: 'sqlite',
  storage: './authdb.sqlite'
};
var saintPeter = new SaintPeter(config);
 
var app = express();
app.use('/', saintPeter.defaultRouters(['admin']));
saintPeter.initializeDB().then(() => {
  app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Auth server listening on port 3000'))
}).catch((e) => console.log(e.stack));

Methods

constructor (config, logger)

The constructor takes two arguments:

• config: object containing the following items:
  • jwtSecret: secret used for jwt encryption
  • dbType: string, one of mysql, sqlite (defaults to sqlite); if no dbType is given (or if dbType is set to null) saint-peter can only be used to authorize requests (by using the allowUsers, allowgroups and requireAuthentication methos)
  • storage: sqlite db file (only used if dbType is sqlite)
  • host: auth db hostname
  • port: auth db port
  • database: auth db name
  • username: auth db username
  • password: auth db password
  • defaultUsername: string, if no user is found in the database, one is created using this username (default to admin)
  • defaultGroup: string, if no user is found in the database, one is created belonging to this groups (default to admin)
  • defaultPassword: string, if no user is found in the database, one is created with this password (defaults to admin)
  • tokenLifetime: integer, number of seconds before a generated token expires
  • tokenIdleTimeout: integer, number of seconds a token can be renewed after it's's expired
  • userListVisibility: one of public, authenticated, admin; who can access (GET) the user list
  • groupListVisibility: one of public, authenticated, admin; who can access (GET) the group list
  • issuer: iss field to be written in the tokens
• logger: a logger that should provide at least two methods: error and info

initializeDB ()

Initialize the DB. Returns a promise. This method needs to be called in order for authentication (or anything else that requires the db) to work. If saint-peter was not provided a dbType, you don't need to call this method.

static allowUsers (users, jwtSecret)

Returns an express middleware that allows access only to given users

• users: array of user names
• jwtSecret: secret used to decode the JSON Web Token

static allowGroups (groups, jwtSecret)

Returns an express middleware that allows access only to users belonging to given groups

• groups: array of group names
• jwtSecret: secret used to decode the JSON Web Token

static requireAuthentication (jwtSecret)

Returns an express middleware that allows access only to authenticated users

• jwtSecret: secret used to decode the JSON Web Token

defaultRouters (adminGroups = ['admin'])

Returns a router that handles the following requests at these relative paths:

• /authenticate POST (Content-type: applicatin/json)

  Request body:

  {
    "username": "<username>",
    "password": "<password>"
  }

  Response body:

  {
    "success": true,
    "token": "token",
    "username": "username",
    "groups": "<user groups>",
    "email": "<user email>",
    "firstName": "<first name>",
    "lastName": "<last name>",
    "id": "<id>",
    "tokenExpirationDate": "<token expiration date (UNIX time)>"
  }

• /renew-token, GET

  Request headers:

  Authorization: bearer <token>
  

  Response body:

  {
    "success": true,
    "token": "token",
    "username": "username",
    "groups": "<user groups>",
    "email": "<user email>",
    "firstName": "<first name>",
    "lastName": "<last name>",
    "id": "<id>",
    "tokenExpirationDate": "<token expiration date (UNIX time)>"
  }

• /users POST (Content-type: applicatin/json)

  Only users belonging to an admin group can POST

  Request body:

  {
    "username": "<username>",
    "password": "<password>"
  }

  Response body:

  {
    "success": <true | flase>,
  }

• /users GET

  Only users belonging to an admin group can GET

  Response body (array of users):

  [
    {
      "id": "<id>",
      "username": "<username>",
      "email": "<email>",
      "firstName": "<first name>",
      "lastName": "<last name>"
    },
    {...},
    ...
  ]

• /users/<username> GET

  Only users belonging to an admin group can GET

  Response body:

  {
    "id": "<id>",
    "username": "<username>",
    "email": "<email>",
    "firstName": "<first name>",
    "lastName": "<last name>"
  }

  • /users/<username> DELETE

  Only users belonging to an admin group can DELETE

• /users/<username> PATCH (Content-type: applicatin/json)

  Only users belonging to an admin group can PATCH

  Request body:

  {
    "id": "<id>",
    "username": "<username>",
    "email": "<email>",
    "firstName": "<first name>",
    "lastName": "<last name>"
  }

• /users/<username>/groups POST (Content-type: applicatin/json)

  Only users belonging to an admin group can POST

  Request body:

  {
    "group": "<group>"
  }

• /users/<username>/groups DELETE

  Only users belonging to an admin group can DELETE

• /users/<username>/email PUT (Content-type: applicatin/json)

  Each user can update only its own email. Admins have no special power, they should instead use the PATCH /users/<username> resource.

  Request body:

  {
    "email": "<email>"
  }

• /users/<username>/password PUT (Content-type: applicatin/json)

  Each user can update only its own password. Admins have no special power, they should instead use the PUT /users/<username>/reset-password resource.

  Request body:

  {
    "oldPassword": "<old password>",
    "newPassword": "<new password>"
  }

• /users/<username>/reset-password PUT (Content-type: applicatin/json)

  Each user can update only its own password. Admins have no special power, they should instead use the PUT /users/<username>/reset-password resource.

  Request body:

  {
    "password": "<password>",
  }

• /groups GET

  Only users belonging to an admin group can GET

  Response body (array of group names):

  [
    "admin", "<group1>", "<group2>", ...
  ]

• /groups POST

  Only users belonging to an admin group can POST

  Request body:

  {
    "group": "<group>"
  }

• /groups/<group> DELETE

  Only users belonging to an admin group can DELETE