h1. "Restful Authentication Generator":http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication

This widely-used plugin provides a foundation for securely managing user
authentication:
* Login / logout
* Secure password handling
* Account activation by validating email
* Account approval / disabling by admin
* Rudimentary hooks for authorization and access control.

Several features were updated in May, 2008.
* "Stable newer version":http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication/tree/master
* "'Classic' (backward-compatible) version":http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication/tree/classic
* "Experimental version":http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication/tree/modular (Much more modular, needs testing & review)

  !! important: if you upgrade your site, existing user account !!
  !! passwords will stop working unless you use --old-passwords !!

***************************************************************************

h2. Issue Tracker

Please submit any bugs or annoyances on the lighthouse tracker at
* "http://rails_security.lighthouseapp.com/projects/15332-restful_authentication/overview":http://rails_security.lighthouseapp.com/projects/15332-restful_authentication/overview

For anything simple enough, please github message both maintainers: Rick Olson
("technoweenie":http://github.com/technoweenie) and Flip Kromer
("mrflip":http://github.com/mrflip).

***************************************************************************

h2. Documentation

This page has notes on
* "Installation":#INSTALL
* "New Features":#AWESOME
* "After installing":#POST-INSTALL

See the "wiki":http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication/wikis/home
(or the notes/ directory) if you want to learn more about:

* "Extensions, Addons and Alternatives":addons such as HAML templates
* "Security Design Patterns":security-patterns with "snazzy diagram":http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication/tree/master/notes/SecurityFramework.png
* [[Authentication]] -- Lets a visitor identify herself (and lay  claim to her corresponding Roles and measure of Trust)
* "Trust Metrics":Trustification -- Confidence we can rely on the outcomes of this visitor's actions.
* [[Authorization]] and Policy -- Based on trust and identity, what actions may this visitor perform?
* [[Access Control]] -- How the Authorization policy is actually enforced in your code (A: hopefully without turning it into  a spaghetti of if thens)
* [[Rails Plugins]] for Authentication, Trust,  Authorization and Access Control
* [[Tradeoffs]] -- for the paranoid or the curious, a rundown of tradeoffs made in the code
* [[CHANGELOG]] -- Summary of changes to internals
* [[TODO]] -- Ideas for how you can help

These best version of the release notes are in the notes/ directory in the
"source code":http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication/tree/master
-- look there for the latest version.  The wiki versions are taken (manually)
from there.

***************************************************************************

<a id="AWESOME"/> </a>
h2. Exciting new features

h3. Stories

There are now "Cucumber":http://wiki.github.com/aslakhellesoy/cucumber/home features that allow expressive, enjoyable tests for the
authentication code. The flexible code for resource testing in stories was
extended from "Ben Mabey's.":http://www.benmabey.com/2008/02/04/rspec-plain-text-stories-webrat-chunky-bacon/

h3. Modularize to match security design patterns:

* Authentication (currently: password, browser cookie token, HTTP basic)
* Trust metric (email validation)
* Authorization (stateful roles)
* Leave a flexible framework that will play nicely with other access control / policy definition / trust metric plugins

h3. Other

* Added a few helper methods for linking to user pages
* Uniform handling of logout, remember_token
* Stricter email, login field validation
* Minor security fixes -- see CHANGELOG

***************************************************************************

h2. Non-backwards compatible Changes

Here are a few changes in the May 2008 release that increase "Defense in Depth"
but may require changes to existing accounts

* If you have an existing site, none of these changes are compelling enough to
  warrant migrating your userbase.
* If you are generating for a new site, all of these changes are low-impact.
  You should apply them.

h3. Passwords

The new password encryption (using a site key salt and stretching) will break
existing user accounts' passwords.  We recommend you use the --old-passwords
option or write a migration tool and submit it as a patch.  See the
[[Tradeoffs]] note for more information.

h3. Validations

By default, email and usernames are validated against a somewhat strict pattern; your users' values may be now illegal.  Adjust to suit.

***************************************************************************

<a id="INSTALL"/> </a>
h2. Installation

This is a basic restful authentication generator for rails, taken from
acts as authenticated.  Currently it requires Rails 1.2.6 or above.

**IMPORTANT FOR RAILS > 2.1 USERS** To avoid a @NameError@ exception ("lighthouse tracker ticket":http://rails_security.lighthouseapp.com/projects/15332-restful_authentication/tickets/2-not-a-valid-constant-name-errors#ticket-2-2), check out the code to have an _underscore_ and not _dash_ in its name:
* either use <code>git clone git://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication.git restful_authentication</code>
* or rename the plugin's directory to be <code>restful_authentication</code> after fetching it.

To use the generator:

  ./script/generate authenticated user sessions \
    --include-activation \
    --stateful \
    --rspec \
    --skip-migration \
    --skip-routes \
    --old-passwords

* The first parameter specifies the model that gets created in signup (typically
  a user or account model).  A model with migration is created, as well as a
  basic controller with the create method. You probably want to say "User" here.

* The second parameter specifies the session controller name.  This is the
  controller that handles the actual login/logout function on the site.
  (probably: "Session").

* --include-activation: Generates the code for a ActionMailer and its respective
  Activation Code through email.

* --stateful: Builds in support for acts_as_state_machine and generates
  activation code.  (@--stateful@ implies @--include-activation@). Based on the
  idea at [[http://www.vaporbase.com/postings/stateful_authentication]]. Passing
  @--skip-migration@ will skip the user migration, and @--skip-routes@ will skip
  resource generation -- both useful if you've already run this generator.
  (Needs the "acts_as_state_machine plugin":http://elitists.textdriven.com/svn/plugins/acts_as_state_machine/,
  but new installs should probably run with @--aasm@ instead.)

* --aasm: Works the same as stateful but uses the "updated aasm gem":http://github.com/rubyist/aasm/tree/master

* --rspec: Generate RSpec tests and Stories in place of standard rails tests.
  This requires the
    "RSpec and Rspec-on-rails plugins":http://rspec.info/
  (make sure you "./script/generate rspec" after installing RSpec.)  The rspec
  and story suite are much more thorough than the rails tests, and changes are
  unlikely to be backported.

* --old-passwords: Use the older password scheme (see [[#COMPATIBILITY]], above)

* --skip-migration: Don't generate a migration file for this model

* --skip-routes: Don't generate a resource line in @config/routes.rb@

***************************************************************************
<a id="POST-INSTALL"/> </a>
h2. After installing

The below assumes a Model named 'User' and a Controller named 'Session'; please
alter to suit. There are additional security minutae in @notes/README-Tradeoffs@
-- only the paranoid or the curious need bother, though.

* Add these familiar login URLs to your @config/routes.rb@ if you like:

    <pre><code>
    map.signup  '/signup', :controller => 'users',   :action => 'new'
    map.login  '/login',  :controller => 'session', :action => 'new'
    map.logout '/logout', :controller => 'session', :action => 'destroy'
    </code></pre>

* With @--include-activation@, also add to your @config/routes.rb@:

    <pre><code>
    map.activate '/activate/:activation_code', :controller => 'users', :action => 'activate', :activation_code => nil
    </code></pre>

  and add an observer to @config/environment.rb@:

    <pre><code>
    config.active_record.observers = :user_observer
    </code></pre>

  Pay attention, may be this is not an issue for everybody, but if you should
  have problems, that the sent activation_code does match with that in the
  database stored, reload your user object before sending its data through email
  something like:

    <pre><code>
    class UserObserver < ActiveRecord::Observer
      def after_create(user)
        user.reload
        UserMailer.deliver_signup_notification(user)
      end
      def after_save(user)
        user.reload
        UserMailer.deliver_activation(user) if user.recently_activated?
      end
    end
    </code></pre>


* With @--stateful@, add an observer to config/environment.rb:

    <pre><code>
    config.active_record.observers = :user_observer
    </code></pre>

  and modify the users resource line to read

    map.resources :users, :member => { :suspend   => :put,
                                       :unsuspend => :put,
                                       :purge     => :delete }

* If you use a public repository for your code (such as github, rubyforge,
  gitorious, etc.) make sure to NOT post your site_keys.rb (add a line like
  '/config/initializers/site_keys.rb' to your .gitignore or do the svn ignore
  dance), but make sure you DO keep it backed up somewhere safe.
