authenticate_or_request_with_http_basic

Easy and effective admin authentication

Great for use within an AdminController (in which all other administrative controllers inherit from AdminController).

class AdminController < ApplicationController
  before_filter :authenticate

  def authenticate
    authenticate_or_request_with_http_basic('Administration') do |username, password|
      username == 'admin' && password == 'password'
    end
  end
end

with password md5 encrypted

If you are afraid to let your plain password on the code, you can do this instead:

 require 'digest'

 class AdminController < ApplicationController
  before_filter :authenticate

  def authenticate
    authenticate_or_request_with_http_basic('Administration') do |username, password|
      md5_of_password = Digest::MD5.hexdigest(password)
      username == 'admin' && md5_of_password == '5ebe2294ecd0e0f08eab7690d2a6ee69'
    end
  end
end

where ‘5ebe2294ecd0e0f08eab7690d2a6ee69’ is the md5 of the word ‘secret’.

You can get your own with this free webservice: <br /> http://qi64.appspot.com/md5/secret (replace ‘secret’ with your secret word).

Testing protected controllers

When testing controllers which are protected with #authenticate_or_request_with_http_basic this is how you can supply the credentials for a successful login:

@request.env["HTTP_AUTHORIZATION"] = "Basic " + Base64::encode64("username:password")

Must be set before the request is sent through #get or whatever method.

Rails

For Rails 3.1 check see:

http_basic_authenticate_with :name => "username", :password => "pass"