org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.spi.security.authentication

Interface Authentication

public interface Authentication

The Authentication interface defines methods to validate Credentials during the login step of the authentication process. The validation depends on the authentication mechanism in place.

A given implementation may only handle certain types of Credentials as the authentication process is tightly coupled to the semantics of the Credentials.

For example a implementation may only be able to validate UserID/password pairs such as passed with javax.jcr.SimpleCredentials, while another might be responsible for validating login token issued by the repository or an external access token generation mechanism.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
boolean	authenticate(Credentials credentials) Validates the specified Credentials and returns true if the validation was successful.
java.lang.String	getUserId() Optional method that return the userID extracted upon authenticate(Credentials).
java.security.Principal	getUserPrincipal() Optional method that return the Principal of the authenticating user extracted upon authenticate(Credentials).

Method Detail

authenticate

boolean authenticate(Credentials credentials)
              throws javax.security.auth.login.LoginException

Validates the specified Credentials and returns true if the validation was successful.

Parameters:

credentials - to verify

Returns:

true if the validation was successful; false if the specified credentials are not supported and this authentication implementation cannot verify their validity.

Throws:

javax.security.auth.login.LoginException - if the authentication failed.

getUserId

java.lang.String getUserId()

Optional method that return the userID extracted upon authenticate(Credentials). It is expected to return null if the implementation doesn't support this. An IllegalStateException may be thrown if called prior to authenticate(Credentials).

Returns:

a user identifier or null

getUserPrincipal

java.security.Principal getUserPrincipal()

Optional method that return the Principal of the authenticating user extracted upon authenticate(Credentials). It is expected to return null if the implementation doesn't support this. An IllegalStateException may be thrown if called prior to authenticate(Credentials).

Returns:

a valid Principal or null