Setup Basic Authentication in Drupal

Basic Authentication is a simple and straightforward method of authentication. In this approach, the client sends HTTP requests with an Authorization header that contains the Drupal site’s username and password, encoded in Base64 format. With Basic Authentication, the Drupal API Authentication module verifies the user’s credentials against their Drupal username and password. Only if the authentication is successful, the user will be allowed to perform the requested operation. This module is fully compatible with Drupal 8, Drupal 9, Drupal 10, and Drupal 11.

Configuration Steps

1. Setup Basic Authentication Method:

• In this step, we will set up Basic Authentication as an API authentication method. To do this, navigate to the API Authentication tab of the module (/admin/config/people/rest_api_authentication/auth_settings).
• Under Basic Configuration, enable the Enable Authentication toggle.
• Enter the Application Name and click on the Save Configuration button.
• Scroll down to the Authentication Method section on the same tab and select Basic Authentication method.

• You have successfully configured the Basic Authentication method.


Note: Use the application-specific unique header when authenticating the API.

Grant Role Permissions to Create Users

• If needed, you can allow non-admin Drupal roles to create users. To do this, assign the Administer users permission to the desired roles from the Permissions page (/admin/people/permissions) of your Drupal site.

2. Example:

• For better understanding, let’s look at an example of using Basic Authentication to create a user in Drupal with the REST API.


Note: The /entity/user API in Drupal is used to create a new user.



• To create a user in Drupal, you need to make a POST request using the Drupal username and password. The username and password must be encoded in Base64 format. Refer to the example below for making the call.

HTML Request Format-

Request: POST  <your_drupal_base_url>/entity/user?_format=json

Header:      
             AUTH-METHOD: application_id
             Accept: application/json
             Content-Type: application/json
             Authorization: Basic base64encoded <username:password>

Body: 

                {
                "name": {
                    "value": "<username>"
                },
                "mail": {
                    "value": "<email>"
                },
                "pass": {
                    "value": "<password>"
                },
                "status": {
                    "value": "1"
                }
                }

CURL Request Format-

curl --location --request POST  ‘<your_drupal_base_url>/entity/user?_format=json' \
                --header 'AUTH-METHOD: application_id' \
                --header 'Accept: application/json' \
                --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
                --header 'Authorization: Basic base64encoded <username:password'>’ \
                --data-raw '  

                {
                "name": [
                    { "value": "Username" }
                ],
                "mail": [
                    { "value": "email" }
                ],
                "pass": [
                    { "value": "Password" }
                ],
                "status": [
                    { "value": "1" }
                ]
                }

• You can also refer to the Postman request image shown below.

• A successful response will return the details of the user you created (see the image below).

Congratulations! You have successfully set up the Basic Authentication method using the Drupal API Authentication module.

If the configuration was not successful, please contact us at drupalsupport@xecurify.com. Kindly include a screenshot of the error window, and we will assist you in resolving the issue and guide you through the setup.