diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/api/request.rst | 41 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/api/security.rst | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/glossary.rst | 23 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/narr/security.rst | 94 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/tutorials/wiki/design.rst | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/tutorials/wiki2/design.rst | 3 |
6 files changed, 103 insertions, 64 deletions
diff --git a/docs/api/request.rst b/docs/api/request.rst index 77d80f6d6..dd68fa09c 100644 --- a/docs/api/request.rst +++ b/docs/api/request.rst @@ -167,37 +167,40 @@ .. versionadded:: 1.5 - A property which returns the userid of the currently authenticated user - or ``None`` if there is no :term:`authentication policy` in effect or - there is no currently authenticated user. This differs from - :attr:`~pyramid.request.Request.unauthenticated_userid`, because the - effective authentication policy will have ensured that a record - associated with the userid exists in persistent storage; if it has - not, this value will be ``None``. + A property which returns the :term:`userid` of the currently + authenticated user or ``None`` if there is no :term:`authentication + policy` in effect or there is no currently authenticated user. This + differs from :attr:`~pyramid.request.Request.unauthenticated_userid`, + because the effective authentication policy will have ensured that a + record associated with the :term:`userid` exists in persistent storage; + if it has not, this value will be ``None``. .. attribute:: unauthenticated_userid .. versionadded:: 1.5 A property which returns a value which represents the *claimed* (not - verified) user id of the credentials present in the request. ``None`` if - there is no :term:`authentication policy` in effect or there is no user - data associated with the current request. This differs from - :attr:`~pyramid.request.Request.authenticated_userid`, because the - effective authentication policy will not ensure that a record associated - with the userid exists in persistent storage. Even if the userid - does not exist in persistent storage, this value will be the value - of the userid *claimed* by the request data. + verified) :term:`userid` of the credentials present in the + request. ``None`` if there is no :term:`authentication policy` in effect + or there is no user data associated with the current request. This + differs from :attr:`~pyramid.request.Request.authenticated_userid`, + because the effective authentication policy will not ensure that a + record associated with the :term:`userid` exists in persistent storage. + Even if the :term:`userid` does not exist in persistent storage, this + value will be the value of the :term:`userid` *claimed* by the request + data. .. attribute:: effective_principals .. versionadded:: 1.5 A property which returns the list of 'effective' :term:`principal` - identifiers for this request. This will include the userid of the - currently authenticated user if a user is currently authenticated. If no - :term:`authentication policy` is in effect, this will return a sequence - containing only the :attr:`pyramid.security.Everyone` principal. + identifiers for this request. This list typically includes the + :term:`userid` of the currently authenticated user if a user is + currently authenticated, but this depends on the + :term:`authentication policy` in effect. If no :term:`authentication + policy` is in effect, this will return a sequence containing only the + :attr:`pyramid.security.Everyone` principal. .. method:: invoke_subrequest(request, use_tweens=False) diff --git a/docs/api/security.rst b/docs/api/security.rst index 814b68e5a..88086dbbf 100644 --- a/docs/api/security.rst +++ b/docs/api/security.rst @@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Authentication API Functions .. autofunction:: forget -.. autofunction:: remember +.. autofunction:: remember(request, userid, **kwargs) Authorization API Functions --------------------------- diff --git a/docs/glossary.rst b/docs/glossary.rst index ef7e9a9ae..01300a0be 100644 --- a/docs/glossary.rst +++ b/docs/glossary.rst @@ -286,13 +286,22 @@ Glossary :term:`authorization policy`. principal - A *principal* is a string or unicode object representing a userid - or a group id. It is provided by an :term:`authentication - policy`. For example, if a user had the user id "bob", and Bob - was part of two groups named "group foo" and "group bar", the - request might have information attached to it that would - indicate that Bob was represented by three principals: "bob", - "group foo" and "group bar". + A *principal* is a string or unicode object representing an + entity, typically a user or group. Principals are provided by an + :term:`authentication policy`. For example, if a user had the + :term:`userid` `"bob"`, and was part of two groups named `"group foo"` + and "group bar", the request might have information attached to + it that would indicate that Bob was represented by three + principals: `"bob"`, `"group foo"` and `"group bar"`. + + userid + A *userid* is a string or unicode object used to identify and + authenticate a real-world user (or client). A userid is + supplied to an :term:`authentication policy` in order to discover + the user's :term:`principals <principal>`. The default behavior + of the authentication policies :app:`Pyramid` provides is to + return the user's userid as a principal, but this is not strictly + necessary in custom policies that define their principals differently. authorization policy An authorization policy in :app:`Pyramid` terms is a bit of diff --git a/docs/narr/security.rst b/docs/narr/security.rst index 8db23a33b..2dc0c76af 100644 --- a/docs/narr/security.rst +++ b/docs/narr/security.rst @@ -6,13 +6,28 @@ Security ======== -:app:`Pyramid` provides an optional declarative authorization system -that can prevent a :term:`view` from being invoked based on an +:app:`Pyramid` provides an optional, declarative, security system. +Security in :app:`Pyramid` is separated into authentication and +authorization. The two systems communicate via :term:`principal` +identifiers. Authentication is merely the mechanism by which credentials +provided in the :term:`request` are resolved to one or more +:term:`principal` identifiers. These identifiers represent the users and +groups that are in effect during the request. Authorization then determines +access based on the :term:`principal` identifiers, the requested +:term:`permission`, and a :term:`context`. + +The :app:`Pyramid` authorization system +can prevent a :term:`view` from being invoked based on an :term:`authorization policy`. Before a view is invoked, the authorization system can use the credentials in the :term:`request` along with the :term:`context` resource to determine if access will be allowed. Here's how it works at a high level: +- A user may or may not have previously visited the application and + supplied authentication credentials, including a :term:`userid`. If + so, the application may have called + :func:`pyramid.security.remember` to remember these. + - A :term:`request` is generated when a user visits the application. - Based on the request, a :term:`context` resource is located through @@ -25,7 +40,9 @@ allowed. Here's how it works at a high level: context as well as other attributes of the request. - If an :term:`authentication policy` is in effect, it is passed the - request; it returns some number of :term:`principal` identifiers. + request. It will return some number of :term:`principal` identifiers. + To do this, the policy would need to determine the authenticated + :term:`userid` present in the request. - If an :term:`authorization policy` is in effect and the :term:`view configuration` associated with the view callable that was found has @@ -41,15 +58,6 @@ allowed. Here's how it works at a high level: - If the authorization policy denies access, the view callable is not invoked; instead the :term:`forbidden view` is invoked. -Security in :app:`Pyramid`, unlike many systems, cleanly and explicitly -separates authentication and authorization. Authentication is merely the -mechanism by which credentials provided in the :term:`request` are -resolved to one or more :term:`principal` identifiers. These identifiers -represent the users and groups in effect during the request. -Authorization then determines access based on the :term:`principal` -identifiers, the :term:`view callable` being invoked, and the -:term:`context` resource. - Authorization is enabled by modifying your application to include an :term:`authentication policy` and :term:`authorization policy`. :app:`Pyramid` comes with a variety of implementations of these @@ -104,7 +112,8 @@ For example: The above configuration enables a policy which compares the value of an "auth ticket" cookie passed in the request's environment which contains a reference -to a single :term:`principal` against the principals present in any +to a single :term:`userid` and matches that userid's +:term:`principals <principal>` against the principals present in any :term:`ACL` found in the resource tree when attempting to call some :term:`view`. @@ -595,36 +604,53 @@ that implements the following interface: """ An object representing a Pyramid authentication policy. """ def authenticated_userid(self, request): - """ Return the authenticated userid or ``None`` if no - authenticated userid can be found. This method of the policy - should ensure that a record exists in whatever persistent store is - used related to the user (the user should not have been deleted); - if a record associated with the current id does not exist in a - persistent store, it should return ``None``.""" + """ Return the authenticated :term:`userid` or ``None`` if + no authenticated userid can be found. This method of the + policy should ensure that a record exists in whatever + persistent store is used related to the user (the user + should not have been deleted); if a record associated with + the current id does not exist in a persistent store, it + should return ``None``. + + """ def unauthenticated_userid(self, request): - """ Return the *unauthenticated* userid. This method performs the - same duty as ``authenticated_userid`` but is permitted to return the - userid based only on data present in the request; it needn't (and - shouldn't) check any persistent store to ensure that the user record - related to the request userid exists.""" + """ Return the *unauthenticated* userid. This method + performs the same duty as ``authenticated_userid`` but is + permitted to return the userid based only on data present + in the request; it needn't (and shouldn't) check any + persistent store to ensure that the user record related to + the request userid exists. + + This method is intended primarily a helper to assist the + ``authenticated_userid`` method in pulling credentials out + of the request data, abstracting away the specific headers, + query strings, etc that are used to authenticate the request. + + """ def effective_principals(self, request): """ Return a sequence representing the effective principals - including the userid and any groups belonged to by the current - user, including 'system' groups such as - ``pyramid.security.Everyone`` and - ``pyramid.security.Authenticated``. """ + typically including the :term:`userid` and any groups belonged + to by the current user, always including 'system' groups such + as ``pyramid.security.Everyone`` and + ``pyramid.security.Authenticated``. - def remember(self, request, principal, **kw): + """ + + def remember(self, request, userid, **kw): """ Return a set of headers suitable for 'remembering' the - principal named ``principal`` when set in a response. An - individual authentication policy and its consumers can decide - on the composition and meaning of **kw. """ - + :term:`userid` named ``userid`` when set in a response. An + individual authentication policy and its consumers can + decide on the composition and meaning of **kw. + + """ + def forget(self, request): """ Return a set of headers suitable for 'forgetting' the - current user on subsequent requests. """ + current user on subsequent requests. + + """ After you do so, you can pass an instance of such a class into the :class:`~pyramid.config.Configurator.set_authentication_policy` method diff --git a/docs/tutorials/wiki/design.rst b/docs/tutorials/wiki/design.rst index eb785dd1c..28380bd66 100644 --- a/docs/tutorials/wiki/design.rst +++ b/docs/tutorials/wiki/design.rst @@ -53,10 +53,10 @@ Security We'll eventually be adding security to our application. The components we'll use to do this are below. -- USERS, a dictionary mapping usernames to their +- USERS, a dictionary mapping :term:`userids <userid>` to their corresponding passwords. -- GROUPS, a dictionary mapping usernames to a +- GROUPS, a dictionary mapping :term:`userids <userid>` to a list of groups to which they belong to. - ``groupfinder``, an *authorization callback* that looks up diff --git a/docs/tutorials/wiki2/design.rst b/docs/tutorials/wiki2/design.rst index df2c83398..ff7413668 100644 --- a/docs/tutorials/wiki2/design.rst +++ b/docs/tutorials/wiki2/design.rst @@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ Security We'll eventually be adding security to our application. The components we'll use to do this are below. -- USERS, a dictionary mapping users names to their corresponding passwords. +- USERS, a dictionary mapping users names (the user's :term:`userids + <userid>`) to their corresponding passwords. - GROUPS, a dictionary mapping user names to a list of groups they belong to. |