OpenId Connect

Thanks to Andrew Stegmaier opening this issue on the repo that goes with my IdentityServer exploration I was made aware of a certified OpendID Connect client specifically written for Angular (4+). The angular-auth-oidc-client was created by damienbod. This post is going to cover the transition to this new client. The starting point of the code can be found here. All the changes discussed in this post take place in the ClientApp project.

Package Changes

In package.json the following changes need to be made using your package manager of choice or manually changing the fill and doing a restore.

Remove:
"oidc-client": "1.3.0",
"babel-polyfill": "6.23.0"

Add:
"angular-auth-oidc-client": "^1.3.1"

App Module Changes

Both app.module.client.ts and app.module.server.ts got a little cleanup to remove the duplicate provider code. The following lines were deleted from both files.

import { AuthService } from './components/services/auth.service';		
import { GlobalEventsManager } from './components/services/global.events.manager';		
import { AuthGuardService } from './components/services/auth-guard.service';

The providers array moved to using providers imported from app.module.shared.ts.

Before:
providers: [
    AuthService, AuthGuardService, GlobalEventsManager
]

After:
providers: [
    ...sharedConfig.providers
]

Next, in app.module.shared.ts the following imports were removed.

import { CallbackComponent } from './components/callback/callback.component';
import { GlobalEventsManager } from './components/services/global.events.manager';

Then, the following import for the OpenId Connect client was added.

import { AuthModule } from 'angular-auth-oidc-client';

In the declarations array CallbackComponent was removed. In the imports array AuthModule.forRoot() was added. The route for CallbackComponent was removed and the canActivate condition was removed from the fetch-data route. Finally, the providers section is reduced to only the AuthService. That was a lot of changes, so I am including the full finished class below.

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { RouterModule } from '@angular/router';

import { AppComponent } from './components/app/app.component'
import { NavMenuComponent } from './components/navmenu/navmenu.component';
import { HomeComponent } from './components/home/home.component';
import { FetchDataComponent } from './components/fetchdata/fetchdata.component';
import { CounterComponent } from './components/counter/counter.component';
import { UnauthorizedComponent } from './components/unauthorized/unauthorized.component';

import { AuthModule } from 'angular-auth-oidc-client';
import { AuthService } from './components/services/auth.service';

export const sharedConfig: NgModule = {
    bootstrap: [ AppComponent ],
    declarations: [
        AppComponent,
        NavMenuComponent,
        CounterComponent,
        FetchDataComponent,
        HomeComponent,
        UnauthorizedComponent
    ],
    imports: [
        AuthModule.forRoot(),
        RouterModule.forRoot([
            { path: '', redirectTo: 'home', pathMatch: 'full' },
            { path: 'home', component: HomeComponent },
            { path: 'unauthorized', component: UnauthorizedComponent },
            { path: 'counter', component: CounterComponent },
            { path: 'fetch-data', component: FetchDataComponent  },
            { path: '**', redirectTo: 'home' }
        ])
    ],
    providers: [ AuthService ]
};

File Deletions

The following files were completely removed. Some of them may come back in a different form, but for the moment the functions they were handling are being dealt with in a different way.

auth-guard.service.ts
callback.component.ts
global.events.manager.ts

Auth Service

The AuthService class was pretty much rewritten since it is at the core of the interaction with the OpenId Connect client. It still contains pretty much all the functionality as before just using the new client. The following is most of the class. I removed all of the HTTP calls except for get to save space.

import { Injectable, Component, OnInit, OnDestroy } from '@angular/core';
import { Http, Headers, RequestOptions, Response } from '@angular/http';
import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Rx';
import { Subscription } from 'rxjs/Subscription';

import { OidcSecurityService, OpenIDImplicitFlowConfiguration } from 'angular-auth-oidc-client';

@Injectable()
export class AuthService implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
    isAuthorizedSubscription: Subscription;
    isAuthorized: boolean;

    constructor(public oidcSecurityService: OidcSecurityService,
        private http: Http) {

        const openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration = new OpenIDImplicitFlowConfiguration();
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.stsServer = 'http://localhost:5000';

        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.redirect_url = 'http://localhost:5002/callback';
        // The Client MUST validate that the aud (audience) Claim contains its client_id value registered at the Issuer identified by the iss (issuer) Claim as an audience.
        // The ID Token MUST be rejected if the ID Token does not list the Client as a valid audience, or if it contains additional audiences not trusted by the Client.
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.client_id = 'ng';
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.response_type = 'id_token token';
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.scope = 'openid profile apiApp';
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.post_logout_redirect_uri = 'http://localhost:5002/home';
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.start_checksession = true;
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.silent_renew = true;
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.startup_route = '/home';
        // HTTP 403
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.forbidden_route = '/forbidden';
        // HTTP 401
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.unauthorized_route = '/unauthorized';
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.log_console_warning_active = true;
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.log_console_debug_active = false;
        // id_token C8: The iat Claim can be used to reject tokens that were issued too far away from the current time,
        // limiting the amount of time that nonces need to be stored to prevent attacks.The acceptable range is Client specific.
        openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration.max_id_token_iat_offset_allowed_in_seconds = 10;

        this.oidcSecurityService.setupModule(openIDImplicitFlowConfiguration);
    }

    ngOnInit() {
        this.isAuthorizedSubscription = this.oidcSecurityService.getIsAuthorized().subscribe(
            (isAuthorized: boolean) => {
                this.isAuthorized = isAuthorized;
            });

        if (window.location.hash) {
            this.oidcSecurityService.authorizedCallback();
        }
    }

    ngOnDestroy(): void {
        this.isAuthorizedSubscription.unsubscribe();
    }

    authorizedCallback() {
        this.oidcSecurityService.authorizedCallback();
    }

    getIsAuthorized(): Observable<boolean> {
        return this.oidcSecurityService.getIsAuthorized();
    }

    login() {
        console.log('start login');
        this.oidcSecurityService.authorize();
    }

    logout() {
        console.log('start logoff');
        this.oidcSecurityService.logoff();
    }

    get(url: string, options?: RequestOptions): Observable<Response> {
        if (options) {
            options = this.setRequestOptions(options);
        }
        else {
            options = this.setRequestOptions();
        }
        return this.http.get(url, options);
    }

    private setRequestOptions(options?: RequestOptions) {
        if (options) {
            this.appendAuthHeader(options.headers);
        }
        else {
            options = new RequestOptions({ headers: this.getHeaders(), body: "" });
        }
        return options;
    }

    private getHeaders() {
        let headers = new Headers();
        headers.append('Content-Type', 'application/json');
        this.appendAuthHeader(headers);
        return headers;
    }

    private appendAuthHeader(headers: Headers) {       
        const token = this.oidcSecurityService.getToken();

        if (token == '') return;

        const tokenValue = 'Bearer ' + token;
        headers.append('Authorization', tokenValue);
    }
}

It doesn’t show the best in the world here so be sure and check it out on GitHub. All the IdentityServer configuration is done in the constructor using the OpenIDImplicitFlowConfiguration class.

Navigation Component

The NavMenuComponent class now needs some changes to match the new AuthService. First, the following change to the imports.

Before:
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { AuthService } from '../services/auth.service'
import { GlobalEventsManager } from '../services/global.events.manager'

After:
import { Component, OnInit, OnDestroy } from '@angular/core';
import { Subscription } from 'rxjs/Subscription';
import { AuthService } from '../services/auth.service';

The AuthService class now provides the ability to subscribe to changes in the user’s authorization. To handle the subscription and unsubscription the class will implement both OnInit and OnDestroy. Here is the new class declaration.

export class NavMenuComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy

Next, here is the implementation of ngOnInit which handles the subscription to the change in isAuthorized.

ngOnInit() {
    this.isAuthorizedSubscription = 
            this.authService.getIsAuthorized().subscribe(
                   (isAuthorized: boolean) => {
                      this.isAuthorized = isAuthorized;
                    });

    if (window.location.hash) {
        this.authService.authorizedCallback();
    }
}

Then, ngOnDestroy handles the unsubscription.

ngOnDestroy(): void {
    this.isAuthorizedSubscription.unsubscribe();
}

The class level variable for _loggedIn is replaced with the following two variables.

isAuthorizedSubscription: Subscription;
isAuthorized: boolean;

The constructor has been greatly simplified and now only takes an instance of the AuthService.

constructor(public authService: AuthService) {
}

Finally, the login and logout functions have changed to match the new function names in the AuthService class.

public login() {
    this.authService.login();
}

public logout() {
    this.authService.logout();
}

Navigation Component UI

In the navmenu.component.html file, a couple of tweaks are required based on the new variable names used above. The first set is related to showing either Login or Logout.

Before:
<li *ngIf="!_loggedIn" [routerLinkActive]="['link-active']">
    <a (click)="login()" [routerLink]="['/login']">
        <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-user"></span> Login
    </a>
</li>

<li *ngIf="_loggedIn" [routerLinkActive]="['link-active']">
    <a (click)="logout()" [routerLink]="['/logout']">
        <span class='glyphicon glyphicon-log-out'></span> Logout
    </a>
</li>

After:
<li [routerLinkActive]="['link-active']">
    <a *ngIf="!isAuthorized" (click)="login()" [routerLink]="['/login']">
        <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-user"></span> Login
    </a>
</li>

<li [routerLinkActive]="['link-active']">
    <a *ngIf="isAuthorized" (click)="logout()">
        <span class='glyphicon glyphicon-log-out'></span> Logout</a>
</li>

The final change in this file was to make the link to fetch-data only show if the user is logging instead of sending the user to an unauthorized view.

Before:
<a [routerLink]="['/fetch-data']">
    <span class='glyphicon glyphicon-th-list'></span> Fetch data
</a>

After:
<a *ngIf="isAuthorized" [routerLink]="['/fetch-data']">
    <span class='glyphicon glyphicon-th-list'></span> Fetch data
</a>

Fetch Data Component

The final changes for the conversion to the new client are in the fetchdata.component.ts and they are only needed because of a rename of the HTTP Get helper in the AuthService.

Before:
authService.AuthGet(apiUrl + 'SampleData/WeatherForecasts').subscribe(result => {

After:
authService.get(apiUrl + 'SampleData/WeatherForecasts').subscribe(result => {

Wrapping Up

This change took a lot of changes, but in the long run, it is going to be a better choice since the new client is focused on Angular. Another great thing about this client is they are looking into ways to handle the first load not remembering the user is logged in due to server side rendering (issue #36).

The finished code for this post can be found here.

This post is a continuation of a series of posts that follow my initial looking into using IdentityServer4 in ASP.NET Core with an API and an Angular front end. The following are the related posts.

Identity Server: Introduction
Identity Server: Sample Exploration and Initial Project Setup
Identity Server: Interactive Login using MVC
Identity Server: From Implicit to Hybrid Flow
Identity Server: Using ASP.NET Core Identity
Identity Server: Using Entity Framework Core for Configuration Data
Identity Server: Usage from Angular

This post is going to take the solution from last week, the code can be found here, and add an example of the Client Application (Angular) calling an endpoint on the API Application that requires a user with permissions.

API Application

To provide an endpoint to call with minimal changes this example just moves the SampleDataController from the Client Application to the API Application. The following is the full class.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;

namespace WebApplicationBasic.Controllers
{
    [Route("api/[controller]")]
    [Authorize]
    public class SampleDataController : Controller
    {
        private static string[] Summaries = new[]
        {
            "Freezing", "Bracing", "Chilly", "Cool", 
            "Mild", "Warm", "Balmy", "Hot", "Sweltering", "Scorching"
        };

        [HttpGet("[action]")]
        public IEnumerable<WeatherForecast> WeatherForecasts()
        {
            var rng = new Random();
            return Enumerable.Range(1, 5)
                             .Select(index => new WeatherForecast
            {
                DateFormatted = DateTime.Now.AddDays(index).ToString("d"),
                TemperatureC = rng.Next(-20, 55),
                Summary = Summaries[rng.Next(Summaries.Length)]
            });
        }

        public class WeatherForecast
        {
            public string DateFormatted { get; set; }
            public int TemperatureC { get; set; }
            public string Summary { get; set; }

            public int TemperatureF
            {
                get
                {
                    return 32 + (int)(TemperatureC / 0.5556);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Make special note that this class now has the Authorize attribute applied which is the only change that was made when moving the file from the Client Application. This attribute is what will require an authorized user for all the routes this controller services.

Client Application

In the Client Application, the first step is to remove the SampleDataController since it is now in the API Application.

Next, in the app.module.client.ts file, add a new provider which can be used to supply the URL of the API to the rest of the Client Application. Don’t take this as best practices for injecting configuration data it is just an easy way to handle it in this application. The following is the full class without the imports (which haven’t changed) the new item is the API_URL.

@NgModule({
    bootstrap: sharedConfig.bootstrap,
    declarations: sharedConfig.declarations,
    imports: [
        BrowserModule,
        FormsModule,
        HttpModule,
        ...sharedConfig.imports
    ],
    providers: [
        { provide: 'ORIGIN_URL', useValue: location.origin },
        { provide: 'API_URL', useValue: "http://localhost:5001/api/" },
        AuthService, AuthGuardService, GlobalEventsManager
    ]
})
export class AppModule {
}

Now for the changes that need to be made to the FetchDataComponent which is the class that will call the new API endpoint. First, add an import for the AuthService.

import { AuthService } from '../services/auth.service';

Next, there are a couple of changes to the signature of the constructor. The first is to use ‘API_URL’ instead of ‘ORIGIN_URL’. The second is to provide for injection of the AuthService. The following is a comparison between the version of the constructor signature.

Before:
constructor(http: Http, @Inject('ORIGIN_URL') originUrl: string)

After:
constructor(http: Http, @Inject('API_URL') apiUrl: string, authService: AuthService)

The final change is to use authService.AuthGet with the new URL instead of http.get.

Before:
http.get(originUrl + 
         '/api/SampleData/WeatherForecasts').subscribe(result => {
    this.forecasts = result.json() as WeatherForecast[];
});

After:
authService.AuthGet(apiUrl + 
                    '/SampleData/WeatherForecasts').subscribe(result => {
    this.forecasts = result.json() as WeatherForecast[];
});

With the above changes, the user has to be logged in or the API will respond with not authorized for the weather forecasts end point. The Client Application doesn’t have anything to provide the user with the fact they aren’t authorized at the moment, but that is outside the scope of this entry.

So far we haven’t look at the code in the AuthService class, but I do want to explain what the AuthGet function is doing and the related functions for put, delete, and post. These calls are wrappers around the standard Angular HTTP library calls that add authorization headers based on the logged in user. The following is the code of the AuthGet as well as two helper functions the class uses to add the headers.

AuthGet(url: string, options?: RequestOptions): Observable<Response> {
    if (options) {
      options = this._setRequestOptions(options);
    }
    else {
      options = this._setRequestOptions();
    }
    return this.http.get(url, options);
}

private _setAuthHeaders(user: User) {
    this._authHeaders = new Headers();
    this._authHeaders.append('Authorization', 
                             user.token_type + " " + user.access_token);
    this._authHeaders.append('Content-Type', 'application/json');
}

private _setRequestOptions(options?: RequestOptions) {
    if (options) {
      options.headers.append(this._authHeaders.keys[0],
                             this._authHeaders.values[0]);
    }
    else {
      //setting default authentication headers
      this._setAuthHeaders(this._currentUser);
      options = new RequestOptions({ headers: this._authHeaders, 
                                     body: "" });
    }
    return options;
}

Wrapping up

It feels like this application is finally getting to the point where other development could happen if it were more than a demo, which is exciting. My thought on how this could be used for real applications is the Identity Application would stand on its own and be used by many clients. The Client Application with a few more tweaks could be used as a template for Angular applications. The completed code can be found here.

This post finishes up the core of what I set out to learn about IdentityServer, but there could be more related posts as I continue to add some polish to the current implementation of the sample solution.