~bzr-pqm/bzr/bzr.dev

Authentication Settings
=======================


Intent
------

Many different authentication policies can be described in the
``authentication.conf`` file but a particular user should need only a few
definitions to cover his needs without having to specify a user and a password
for every branch he uses.

The definitions found in this file are used to find the credentials to use for
a given url. The same credentials can generally be used for as many branches as
possible by grouping their declaration around the remote servers that need
them. It's even possible to declare credentials that will be used by different
servers.

The intent is to make this file as small as possible to minimize maintenance.

Once the relevant credentials are declared in this file you may use branch urls
without embedding passwords (security hazard) or even users (enabling sharing
of your urls with others).

Instead of using::

  bzr branch ftp://joe:secret@host.com/path/to/my/branch

you simply use::

  bzr branch ftp://host.com/path/to/my/branch

provided you have created the following ``authentication.conf`` file::

  [myprojects]
  scheme=ftp
  host=host.com
  user=joe
  password=secret
  

Authentication definitions
--------------------------

There are two kinds of authentication used by the various schemes supported by
bzr:

1. user and password

``FTP`` needs a (``user``, ``password``) to authenticate against a ``host``
``SFTP`` can use either a password or a host key to authenticate. However,
ssh agents are a better, more secure solution. So we have chosen to not provide
our own less secure method.

2. user, realm and password

``HTTP`` and ``HTTPS`` needs a (``user, realm, password``) to authenticate
against a host. But, by using ``.htaccess`` files, for example, it is possible
to define several (``user, realm, password``) for a given ``host``. So what is
really needed is (``user``, ``password``, ``host``, ``path``). The ``realm`` is
not taken into account in the definitions, but will displayed if bzr prompts
you for a password.

``HTTP proxy`` can be handled as ``HTTP`` (or ``HTTPS``) by explicitly
specifying the appropriate port.

To take all schemes into account, the password will be deduced from a set of
authentication definitions (``scheme``, ``host``, ``port``, ``path``, ``user``,
``password``).

  * ``scheme``: can be empty (meaning the rest of the definition can be used
    for any scheme), ``SFTP`` and ``bzr+ssh`` should not be used here, ``ssh``
    should be used instead since this is the real scheme regarding
    authentication,

  * ``host``: can be empty (to act as a default for any host),

  * ``port`` can be empty (useful when an host provides several servers for the
    same scheme), only numerical values are allowed, this should be used only
    when the server uses a port different than the scheme standard port,

  * ``path``: can be empty (FTP or SFTP will never user it),

  * ``user``: can be empty (``bzr`` will defaults to python's
    ``getpass.get_user()``),

  * ``password``: can be empty if you prefer to always be prompted for your
    password.

Multiple definitions can be provided and, for a given URL, bzr will select a
(``user`` [, ``password``]) based on the following rules :

 1. the first match wins,

 2. empty fields match everything,

 3. ``scheme`` matches even if decorators are used in the requested URL,

 4. ``host`` matches exactly or act as a domain if it starts with '.'
    (``project.bzr.sf.net`` will match ``.bzr.sf.net`` but ``projectbzr.sf.net``
    will not match ``bzr.sf.net``).

 5. ``port`` matches if included in the requested URL (exact matches only)

 6. ``path`` matches if included in the requested URL (and by rule #2 above,
    empty paths will match any provided path).



File format
-----------

The general rules for :doc:`configuration files <configuration-help>`
apply except for the variable policies.

Each section describes an authentication definition.

The section name is an arbitrary string, only the ``DEFAULT`` value is reserved
and should appear as the *last* section.

Each section should define:

* ``user``: the login to be used,

Each section could define:

* ``host``: the remote server,

* ``port``: the port the server is listening,

* ``path``: the branch location,

* ``password``: the password.


Examples
--------


Personal projects hosted outside
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All connections are done with the same ``user`` (the remote one for which the
default bzr one is not appropriate) and the password is always prompted with
some exceptions::

        # Pet projects on hobby.net
        [hobby]
        host=r.hobby.net
        user=jim
        password=obvious1234
        
        # Home server
        [home]
        scheme=https
        host=home.net
        user=joe
        password=1essobV10us
        
        [DEFAULT]
        # Our local user is barbaz, on all remote sites we're known as foobar
        user=foobar


Source hosting provider
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the shp.net (fictitious) domain, each project has its own site::

        [shpnet domain]
        # we use sftp, but ssh is the scheme used for authentication
        scheme=ssh
        # The leading '.' ensures that 'shp.net' alone doesn't match
        host=.shp.net
        user=joe
        # bzr don't support supplying a password for sftp,
        # consider using an ssh agent if you don't want to supply
        # a password interactively. (pageant, ssh-agent, etc)

HTTPS, SFTP servers and their proxy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At company.com, the server hosting release and integration branches is behind a
proxy, and the two branches use different authentication policies::

        [reference code]
        scheme=https
        host=dev.company.com
        path=/dev
        user=user1
        password=pass1

        # development branches on dev server
        [dev]
        scheme=ssh # bzr+ssh and sftp are available here
        host=dev.company.com
        path=/dev/integration
        user=user2
        
        # proxy
        [proxy]
        scheme=http
        host=proxy.company.com
        port=3128
        user=proxyuser1
        password=proxypass1


Planned enhancements
--------------------

The following are not yet implemented but planned as parts of a work in
progress:

* add a  ``password_encoding`` field allowing:

  - storing the passwords in various obfuscating encodings (base64 for one),

  - delegate password storage to plugins (.netrc for example).

* update the credentials when the user is prompted for user or password,

* add a ``verify_certificates`` field for ``HTTPS``.

The ``password_encoding`` and ``verify_certificates`` fields are recognized but
ignored in the actual implementation.