Which authentication can be used for managing Box users through REST end points

Question

I am working on an Identity management application, using which my goal is to manage users on Box application. I was going through Box documentation, and there are two ways for authentication

1. OAuth 2.0, which has redirection URI as required parameter. And due to which I cannot make use of it, since I will not be able to enter username and password and Authorize dynamically using my Java code. Reference: https://box-content.readme.io/reference#oauth-2
2. JWT authentication, this I can use in my code and successfully get Access token. But problem here is, this access token can only be used to manage App Users (who will not have login to Box website). Reference: https://box-content.readme.io/docs/box-developer-edition

So, is there any other authentication mechanism which I can use for getting Access token for managing Box users?

Regards,

Sandeep

Answer 1

The current best option is #1 with a process like this:

1. Create a Box application with the 'Manage an Enterprise' scope enabled.
2. Use a web-based access token generator (such as this or this) to get an initial access/refresh token pair. Save these somewhere safe (flat file, DB).
3. Code your application to initialize itself with the access/refresh token pair from its saved location.
4. When the access/refresh token pair is refreshed, write them out to the save location.

If your application runs across multiple nodes/processes this approach will require some (painful) coordination between them. I believe Box is working on some improvements in this area, so you may not have to live with this for long.