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c#asp.net-web-apihttpwebrequestaspnetboilerplatehttp-request-parameters

Web API Authorization via HttpWebRequest


I have a function to call my Web API. It works well if TestCallingRemotely is set to [AllowAnonymous].

var httpWebRequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(
    "http://localhost/api/services/myApp/commonLookup/TestCallingRemotely");
httpWebRequest.ContentType = "application/json";
httpWebRequest.Method = "POST";

using (var streamWriter = new StreamWriter(httpWebRequest.GetRequestStream())) {
    string input = "{}";

    streamWriter.Write(input);
    streamWriter.Flush();
    streamWriter.Close();
}

var httpResponse = (HttpWebResponse)httpWebRequest.GetResponse();

How do I pass the username and password to the HttpWebRequest for authorization?

I need to call my Web API from CLR integration, which only supports System.Net.


Solution

  • ABP's startup template uses bearer token authentication infrastructure.

    var token = GetToken(username, password);
    
    // var httpWebRequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(
    //     "http://localhost/api/services/myApp/commonLookup/TestCallingRemotely");
    // httpWebRequest.ContentType = "application/json";
    // httpWebRequest.Method = "POST";
    
    httpWebRequest.Headers.Add("Authorization", "Bearer " + token);
    
    // ...
    

    Get token

    This uses a crude way to extract the token, inspired by an MSDN article.

    private string GetToken(string username, string password, string tenancyName = null)
    {
        var httpWebRequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(
            "http://localhost:6334/api/Account/Authenticate");
        httpWebRequest.ContentType = "application/json";
        httpWebRequest.Method = "POST";
    
        using (var streamWriter = new StreamWriter(httpWebRequest.GetRequestStream()))
        {
            var input = "{\"usernameOrEmailAddress\":\"" + username + "\"," +
                        "\"password\":\"" + password + "\"}";
    
            if (tenancyName != null)
            {
                input = input.TrimEnd('}') + "," +
                        "\"tenancyName\":\"" + tenancyName + "\"}";
            }
    
            streamWriter.Write(input);
            streamWriter.Flush();
            streamWriter.Close();
        }
    
        var httpResponse = (HttpWebResponse)httpWebRequest.GetResponse();
        string response;
    
        using (var streamReader = new StreamReader(httpResponse.GetResponseStream()))
        {
            response = streamReader.ReadToEnd();
        }
    
        // Crude way
        var entries = response.TrimStart('{').TrimEnd('}').Replace("\"", String.Empty).Split(',');
    
        foreach (var entry in entries)
        {
            if (entry.Split(':')[0] == "result")
            {
                return entry.Split(':')[1];
            }
        }
    
        return null;
    }