How to log in to CouchDB without entering username & password - authentication

Question

When I try to log in to my remote CouchDB instance from my script, a popup login appears.
I want my script to log into CouchDB without the user having to enter the password (I'm authenticating users with the Google People API and then authenticating my offline app against a single CouchDB instance).
Instead of using the username and password in my code, CouchDB is demanding a new one each time, via the popup.
PouchNotesObj = function (databasename, remoteorigin) {
'use strict';
Object.defineProperty(this, 'pdb', {writable: true});
Object.defineProperty(this, 'remote', {writable: true});
Object.defineProperty(this, 'formobject', {writable: true});
Object.defineProperty(this, 'notetable', {writable: true});
Object.defineProperty(this, 'searchformobject', {writable: true});
Object.defineProperty(this, 'errordialog', {writable: true});
Object.defineProperty(this, 'dbname', {writable: true});
var databasename = 'pouchcontacts';
var remoteorigin = 'https://<remote.path>:6984';
var hostUrl = 'https://<myapp>.appspot.com/';
this.dbname = databasename;
this.pdb = new PouchDB(databasename);
var remoteDB = new PouchDB(remoteorigin + '/pouchnotes', {skip_setup: true});
this.remote = remoteDB;
//from https://github.com/pouchdb-community/pouchdb-authentication/issues/121
var user = {
cname: 'myusername',
password: 'mypassword'
};
var pouchOpts = {
skip_setup: true
};
var ajaxOpts = {
ajax: {
headers: {
'X-Auth-CouchDB-UserName': 'myusername',
'X-Auth-CouchDB-Roles': 'user',
'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
'Authorization': 'Basic ' + window.btoa(user.cname + ':' + user.password),
'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' : hostUrl,
'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET, DELETE, PUT, OPTIONS',
'Access-Control-Allow-Credentials': true,
'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type, X-Requested-With'
}
}
};
remoteDB.login(user.cname, user.password, ajaxOpts, function (err, response) {
if (err) {
if (err.cname === 'unauthorized' || err.cname === 'forbidden') {
console.log('Unauthorised user');
} else {
//return this.remote.all_docs();
console.log('Successful login');
}
}
});
this.remote.info()
.then(console.log.bind(console))
.catch(console.log.bind(console));
// https://glebbahmutov.com/blog/synching-db/
this.pdb.replicate.to(this.remote, {
live: true,
retry: true
}).on('change', function (change) {
console.log('data change (replicate TO): ', change)
}).on('error', function (err) {
console.log('sync error (replicate TO): ', err)
});
this.pdb.replicate.from(this.remote, {
live: true,
retry: true
}).on('change', function (change) {
console.log('data change (replicate from): ', change)
}).on('error', function (err) {
console.log('sync error (replicate from): ', err)
});
};
Update:
I have now configured my CouchDB instance with all the parameters required for Proxy Authentication.
My script now looks like this:
/* Login to CouchDB on remote */
var pouchOpts = {
skip_setup: true
};
var ajaxOpts = {
ajax: {
headers: {
'X-Auth-CouchDB-UserName': 'my-user-name',
'X-Auth-CouchDB-Roles': 'user',
'X-Auth-CouchDB-Token': hex_hmac_sha1('couch_secret', 'Brookes'),
'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET, DELETE, PUT, OPTIONS',
'Access-Control-Allow-Credentials': true,
'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type, X-Requested-With'
}
}
};
var remoteSession = 'https://my-couch-server:6984/_session';
remoteSession.login(ajaxOpts, function (err, response) {
if (err) {
if (err.cname === 'unauthorized' || err.cname === 'forbidden') {
console.log('Unauthorised user');
} else {
//return this.remote.all_docs();
console.log('Successful login');
var remoteDB = new PouchDB('https://my-couch-server:6984/pouchnotes', {skip_setup: true});
}
}
});
/*end couch login*/
The error message I am getting is remoteSession.login is not a function
If I go to _session on my CouchDB host, I get the following:
{"ok":true,"userCtx":{"name":"my-admin-user","roles":["_admin"]},"info":{"authentication_db":"_users","authentication_handlers":["cookie","default"],"authenticated":"default"}}

Answer 1

CouchDB provides a token based authentication mechanism that may help in your case.
I point you to another answer where this mechanism is proposed.
The Proxy Authentication is described here.