Logging into a website using Mechanize and Nokogiri? - authentication

Question

I am having some difficulty with one of our service providers login forms. The other sites are working fine but for some reason I can't get past their login form.
The website login for is like this:
<form accept-charset="UTF-8" action="/sessions" class="new_user_session" id="new_user_session" method="post"><div style="margin:0;padding:0;display:inline"><input name="utf8" type="hidden" value="✓" /><input name="authenticity_token" type="hidden" value="kaLEkPesQfeheronzGTdfnVAzpuUiC+VmjVXBu540n8=" /></div>
<fieldset class="big">
<div class="form-row">
<div class="form-label">
<label for="user_session_email">Email</label>
</div>
<div class="form-field">
<input id="user_session_email" name="user_session[email]" size="30" type="text" />
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-row">
<div class="form-label">
<label for="user_session_password">Password</label>
</div>
<div class="form-field">
<input id="user_session_password" name="user_session[password]" size="30" type="password" />
</div>
<div class="form-comment"><p>Forgot your password?</p></div>
</div>
<div class="form-row optional">
<div class="form-field">
<label for="user_session_remember_me"><input name="user_session[remember_me]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input id="user_session_remember_me" name="user_session[remember_me]" type="checkbox" value="1" /> Remember me for 2 weeks</label>
</div>
</div>
</fieldset>
I have tried to login using the same code as other the other sites but it doesn't work.
# Create a new mechanize object
agent = Mechanize.new
# Load the dial9 website
page = agent.get("http://webapplication.co.uk")
# Select the first form
form = agent.page.forms.first
form.username = 'username
form.password = 'password'
# Submit the form
page = form.submit form.buttons.first
I have also tried a different way of logging in as suggested in other SO questions/answers:
email = 'user#domain.com'
password = 'password
# Create a new mechanize object
agent = Mechanize.new
# Load the postmarkapp website
page = agent.get("https://domain.com")
# Select the first form
form = agent.page.forms.first
form.field_with(:email => "user_session_email").value = email
form.field_with(:password => "user_session_password").value = password
# Submit the form
page = form.submit form.buttons.first
Using this method of authentication I get the following output when running the rake task:
undefined method `email' for [hidden:0x3fef2ab2b994 type: hidden name: utf8 value: ✓]:Mechanize::Form::Hidden
Upon closer inspection the above error seems to be due to the fact that there is a field immediately after the form is started:
<form accept-charset="UTF-8" action="/sessions" class="new_user_session" id="new_user_session" method="post"><div style="margin:0;padding:0;display:inline"><input name="utf8" type="hidden" value="✓" /><input name="authenticity_token" type="hidden" value="kaLEkPesQfeheronzGTdfnVAzpuUiC+VmjVXBu540n8=" /></div>
Am I missing something? If so, what? Any pointers are appreciated!

Answer 1

Try changing
form.field_with(:email => "user_session_email").value = email
form.field_with(:password => "user_session_password").value = password
to
form.field_with(:name => "user_session[email]").value = email
form.field_with(:name => "user_session[password]").value = password