Express Authentication

Express authentication template using Passport + Flash messages + custom middleware

What it includes

• Sequelize user model / migration
• Settings for PostgreSQL
• Passport and passport-local for authentication
• Sessions to keep user logged in between pages
• Flash messages for errors and successes
• Passwords that are hashed with BCrypt
• EJS Templating and EJS Layouts

User Model

Column Name	Data Type	Notes
id	Integer	Serial Primary Key, Auto-generated
name	String	Must be provided
email	String	Must be unique / used for login
password	String	Stored as a hash
createdAt	Date	Auto-generated
updatedAt	Date	Auto-generated

Default Routes

Method	Path	Location	Purpose
GET	/	server.js	Home page
GET	/auth/login	auth.js	Login form
GET	/auth/signup	auth.js	Signup form
POST	/auth/login	auth.js	Login user
POST	/auth/signup	auth.js	Creates User
GET	/auth/logout	auth.js	Removes session info
GET	/profile	server.js	Regular User Profile

1 Fork & Clone Project & Install Dependencies

1 The first thing that we are going to do is fork and clone

2 Now we are going to install the current dependencies that are listed inside of package.json

npm install

3 We have the current packages for authentication. These are the following packages:

• bcryptjs: A library to help you hash passwords. ( wikipedia )
  • Blowfish has a 64-bit block size and a variable key length from 32 bits up to 448 bits.
• connect-flash: The flash is an area of the session used for storing messages that will be used to to display to the user. Flash is typically used with redirects.
• passport: Passport is authentication middleware for Node.js. It is designed to do one thing authenticate requests. There are over 500+ strategies used to authenticate a user; however, we will be using one - passport-local Passport is authentication middleware for Node. It is designed to serve a singular purpose: authenticate requests
• passport-local: The local authentication strategy authenticates users using a username and password. The strategy requires a verify callback, which accepts these credentials and calls done providing a user. passport-local
• express-session: Create a session middleware with given options.
• method-override: Lets you use HTTP verbs such as PUT or DELETE in places where the client doesn't support it.

2 Create Database & Update Sequelize Config

1 Update config.json file with the following:

{
  "development": {
    "database": "express_auth_dev",
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "dialect": "postgres"
  },
  "test": {
    "database": "express_auth_test",
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "dialect": "postgres"
  },
  "production": {
    "use_env_variable": "DATABASE_URL",
    "dialect": "postgres",
    "dialectOptions": {
        "ssl": {
          "require": true,
          "rejectUnauthorized": false
        }
    }
  }
}

2 Create database express_auth_dev

sequelize db:create

3 Analyze File Structure

├── config
│   └── config.json
├── controllers
│   └── auth.js
├── models
│   └── index.js
├── node_modules
│   └── ...
├── public
│   └── assets
│   └── css
│       └── style.css
├── test
│   └── auth.test.js
│   └── index.test.js
│   └── profile.test.js
│   └── user.test.js
├── views
│   └── auth
│       └── login.ejs
│       └── signup.ejs
│   └── index.ejs
│   └── layout.ejs
│   └── profile.ejs
├── .gitignore
├── package-lock.json
├── package.json
├── README.md
├── server.js

• config.json: Where you need to configure your project to interact with your postgres database.
• controllers: The folder where all of your controllers ( routes ) will go to control the logic of your app.
• models: The folder where all the models will be stored that will interact with the database.
• node_modules: The folder that is generated by npm that stores the source code for all dependencies installed.
• public: is to have those views that would be publicly accessible in the application. ex. style.css
• test: The folder where all your test that you make will be stored. ex. auth.test.js
• views: The folder where all the app's templates will be stored for displaying pages to the user. ex. login.ejs
• .gitignore: A hidden file that will hide and prevent any files with to NOT get pushed to Github.
• package-lock.json: is automatically generated for any operations where npm modifies either the node_modules tree, or package.json.
• package.json: The settings file that stores scripts and list of dependencies that are used inside your app.
• README.md: The main markdown file that written to explain the details your app.
• server.js: The main file that controls the entire application.