Getting OAuth2 running on our site...

[dacho]

Hi

OK so I want to use our Invision community to login to another site.

And I believe using Oauth2 / REST API is the way to do it. 

Problem - our site does not currently "use" (have?) Oauth2. 

I realise that it is likely a "it depends" kind of answer, but generally should it be pretty simple to set up so we can get going?  Or is it generally complex and a bit of a pain?

Any pointers would be very welcome!

Thank you

[Joel R]

Are you currently using WordPress? There are plugins to install that give you oAuth 2 functionality. You can refer to the IPS Help Guide.  

If you're using another system, you'll have to check with that provider to see if they include oAuth functionality.  

[dacho]

Not Wordpress.

It’#s a custom made website,

[bfarber]

If you use a ready-made OAuth library (and I would strongly encourage you to do so, to ensure the security implications are covered) then it shouldn't be too difficult to set up an OAuth service on your website. There are services, such as Auth0, that do this for you too if you'd prefer to pay for a provider. Note that you will of course need to adjust your login handling for your main website to also use the OAuth service.

[dacho]

Thank you very much.

Could I ask, is the below service the same kind of thing as the Auth0 service you mention ---- or a different beast with a different function?

https://docs.oneall.com/

If we set that up on the main website, could we then link up with the Forums to get them talking to each other as I want?
(Unfortunately I'm struggling understanding the logic behind it all)

[bfarber]

It seems to primarily focus on social login, but doesn't bill itself as an OAuth provider. It may or may not provide what you want.

 

[dacho]

Hello

Thank you.

bfarber, do you have experience with that Auth0?  I am still trying to get my head around what it is and how it works. I would appreciate a bit more elaboration.

If I signed up for that service, could we easily set that up on our website (how easy?), and then once that is done link it up to our Invision Community?
So that if users registered on our Invision Community, they could then go and login using the same credentials on our main website?  Is that a correct understanding?  (That is what we want).

Sorry for my embarrassingly low level of understanding on the concepts!  Any explanation really appreciated to help me grasp how it all works.

[bfarber]

I have integrated with Auth0 for a few of our Enterprise clients, so I am familiar with it.

It's like having a separate service that just handles logins. Each application (your front end website, and your community in this case) would redirect the user to Auth0's pages to log in, and they would redirect the user back. You would then just need to provide the integration to handle the redirection back logging the user in.

[dacho]

Thank you.

Can I ask - is it pretty simple or something that takes a bit of time?

Thanks

[bfarber]

Well, that will (naturally) depend upon your proficiency level and your familiarity with the code base. 🙂 It really wasn't any harder integrating Auth0 than it was to integrate any other type of remote login service on our side.

[dacho]

Could you give me an idea of how long it took you?

(might you be available to hire to help us?)

Thank you

[bfarber]

I only integrated the Invision Community side of things of course, but I'd guess a couple of hours of development and testing.

If you get stuck you can send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.