49 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
49 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: default
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title: HTTP basic authentication
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parent: Authentication backends
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nav_order: 46
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redirect_from:
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---
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# HTTP basic authentication
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HTTP basic authentication provides a simple challenge-and-response process for gaining access to OpenSearch and its resources that prompts you to sign in with a username and password. You enable HTTP basic authentication in the `http_authenticator` section of the configuration by specifying `type` as `basic`, as shown in the following example:
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```yml
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authc:
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basic_internal_auth_domain:
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description: "Authenticate using HTTP basic against the internal users database"
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http_enabled: true
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transport_enabled: true
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order: 1
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http_authenticator:
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type: basic
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challenge: true
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authentication_backend:
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type: internal
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```
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Additionally, you can specify the internal user database as the authentication backend by specifying `internal` as the type for `authentication_backend`. See [The internal user database](#the-internal-user-database) for information about this backend.
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Once `basic` is specified for the type of HTTP authenticator and `internal` is specified for the type of authentication backend, no further configuration in `config.yml` is needed, unless you plan to use additional authentication backends with HTTP basic authentication. Continue reading for considerations related to this type of setup and more information about the `challenge` setting.
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## The challenge setting
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In most cases, it's appropriate to set `challenge` to `true` for basic authentication. This setting defines the behavior of the Security plugin when the `Authorization` field in the HTTP header is not specified. By default, the setting is `true`.
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When `challenge` is set to `true`, the Security plugin sends a response with the status `UNAUTHORIZED` (401) back to the client. If the client is accessing the cluster with a browser, this triggers the authentication dialog box and the user is prompted to enter a username and password. This is a common configuration when HTTP basic authentication is the only backend being used.
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When `challenge` is set to `false` and an `Authorization` header has not been specified in the request, the Security plugin does not send a `WWW-Authenticate` response back to the client, and authentication fails. This configuration is often used when you have multiple challenging `http_authenticator` settings included in your configured authentication domains. This might be the case, for example, when you plan to use basic authentication and SAML together. For an example and a more complete explanation of this configuration, see [Running multiple authentication domains]({{site.url}}{{site.baseurl}}/security/authentication-backends/saml/#running-multiple-authentication-domains) in the SAML documentation.
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When you define multiple HTTP authenticators, make sure to order non-challenging authenticators first---such as `proxy` and `clientcert`---and order challenging HTTP authenticators last. For example, in a configuration where a non-challenging HTTP basic authentication backend is paired with a challenging SAML backend, you might specify `order: 0` in the HTTP basic `authc` domain and `order: 1` in the SAML domain.
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{: .note }
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## The internal user database
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When using HTTP basic authentication, the internal user database stores the internal users and includes their hashed passwords and other user attributes, such as roles. Users and their settings are kept in the `internal_users.yml` configuration file. For more information about this file, see [internal_users.yml]({{site.url}}{{site.baseurl}}/security/configuration/yaml/#internal_usersyml) in the security configuration documentation.
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