PhantomJS doesn't send authentication header

Question

I'm trying to open a web page which requires HTTP authentication, in PhantomJS. My script is based off the loadspeed.js example:

var page = require('webpage').create(),
    t, address;
page.settings.userName = "user";
page.settings.password = "password";
if (phantom.args.length === 0) {
  console.log('Usage: loadspeed.js <some URL>');
  phantom.exit();
} else {
  t = Date.now();
  address = phantom.args[0];
  page.open(address, function (status) {
      if (status !== 'success') {
          console.log('FAIL to load the address');
      } else {
          t = Date.now() - t;
          console.log('Loading time ' + t + ' msec');
          page.render('page.jpg');
      }
      phantom.exit();
  });
}

I can see from the rendered page.jpg that I'm getting a 401 every time. I've also traced the HTTP session using Wireshark, which reveals that no authentication header is sent in the GET request to the given URL.

What am I doing wrong here? I'm just getting started with PhantomJS but I've been searching all evening and not gotten far...

What browser? Chrome 19 just does not allow you to make a XHR setting the username and password. This was caused when they disallowed the username:password@ proportion of URLs. HTTP Auth against a different website is a tricky business. I guess I'll write a blog about this topic next weekend or so. — panzi
– panzi, Commented May 29, 2012 at 0:18
Not to do directly with this question, but I want to point out that as of PhantomJS 1.9.2 and SlimerJS 0.8.4, your authentication information (whether done with page.settings or page.customHeaders) gets sent to all 3rd party servers referenced on that page. (E.g. if the page you are logging in to uses a CDN for their jQuery then that CDN server gets your username and password; similarly for ad servers.) SlimerJS, at least, is working on a solution. — Darren Cook
– Darren Cook, Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 0:57

Darren Cook · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-11 03:43:22Z

34

PhantomJS (at least as of 1.9.0) has a bug with auth: it sends the request without the auth headers, and then only after it gets the 401 back does it do the request again but this time with the headers. (That is for GET; with POST it doesn't work at all.)

The workaround is simple, so instead of:

page.settings.userName = 'username';
page.settings.password = 'password';

you can use:

page.customHeaders={'Authorization': 'Basic '+btoa('username:password')};

(I just covered this in a blog post: http://darrendev.blogspot.jp/2013/04/phantomjs-post-auth-and-timeouts.html, and learnt that workaround on the PhantomJS mailing list from Igor Semenko.)

answered Apr 11, 2013 at 3:43

Darren Cook

29.2k13 gold badges127 silver badges239 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

7 Comments

quetzalcoatl Over a year ago

PhantomJS 1.9.2 on my machine behaves erratically. page.settings.userName and password sometimes work, sometimes does not. It's probably not related to the missing 401 stage, because I work all the time with the same remote server. With customHeader - seems to work always.

Karl Barker Over a year ago

This question is so old that I have no idea which phantomJS version I was using, but presumably it had some variation on this bug.

Pier-Luc Gendreau Over a year ago

I had to use the workaround with 1.9.12 and don't forget to include the btoa module.

Darren Cook Over a year ago

@Pier-LucGendreau I thought btoa was built-in? If something has changed, which module needs to be included for it? (P.S. Thanks for confirming it is still needed as of 1.9.12)

Pier-Luc Gendreau Over a year ago

@DarrenCook I used this module: npmjs.org/package/btoa but there's another method that doesn't require an additional dependency: stackoverflow.com/questions/23097928/…

|

David · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-23 09:20:59Z

I dont think there is anything wrong with the script your using or phantomjs (at least in v1.5).

If you try this script:

var page = require('webpage').create(),
    system = require('system'),
    t, address;

page.settings.userName = 'test';
page.settings.password = 'test';

if (system.args.length === 1) {
    console.log('Usage: loadspeed.js <some URL>');
    phantom.exit();
} else {
    t = Date.now();
    address = system.args[1];
    page.open(address, function (status) {
        if (status !== 'success') {
            console.log('FAIL to load the address');
        } else {
            t = Date.now() - t;
            console.log('Page title is ' + page.evaluate(function () {
                return document.title;
            }));
            console.log('Loading time ' + t + ' msec');
        }
        phantom.exit();
    });
}

phantomjs loadspeed.js http://browserspy.dk/password-ok.php

The auth is successful.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

PhantomJS doesn't send authentication header

2 Answers 2

7 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

7 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related