Node.js / express - using passport with redis, getting session unauthorized - node.js

Question

I'm trying to use redis with express to create a user login and session. I test the route using this curl script:
curl -d 'email=testEmail&password=testPass' http://localhost:3000/users/session
When I do this, passport works fine through serialization, and then it returns http 302. I haven't figured out what it does after serialization, but when I try it in the browser with my login html form instead of curl, It shows me "Unauthorized" 401, and I don't see any of my console logs. Here's my app.js:
var express = require('express')
, fs = require('fs')
, cons = require('consolidate')
, http = require('http')
, flash = require('connect-flash')
, passport = require('passport')
, RedisStore = require( "connect-redis" )(express) //for sessions (instead of MemoryStore)
, redis = require('redis')
, env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development'
, config = require('./config/config')[env]
, db = redis.createClient(config.db.port, config.db.host);
db.select(config.db.users)
db.auth(config.db.auth);
var app = express();
//require passport strategies (see code block below)
require('./config/passport')(passport, config, app)
app.use('/assets', express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
app.use('/', express.static(__dirname + '/'));
app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');
app.set('view engine', 'html');
app.configure(function(){
app.set('config', config);
app.set('db', db);
app.set('port', process.env.PORT || 3000);
app.engine('.html', cons.swig);
app.use(express.logger('dev'))
app.use(express.favicon(__dirname + '/public/img/favicon.ico'));
app.use(express.cookieParser())
app.use(express.bodyParser()) //enables req.body
app.use(express.methodOverride()) //enables app.put and app.delete (can also just use app.post)
app.use(express.session({
secret: 'topsecret',
cookie: {secure: true, maxAge:86400000},
store: new RedisStore({
client:db,
secret:config.db.auth
})
}));
app.use(flash())
app.use(passport.initialize())
app.use(passport.session())
app.use(app.router)
});
// Bootstrap routes
require('./config/routes')(app, passport);
http.createServer(app).listen(app.get('port'), function(){
console.log("Express server listening on port " + app.get('port')+', mode='+env);
});
And the session POST route:
app.post('/users/session', passport.authenticate('local', {successRedirect: '/', failureFlash: 'Invalid email or password.', successFlash: 'Welcome!'}), users.session);
I could only really find examples of passport with mongodb, so I'm not sure about the following. I attempt to find a user, but I'm not sure about the callbacks or what passport is doing with the user info when I return done:
passport.use(new LocalStrategy({ usernameField: 'email', passwordField: 'password' },
function(email, password, done) {
var db = app.get('db')
var multi = db.multi();
db.get('email:'+email, function(err, uid){
if (err) { console.log(err); return err }
if (!uid) { console.log('no uid found'); return null }
console.log('found '+uid)
db.hgetall('uid:'+uid, function(err, user){
if (err) { console.log(err); return err }
if (!user) {
console.log('unkwn usr')
return done(null, false, { message: 'Unknown user' })
}
if (password != user.password) {
console.log('invalid pwd')
return done(null, false, { message: 'Invalid password' })
}
console.log('found user '+user) //I see this fine with curl, but no logs with browser
return done(null, user)
});
});
}
))
Passport serialization:
passport.serializeUser(function(user, done) {
console.log('passport serializing...'+user.name)
done(null, user.name) //no idea what happens to it after this. returns a 302 with curl, and 401 with browser
})
Why does this act differently with a browser than with curl? Any help or comments much appreciated!

Answer 1

Figured it out! To use passport with any database (not just mongo), I would recommend trying it with a dummy user first. Here's what I did.
Login Form (login.html):
<form method="post" action="http://localhost:3000/users/session" name="loginform">
<input id="login_input_username" type="text" name="email" />
<input id="login_input_password" type="password" name="password" autocomplete="off" />
<input type="submit" name="login" value="Submit" />
</form>
Routing (route.js):
app.post('/users/session', passport.authenticate('local'),
function(req, res){
res.end('success!');
});
Passport Local Strategy setup (passport.js):
passport.use(new LocalStrategy({ usernameField: 'email', passwordField: 'password' },
function(email, password, done) {
//find user in database here
var user = {id: 1, email:'test', password:'pass'};
return done(null, user);
}
));
passport.serializeUser(function(user, done) {
//serialize by user id
done(null, user.id)
});
passport.deserializeUser(function(id, done) {
//find user in database again
var user = {id: 1, email:'test', password:'pass'};
done(null, user);
})
Although I'm wondering if it's necessary to find user in my database twice, or if I'm using deserialize incorrectly.