Question

I am using Grails Spring Security Plugin 1.2.7.3 and would like to have the User authenticate via Email Address and Password. I would like Email Address to be the primary Login ID.

I came across the following Nabble post regarding case insensitive usernames, where the original poster is attempting to do the same. However, I was a bit confused on a few points:

1. I understand that I need to write my own implementation of UserDetailsService and register it in grails-app/conf/spring/resources.groovy.

   However, I wasn’t sure which folder the custom implementation of UserDetailsService should go (best practices). My guesses are either /grails-app/services, /grails-app/utils, or /src/groovy. Has anyone done this before and where is the best place for the custom UserDetailsService?

   I read this chapter in the Docs: http://grails-plugins.github.com/grails-spring-security-core/docs/manual/guide/11%20Custom%20UserDetailsService.html but I didn’t really see guidance on what Grails folder to put it in.

2. I created my User domain class via s2 command:

   s2-quickstart com.philiptenn.security User Role Requestmap
   

   If I were to rename the field User.username to User.email so that my code is clearer, will I be in for a world of hurt?

   I did a Find Usages on this field, and one stuck out in DefaultSecurityConfig.groovy: userLookup.usernamePropertyName = 'username'

   Could I just update this to read:
   DefaultSecurityConfig.groovy: userLookup.usernamePropertyName = 'email'

Thank you.

Answer 1

As you pointed out, you can override the default security configs in your own Config.groovy, the options all start with grails.plugins.springsecurity, so it would be grails.plugins.springsecurity.userLookup.usernamePropertyName = 'email' (docs). That’s the first thing I’d try. If you check out the source of the GormUserDetailsService, the default userDetailsService, you’ll see it uses that property for the lookup.