Authentication error: Unable to respond to any of these challenges: {} Android - 401 Unauthorized

Question

Authentication error: Unable to respond to any of these challenges: {} Android - 401 Unauthorized

I have taken reference from this link Authentication Error when using HttpPost with DefaultHttpClient on Android

I am working on android app in that backed in Drupal. In that I am sending data from android app to drupal website - webservice in JSON format. Now I can read JSON data from Drupal webservice and writing it in my android application. But facing problem in writing on drupal from android, it generates response with status code

401 Unauthorized

From android native app it generates 401 , while from phonegap-from android when I initiate AJAX request it works perfectly & writes an article or page on drupal website. so that means webservice work perfectly &

my phonegap android app works perfectly there is problem with Android native JAVA application I am running my android application on Android2.3.4 -> Samsung Galaxy S Plus - Samsung GT-I9001

here is my code for java android.

==============================

String url = "XXX";
strResponse1 = makeWebForPostIdea(url,title,body);

public static String makeWebForPostIdea(String url, String title,String body)
    {
        JSONStringer jsonobject = null;
        JSONObject json = null;
        JSONObject jsonnode = null;

        DefaultHttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();

Credentials creds = new UsernamePasswordCredentials("username", "password");
        client.getCredentialsProvider().setCredentials(new       AuthScope(AuthScope.ANY_HOST, AuthScope.ANY_PORT), creds);
 HttpPost post = new HttpPost(url);
System.out.println("value of the post =============> "+post);
 try {
            JSONObject jsonvalue = new JSONObject();
            jsonvalue.put("value", body.toString());

            JSONArray array = new JSONArray();
            array.put(jsonvalue);

            jsonnode = new JSONObject();
            jsonnode.put("und", array);

            System.out.println("@@@@@@2    jsonnode=======>"+jsonnode.toString());


        } catch (JSONException e3) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e3.printStackTrace();
        }
 try {
 jsonobject = new JSONStringer().array().object().key("und").object().key("0").object().key("value").value(body).endObject().endObject().endObject().endArray();
    System.out.println("=============>"+jsonobject);

        } catch (JSONException e2) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e2.printStackTrace();
        }

         List<NameValuePair> params = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>();

                 params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("type","page"));

            params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("title",title));
            params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("language","und"));
            params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("body",jsonobject.toString()));

            System.out.println("value of the params =============> "+params);

        UrlEncodedFormEntity formEntity = null;
        try {
                formEntity = new UrlEncodedFormEntity(params);
        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e1) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e1.printStackTrace();
        }

        post.setEntity(formEntity);

        try {

            HttpResponse response = client.execute(post);

            int statusCode = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();
            System.out.println("=========> statusCode post idea=====> "+statusCode);    
            if (statusCode == HttpStatus.SC_OK)
            {
                HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
                InputStream is = entity.getContent();
                return iStream_to_String(is);
            }
            else
            {
                return "Hello This is status ==> :"+String.valueOf(statusCode);
            }
        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (ClientProtocolException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        return null;
    }

     public static String iStream_to_String(InputStream is1) {
            BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is1), 4096);
            String line;
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            try {
                while ((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {
                    sb.append(line);
                }
                rd.close();

            } catch (IOException e) {
                // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        String contentOfMyInputStream = sb.toString();
        return contentOfMyInputStream;
            }

    }

   }

here is the logcat that I am getting.

 08-09 12:41:29.063: I/System.out(336): value of the post =============>      org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost@4053c3c8
 08-09 12:41:29.093: I/System.out(336): @@@@@@2    jsonnode=======>{"und":  [{"value":"ddddddd"}]}
 08-09 12:41:29.093: I/System.out(336): =============>[{"und":{"0":{"value":"ddddddd"}}}]
 08-09 12:41:29.103: I/System.out(336): value of the params =============> [type=page, title=hhhh, language=und, body=[{"und":{"0":{"value":"ddddddd"}}}]]
 08-09 12:41:30.913: W/DefaultRequestDirector(336): Authentication error: Unable to respond to any of these challenges: {}
 08-09 12:41:30.913: I/System.out(336): =========> statusCode post idea=====> 401
 08-09 12:41:30.924: I/System.out(336): =========> Response from post  idea => Hello This is status ==> :401

Here is my PhoneGap Ajax request it works perfectly.

$('#page_node_create_submit').live('click',function(){

  var title = $('#page_node_title').val();
  //if (!title) { alert('Please enter a title.'); return false; }

  var body = $('#page_node_body').val();
  //if (!body) { alert('Please enter a body.'); return false; }

  // BEGIN: drupal services node create login (warning: don't use https if you don't     have ssl setup)
  $.ajax({
      url: "XXX",
      type: 'post',
      data: 'node[type]=page&node[title]=' + encodeURIComponent(title) +  '&node[language]=und&node[body][und][0][value]=' + encodeURIComponent(body),
      dataType: 'json',
      error: function(XMLHttpRequest, textStatus, errorThrown) {
        alert('page_node_create_submit - failed to login');
        console.log(JSON.stringify(XMLHttpRequest));
        console.log(JSON.stringify(textStatus));
        console.log(JSON.stringify(errorThrown));
      },
      success: function (data) {
      $.mobile.changePage("index.html", "slideup");
     }
  });
  // END: drupal services node create

  return false;

});

=================================================================================

Edit :

I have tried various methods for Apache httpclient for my error.During this time I have done some research and searched on google and found out some interesting stuff.

1st thing that I found it that Android-Google Officially does not recommend Apache HttpClient that I am using in my code. Check this link. In that Link message from Jesse Wilson from the Dalvik team. In that they suggest to use HttpURLConnection instead of DefaultHttpClient and also written that Android team will no longer develop Apache httpclient . so its the older version that I am using.

http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2011/09/androids-http-clients.html

2nd thing that I have found form this link. It suggests that Android is shipping with Apache's HttpClient 4.0 Beta2, which has a pitfall, when it comes to Basic Authentication. The Authentication method that I am using is of HttpClient 3.x , that I have found out from this link. check the link. http://hc.apache.org/httpclient-3.x/authentication.html#Preemptive_Authentication

So the version issue.

http://dlinsin.blogspot.in/2009/08/http-basic-authentication-with-android.html

I have also found some links with potential solution of this problem.

http://ogrelab.ikratko.com/using-newer-version-of-httpclient-like-4-1-x/

Apache HttpClient 4.1 on Android

What version of Apache HTTP Client is bundled in Android 1.6?

From these links , I made a conclusion that if we upgrade the Apache HttpClient to latest stable version , then this problem can be solved.

But this is directly no possible , as Android Team has officially stopped the support for the Apache httpclient.

With this link It could be possible to solve. I have not tried it but I am working on it.

It is the library that can help in upgrading httpclient version in Android.

http://code.google.com/p/httpclientandroidlib/

The other solution could be using HttpURLConnection .I am also working on it.

But most people here on stackoverflow and Internet seems to using DefaultHttpCLient with Android. And ofcourse it is also working with me throughout my application including login,registration,reading from server and session and other functionality.Just it is not working with directly post some article to my server-Drupal website. It works perfectly with POST request during registration of user on server.

So friends , any suggestions regarding this ? why it is not working just with posting article ?

Answer 1

How come it works from the PhoneGap but not Java. PhoneGap runs the app in a web container and so already has been authenticated - and you have all the right cookies. AJAX will share the same session that and everything 'just works'.

However HTTPClient is a completely different - you are initiating a brand new HTTP session and everything has to be right.

A few comments on how HTTP Auth works:

There are several HTTP authentication methods - and it's the web server that chooses which. Before going any further, check your Drupal configuration to work out whether it is:

• Basic Auth (username and password). Everyone and their dog supports this, but it's very insecure. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_access_authentication for more details
• Digest (username and challenge/response hash with MD5. This is more secure but much more complex. Note that MD5 is generally considered weak now. Many libraries support it, including Apache. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digest_access_authentication for more details
• NTLM (a variant of Kerberos/SPEGNO) which is implemented on IIS. This is not generally supported from Java, although HTTPClient does profess to - but using a different Credentials object. See http://hc.apache.org/httpclient-3.x/authentication.html#NTLM

(Note also that the web container has the 'smarts' to be able to try different authentication methods as requested by the server, all behind the scenes)

Also check the Drupal web logs. A few pointers:

• Did you see the HTTPClient connect at all. And is the URL going to the correct resource. Always worth checking from the server's perspective...
• Did it go to the right server? One example of what could go wrong: Are you using IP addresses in the URL against a multi-homed web server, so the request goes to the wrong server?
• Check that the authentication sent by the client pre-emptively is the correct type (basic, digest, NTLM)

Let me know if this helps. If not, and you can give more details as per this post, I can follow up with more advice.

Answer 2

You might try to check: How to do http post using apache httpclient with web authentication?

It uses a HttpInterceptor to inject the authentication data, when required

Answer 3

I'd suggest to test first the PHP side out the app. There are several ways to make your own calls including headers and auth. From curl to GraphicalHttpClient (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/graphicalhttpclient/id433095876?mt=12 , I personally use that and it works decently). There some other options like REST client debugger (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/restclient/)

This way you'll be able to test your call in so many ways which is pain doing directly in the client (sometimes it's just changing from http to https or adding the type of your token in the Authorization header and that's much easier to be madeo n the fly).

Once everything works as expected, reproduce the same call, headers and body in your client and you are ready to go.