Join BoxWorks 2024 to discover what's possible with content and AI!

Register now!

Find or create Box app users

Find or create Box app users

At this point we have application code that will handle traffic from users visiting, forward them to Okta to login, provide Okta user information, before finally handing off to a yet to be created handler for Box.

This section will cover the final Box components:

  • Validating if an Okta user has an associated Box app user account.
  • Creating a new app user for the associated Okta record if they don't.
  • Fetching tokens for the Box user to make user-specific API calls.

Create New App Users

Before validating users we need a method for creating an associated Box user account if one doesn't already exist for the Okta user.

In your local application directory, load the server.js file created in step 1.

Add the following box object into the file and save.

const box = (() => {
    const configJSON = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(__dirname, './config.json')));
    const sdk = boxSDK.getPreconfiguredInstance(configJSON);
    const client = sdk.getAppAuthClient('enterprise');

    let oktaRecord = {};
    let userId = '';
    let userClient;

    function validateUser(userInfo, res) {
        // TODO: VALIDATE USER
    }

    function createUser(res) {
        // TODO: CREATE USER
    }

    return {
        validateUser,
        createUser
    };
})();

This object defines a number of items:

  • Configuration: A new instance of the Box Node SDK is instantiated and made available to the object functions, along with a number of variables.
  • validateUser function: Will house the code to validate whether a Box user exists for an associated Okta user.
  • createUser function: Creates a new Box user bound to the associated Okta user ID.

With that structure defined, replace the // TODO: CREATE USER section with the following code.

const spaceAmount = 1073741824;   // ~ 1gb

client.enterprise.addAppUser(
    this.oktaRecord.name,
    {
      space_amount: spaceAmount,
      external_app_user_id: this.oktaRecord.sub
    }
).then(appUser => {
    res.send(`New user created: ${appUser.name}`);
});

This code will create a new Box app user and will set the external_app_user_id parameter of the user object to the unique Okta user ID, which will define the binding between the two user records.

In your local application directory, load the /src/main/java/com/box/sample/Application.java file created in step 1, or similar directory if an alternate application name was used.

Within the public class Application definition, add the following methods:

static String validateUser(OidcUser user) throws IOException {
    // TODO: VALIDATE USER
}

static String createUser(OidcUser user) {
    // TODO: CREATE USER
}

These methods will handle the Box user validation and creation. Breaking them down:

  • validateUser: Will house the code to validate whether a Box user exists for an associated Okta user.
  • createUser: Creates a new Box user bound to the associated Okta user ID.

With those methods defined, replace # TODO: CREATE USER with the following code:

String oktaName = (String) user.getAttributes().get("name");
Object oktaSub = user.getAttributes().get("sub");

CreateUserParams params = new CreateUserParams();
params.setExternalAppUserId((String) oktaSub);
BoxUser.Info createdUserInfo = BoxUser.createAppUser(api, oktaName, params);

return "New User Created: " + createdUserInfo.getName();

This code will create a new Box app user and will set the external_app_user_id parameter of the user object to the unique Okta user ID, which will define the binding between the two user records.

In your local application directory, load the server.py file created in step 1.

Add the following Box class object to the existing code, below the route definitions.

# Box user class
class Box(object):
    def __init__(self):
        # Instantiate Box Client instance
        auth = JWTAuth.from_settings_file('../config.json')
        self.box_client = Client(auth)

    # Validate if Box user exists
    def validateUser(self, g):
        # TODO: VALIDATE USER

    # Create new Box user
    def createUser(self, ouser):
        # TODO: CREATE USER

This class defines:

  • init: When initialized, a new instance of the Box Python SDK is instantiated and made available to the object methods.
  • validateUser method: Accepting a user object as input, this will house the code to validate whether a Box user exists for an associated Okta user.
  • createUser method: Accepting a user object as input, this creates a new Box user bound to the associated Okta user ID.

With that class defined, replace the # TODO: CREATE USER section with the following code.

user_name = f'{ouser.profile.firstName} {ouser.profile.lastName}'
uid = ouser.id
space = 1073741824

user = self.box_client.create_user(user_name, None, space_amount=space, external_app_user_id=uid)
return f'New user created: {user_name}'

This code will create a new Box app user and will set the external_app_user_id parameter of the user object to the unique Okta user ID, which will define the binding between the two user records.

Within the Controllers > AccountController.cs file, inside the associated AccountController class, add the following method.

static async Task validateUser(string name, string sub)
{
    // Configure Box SDK instance
    var reader = new StreamReader("config.json");
    var json = reader.ReadToEnd();
    var config = BoxConfig.CreateFromJsonString(json);
    var sdk = new BoxJWTAuth(config);
    var token = sdk.AdminToken();
    BoxClient client = sdk.AdminClient(token);

    // Search for matching Box app user for Okta ID
    BoxCollection<BoxUser> users = await client.UsersManager.GetEnterpriseUsersAsync(externalAppUserId:sub);
    System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(users.TotalCount);

    if (users.TotalCount > 0)
    {
         // TODO: VALIDATE USER
    }
    else
    {
        // TODO: CREATE USER
    }
}

Within the code block a new Box .NET SDK client is created using the config.json file downloaded in step 2. In the case of this code sample, that config.json file is stored at the root of the local application directory.

That client is then used to search all users in the Box enterprise, passing in the Okta sub unique ID as the externalAppUserId search parameter. The number of users returned is then checked to see if a valid user was found.

With that structure defined, replace the // TODO: CREATE USER section with the following code.

var userRequest = new BoxUserRequest()
{
    Name = name,
    ExternalAppUserId = sub,
    IsPlatformAccessOnly = true
};
var user = await client.UsersManager.CreateEnterpriseUserAsync(userRequest);
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("New user created: " + user.Name);

This code will create a new Box app user and will set the external_app_user_id parameter of the user object to the unique Okta user ID, which will define the binding between the two user records.

A diagnostic message is then written back stating that the new user was created.

Incomplete previous step

Please select a preferred language / framework in step 1 to get started.

Validate Okta Users

With the create user functionality defined, let's turn our attention to defining the code for validating whether an Okta user record has an associated Box user record by searching all Box enterprise users for the associated external_app_user_id.

Replace the // TODO: VALIDATE USER comment with the following:

this.oktaRecord = userInfo

client.enterprise.getUsers({ "external_app_user_id": this.oktaRecord.sub })
    .then((result) => {
        if (result.total_count > 0) {
            // TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL
        } else {
            // User not found - create user
            this.createUser();
        }
    });

Using the Box Node SDK, we call enterprise.getUsers to search all enterprise users, and pass in the unique Okta user ID as the external_app_user_id value to search specifically for that user.

If found (number of records is greater than 0) we can make an authenticated call to the Box APIs using that user record, which will be defined in the next section.

If not found, we call the createUser function we defined in the last section to create a new Box user with that external_app_user_id association.

Replace the // TODO: VALIDATE USER comment with the following:

// Set up Box enterprise client
Reader reader = new FileReader("config.json");
BoxConfig config = BoxConfig.readFrom(reader);
api = BoxDeveloperEditionAPIConnection.getAppEnterpriseConnection(config);

// Get Okta user sub for unique ID attachment to Box user
Object oktaSub = user.getAttributes().get("sub");

// Check enterprise users for matching external_app_user_id against Okta sub
URL url = new URL("https://api.box.com/2.0/users?external_app_user_id=" + oktaSub);
BoxAPIRequest request = new BoxAPIRequest(api, url, "GET");
BoxJSONResponse jsonResponse = (BoxJSONResponse) request.send();
JsonObject jsonObj = jsonResponse.getJsonObject();
JsonValue totalCount = jsonObj.get("total_count");

// Set return string
String outputString = "";

if (totalCount.asInt() > 0) {
    // TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL
} else {
    outputString = createUser(user);
}

return outputString;

Using the Box Java SDK generic request method, we make a call directly to the https://api.box.com/2.0/users endpoint to search enterprise users, passing in the unique Okta user ID as the external_app_user_id value to search specifically for that user.

If found (number of records is greater than 0) we can make an authenticated call to the Box APIs using that user record, which will be defined in the next section.

If not found, we call the createUser function we defined in the last section to create a new Box user with that external_app_user_id association.

Replace the # TODO: VALIDATE USER comment with the following:

# Fetch Okta user ID
uid = g.user.id

# Validate is user exists
url = f'https://api.box.com/2.0/users?external_app_user_id={uid}'
response = self.box_client.make_request('GET', url)
user_info = response.json()

# If user not found, create user, otherwise fetch user token
if (user_info['total_count'] == 0):
    self.createUser(g.user)
else:
    # TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL

Using the Box Python SDK generic request method, we make a call directly to the https://api.box.com/2.0/users endpoint to search enterprise users, passing in the unique Okta user ID as the external_app_user_id value to search specifically for that user.

If found (number of records is greater than 0) we can make an authenticated call to the Box APIs using that user record, which will be defined in the next section.

If not found, we call the createUser function we defined in the last section to create a new Box user with that external_app_user_id association.

Replace the // TODO: VALIDATE USER comment with the following:

var userId = users.Entries[0].Id;
var userToken = sdk.UserToken(userId);
BoxClient userClient = sdk.UserClient(userToken, userId);

// TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL

If a valid user is found, the Box ID is extracted and used to generate a Box SDK client that is scoped specifically for that user, rather than the application.

Incomplete previous step

Please select a preferred language / framework in step 1 to get started.

Make Authenticated Box User Calls

Once an associated Box user is found for the Okta user we're going to generate an access token specifically scoped for that user to make Box API calls, then make a call to get the current user to ensure that everything is working and that we have a valid user access token.

Replace // TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL from the previous section with the following:

this.userId = result.entries[0].id;
this.userClient = sdk.getAppAuthClient('user', this.userId);

this.userClient.users.get(this.userClient.CURRENT_USER_ID)
    .then(currentUser => {
        res.send(`Hello ${currentUser.name}`);
    });

With a user found we capture the Box user ID, then generate a user client object scoped for that user. We finish by making a call to fetch the current user with the user client object, which should return the user profile information for the Okta associated Box app user.

Replace // TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL from the previous section with the following:

// User found, authenticate as user
// Fetch user ID
JsonArray entries = (JsonArray) jsonObj.get("entries");
JsonObject userRecord = (JsonObject) entries.get(0);
JsonValue userId = userRecord.get("id");

// Get user scoped access token and fetch current user with it
BoxDeveloperEditionAPIConnection userApi = BoxDeveloperEditionAPIConnection.getAppUserConnection(userId.asString(), config);
BoxUser currentUser = BoxUser.getCurrentUser(userApi);
BoxUser.Info currentUserInfo = currentUser.getInfo();

outputString = "Hello " + currentUserInfo.getName();

With a user found we capture the Box user ID, then generate a user client object scoped for that user. We finish by making a call to fetch the current user with the user client object, which should return the user profile information for the Okta associated Box app user.

Replace # TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL from the previous section with the following:

# Create user client based on discovered user
user = user_info['entries'][0]
user_to_impersonate = self.box_client.user(user_id=user['id'])
user_client = self.box_client.as_user(user_to_impersonate)

# Get current user
current_user = user_client.user().get()
return f'Hello {current_user.name}'

With a user found we capture the Box user ID, then generate a user client object scoped for that user. We finish by making a call to fetch the current user with the user client object, which should return the user profile information for the Okta associated Box app user.

Replace // TODO: MAKE AUTHENTICATED USER CALL from the previous section with the following:

BoxUser currentUser = await userClient.UsersManager.GetCurrentUserInformationAsync();
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Current user name: " + currentUser.Name);

Using that user scoped client, the current user record is then extracted from Box, and a diagnostic message is written back stating the current user name.

Incomplete previous step

Please select a preferred language / framework in step 1 to get started.

Summary

  • You've validated whether an Okta user exists as a Box user.
  • You've creating a new app user if they don't exist.
  • You're making a Box API call for an existing Box user.