/*
* Copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 Acegi Technology Pty Limited
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
package org.springframework.security.authentication;
import org.springframework.security.core.Authentication;
import org.springframework.security.core.AuthenticationException;
/**
* Processes an {@link Authentication} request.
*
* @author Ben Alex
*/
public interface AuthenticationManager {
// ~ Methods
// ========================================================================================================
/**
* Attempts to authenticate the passed {@link Authentication} object, returning a
* fully populated <code>Authentication</code> object (including granted authorities)
* if successful.
* <p>
* An <code>AuthenticationManager</code> must honour the following contract concerning
* exceptions:
* <ul>
* <li>A {@link DisabledException} must be thrown if an account is disabled and the
* <code>AuthenticationManager</code> can test for this state.</li>
* <li>A {@link LockedException} must be thrown if an account is locked and the
* <code>AuthenticationManager</code> can test for account locking.</li>
* <li>A {@link BadCredentialsException} must be thrown if incorrect credentials are
* presented. Whilst the above exceptions are optional, an
* <code>AuthenticationManager</code> must <B>always</B> test credentials.</li>
* </ul>
* Exceptions should be tested for and if applicable thrown in the order expressed
* above (i.e. if an account is disabled or locked, the authentication request is
* immediately rejected and the credentials testing process is not performed). This
* prevents credentials being tested against disabled or locked accounts.
*
* @param authentication the authentication request object
*
* @return a fully authenticated object including credentials
*
* @throws AuthenticationException if authentication fails
*/
Authentication authenticate(Authentication authentication)
throws AuthenticationException;
}