User Account API Basics

You can add and manage users from the Control Panel, but you can also use Liferay’s REST APIs. You can call these services to add, edit, delete users.

Start with adding a new user.

Adding Users

Start a new Liferay instance by running

docker run -it -m 8g -p 8080:8080 liferay/portal:7.4.3.132-ga132

Sign in to Liferay at http://localhost:8080. Use the email address [e-mail] and the password test. When prompted, change the password to learn.

Then, follow these steps:

1. Download and unzip User Account API Basics.

   curl https://resources.learn.liferay.com/examples/liferay-y6q4.zip -O
   

   unzip liferay-y6q4.zip
   

2. Use the cURL script to add a new User to your Liferay instance. On the command line, navigate to the curl folder. Execute the UserAccounts_POST_ToInstance.sh script.

   ./UserAccounts_POST_ToInstance.sh
   

   The JSON response shows a new user has been added:

   {
     "additionalName": "",
     "alternateName": "able",
     "birthDate": "1977-01-01T00:00:00Z",
     "customFields": [],
     "dashboardURL": "",
     "dateCreated": "2021-05-19T16:04:46Z",
     "dateModified": "2021-05-19T16:04:46Z",
     "emailAddress": "[e-mail]",
     "familyName": "Foo",
     "givenName": "Able",
     "id": 39321,
     "jobTitle": "",
     "keywords": [],
     "name": "Able Foo",
     "organizationBriefs": [],
     "profileURL": "",
     "roleBriefs": [
       {
         "id": 20113,
         "name": "User"
       }
     ],
     "siteBriefs": [
       {
         "id": 20127,
         "name": "Global"
       },
       {
         "id": 20125,
         "name": "Guest"
       }
     ],
     "userAccountContactInformation": {
       "emailAddresses": [],
       "facebook": "",
       "jabber": "",
       "postalAddresses": [],
       "skype": "",
       "sms": "",
       "telephones": [],
       "twitter": "",
       "webUrls": []
     }
   }%
   

   Open the Global Menu () and navigate to Control Panel → Users and Organizations. Verify the addition of a new user. Note the user’s id number for later commands.

   

3. The REST service can also be called with a Java class. Navigate out of the curl folder and into the java folder. Compile the source files with the following command:

   javac -classpath .:* *.java
   

4. Run the UserAccounts_POST_ToInstance class with the following command:

   java -classpath .:* UserAccounts_POST_ToInstance
   

   Open the Global Menu () and navigate to Control Panel → Users and Organizations. Verify the addition of a new user.

Read on to see how the cURL command and Java class work.

Examine the cURL Command

The UserAccounts_POST_ToInstance.sh script calls the REST service with a cURL command.

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"alternateName": "Able",
			"emailAddress": "[e-mail]",
			"familyName": "Foo",
			"givenName": "Able"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "POST" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

Here are the command’s arguments:

Arguments	Description
-H "Content-Type: application/json"	Indicates that the request body format is JSON.
-X POST	The HTTP method to invoke at the specified endpoint
"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts"	The REST service endpoint
-d "{\"alternateName\": \"Able\", \"emailAddress\": \"[e-mail]\", \"familyName\": \"Foo\", \"givenName\": \"Able\"}"	The data you are requesting to post
-u "[e-mail]:learn"	Basic authentication credentials

Note

Basic authentication is used here for demonstration purposes. For production, you should authorize users via OAuth2. See Using OAuth2 to Authorize Users for a sample React application that uses OAuth2.

The other cURL commands use similar JSON arguments.

Examine the Java Class

The UserAccounts_POST_ToInstance.java class adds a user by calling the user related service.

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();

	UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
		"[e-mail]", "learn"
	).build();

	UserAccount userAccount = userAccountResource.postUserAccount(
		new UserAccount() {
			{
				alternateName = "Baker";
				emailAddress = "[e-mail]";
				familyName = "Foo";
				givenName = "Baker";
			}
		});

	System.out.println(userAccount);
}

The class calls the REST service with only three lines of code:

Line (abbreviated)	Description
UserAccountResource.Builder builder = ...	Gets a Builder for generating a UserAccountResource service instance.
UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(...).build()	Specifies basic authentication and generates a UserAccountResources service instance.
UserAccount userAccount = userAccountResource.postUserAccount(...)	Calls the userAccountResource.postUserAccount method and passes the data to post.

Note that the project includes the com.liferay.headless.admin.user.client.jar file as a dependency. You can find client JAR dependency information for all REST applications in the API explorer in your installation at /o/api.

Note

The main method’s comment demonstrates running the class.

The other example Java classes are similar to this one but call different UserAccountResource methods.

Important

See UserAccountResource for service details.

Below are examples of calling the other user REST services using cURL and Java.

Get Instance Users

Get a list of all users with the following cURL and Java commands.

UserAccounts_GET_FromInstance.sh

Command:

./UserAccounts_GET_FromInstance.sh

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

UserAccounts_GET_FromInstance.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* UserAccounts_GET_FromInstance

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();

	UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
		"[e-mail]", "learn"
	).build();

	Page<UserAccount> page = userAccountResource.getUserAccountsPage(
		null, null, Pagination.of(1, 2), null);

	System.out.println(page);
}

All the users from your instance appear in the JSON response.

Filtering, Paginating, Searching, and Sorting Users

Users returned by this API can be filtered, paginated, searched, and sorted. See the getUserAccountsPage method for more information. Use the following UserAccount fields to filter, search, and sort the results:

• keywords
• roleNames
• userGroupRoleNames
• birthDate
• dateCreated
• dateModified
• lastLoginDate Deprecated in Liferay DXP 2024.Q4/Portal GA129
• organizationIds
• roleIds
• userGroupIds
• status Liferay DXP 2024.Q3+/Portal GA125+
• alternateName
• screenName
• emailAddress
• familyName
• givenName
• jobTitle
• name
• customFields Liferay DXP 2024.Q4+/Portal GA129+

Filter Query	Description
status eq 0	The user account status must be Active.
status eq 5	The user account status must be Inactive.
roleIds in ('20100', 20104')	The user account must have the role of an Administrator (20100) or a Power User (20104).
jobTitle eq 'Parts Consultant'	The user account job title must be Parts Consultant.
customFields/githubProfileUrl eq 'www.github.com/able.foo'	The user account has a custom field called githubProfileUrl with the value www.github.com/able.foo.

Sort Query	Description
dateCreated:desc	Sort by dateCreated in descending order.
dateCreated:desc,lastLoginDate:desc	Sort by dateCreated in descending order first, then by lastLoginDate in descending order.

Read API Query Parameters for more information.

Get a User

Get a specific user with the following cURL and Java commands. Note, replace 1234 with your user’s ID.

UserAccounts_GET_ById.sh

Command:

./UserAccounts_GET_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

UserAccounts_GET_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 UserAccounts_GET_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();

	UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
		"[e-mail]", "learn"
	).build();

	System.out.println(
		userAccountResource.getUserAccount(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId"))));
}

The user is returned in the JSON response.

Patch a User

Do a partial edit of an existing user with the following cURL and Java commands. Note, replace 1234 with your user’s ID.

UserAccounts_PATCH_ById.sh

Command:

./UserAccounts_PATCH_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"familyName": "Bar"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "PATCH" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

UserAccounts_PATCH_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 UserAccounts_PATCH_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();

	UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
		"[e-mail]", "learn"
	).build();

	UserAccount userAccount = userAccountResource.patchUserAccount(
		Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId")),
		new UserAccount() {
			{
				familyName = "Bar";
			}
		});

	System.out.println(userAccount);
}

In the example, Able and Baker’s last names have changed from Foo to Bar.

Put a User

Do a complete overwrite of an existing user with the following cURL and Java commands. Note, replace 1234 with your user’s ID.

UserAccounts_PUT_ById.sh

Command:

./UserAccounts_PUT_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"alternateName": "Able",
			"emailAddress": "[e-mail]",
			"familyName": "Goo",
			"givenName": "Able"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "PUT" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

UserAccounts_PUT_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 UserAccounts_PUT_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();

	UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
		"[e-mail]", "learn"
	).build();

	UserAccount userAccount = userAccountResource.putUserAccount(
		Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId")),
		new UserAccount() {
			{
				alternateName = "Baker";
				emailAddress = "[e-mail]";
				familyName = "Goo";
				givenName = "Baker";
			}
		});

	System.out.println(userAccount);
}

This replaces the previous data with Able Goo and Baker Goo in the example.

Tip

Use UserAccounts_PATCH_ById.[java|sh] or UserAccounts_PUT_ById.[java|sh] to activate or deactivate a user by changing the status field to Active or Inactive. To change the status of a user with a workflow active, you must use the headless-admin-workflow API instead. Find usage details in the API Explorer.

Delete a User

Delete an existing user with the following cURL and Java commands. Note, replace 1234 with your user’s ID.

UserAccounts_DELETE_ById.sh

Command:

./UserAccounts_DELETE_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
	--request "DELETE" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

UserAccounts_DELETE_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 UserAccounts_DELETE_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();

	UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
		"[e-mail]", "learn"
	).build();

	userAccountResource.deleteUserAccount(
		Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId")));
}

This deletes both users Able Goo and Baker Goo.

Related Topics

Check out the API Explorer to see the list of all User related REST services.

Note

Get user postal addresses with PostalAddresses_GET_FromUser