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:7.4.3.86-ga86
Sign in to Liferay at http://localhost:8080. Use the email address test@liferay.com and the password test. When prompted, change the password to learn.
Then, follow these steps:
Download and unzip User Account API Basics.
curl https://resources.learn.liferay.com/dxp/latest/en/users-and-permissions/developer-guide/liferay-y6q4.zip -O
unzip liferay-y6q4.zip
Use the cURL script to add a new User to your Liferay instance. On the command line, navigate to the
curl
folder. Execute theUser_POST_ToInstance.sh
script../User_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": "able@liferay.com", "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": [] } }%
In Control Panel, verify the newly added User. Note the User’s
id
number for later commands.The REST service can also be called with a Java class. Navigate out of the
curl
folder and into thejava
folder. Compile the source files with the following command:javac -classpath .:* *.java
Run the
User_POST_ToInstance
class with the following command:java -classpath .:* User_POST_ToInstance
Verify in Control Panel that another User has been added.
Read on to see how the cURL command and Java class work.
Examine the cURL Command
The User_POST_ToInstance.sh
script calls the REST service with a cURL command.
curl \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-X POST \
"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts" \
-d "{\"alternateName\": \"Able\", \"emailAddress\": \"able@liferay.com\", \"familyName\": \"Foo\", \"givenName\": \"Able\"}" \
-u "test@liferay.com: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\": \"able@liferay.com\", \"familyName\": \"Foo\", \"givenName\": \"Able\"}" |
The data you are requesting to post |
-u "test@liferay.com:learn" |
Basic authentication credentials |
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 User_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(
"test@liferay.com", "learn"
).build();
UserAccount userAccount = userAccountResource.postUserAccount(
new UserAccount() {
{
alternateName = "Baker";
emailAddress = "baker@liferay.com";
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
.
The main
method’s comment demonstrates running the class.
The other example Java classes are similar to this one but call different UserAccountResource
methods.
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.
Users_GET_FromInstance.sh
Command:
./Users_GET_FromInstance.sh
Code:
curl \
"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts" \
-u "test@liferay.com:learn"
Users_GET_FromInstance.java
Command:
java -classpath .:* Users_GET_FromInstance
Code:
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();
UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
"test@liferay.com", "learn"
).build();
Page<UserAccount> page = userAccountResource.getUserAccountsPage(
null, null, Pagination.of(1, 2), null);
System.out.println(page);
}
All the Users of the instance are listed in the JSON response.
Get a User
Get a specific User with the following cURL and Java commands. Note, replace 1234
with your User’s ID.
User_GET_ById.sh
Command:
./User_GET_ById.sh 1234
Code:
curl \
"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
-u "test@liferay.com:learn"
User_GET_ById.java
Command:
java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 User_GET_ById
Code:
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();
UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
"test@liferay.com", "learn"
).build();
System.out.println(
userAccountResource.getUserAccount(
Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId"))));
}
The User is returned in the JSON response.
Patch a User
Do a partial edit of an existing User with the following cURL and Java commands. Note, replace 1234
with your User’s ID.
User_PATCH_ById.sh
Command:
./User_PATCH_ById.sh 1234
Code:
curl \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-X PATCH \
"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
-d "{\"familyName\": \"Bar\"}" \
-u "test@liferay.com:learn"
User_PATCH_ById.java
Command:
java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 User_PATCH_ById
Code:
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();
UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
"test@liferay.com", "learn"
).build();
UserAccount userAccount = userAccountResource.patchUserAccount(
Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId")),
new UserAccount() {
{
familyName = "Bar";
}
});
System.out.println(userAccount);
}
Note that in the example Able and Baker’s last name has now 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.
User_PUT_ById.sh
Command:
./User_PUT_ById.sh 1234
Code:
curl \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-X PUT \
"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
-d "{\"alternateName\": \"Able\", \"emailAddress\": \"able@liferay.com\", \"familyName\": \"Goo\", \"givenName\": \"Able\"}" \
-u "test@liferay.com:learn"
User_PUT_ById.java
Command:
java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 User_PUT_ById
Code:
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();
UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
"test@liferay.com", "learn"
).build();
UserAccount userAccount = userAccountResource.putUserAccount(
Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId")),
new UserAccount() {
{
alternateName = "Baker";
emailAddress = "baker@liferay.com";
familyName = "Goo";
givenName = "Baker";
}
});
System.out.println(userAccount);
}
Note that in the example the previous data has now been replaced with Able Goo and Baker Goo.
Delete a User
Delete an existing User with the following cURL and Java commands. Note, replace 1234
with your User’s ID.
User_DELETE_ById.sh
Command:
./User_DELETE_ById.sh 1234
Code:
curl \
-X DELETE \
"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/user-accounts/${1}" \
-u "test@liferay.com:learn"
User_DELETE_ById.java
Command:
java -classpath .:* -DuserId=1234 User_DELETE_ById
Code:
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
UserAccountResource.Builder builder = UserAccountResource.builder();
UserAccountResource userAccountResource = builder.authentication(
"test@liferay.com", "learn"
).build();
userAccountResource.deleteUserAccount(
Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("userId")));
}
The Users Able Goo and Baker Goo have now been deleted.
Related Topics
Check out the API Explorer to see the list of all User related REST services.