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Node.js Login with Express and OIDC

avatar-matt-raible.jpg Matt Raible

Node.js just celebrated its 11th birthday on May 27! With the state of things nows, it’s pretty crazy to think back to the massive JavaScript Renaissance boost of 2009. In case you’re not aware, the JavaScript Renaissance began in around 2004 with Ajax, increased exponentially with jQuery in the mid-2000s, and then really took off with Node.js and a plethora of early JavaScript web frameworks; including Backbone.js, Ember.js, and AngularJS.

Today, I’d like to show you the power of Node.js with a simple login example. Express.js is one of the oldest and most-used server-side MVC frameworks for Node.js. Okta happens to provide an OIDC Middleware package that integrates with Express to secure your app with login and logout functionality.

To show how it all works, I created a screencast: Node.js Login with Express and OIDC.

OktaDev Schematics was used in the making of this video. See its Express documentation to reproduce the steps yourself, or follow the instructions below.

Create an Express App and Add Login in 5 Steps

  1. Create a new project with express-generator and pug for the view.

    mkdir express-app
cd express-app
npx express-generator --view=pug

  2. Add a new OIDC App on Okta. After you log in to your dashboard, go to Applications > Add Application. Choose Web and use http://localhost:3000/callback for the login redirect; http://localhost:3000 for the logout redirect.

  3. Install Schematics CLI:

    npm install -g @angular-devkit/schematics-cli

  4. Install and run OktaDev Schematics with your Okta values for $issuer, $clientId, and $clientSecret:

    npm i @oktadev/schematics
schematics @oktadev/schematics:add-auth --issuer=$issuer --clientId=$clientId --clientSecret=$clientSecret
    An .env file will be generated with your client secret in it. Make sure to add *.env to .gitignore and don’t check it into source control!

  5. Start your app and authenticate with Okta! 🚀

    npm start

Learn More About Node.js and JavaScript

I hope you enjoyed this quick tour of how to add a login feature to a Node.js application. If you’re looking to do more with Okta and Node.js, check out our Node.js SDK. It allows you to communicate with Okta APIs to manage your users and their identity.

You can find the source code for this example on GitHub @oktadeveloper/okta-nodejs-login-example.

If you liked this screencast, you might enjoy our other tutorials too.

For more awesome tech talk, follow @oktadev on Twitter. We have a fun YouTube channel too! If you have any questions about Node.js, Okta, or anything related to this blog post, please ask in the comments below.

avatar-matt-raible.jpg Matt Raible

Matt Raible is a well-known figure in the Java community and has been building web applications for most of his adult life. For over 20 years, he has helped developers learn and adopt open source frameworks and use them effectively. He's a web developer, Java Champion, and Developer Advocate at Okta. Matt has been a speaker at many conferences worldwide, including Devoxx Belgium, Devoxx France, Jfokus, and Devnexus. He is the author of The JHipster Mini-Book, Spring Live, and contributed to Pro JSP. He is frequent contributor to open source and a member of the JHipster development team. You can find him online at raibledesigns.com.