Connecting to remote URL which requires authentication using Java

java httpurlconnection
user14128 picture user14128 · Jan 30, 2009 · Viewed 250k times · Source

How do I connect to a remote URL in Java which requires authentication. I'm trying to find a way to modify the following code to be able to programatically provide a username/password so it doesn't throw a 401.

URL url = new URL(String.format("http://%s/manager/list", _host + ":8080"));
HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();

Answer

James Van Huis picture James Van Huis · Jan 30, 2009

You can set the default authenticator for http requests like this:

Authenticator.setDefault (new Authenticator() {
    protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
        return new PasswordAuthentication ("username", "password".toCharArray());
    }
});

Also, if you require more flexibility, you can check out the Apache HttpClient, which will give you more authentication options (as well as session support, etc.)

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