How to implement Oauth protocol in Powershell (an example with Latch)

Latch already counts with lots of SDKs and plugins, so you can implement it with different languages or use it with your favorite CMS. There is an “unofficial” bash implementation, even. But you may want to experiment with Latch and some Powershell scripting. Since Latch uses some kind of Oauth technique to authenticate, you may use this code to implement any other Oauth protocol with Powershell, with minor changes to this code.

Different SDKs and plugins developed so far

The best way to deal with this is to create a Powershell module that will export some functions. Creating a module is easy. Just use your editor of choice and write down the functions you need. You will need a Latch account, remember this is just as easy as:

• Register for free here to get a Latch account in a couple of minutes. Register as a developer.
• Create your account so you get your Secret and AppId.
• Download the app for your smartphone: It is available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Firefox OS.

Coding

We will create some funcions so we can interact with the official API. First of all, the constants:

Set-Variable API_HOST -option Constant -value "https://latch.elevenpaths.com";
Set-Variable API_CHECK_STATUS_URL -option Constant -value "/api/0.6/status";
Set-Variable API_PAIR_URL -option Constant -value "/api/0.6/pair";
Set-Variable API_UNPAIR_URL -option Constant -value "/api/0.6/unpair";

This will be the code function for the other ones. It will get an URL, the AppId and the Secret. Will return the result (code is simplified):

function AuthenticationHeaders{
    param(
        [string] $url,
        [string] $applicationId,
        [string] $secretkey
         )

   $requestSignature="GET`n"

   $date = Get-Date -format u
   $date = $date.Substring(0,$date.Length-1)

   $requestSignature+=$date+"`n`n"+$url
   $sha = new-object System.Security.Cryptography.HMACSHA1
   $sha.Key = [Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes($secretkey)
   $seedBytes = [Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes($requestSignature)
   $digest = $sha.ComputeHash($seedBytes)
   $base64Encoded = [Convert]::Tobase64String($digest)
   $wc = New-Object system.net.webclient
   $wc.Headers.Add("Authorization","11PATHS " + "$($applicationId) $($base64Encoded)")
   $wc.Headers.Add("X-11Paths-Date", $date)
   Try 
   {
     $result = $wc.DownloadString($API_HOST+$url)
   }
   Catch
   {
     $ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
     $FailedItem = $_.Exception.ItemName
     Break
 }
   return $result
}

Now you have the basics, the functionality is easier to achieve. For example, pairing an account would be just this:

function Pair{
   param(
         $applicationId,
         $secretkey,
         $pairingCode
         )

   $url = "$($API_PAIR_URL)/$($pairingCode)"

   $result = AuthenticationHeaders $url $applicationId $secretkey
   return $result
}

That will just basically call AuthenticationHeaders with the right parameters.

To check the status of the account (one of the most important features) just use this, using again the main AuthenticationHeaders function.

function Status{
   param(
         $applicationId,
         $secretkey,
         $accountID
         )

   $url = "$($API_CHECK_STATUS_URL)/$($accountID)"

   $result = AuthenticationHeaders $url $applicationId $secretkey
   return $result
}

For unpairing:

function UnPair{

   param(
         $applicationId,
         $secretkey,
         $accountID
         )

   $url = "$($API_UNPAIR_URL)/$($accountID)"

   $result = AuthenticationHeaders $url $applicationId $secretkey
   return $result
}

How to use it

There is much more to do and functions to implement, that are left as an exercise to the reader. To use this code, insert a line in the module with the functions you want to export, like:

Export-ModuleMember -Function Pair,UnPair,Status

Now, you can install this module, (just copying it to %UserProfile%DocumentsWindowsPowerShellModules, for example) and use it like this,. If you named it Latch.ps1, it would be, for example:

$l = import-module Latch -ascustomobject
$applicationId="bqwRxYXXXXXXX"
$secretkey="6O6zi6PDPnLzfVZcXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
$accountID="543ac56903aee2bc7fa40c88ed274e1XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

$l.Pair($applicationId,$secretkey,$args[0])
$l.Status($applicationId,$secretkey,$accountID)
$l.UnPair($applicationId,$secretkey,$accountID)

This commands will return a JSON you can parse, just like the specifications in https://latch.elevenpaths.com suggest.

An example of using this scripts for pairing, getting the status and unparing

For another approach to this problem, the SDK for powershell may be used, that will be available soon.