Deployment

Logging into the Dev environment

API Authentication (Passport)

BLIS v3.0 API uses tokens to authenticate users and does not maintain session state between requests. It therefore uses Laravel Passport, which provides a full OAuth2 server implementation for the application in a matter of minutes. Passport is built on top of the League OAuth2 server that is maintained by Andy Millington and Simon Hamp. More on Laravel Passport here

Installation

1. Install Passport via the Composer package manager:

   composer require laravel/passport
   

2. The Passport service provider registers its own database migration directory with the framework, so you should migrate your database after registering the provider. The Passport migrations will create the tables your application needs to store clients and access tokens:

   php artisan migrate
   

3. Next, you should run the passport:install command. This command will create the encryption keys needed to generate secure access tokens. In addition, the command will create “personal access” and “password grant” clients which will be used to generate access tokens:

   php artisan passport:install
   

4. After running this command, add the Laravel\Passport\HasApiTokens trait to your App\User model. This trait will provide a few helper methods to your model which allow you to inspect the authenticated user’s token and scopes:

   <?php
   
   namespace App;
   
   use Laravel\Passport\HasApiTokens;
   use Illuminate\Notifications\Notifiable;
   use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User as Authenticatable;
   
   class User extends Authenticatable
   {
       use HasApiTokens, Notifiable;
   }
   

5. Next, you should call the Passport: :routes method within the boot method of your AuthServiceProvider. This method will register the routes necessary to issue access tokens and revoke access tokens, clients, and personal access tokens:

   <?php
   
   namespace App\Providers;
   
   use Laravel\Passport\Passport;
   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Gate;
   use Illuminate\Foundation\Support\Providers\AuthServiceProvider as ServiceProvider;
   
   class AuthServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
   {
       /**
        * The policy mappings for the application.
        *
        * @var array
        */
       protected $policies = [
           'App\Model' => 'App\Policies\ModelPolicy',
       ];
   
       /**
        * Register any authentication / authorization services.
        *
        * @return void
        */
       public function boot()
       {
           $this->registerPolicies();
   
           Passport::routes();
       }
   }
   

6. Finally, in your config/auth.php configuration file, you should set the driver option of the api authentication guard to passport. This will instruct your application to use Passport’s TokenGuard when authenticating incoming API requests:

   'guards' => [
       'web' => [
           'driver' => 'session',
           'provider' => 'users',
       ],
   
       'api' => [
           'driver' => 'passport',
           'provider' => 'users',
       ],
   ],
   

Seeders

The Dev Seeder adds dummy data to the database. This includes users, tests, specimen, e.t.c. An admin account is also created for test purposes. The admin has all access rights and can access all routes on BLIS. The database can be seeded using php artisan db:seed

Logging into the Live System

The API has a familiar login screen to most systems. Use your assigned Email and Password combinations to gain access into the system. The figure below shows this screen.

If a wrong combination is used, you shall be notified by a popup.

Main Dashboard (Admin)

Once Authenticated, Blis V3 provides a compact and easy to use Interface. The number of visible components depends on the Authenticated User’s Role and access rights. The image below shows the administrator’s view. The admin has access rights to all components.

Sidebar

The side bar provides easy access to the components and can be expanded to reveal more items.