App Builder

UrsYathivi · 3/4/24

I've been searching for the past two days for a way to implement a create user function in my ASP.NET Core Web API without using the okta register user view, since I have a react.js frontend, but I can't seem to find a direct way.

AdamGr19 · 11/12/24

To implement a custom "create user" function in your ASP.NET Core Web API without using Okta's user registration view, you'll need to interact with the Okta API directly from your backend. This can be done by using the Okta API to create users, authenticate them, and manage their information programmatically.

Here’s how you can implement a create user function in your ASP.NET Core Web API:

Steps:

Set up your Okta Application:
- Make sure you have an Okta Developer account and an Okta application.
- Obtain the Okta domain and API token from your Okta account settings (these will be used to interact with the Okta API).
Install Okta SDK for .NET (optional):
- You can use Okta's official SDK or directly interact with the Okta API via HTTP requests.
- To install Okta's SDK, use the following NuGet command:
```
dotnet add package Okta.Sdk
```
- Alternatively, you can use HttpClient to directly call the Okta API without the SDK.
Create a User Controller in ASP.NET Core:
- In your Web API, create a controller where you’ll handle user registration.
User Registration Logic: You’ll need to send a POST request to Okta’s API endpoint to create a user. This involves passing details such as firstName, lastName, email, and password.
Below is an example of how you can implement this in your API.

Example Code:

1. Okta Configuration:

First, create a configuration class to store Okta settings.

public class OktaSettings
{
    public string OktaDomain { get; set; }
    public string ApiToken { get; set; }
}

2. User Registration Endpoint:

Create a controller with a CreateUser endpoint. Here’s an example of how to register a user in Okta from your ASP.NET Core API:

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class UsersController : ControllerBase
{
    private readonly OktaSettings _oktaSettings;
    private readonly HttpClient _httpClient;

    public UsersController(IOptions<OktaSettings> oktaSettings, HttpClient httpClient)
    {
        _oktaSettings = oktaSettings.Value;
        _httpClient = httpClient;
    }

    [HttpPost("register")]
    public async Task<IActionResult> RegisterUser([FromBody] CreateUserRequest model)
    {
        var user = new
        {
            profile = new
            {
                firstName = model.FirstName,
                lastName = model.LastName,
                email = model.Email,
                login = model.Email // Login is typically the email for Okta users
            },
            credentials = new
            {
                password = new { value = model.Password }
            }
        };

        var content = new StringContent(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(user), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");

        var request = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Post, $"{_oktaSettings.OktaDomain}/api/v1/users")
        {
            Content = content
        };

        // Add Authorization header with your Okta API token
        request.Headers.Add("Authorization", $"SSWS {_oktaSettings.ApiToken}");

        var response = await _httpClient.SendAsync(request);

        if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
        {
            return Ok("User created successfully");
        }

        var error = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
        return BadRequest($"Error creating user: {error}");
    }
}

public class CreateUserRequest
{
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
    public string Password { get; set; }
}

3. Configure Okta Settings:

Make sure your Okta settings are in the appsettings.json file:

{
  "OktaSettings": {
    "OktaDomain": "https://your-okta-domain.okta.com",
    "ApiToken": "your-okta-api-token"
  }
}

Then, register the OktaSettings class in Startup.cs or Program.cs (depending on your ASP.NET Core version):

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.Configure<OktaSettings>(Configuration.GetSection("OktaSettings"));
    services.AddHttpClient();
    services.AddControllers();
}

4. Frontend (React) Integration:

From your React frontend, you can call the RegisterUser API endpoint to create a user. Here’s an example using fetch:

const createUser = async (user) => {
    const response = await fetch('/api/users/register', {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        },
        body: JSON.stringify(user),
    });

    if (response.ok) {
        alert('User created successfully');
    } else {
        alert('Error creating user');
    }
};

// Example user data
const user = {
    firstName: 'John',
    lastName: 'Doe',
    email: 'john.doe@example.com',
    password: 'SecurePassword123',
};

// Call the createUser function
createUser(user);