Geoserver/Geofence - Trigger Authentication

Question

Geoserver Catalog MIXED mode in Data Security section is perfect for my purposes since I want to trigger an alert for authentication whenever a specific layer is requested.

Since I need to create Geoserver Users using a REST API from another server I need to use Geofence.

When defining rules in Geofence, there's an option to modify the catalog mode for a specific layer.

I expected this "authentication alert" to appear when the catalog mode in Geofence rules is defined as MIXED. But this is not happening, instead, I receive this error:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?><!DOCTYPE ServiceExceptionReport SYSTEM "http://localhost:8080/geoserver/schemas/wms/1.1.1/WMS_exception_1_1_1.dtd"> <ServiceExceptionReport version="1.1.1" >   <ServiceException code="LayerNotDefined" locator="layers">
      Could not find layer workspace:layer
</ServiceException></ServiceExceptionReport>

Interestingly, If I navigate to the dev tools and check for the request, I'm getting some kind of token in the body:

So my questions:

• Is this the expected behaviour?
• Or i'm doing something wrong?
• What is this token I'm receiving?

Answer 1

You should create a rule for the anonymous user which:

• allows access to the layer
• (rule detail) catalog mode: mixed
• (rule detail) CQL read: EXCLUDE

The "EXCLUDE" filter will make GeoServer evaluate the catalog mode.

You'll also need specific rules for authenticated users (or groups) for accessing the layer.