django-impersonate 1.9.5
Django app to allow superusers to impersonate other users.
License: BSD License

django-impersonate |nlshield|
-----------------------------

Simple application to allow superusers to "impersonate" other
non-superuser accounts.

**Version:** 1.9.5

**Project Links:**
`Issues <https://todo.code.netlandish.com/~petersanchez/django-impersonate>`__
- `Mailing
List <https://lists.code.netlandish.com/~petersanchez/public-inbox>`__ -
`Contributing <#contributing>`__

**Author:** Peter Sanchez (https://petersanchez.com)

Python / Django Support
=======================

-  Python 3.10+ for Django versions 4.2+

**Note:** As of version 1.4 we are only officially supporting Python and
Django versions that are supported by the official projects. So if a
Python or Django version is End-of-Life'd, then we will no longer
support that version either.

Dependencies
============

-  Depends on your project using the django.contrib.session framework.

**NOTE:**

-  **Versions 1.9.3 and below** are vulnerable to an XSS scripting
   vulnerability where an attacker can craft a malicious URL and execute
   JS if an authorized user clicks/follows the URL. Please upgrade to
   1.9.3 or newer.
-  **Version 1.6** has officially removed support for the old settings
   format. Please see the `settings <#settings>`__ section for how
   settings should be configured.
-  **Version 1.5 is now only officially supporting Django's 1.11, 2.2,
   and 3.0**
-  **Version 1.4 is now officially supporting Python 3.6+ and Django
   1.11+**
-  **Version 1.3 adds a settings format change.** Please see the
   Settings section for details.
-  **Version 1.0 adds new functionality by default.** Please see the
   ``DISABLE_LOGGING`` settings option.
-  If you need to use this with Django older than 1.8, please use
   version django-impersonate == 1.0.1
-  If you need to use this with Django older than 1.7, please use
   version django-impersonate == 0.9.2
-  **Version 0.9.2 partially reverts work completed in version 0.9.1.**
   This is because work done to address a request in `Issue
   #17 <https://bitbucket.org/petersanchez/django-impersonate/issues/17/remember-where-to-return-to-after>`__
   broke default behavior for all previous versions. `Issue
   #24 <https://bitbucket.org/petersanchez/django-impersonate/issues/24/impersonate_redirect_url-no-longer-works>`__
   was opened and the fix was released in 0.9.2 to address it. Please
   see the new ``USE_HTTP_REFERER`` settings option.
-  If you need to use this with Django older than 1.4, please use
   version django-impersonate == 0.5.3

Installation
============

PIP:

::

   pip install django-impersonate

Basic Manual Install:

::

   $ python setup.py build
   $ sudo python setup.py install

Alternative Install (Manually):

Place impersonate directory in your Python path. Either in your Python
installs site-packages directory or set your $PYTHONPATH environment
variable to include a directory where the impersonate directory lives.

Use
===

#. Add ``impersonate`` to your INSTALLED_APPS

#. Add ``impersonate.middleware.ImpersonateMiddleware`` to your
   ``MIDDLEWARE`` setting.

#. Add ``impersonate.urls`` somewhere in your url structure. Example:

   ::

      urlpatterns = patterns('',
          url(r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
          url(r'^impersonate/', include('impersonate.urls')),
          ... (all your other urls here) ...
      )

**Note:** The ``ImpersonationMiddleware`` class should be placed AFTER
the ``django.contrib.auth.*`` middleware classes

Functionality
=============

**You can now impersonate another user by hitting the following path:**

::

   /impersonate/<user-id>/

Replace <user-id> with the user id of the user you want to impersonate.

While in impersonation "mode" the ``request.user`` object will have an
``is_impersonate`` attribute set to ``True`` as well as ``impersonator``
(and also ``request.impersonator``) set to the original user. So if you
wanted to check in your templates or view, you just do something
like...:

::

   {% if user.is_impersonate %} .... {% endif %}

The original user is available as ``user.impersonator`` or
``request.impersonator``:

::

   {{ request.user }} ({{ request.impersonator }})

The real user is available as ``request.real_user`` - this is equivalent
to calling ``getattr(request, 'impersonator', request.user)``:

::

   assert request.real_user == getattr(request, 'impersonator', request.user)

You can reference this URL with ``reverse`` or the ``{% url %}``
template tag as ``impersonate-start`` and expects the argument of the
user ID. Example:

::

   reverse('impersonate-start', args=[user.id])
   reverse('impersonate-start', uid=user.id)

**To remove the impersonation, hit the following path:**

::

   /impersonate/stop/

You can reference this URL with ``reverse`` or the ``{% url %}``
template tag as ``impersonate-stop``. When you call this URL, you will
be redirected to the page that you used to start impersonating a user
(eg, some search results or the user list).

**To list all users you can go to:**

::

   /impersonate/list/

This will render the template ``impersonate/list_users.html`` and will
pass the following in the context:

-  ``users`` - queryset of all users
-  ``paginator`` - Django Paginator instance
-  ``page`` - Current page of objects (from Paginator)
-  ``page_number`` - Current page number, defaults to 1

You can reference this URL with ``reverse`` or the ``{% url %}``
template tag as ``impersonate-list``.

**To search all users you can go to:**

::

   /impersonate/search/

This will render the template 'impersonate/search_users.html' and will
pass the following in the context:

-  ``users`` - queryset of all users
-  ``paginator`` - Django Paginator instance
-  ``page`` - Current page of objects (from Paginator)
-  ``page_number`` - Current page number, defaults to 1
-  ``query`` - The search query that was entered

The view will expect a GET request and look for the ``q`` variable being
passed. If present, it will search the user entries with the value of
``q``. The default fields searched are:

``User.username``, ``User.first_name``, ``User.last_name``,
``User.email``

You can reference this URL with ``reverse`` or the ``{% url %}``
template tag as ``impersonate-search``.

**To allow some users to impersonate other users**

You can optionally allow only some non-superuser and non-staff users to
impersonate by adding a ``CUSTOM_ALLOW`` setting option. Create a
function that takes a request object, and based on your rules, returns
``True`` if the user is allowed to impersonate or not.

**To limit what users a user can impersonate**

By, optionally, setting the ``CUSTOM_USER_QUERYSET`` option you can
control what users can be impersonated. It takes a request object of the
user, and returns a QuerySet of users. This is used when searching for
users to impersonate, when listing what users to impersonate, and when
trying to start impersonation.

Signals
=======

If you wish to hook into the impersonation session (for instance, in
order to audit access), there are two signals that are fired by
django-impersonate, at the beginning and end of a session:

-  ``session_begin`` - sent when calling the ``impersonate`` view
-  ``session_end`` - sent when calling the ``stop_impersonate`` view

Both of these signals send the same arguments:

-  ``sender`` - this is a Django signal requirement, and is always set
   to None
-  ``impersonator`` - a reference to the User object of the person doing
   the impersonation
-  ``impersonating`` - a reference to the User object of the person
   being impersonated
-  ``request`` - the Django HttpRequest object from which the
   impersonation was invoked

The request object is included as it contains pertinent information that
you may wish to audit - such as client IP address, user-agent string,
etc.

For an example of how to hook up the signals, see the relevant test -
``test_successful_impersonation_signals``.

The ``session_end`` signal will only be fired if the impersonator
explicitly ends the session.

Settings
========

The following settings are available for django-impersonate. All
settings should be set as variables in a dictionary assigned to the
attribute named ``IMPERSONATE``.

For example:

::

   IMPERSONATE = {
       'REDIRECT_URL': '/some-path/',
       'PAGINATE_COUNT': 10,
   }

Here are the options available...

::

   REDIRECT_URL

This is the URL you want to be redirected to *after* you have chosen to
impersonate another user. If this is not present it will check for the
``LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL`` setting and fall back to '/' if neither is
present. Value should be a string containing the redirect path.

::

   READ_ONLY

A boolean that if set to ``True`` any requests that are not either
``GET`` or ``HEAD`` or ``OPTIONS`` will result in a "Bad Request"
response (status code 405). Use this if you want to limit your
impersonating users to read only impersonation sessions.

Value should be a boolean, defaults to ``False``

If the ``CUSTOM_READ_ONLY`` is set, then that custom function is used,
and this setting is ignored.

::

   CUSTOM_READ_ONLY

A string that represents a function (e.g.
``module.submodule.mod.function_name``) that allows more fine grained
control over who has read only access. It takes one argument, the
request object, and should return True to restrict the user to only
allow ``GET``, ``HEAD`` and ``OPTIONS`` requests.

It is optional, and if it is not present, ``READ_ONLY`` setting value
applies.

::

   USE_HTTP_REFERER

If this is set to ``True``, then the app will attempt to be redirect you
to the URL you were at when the impersonation began once you have
*stopped* the impersonation. For example, if you were at the url
'/foo/bar/' when you began impersonating a user, once you end the
impersonation, you will be redirected back to '/foo/bar/' instead of the
value in ``REDIRECT_URL``.

Value should be a boolean, defaults to ``False``

::

   PAGINATE_COUNT

This is the number of users to paginate by when using the list or search
views. This defaults to 20. Value should be an integer.

::

   REQUIRE_SUPERUSER

If this is set to ``True``, then only users who have ``is_superuser``
set to ``True`` will be allowed to impersonate other users. Default is
``False``. If ``False``, then any ``is_staff`` user will be able to
impersonate other users.

**Note:** Regardless of this setting, a ``is_staff`` user will **not**
be allowed to impersonate a ``is_superuser`` user.

Value should be a boolean

If the ``CUSTOM_ALLOW`` is set, then that custom function is used, and
this setting is ignored.

::

   ALLOW_SUPERUSER

By default, superusers cannot be impersonated; this setting allows for
that.

**Note:** Even when this is true, only superusers can impersonate other
superusers, regardless of the value of REQUIRE_SUPERUSER.

Value should be a boolean and the default is ``False``.

::

   URI_EXCLUSIONS

Set to a list/tuple of url patterns that, if matched, user impersonation
is not completed. It defaults to:

::

   (r'^admin/',)

If you do not want to use even the default exclusions then set the
setting to an empty list/tuple.

::

   CUSTOM_USER_QUERYSET

A string that represents a function (e.g.
``module.submodule.mod.function_name``) that allows more fine grained
control over what users a user can impersonate. It takes one argument,
the request object, and should return a QuerySet. Only the users in this
queryset can be impersonated.

This function will not be called when the request has an unauthorised
users, and will only be called when the user is allowed to impersonate
(cf. ``REQUIRE_SUPERUSER`` and ``CUSTOM_ALLOW``).

Regardless of what this function returns, a user cannot impersonate a
superuser, even if there are superusers in the returned QuerySet.

It is optional, and if it is not present, the user can impersonate any
user (i.e. the default is ``User.objects.all()``).

::

   CUSTOM_ALLOW

A string that represents a function (e.g.
``module.submodule.mod.function_name``) that allows more fine grained
control over who can use the impersonation. It takes one argument, the
request object, and should return True to allow impersonation.
Regardless of this setting, the user must be logged in to impersonate.
If this setting is used, ``REQUIRE_SUPERUSER`` is ignored.

It is optional, and if it is not present, the previous rules about
superuser and ``REQUIRE_SUPERUSER`` apply.

::

   REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME

A string that represents the name of a request (GET) parameter which
contains the URL to redirect to after impersonating a user. This can be
used to redirect to a custom page after impersonating a user. Example:

::

   # in settings.py
   IMPERSONATE = {'REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME': 'next'}

   # in your template
   <a href="{% url 'impersonate-list' %}?next=/some/url/">switch user</a>

To return always to the current page after impersonating a user, use
request.path:

::

   `<a href="{% url 'impersonate-list' %}?next={{request.path}}">switch user</a>`

Each use case is different so obviously set the next value to whatever
your case requires.

::

   SEARCH_FIELDS

Array of user model fields used for building searching query. Default
value is [``User.USERNAME_FIELD``, ``first_name``, ``last_name``,
``email``]. If the User model doesn't have the ``USERNAME_FIELD``
attribute, it falls back to 'username' (< Django 1.5).

::

   LOOKUP_TYPE

A string that represents SQL lookup type for searching users by query on
fields above. It is ``icontains`` by default.

::

   DISABLE_LOGGING

A boolean that can be used to disable the logging of impersonation
sessions. By default each impersonation ``session_begin`` signal will
create a new ``ImpersonationLog`` object, which is closed out (duration
calculated) at the corresponding ``session_end`` signal.

It is optional, and defaults to False (i.e. logging is enabled).

::

   MAX_FILTER_SIZE

The max number of items acceptable in the admin list filters. If the
number of items exceeds this, then the filter list is the size of the
settings value. This is used by the "Filter by impersonator" filter.

It is optional, and defaults to 100.

::

   ADMIN_DELETE_PERMISSION

A boolean to enable/disable deletion of impersonation logs in the Django
admin.

Default is ``False``

::

   ADMIN_ADD_PERMISSION

A boolean to enable/disable ability to add impersonation logs in the
Django admin.

Default is ``False``

::

   ADMIN_READ_ONLY

A boolean to enable/disable "read only" mode of impersonation logs in
the Django admin. Generally you want to leave this enabled otherwise
admin users can alter logs within the Django admin area.

Default is ``True``

::

   MAX_DURATION

A number specifying the maximum allowed duration of impersonation
sessions in **seconds**.

Default is ``None``

Admin
=====

As of version 1.3 django-impersonate now includes a helper admin mixin,
located at ``impersonate.admin.UserAdminImpersonateMixin``, to include
in your User model's ModelAdmin. This provides a direct link to
impersonate users from your user model's Django admin list view. Using
it is very simple, however if you're using the default
``django.contrib.auth.models.User`` model you will need to unregister
the old ModelAdmin before registering your own.

The ``UserAdminImpersonateMixin`` has a attribute named
``open_new_window`` that **defaults to ``False``**. If this is set to
True a new window will be opened to start the new impersonation session
when clicking the impersonate link directly in the admin.

Here's an example:

::

   # yourapp/admin.py
   from django.contrib import admin
   from django.contrib.auth.models import User
   from django.contrib.auth.admin import UserAdmin
   from impersonate.admin import UserAdminImpersonateMixin


   class NewUserAdmin(UserAdminImpersonateMixin, UserAdmin):
       open_new_window = True
       pass

   admin.site.unregister(User)
   admin.site.register(User, NewUserAdmin)

Testing
=======

From the repo checkout, ensure you have Django in your ``PYTHONPATH``
and run:

::

   $ python runtests.py

To get test coverage, use:

::

   $ coverage run --branch runtests.py
   $ coverage html  <- Pretty HTML files for you
   $ coverage report -m  <- Ascii report

If you're bored and want to test all the supported environments, you'll
need tox.:

::

   $ pip install tox
   $ tox

And you should see:

::

   py37-django2.2: commands succeeded
   py37-django3.2: commands succeeded
   py38-django2.2: commands succeeded
   py38-django3.2: commands succeeded
   py39-django2.2: commands succeeded
   py39-django3.2: commands succeeded
   py38-django4.0: commands succeeded
   py39-django4.0: commands succeeded
   py310-django3.2: commands succeeded
   py310-django4.0: commands succeeded
   congratulations :)

Contributing
============

We accept patches submitted via ``hg email`` which is the ``patchbomb``
extension included with Mercurial.

The mailing list where you submit your patches is
``~petersanchez/public-inbox@lists.code.netlandish.com``. You can also
view the archives on the web here:

https://lists.code.netlandish.com/~petersanchez/public-inbox

To quickly setup your clone of ``django-impersonate`` to submit to the
mailing list just edit your ``.hg/hgrc`` file and add the following:

::

   [email]
   to = ~petersanchez/public-inbox@lists.code.netlandish.com

   [patchbomb]
   flagtemplate = {separate(' ', 'django-impersonate', flags)}

   [diff]
   git = 1

We have more information on the topic here:

-  `Contributing <https://man.code.netlandish.com/contributing.md>`__
-  `Using email with
   Mercurial <https://man.code.netlandish.com/hg/email.md>`__
-  `Mailing list
   etiquette <https://man.code.netlandish.com/lists/etiquette.md>`__

Copyright & Warranty
====================

All documentation, libraries, and sample code are Copyright 2011 Peter
Sanchez <petersanchez@gmail.com>. The library and sample code are made
available to you under the terms of the BSD license which is contained
in the included file, BSD-LICENSE.

Commercial Support
------------------

This software, and lots of other software like it, has been built in
support of many of Netlandish's own projects, and the projects of our
clients. We would love to help you on your next project so get in touch
by dropping us a note at hello@netlandish.com.

.. |nlshield| image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/100%25-Netlandish-blue.svg?style=square-flat
   :target: http://www.netlandish.com