Working with Named Credentials spring 15

Question

I have defined the endpoint and given the username and password for the authorization under named credentials (Spring 15 Feature),when I do a http Request I am getting Unauthorized(401)

HttpRequest req = new HttpRequest();
req.setEndpoint('callout:My_Named_Credential/some_path');
req.setMethod('GET');
Http http = new Http();
HTTPResponse res = http.send(req);
System.debug(res.getBody());

Response : 401

But if I hardcode the end point,username and password in the request, I am authorised (without using named credentials)

HttpRequest req = new HttpRequest();
req.setEndpoint('https://endpoint.example.com/some_path');
req.setMethod('GET');
// Specify the required user name and password to access the endpoint
// As well as the header and header information
String username = 'myname';
String password = 'mypwd';

Blob headerValue = Blob.valueOf(username + ':' + password);
String authorizationHeader = 'BASIC ' +
EncodingUtil.base64Encode(headerValue);
req.setHeader('Authorization', authorizationHeader);

// Create a new http object to send the request object
// A response object is generated as a result of the request  

Http http = new Http();
HTTPResponse res = http.send(req);
System.debug(res.getBody());

Response : OK

Is that Named credential includes the Authorization Header automatically?

What am I missing here ?

Answer 1

I am having the same problem with named credentials, and I think I have figured out what's going on. I used Runscope to inspect the headers which are being sent with the HTTP callout.

It turns out that the value of the "Authorization" header is not being prefixed with the word "Basic". For example, if your username is "abc" and your password is "123", using named credentials sends this in the header:

Authorization: YWJjOjEyMw==

Instead, it should be sending this for it to work:

Authorization: Basic YWJjOjEyMw==

For now, it seems that hard-coding the "Authorization" header is the way to go. (You could store the username and password in a custom setting to keep it out of your code.)

Answer 2

You need to check Generate Authorization Header check box on Named Credential.