Resolving the Django-Rest-Framework Custom User Password Hashing Issue

Описание: Discover how to fix the common problem of un-hashed passwords in `Django-Rest-Framework` by correctly implementing user serialization techniques.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/56226425/ asked by the user 'Yash Patil' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/10189963/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/63976118/ provided by the user 'Ayman Sherief' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/6036525/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Troubleshooting Django-Rest-Framework Custom User Password Hashing Issues

When implementing authentication in your Django application using the Django-Rest-Framework, you may encounter a frustrating issue: passwords not being hashed properly. This can prevent new users from logging in successfully, especially when using token authentication. If you find yourself stuck in a situation like this, you're not alone. Let's delve into the solution to ensure that user passwords are hashed correctly upon creation.

Understanding the Problem

In your implementation of the CreateUserSerializer, you likely have the following controller method to create new users. Let's take a closer look at what's wrong:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The mistake above occurs because of two critical issues:

Improper Placement of Method: The create method is defined inside the Meta class of your serializer, which is not how Django expects it to be structured.

Incorrect Password Handling: The method tries to set the password using validated_data['password'] instead of the password you've extracted and popped.

The Solution

To solve the issues effectively, follow these guidelines for restructuring your CreateUserSerializer properly and ensuring the password hashing is correctly implemented.

Step 1: Move the Create Method

You should define the create function directly at the serializer level, not within the Meta class. Here’s how you should format your CreateUserSerializer:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Validate the Password Setting Method

Ensure the password setting is done with the popped password variable as shown above. This ensures that the password provided by the user is hashed before saving it into the database, maintaining security and adhering to best practices.

Step 3: Verify Implementation in the API View

Here's an example of how your CreateUserAPIView should look after implementing the corrected serializer:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 4: Double-Check Your Settings

Lastly, ensure that your authentication settings are configured correctly. The DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES should include token authentication, and ensure your password validators are properly listed in your settings.py.

Conclusion

By restructuring your CreateUserSerializer and ensuring the password is handled properly, you should be able to tackle the issue of passwords not being hashed upon user creation in Django. This adjustment will enable users to utilize token authentication seamlessly, improving your application's authentication flows significantly. If you encounter any further problems, remember to revisit your serializer and view architectures to ensure they align with Django's best practices.

Best of luck implementing this fix, and may your Django applications run smoothly!