What is basic authorization username?

The basic authorization username, in the context of HTTP Basic Authentication, is the user identifier part of the credentials sent to a server to verify a user's identity. It's combined with a password and then encoded.

Here's a breakdown:

• Basic Authentication: A simple authentication scheme where clients send HTTP requests with an Authorization header.

• Credentials Formation:

  1. The username and password are concatenated with a colon (:) separator. For example: username:password.
  2. The resulting string is then Base64 encoded. For example, if the username is "aladdin" and the password is "opensesame", the string "aladdin:opensesame" would be Base64 encoded.

• Authorization Header: The Base64 encoded string is placed in the Authorization header of the HTTP request, prefixed with "Basic ". For example: Authorization: Basic YWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuc2VzYW1l

Example:

Let's say your username is "john" and your password is "secret".

1. Combine: john:secret
2. Encode (Base64): am9objpzZWNyZXQ= (this is a sample; actual encoding may vary)
3. Authorization Header: Authorization: Basic am9objpzZWNyZXQ=

Therefore, the "basic authorization username" is simply the username part of the colon-separated string that is then Base64 encoded. It's a critical component used by the server to authenticate the request.