PowerShell based REST API authentication fails uisng token

[Deleted user]

I'm using PowerShell's Invoke-RestMethod applet to make a basic authenticated connection to the Jira Cloud REST API.

When I form the header using a Basic username:plaintextpassword pair that is then Base64 encoded before submission, everything works just fine. When I substitute my token for the password then Base64 encode the pair, as described in the REST API documentation, the authentication fails.

Here is my PowerShell sample:

    $pair = "name@company.com:Kt5p2nfqTsqnvljKXpB6FCG3"
    $bytes = [System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes($pair)
    $base64 = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($bytes)
    $basicAuthValue = "Basic $base64"
    $headers = @{ Authorization = $basicAuthValue }

    Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://jira.mycompany.com/rest/api/2/project -Method Get -Headers $headers

[Deleted user · Accepted solution]

Turns out that our company's Jira Cloud instance doesn't have 2FA enabled, so no authentication can be done with a token.

I'm assuming for the moment that my PowerShell method for encoding and submitting the token is correct, but the destination Jira server is doing the right thing and declining to accept that method of authentication. Looks like I'll be sticking with plain authentication for the time being.

[Krishnanand Nayak]

try adding this :  $headers["X-Atlassian-Token"] = "nocheck"

Also there is PowerShell module called JiraPS (https://atlassianps.org/). It handles the authentication very well.

[Deleted user]

Nope, adding that field to the header didn't work. Still get a (401) Unauthorized error back from the Jira server. The plain password method with that extra header field connects OK though.

I think it's an issue with Jira's Two-Step verification, which needs to be enabled for the token to be accepted. I think because our Jira Cloud instance uses external authentication, the 2FA doesn't apply, so the token is being rejected. I'm in contact with our sysadmins now to see if that is the cause.

Yeah, I saw that JiraPS PowerShell module, but would prefer to solve the problem with the native method if I can.

[Krishnanand Nayak]

Here is the code i am using for me server instance:

function ConvertTo-Base64($string) {
 $bytes = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes($string);
 $encoded = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($bytes);
 return $encoded;
}

function Get-HttpBasicHeader([string]$username, [string]$password, $Headers = @{}) {
 $b64 = ConvertTo-Base64 "$($username):$($Password)"
 $Headers["Authorization"] = "Basic $b64"
 $Headers["X-Atlassian-Token"] = "nocheck"
 return $Headers
}

[Deleted user]

Turns out that our company's Jira Cloud instance doesn't have 2FA enabled, so no authentication can be done with a token.

I'm assuming for the moment that my PowerShell method for encoding and submitting the token is correct, but the destination Jira server is doing the right thing and declining to accept that method of authentication. Looks like I'll be sticking with plain authentication for the time being.

PS. The X-Atlassian-Token field is only of use when submitting tasks or activities with files attached. It has no use on any other requests.