Can't authenticate to private repositories via HTTPS

[danir-de]

Describe the Bug

Trying to copy a repo via HTTPS where an authentication to the repository is required fails.
The error message:

Error: Execution of 'git clone --branch Preview https://xxxxxx/xxxxxxx/_git/xxx /var/www/' returned 128: Cloning into '/var/www/'...
fatal: could not read Username for 'https://xxxxxx': No such device or address

Expected Behavior

Define base_auth_(username|password) and git should be able to fetch the repository.

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Try to load a git repository over an HTTPS, that is protected via user authentication.
2. Provide both base_auth_(username|password).
3. Get the error.

Environment

• vcsrepo 5.2.0
• Puppet 7.18.0
• Debian 11
• Azure Devops Server (in a git environment)

Additional Context

• Similar to git http password not allowed  #97, but couldn't be resolved by providing a .netrc file to the user set via the "user" variable.
• Providing username and password by adding them in the https://username:password@git.server syntax does not solve the issue.

[bugfood]

The basic_auth parameters are not implemented by the git provider within vcsrepo. Per README.me, only hg and svn are supported.

It's possible to specify credentials within an HTTP/HTTPS URL, e.g.:
https://username:password@example.com/repo.git

This works for vcsrepo within the source parameter.

Note that these credentials will then be stored within the configuration of that repo working copy, viewable by anyone with read access, and re-usable by any other git operations, external to vcsrepo, within that working copy. This could be desirable or undesirable, depending on your security requirements.

Another way could be to set credentials in the user's ~/.gitconfig file. I have not tested this.
https://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials

More comprehensive support would probably require vcsreport to support git's credential helper mechanism internally.

[anarcat]

i worked around this using the gitcredentials stuff. first, put this in ~/.gitconfig:

[credential]
        helper = store

then add the full URL with password in ~/.git-credentials:

https://username:password@example.com/project.git

I used a personal access token in GitLab, which needs to have a Reporter role with read_repository privileges, something the GitLab documentation will not tell you (it will only tell you Guest doesn't work, but Planner also doesn't).