boinc/doc/acct_mgt.php

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<?php
require_once("docutil.php");
page_head("External account management <br>(work in progress)");
echo "
<p>
Currently BOINC provides only a web-based interface
for creating and managing accounts.
Participants must locate the web sites of BOINC projects,
read them, decide which to join,
and fill out a separate registration form at each site.
This may deter some potential participants.
<p>
We wish to enable new ways for people to find and join BOINC projects.
For example, one could have a <b>sharing control panel</b> that shows:
<ul>
<li> a list of BOINC projects, with short descriptions and 'join' checkboxes;
<li> a simple form for the user's email address and basic preferences.
</ul>
The user can join projects simply by checking boxes, clicking OK,
and responding to account-verification emails.
<p>
The sharing control panel is an example of what we will call
'account management applications'.
<p>
This document describes a mechanism that allow account
management applications to interact with BOINC projects.
<h2>RPCs for account management</h2>
<p>
We propose having BOINC projects provide
an XML-RPC interface for account management.
RPCs will use HTTP on port 80,
so it will be easy to implement the client side in any language
(C++, Visual Basic, etc.),
and the mechanism will work through firewalls that allow outgoing web requests.
<p>
The proposed RPC functions are as follows:
<h3>Create tentative account</h3>
";
list_start();
list_item(
"input", "email address
<br>host name
<br>client nonce ID (crypto-random)"
);
list_item(
"output", "tentative account ID"
);
list_item(
"action",
"The server creates a 'tentative account' database record.
The server sends email to the given address, of the form:
<pre>
Someone (hopefully you) joined [project name] with this email address.
To confirm your participation in [project name] please visit the following URL:
xxx
If you do not want to participate in [project name], just ignore this message.
</pre>
When the user visits xxx, they see a release form and OK button.
The OK button validates the tentative account,
creating a new user record if needed.
");
list_end();
echo "
<h3>Query account status</h3>
";
list_start();
list_item("input",
"tentative account ID
<br>client nonce ID
"
);
list_item("output",
"bool validated
<br>account key
"
);
list_item("action",
"If the account has been validated, return true and the account key.
The account management application
can then do <a href=gui_rpc.php>BOINC GUI RPC</a> to the BOINC core client
to attach to the project."
);
list_end();
echo "
<p>
Possible additions:
RPCs to get and set preferences.
";
page_tail();
?>