About lwp::useragent

pmaeght has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi,

I found this script in Linux Mag 56.

Is it still valid?

I get a 500 error.

Thank you.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w 
use strictly; 
useLWP::UserAgent; 
use HTML::Form; 

# personal settings 
my($user, $pass) = qw(BooK S3kr3t); 
my $base = 'http://www.perlmonks.org/'; 

# agent initialization 
my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new(agent => 'Mozilla/4.73 [en] (X11; I; Linu
+x 2.2.16 i686; Nav)' ); 

# creation of the request 
my $req = HTTP::Request->new( GET => "${base}index.pl?node=login" ); 

# run the request and get the response 
my $res = $ua->request($req); 
die $res->status_line if not $res->is_success; 

# the login form is the second form on the page 
my $form = ( HTML::Form->parse( $res->content, $base ) )[1]; 

# fill in the fields 
$form->find_input('user')->value($user); 
$form->find_input('passwd')->value($pass); 

# validate and return the form 
$ua->request( $form->click );
[download]

(code tags added by Discipulus)

Comment on About lwp::useragent Download Code

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Re: About lwp::useragent by Corion (Patriarch) on Mar 14, 2022 at 17:55 UTC
If you get a 500 error back, look at the exact contents of the error message () the problem `$response = $ua->request($request); if ($response->is_success) { print $response->decoded_content; } else { print STDERR $response->status_line, "\n"; }` [download] Maybe there is some error on your side, maybe there is some error with the remote server, but without the error message, it's hard to tell where the error is.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: About lwp::useragent by marto (Cardinal) on Mar 14, 2022 at 17:59 UTC
The code you posted doesn't compile, I can see some typos: `use strictly; useLWP::UserAgent; my $form = ( HTML::Form->parse( $res->content, $base ) )1;` [download] `perl -c yourfilenamehere.pl` would point you in the right direction. There's probably more exciting things to do these days than trying to automate a login around here :)	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: About lwp::useragent by GotToBTru (Prior) on Mar 14, 2022 at 19:05 UTC
Please consult Writeup Formatting Tips and What shortcuts can I use for linking to other information?. A well formatted question is easier to read and easier to answer! my $form = ( HTML::Form->parse( $res->content, $base ) )1 should be `my $form = ( HTML::Form->parse( $res->content, $base ) )[1];` Without the code tags the index was interpreted as a reference. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NASB)	[reply] [d/l]
Re: About lwp::useragent by cavac (Prior) on Mar 15, 2022 at 11:53 UTC
Didn't run the code, but i did spot one glaring issue right away: `Mozilla/4.73 [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.2.16 i686; Nav)` [download] If you access one of my sites with that completely outdated and suspicious useragent string, there are two possibilities: Either one of my security scripts will go "Huh, outdated spam bot? I better Firewall that IP" or it will mark that string for manual review and i will go "Wow, haven't seen that one since the the 90's! Firewallbot, make that go away!" `perl -e 'use Crypt::Digest::SHA256 qw[sha256_hex]; print substr(sha256_hex("the Answer To Life, The Universe And Everything"), 6, 2), "\n";'`	[reply] [d/l] [select]