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How to Customize Redirect After Form Login

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How to Customize Redirect After Form Login

Using a form login for authentication is a common, and flexible, method for handling authentication in Symfony. This article explains how to customize the URL which the user is redirected to after a successful or failed login. Check out the full form login configuration reference to learn of the possible customization options.

Redirecting after Success

By default, the form will redirect to the URL the user requested (i.e. the URL which triggered the login form being shown). For example, if the user requested http://www.example.com/admin/post/18/edit, then after they have successfully logged in, they will be sent back to http://www.example.com/admin/post/18/edit.

This is done by storing the requested URL in the session. If no URL is present in the session (perhaps the user went directly to the login page), then the user is redirected to / (i.e. the homepage). You can change this behavior in several ways.

Note

Sometimes, redirecting to the originally requested page can cause problems, like if a background Ajax request "appears" to be the last visited URL, causing the user to be redirected there. For information on controlling this behavior, see Security.

Changing the default Page

Define the default_target_path option to change the page where the user is redirected to if no previous page was stored in the session. The value can be a relative/absolute URL or a Symfony route name:

  • YAML
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    # config/packages/security.yaml
security:
    # ...

    firewalls:
        main:
            form_login:
                # ...
                default_target_path: after_login_route_name
  • XML
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    <!-- config/packages/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <config>
        <!-- ... -->

        <firewall name="main">
            <form-login default-target-path="after_login_route_name" />
        </firewall>
    </config>
</srv:container>
  • PHP
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    // config/packages/security.php
$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...

    'firewalls' => array(
        'main' => array(
            // ...

            'form_login' => array(
                // ...
                'default_target_path' => 'after_login_route_name',
            ),
        ),
    ),
));

Always Redirect to the default Page

Define the always_use_default_target_path boolean option to ignore the previously requested URL and always redirect to the default page:

  • YAML
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    # config/packages/security.yaml
security:
    # ...

    firewalls:
        main:
            form_login:
                # ...
                always_use_default_target_path: true
  • XML
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    <!-- config/packages/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <config>
        <!-- ... -->

        <firewall name="main">
            <!-- ... -->
            <form-login always-use-default-target-path="true" />
        </firewall>
    </config>
</srv:container>
  • PHP
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    // config/packages/security.php
$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...

    'firewalls' => array(
        'main' => array(
            // ...

            'form_login' => array(
                // ...
                'always_use_default_target_path' => true,
            ),
        ),
    ),
));

Control the Redirect Using Request Parameters

The URL to redirect after the login can be defined using the _target_path parameter of GET and POST requests. Its value must be a relative or absolute URL, not a Symfony route name.

Defining the redirect URL via GET using a query string parameter:

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http://example.com/some/path?_target_path=/dashboard

Defining the redirect URL via POST using a hidden form field:

  • Twig
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    {# templates/security/login.html.twig #}
<form action="{{ path('login') }}" method="post">
    {# ... #}

    <input type="hidden" name="_target_path" value="{{ path('account') }}" />
    <input type="submit" name="login" />
</form>
  • PHP
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    <!-- templates/security/login.html.php -->
<form action="<?php echo $view['router']->path('login') ?>" method="post">
    // ...

    <input type="hidden" name="_target_path" value="<?php echo $view['router']->path('account') ?>" />
    <input type="submit" name="login" />
</form>

Using the Referring URL

In case no previous URL was stored in the session and no _target_path parameter is included in the request, you may use the value of the HTTP_REFERER header instead, as this will often be the same. Define the use_referer boolean option to enable this behavior:

  • YAML
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    # config/packages/security.yaml
security:
    # ...

    firewalls:
        main:
            # ...
            form_login:
                # ...
                use_referer: true
  • XML
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    <!-- config/packages/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <config>
        <!-- ... -->

        <firewall name="main">
            <!-- ... -->
            <form-login use-referer="true" />
        </firewall>
    </config>
</srv:container>
  • PHP
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    // config/packages/security.php
$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...

    'firewalls' => array(
        'main' => array(
            // ...
            'form_login' => array(
                // ...
                'use_referer' => true,
            ),
        ),
    ),
));

Note

The referrer URL is only used when it is different from the URL generated by the login_path route to avoid a redirection loop.

Redirecting after Failure

After a failed login (e.g. an invalid username or password was submitted), the user is redirected back to the login form itself. Use the failure_path option to define a new target via a relative/absolute URL or a Symfony route name:

  • YAML
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    # config/packages/security.yaml
security:
    # ...

    firewalls:
        main:
            # ...
            form_login:
                # ...
                failure_path: login_failure_route_name
  • XML
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    <!-- config/packages/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <config>
        <!-- ... -->

        <firewall name="main">
            <!-- ... -->
            <form-login failure-path="login_failure_route_name" />
        </firewall>
    </config>
</srv:container>
  • PHP
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    // config/packages/security.php
$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...

    'firewalls' => array(
        'main' => array(
            // ...
            'form_login' => array(
                // ...
                'failure_path' => 'login_failure_route_name',
            ),
        ),
    ),
));

This option can also be set via the _failure_path request parameter:

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http://example.com/some/path?_failure_path=/forgot-password
  • Twig
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    {# templates/security/login.html.twig #}
<form action="{{ path('login') }}" method="post">
    {# ... #}

    <input type="hidden" name="_failure_path" value="{{ path('forgot_password') }}" />
    <input type="submit" name="login" />
</form>
  • PHP
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    <!-- templates/security/login.html.php -->
<form action="<?php echo $view['router']->path('login') ?>" method="post">
    <!-- ... -->

    <input type="hidden" name="_failure_path" value="<?php echo $view['router']->path('forgot_password') ?>" />
    <input type="submit" name="login" />
</form>

Customizing the Target and Failure Request Parameters

The name of the request attributes used to define the success and failure login redirects can be customized using the target_path_parameter and failure_path_parameter options of the firewall that defines the login form.

  • YAML
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    # config/packages/security.yaml
security:
    # ...

    firewalls:
        main:
            # ...
            form_login:
                target_path_parameter: go_to
                failure_path_parameter: back_to
  • XML
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    <!-- config/packages/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <config>
        <!-- ... -->

        <firewall name="main">
            <!-- ... -->
            <form-login target-path-parameter="go_to" />
            <form-login failure-path-parameter="back_to" />
        </firewall>
    </config>
</srv:container>
  • PHP
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    // config/packages/security.php
$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...

    'firewalls' => array(
        'main' => array(
            // ...
            'form_login' => array(
                'target_path_parameter' => 'go_to',
                'failure_path_parameter' => 'back_to',
            ),
        ),
    ),
));

Using the above configuration, the query string parameters and hidden form fields are now fully customized:

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http://example.com/some/path?go_to=/dashboard&back_to=/forgot-password
  • Twig
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    {# templates/security/login.html.twig #}
<form action="{{ path('login') }}" method="post">
    {# ... #}

    <input type="hidden" name="go_to" value="{{ path('dashboard') }}" />
    <input type="hidden" name="back_to" value="{{ path('forgot_password') }}" />
    <input type="submit" name="login" />
</form>
  • PHP
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    <!-- templates/security/login.html.php -->
<form action="<?php echo $view['router']->path('login') ?>" method="post">
    <!-- ... -->

    <input type="hidden" name="go_to" value="<?php echo $view['router']->path('dashboard') ?>" />
    <input type="hidden" name="back_to" value="<?php echo $view['router']->path('forgot_password') ?>" />
    <input type="submit" name="login" />
</form>

Redirecting to the Last Accessed Page with TargetPathTrait

The last request URI is stored in a session variable named _security.<your providerKey>.target_path (e.g. _security.main.target_path if the name of your firewall is main). Most of the times you don't have to deal with this low level session variable. However, if you ever need to get or remove this variable, it's better to use the TargetPathTrait utility:

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// ...
use Symfony\Component\Security\Http\Util\TargetPathTrait;

$targetPath = $this->getTargetPath($request->getSession(), $providerKey);

// equivalent to:
// $targetPath = $request->getSession()->get('_security.'.$providerKey.'.target_path');

This work, including the code samples, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license.