Forgot Password

Last modified: April 18, 2024

1 Introduction

The Forgot Password module enables the users to sign up and also to reset their password. It works with the local accounts which are managed within your Mendix App. These accounts are the best choice when you do not want to use a single sign-on (SSO) solution to integrate with your existing identity and access management (IAM) infrastructure.

This module allows the end-user to enter their email address, and an email will be sent with a confirmation link. The end-user then opens the link and gets the option to reset their password in both scenarios (sign up and forgot password). In the sign up case, the end-user is also asked to provide their name. For version 5.3.0 and above of the module, you can specify different templates to be sent, depending on the language in which the end-user is seeing the app.

There are below versions of the Forgot Password module, depending on whether you are using Mendix Studio Pro 7, 8, or 9 and above. These all work in the same way, and require the dependencies specified below.

Mendix Version Forgot Password Version
10.6.0 and above 6.0.0
9.20.0 and above 5.1.0
9.12.7 and above 5.x.x
8.18.x 4.x.x
7.23.x 3.6.x and above

If you already use the Forgot Password module in your Mendix 8 app, you can find instructions on how to upgrade in Upgrading from Mendix 8 to Mendix 9 section below.

1.1 Dependencies

The Forgot Password module has the following dependencies:

1.2 Features

  • Allows end-users to reset the password stored locally in your app
  • Allows end-users to sign up for your app by validating that the end-user has access to the email address they enter by sending a password reset email
  • Supports email aliases, in other words, the from address in email templates can be different from the SMTP account used to send the email
  • Supports multi-language email templates for sending password reset emails

2 Installing the Forgot Password Module

  1. Import the Forgot Password module into your app.

  2. Add the Dependencies listed above from the Marketplace.

  3. Open the App Settings and make the following changes:

    • In the Configurations tab, edit the current configuration to add a 32-character string value for the constant Encryption.EncryptionKey.
    • In the Runtime tab, add the microflow Deeplink.StartDeeplink as the After startup microflow or as a sub-microflow to an existing after startup microflow.
    • If you are changing the URL prefix value in the Runtime tab, ensure that you use the same value in the URLPrefix constant of the Forgot Password module. Otherwise, the signup and reset URLs will not work.
  4. Open App Security and do the following:

    • In the User roles tab, add a new role called Guest in MyFirstModule

    • Set the following permissions for the user roles:

      • Administrator
        • Administration.Administrator
        • DeepLink.Admin
        • Email_Connector.EmailConnectorAdmin or EmailTemplate.Administrator - Email_Connector permissions are needed if you are using version 4.1.0 or above (for Mendix 8) or version 5.1.0 or above (for Mendix 9 and above). EmailTemplate permissions are only needed if using a version which uses the deprecated Email Module with Templates module
        • Encryption.user
        • ForgotPassword.Administrator
        • MxModeIReflection.ModeAdministrator
        • System.Administrator
        • MyFirstModule.Administrator
      • Guest
        • DeepLink.User
        • ForgotPassword.Guest_ResetPassword
        • ForgotPassword.Guest_SignUp
        • System.User
        • MyFirstModule.Guest
      • User
        • Administration.User
        • DeepLink.User
        • ForgotPassword.Guest_ResetPassword
        • MxModelReflection.Readonly
        • MxModelReflection.TokenUser
        • System.User
        • yFirstModule.User
    • In the Anonymous users tab, set Allow Anonymous users to Yes

  5. Open Navigation and do the following:

    • Set Role-based home pages so the target of user role Guest is ForgotPassword.Nav_GuestHomePage
      The Nav_GuestHomePage microflow is the home page for an anonymous user. This microflow either shows the login page or triggers the deep link process which performs the reset password function.
    • Add the menu item ForgotPasswordConfiguration to the app navigation. Link this item to the ForgotPassword.ForgotPasswordConfiguration_Edit page and assign it to the Administrator user role.
  6. If you are using version 5.3.0 or above of the Forgot Password module, open Module Security for the Email_Connector module in the Marketplace. On the Entity Access tab, assign read-only access to the Email_Connector.EmailConnectorAdmin module role on the EmailTemplateLanguage_EmailTemplate template.

  7. Run the application.

  8. Sign in as demo_administrator from Demo Users and choose the ForgotPasswordConfiguration menu item.

  9. In the Reset Password Email tab, do the following:

    • Click SMTP settings to configure or validate SMTP settings for the Email Connector or Email Module with Templates module (depending on the version of the Forgot Password module). In version 5.4.0 and above this will create a SMTP configuration which you will need to select.

    • In version 5.4.0 and above, select the SMTP configuration you want to use for sending reset password email.

    • From the drop-down menu, choose the Reset email template tab and provide the details for the email to be sent when an end-user has forgotten their password.

      For version 5.3.0 and above, you can Create and Edit several reset email templates. Each template is linked to a language you have added to your app. Based on the language in which end-user sees the app, the associated template will be used to send the reset email. If no template is explicitly associated with the end-user’s language, the template which is not associated with any language will be used. For versions below 5.3.0, you can only set up a single template.

      For version 5.4.0 and above, the fromAddress in the email template does not have to be the same as the address in your SMTP configuration. For more information, see Using Email Aliases section below.

  10. In the Signup Email tab, provide the details for the email to be sent when an end-user wants to sign up. These options are same as described above, for the Reset Password Email tab.

  11. In the Deeplink tab, configure the deeplink to use the ForgotPassword.Step3_DL_SetNewPassword microflow.

2.1 Using Email Aliases

From version 5.4.0 of the Forgot Password module, the fromAddress used in the email template does not have to be the same as the email address in the SMTP configuration. This provides flexibility, allowing you to send emails from different addresses while utilizing the same SMTP configuration for authentication.

Consider a scenario, where your SMTP username is user@example.com and you have configured this account in your SMTP configuration. You could set the fromAddress in your email template to be any email address or alias you have control over, such as sales@example.com, support@example.com, or ceo@example.com, and this is what the recipient will see in the email they receive.

3 Testing the Forgot Password Module

  1. Sign out of the app.

  2. On the sign in page, click Signup.

  3. Enter your name and email ID and click Send. You will get confirmation that a password recovery email has been sent.

    You will receive an email containing a link to reset your password.

  4. Open the link in the browser. You can now reset your password.

4 Upgrading to a Later Version

Follow the sections below to upgrade your Mendix app to later version.

4.1 Upgrading from Mendix 8 to Mendix 9

To convert the Mendix 8.18.x to Mendix 9.12.5 or above, follow the steps below:

  1. Upgrade all the dependencies of the Forgot Password module to the latest version compatible with Mendix 9.

  2. Open your app in Mendix 9.12.5 or above and allow it to be upgraded.

  3. Import the Forgot Password module into your app.

    You will see four errors in the Errors Pane.

    Four CE1613 errors in the errors pane
  4. Double click one of the errors to open the error page and change the (primary) layout to Atlas_TopBar(Atlas_UI_Resources).

    This will resolve two of the errors.

  5. Open the error page and again change the (primary) layout to Atlas_TopBar(Atlas_UI_Resources).

You have now successfully upgraded the Forgot Password Module to work with Mendix 9.

4.2 Upgrading from Mendix 9 to Mendix 10

To convert the Mendix 9.24.2 to Mendix 10.6.0 or above, follow the steps below:

  1. Upgrade all the dependencies of the Forgot Password module to the latest version compatible with Mendix 10.

  2. Open your app in Mendix 10.6.0 or above and allow it to be upgraded.

  3. Import the Forgot Password module into your app.

    You will see four errors in the Errors Pane.

  4. Click one of the errors and select the Remove Property Spacing option. This will resolve all of the errors.

You have now successfully upgraded the Forgot Password Module to work with Mendix 10.

5 Migrating from Email Module with Templates to Email Connector

Below versions of the Forgot Password module use the Email Connector module rather than the deprecated Email Module with Templates module.

  • Version 4.1.0 (for Mendix 8)
  • Version 5.1.0 (for Mendix 9 and above)
  • Version above 5.1.0

There is a community-supported Email Connector Migration Utility to assist with the upgrade to these versions.

5.1 Dependencies

Migrating to Email Connector Module has the following dependencies:

  • An app that uses Mendix 8 or above.

    Email Connector Module is not compatible with Mendix 7 and thus the Forgot Password Module version compatible with mendix 7 (3.xx) continue to use the Email Module with Templates module.

  • The email templates must be set up as follows:

    • The reset password template must contain _Reset in the template name.
    • The signup template must contain _Signup in the template name.

5.2 Migration Process

5.2.1 Importing Additional Modules

Import the modules which are needed for the migration process.

  1. Import the Email Connector module.
  2. Import the Email Connector Migration Utility module.

Troubleshoot any Atlas UI issues related to the Email Connector and Email Connector Migration Utility modules that may arise due to your Studio Pro version.

See the documentation for the Email Connector and the Email Connector Migration Utility (on GitHub) for more information.

5.2.2 Configuring App Security

You need to allow the administrator role to access these new modules.

  1. Go to the App Security > User Roles tab.
  2. Edit the Administrator role.
  3. Add the following user roles to the Administrator user role:
    • Email_Connector.EmailConnectorAdmin
    • MigrationUtility.EmailConnectorMigrationUtilAdmin

5.2.3 Performing Migration

Follow the Migration Steps in the GitHub repo of the community-supported Email Connector Migration Utility tool to configure the migration utility and migrate the data from the Email Module with Templates module to the Email connector module.

5.2.4 Actions After the Migration

  1. Import the latest version of the Forgot Password module (v4.1.0 or above for Mendix 8, or v5.1.0 or above for Mendix 9 and above). This will have the Email Connector module as a dependency.
  2. Delete the Email Module with Templates module.
  3. Delete the Email Connector Migration Utility module.
  4. Remove the Administrator user roles for EmailTemplate and MigrationUtility.
  5. Remove any module roles related to EmailTemplate and MigrationUtility.
  6. Check the userlib folder in your app directory and remove the Java*.jars* related to the Email Module with Templates module as indicated by a .EmailTemplate.RequiredLib file (for example, activation-1.1.1.jar and the related activation-1.1.1.jar.EmailTemplate.RequiredLib).
  7. Use the Clean Deployment Directory in Studio Pro.
  8. Run the application and test the functionality.

5.3 Migration FAQ’s

5.3.1 What Happens If the Email Templates Don’t Have the Right Names?

Associations between Email-connector.EmailTemplate and ForgotPassword.Configuration will not be migrated and you will not be able to see your existing templates. You will have to create the templates again.

5.3.2 What Happens If the Database Contains More than One Template with the Same Template Name?

Only the first one found during the migration will be associated with the Email Connector configuration.

5.3.3 What Happens If I Click Start Migration on the ETToEC Overview Page Multiple Times?

Your data will be migrated multiple times and duplicate records will be created in the database.

5.3.4 What Should I Do If My Email Templates Are Not Available after Migration?

You will have to create templates again using the Forgot Password configuration page, as described in Installing the Forgot Password Module section above.