Previously, the acknowledgement was required only when installing
plugins from the ZIP file. It is valid when installing plugins from the
Plugins directory, too. So we display it at the validator page now to
make sure it is displayed in both cases.
There is no need to require the admin to check the acknowledgement box
now. We do not do that anywhere in admin UI (and there are more
dangerous operations than installing a plugin). Admins still can deploy
plugins manually without this tool anyway. And at the end, they are
admins. They should know what they are doing. Simply displaying the
acknowledgement message before they click the install button is enough.
There is a new hook in the index.php file. If valid HTTP parameter
installaddonrequest is detected, the installer asks the administrator to
confirm the request.
If confirmed, the installer calls download.moodle.org/api/1.2/pluginfo.php
service to get information about the given plugin version. The essential
data are the URL of the ZIP to download and the MD5 hash of the ZIP.
These data must be fetched via HTTPS to protect against MiM attack.
If the ZIP is downloaded and the MD5 content hash is correct, the user
is redirected to the previously implemented ZIP validation page, as if
the ZIP was uploaded manually.
The valid format of the installaddonrequest is documented via the
test_decode_remote_request() unit test method.
The script validate.php expects a ZIP file stored in a temporary
location. It extracts the ZIP (optionally renaming the root directory)
and executes the validator. Then it renders the validator log messages
and continue buttons.
David Mudrák