How to get OAuth2 token from an EC2 instance with no browser using nodejs google api

Question

I have a node.js app that uses the google drive API to upload a file to a google drive. It is working fine on my local machine. I am now trying to migrate it to an EC2 instance but when I run the app using node, I am unable to verify by visiting the url...

Authorize this app by visiting this url: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?>access_type=offline&scope=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdrive&response_type=code&cl>ient_id=xxxxxxxxxxxx.apps.googleusercontent.com&redirect_uri=urn%3Aietf%3Awg%3Aoauth%3A2.0%3Aoo>b

Not sure how to proceed as there is no browser on the machine - which makes me question if I am using the correct protocol for this application? I get totally confused by all the different options available.

I am basically using the option laid out here: https://developers.google.com/docs/api/quickstart/nodejs

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Following the steps from the NodeJs Drive API quickstart, you can run your application locally the first time, this way the consent screen will be prompted and you'll be able to grant the permissions. With this, a token.json file will be created in your directory which will be used to create refresh tokens used to authorize the subsequent requests. You can upload your application to the EC2 instance with the token.json file included and you won't have to authorize the application again.

You can read more about refreshing an access token with offline access in Google's OAuth documentation.