diff --git a/lib/ssl_common.rb b/lib/ssl_common.rb
index 162af874dbb..0715d119f67 100644
--- a/lib/ssl_common.rb
+++ b/lib/ssl_common.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class SSLCommon
       url = URI.parse(url)
       http = self.get_http_conn(url.host, url.port, url.scheme.downcase == 'https')
       req = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url.request_uri, headers)
+      req.basic_auth url.user, url.password if url.user
       req.form_data = form_data if form_data
       http.start {|http| http.request(req, payload) }
     end
diff --git a/spec/lib/ssl_common_spec.rb b/spec/lib/ssl_common_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a2d2def06f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/ssl_common_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2011 Instructure, Inc.
+#
+# This file is part of Canvas.
+#
+# Canvas is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free
+# Software Foundation, version 3 of the License.
+#
+# Canvas is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
+# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more
+# details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along
+# with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../spec_helper.rb')
+
+describe SSLCommon do
+  it "should work with http basic auth, username and password" do
+    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_test_http_server
+    SSLCommon.post_data("http://theusername:thepassword@localhost:#{server.addr[1]}/endpoint",
+        "somedata", "application/x-jt-is-so-cool")
+    server_thread.join
+    post_lines.should == [
+        "POST /endpoint HTTP/1.1",
+        "Accept: */*",
+        "Content-Type: application/x-jt-is-so-cool",
+        "Authorization: Basic #{Base64.encode64("theusername:thepassword").strip}",
+        "",
+        "somedata"]
+  end
+
+  it "should work with http basic auth, just username" do
+    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_test_http_server
+    SSLCommon.post_data("http://theusername@localhost:#{server.addr[1]}/endpoint",
+        "somedata", "application/x-jt-is-so-cool")
+    server_thread.join
+    post_lines.should == [
+        "POST /endpoint HTTP/1.1",
+        "Accept: */*",
+        "Content-Type: application/x-jt-is-so-cool",
+        "Authorization: Basic #{Base64.encode64("theusername:").strip}",
+        "",
+        "somedata"]
+  end
+
+  it "should work with no auth" do
+    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_test_http_server
+    SSLCommon.post_data("http://localhost:#{server.addr[1]}/endpoint",
+        "somedata", "application/x-jt-is-so-cool")
+    server_thread.join
+    post_lines.should == [
+        "POST /endpoint HTTP/1.1",
+        "Accept: */*",
+        "Content-Type: application/x-jt-is-so-cool",
+        "",
+        "somedata"]
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/models/course_spec.rb b/spec/models/course_spec.rb
index 3ed2180f299..9f3b82daafb 100644
--- a/spec/models/course_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/course_spec.rb
@@ -655,30 +655,6 @@ describe Course, 'grade_publishing' do
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:wait_for_success] = "no"
   end
   
-  def start_server
-    post_lines = []
-    server = TCPServer.open(0)
-    port = server.addr[1]
-    post_lines = []
-    server_thread = Thread.new(server, post_lines) do |server, post_lines|
-      client = server.accept
-      content_length = 0
-      loop do
-        line = client.readline
-        post_lines << line.strip unless line =~ /\AHost: localhost:|\AContent-Length: /
-        content_length = line.split(":")[1].to_i if line.strip =~ /\AContent-Length: [0-9]+\z/
-        if line.strip.blank?
-          post_lines << client.read(content_length)
-          break
-        end
-      end
-      client.puts("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\nContent-Length: 0\n\n")
-      client.close
-      server.close
-    end
-    return server, server_thread, post_lines
-  end
-
   it 'should pass a quick sanity check' do
     user = User.new
     Course.valid_grade_export_types["test_export"] = {
@@ -691,7 +667,7 @@ describe Course, 'grade_publishing' do
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:enabled] = "true"
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:format_type] = "test_export"
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:wait_for_success] = "no"
-    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_server
+    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_test_http_server
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:publish_endpoint] = "http://localhost:#{server.addr[1]}/endpoint"
 
     @course.grading_standard_id = 0
@@ -710,7 +686,7 @@ describe Course, 'grade_publishing' do
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:enabled] = "true"
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:format_type] = "instructure_csv"
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:wait_for_success] = "no"
-    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_server
+    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_test_http_server
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:publish_endpoint] = "http://localhost:#{server.addr[1]}/endpoint"
     @course.grading_standard_id = 0
     @course.publish_final_grades(user)
@@ -823,7 +799,7 @@ describe Course, 'grade_publishing' do
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:enabled] = "true"
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:format_type] = "instructure_csv"
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:wait_for_success] = "no"
-    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_server
+    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_test_http_server
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:publish_endpoint] = "http://localhost:#{server.addr[1]}/endpoint"
     @course.publish_final_grades(teacher.user)
     server_thread.join
@@ -842,7 +818,7 @@ describe Course, 'grade_publishing' do
         "#{teacher.id},T1,#{sec4.id},,#{stud6.id},,#{Enrollment.find_by_user_id_and_course_section_id(stud6.user.id, sec4.id).id},active,\"\",90\n"]
     @course.grading_standard_id = 0
     @course.save
-    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_server
+    server, server_thread, post_lines = start_test_http_server
     PluginSetting.settings_for_plugin('grade_export')[:publish_endpoint] = "http://localhost:#{server.addr[1]}/endpoint"
     @course.publish_final_grades(teacher.user)
     server_thread.join
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 3757b285775..38d72b5b957 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -292,4 +292,28 @@ Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
     ActionController::Base.class_eval { alias_method :allow_forgery_protection, :_old_protect }
   end
 
+  def start_test_http_server
+    post_lines = []
+    server = TCPServer.open(0)
+    port = server.addr[1]
+    post_lines = []
+    server_thread = Thread.new(server, post_lines) do |server, post_lines|
+      client = server.accept
+      content_length = 0
+      loop do
+        line = client.readline
+        post_lines << line.strip unless line =~ /\AHost: localhost:|\AContent-Length: /
+        content_length = line.split(":")[1].to_i if line.strip =~ /\AContent-Length: [0-9]+\z/
+        if line.strip.blank?
+          post_lines << client.read(content_length)
+          break
+        end
+      end
+      client.puts("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\nContent-Length: 0\n\n")
+      client.close
+      server.close
+    end
+    return server, server_thread, post_lines
+  end
+
 end