Active Directory Authentication and asp.NET identity

Mark Tabor

5y2.9k.NET

Hi I want fair opinion I am creating an application in which I am going to use Active directory authentication for users .
My First question is Does Windows Authentication & Active Directory Authentication is same If yes than While creating new project we have an option for authentication like to user Work or school email what is that while creating MVC project in visual studion
MY SECOND QUESTION is If i am using Active Directory Authentication than how I can use ASP.NET identity for Roles management as Identity requires User account creation which it saved in aspnetUser table which is generated for identity , but with Active directory authentication I do not need to create new user account and to put them in aspnetuser table so how identity we can use with active directory authentication if identity is not suitable than what else options are present to use.

3 Replies

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Rijwan Ansari5y ago
Yes you can do with wndow authentication. Addtionally, You can try with finctions i have shared.
[HttpPost]
[AllowAnonymous]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task Login(LoginViewModel model, string returnUrl)
{
    if (ModelState.IsValid)
    {
        var user = await UserManager.FindByNameAsync(model.UserName);
        if (user != null && AuthenticateAD(model.UserName, model.Password))
        {
            await SignInAsync(user, model.RememberMe);
            return RedirectToLocal(returnUrl);
        }
        else
        {
            ModelState.AddModelError("", "Invalid username or password.");
        }
    }
    return View(model);
}


/// this for AD authentication
public bool AuthenticateAD(string username, string password)
{
    using(var context = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain, "MYDOMAIN"))
    {
        return context.ValidateCredentials(username, password);    //verify from active directory
    }
}
Mark Tabor5y ago
Rijwan Ansari thanks for the reply , the issue is in our organization they have accounts on active directory and they do not want to create a new user credentials they want to use the same credentials which they use to login into their system , so for that reason Should I do Active directory with Forms authentication or Windows authentication , secondly I also need to have Roles nad permission management based on user so I need to have user identity in place to apply role on them so what is the best way to do that.
Still I would like to ask windows and Active directory authentication are same or different , I have created asp.net mvc application and chose windows authentication Does it mean active directory authentication .
see the below image and can you assists me which one is active directory authentication.
Rijwan Ansari5y ago
You can do Active directory authentication from both Form-based and window based authentication.

Window Authentication:

Windows-based authentication is manipulated between the Windows server and the client machine.
The ASP.NET applications reside in Internet Information Server (IIS). Any user's web request goes directly to the IIS server and it provides the authentication process in a Windows-based authentication model. This type of authentication is quite useful in an intranet environment in which users are asked to log into a network.
In this scenario, you can utilize the credentials that are already in place for the authentication and authorization process. This authentication is done by IIS. It first accepts user's credentials from the domain login "Domain\UserName and Password". If this process fails then IIS displays an error and asks to re-enter the login information.

https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/84c85b/understanding-windows-authentication-in-detail/

Regarding your second question, You can do. It is quite simple. Just hit AD with the username and password instead of authenticating against your DB.

Sample code:
/
// POST: /Account/Login
[HttpPost]
[AllowAnonymous]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task Login(LoginViewModel model, string returnUrl)
{
    if (ModelState.IsValid)
    {
        var user = await UserManager.FindByNameAsync(model.UserName);
        if (user != null && AuthenticateAD(model.UserName, model.Password))
        {
            await SignInAsync(user, model.RememberMe);
            return RedirectToLocal(returnUrl);
        }
        else
        {
            ModelState.AddModelError("", "Invalid username or password.");
        }
    }
    return View(model);
}

public bool AuthenticateAD(string username, string password)
{
    using(var context = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain, "MYDOMAIN"))
    {
        return context.ValidateCredentials(username, password);
    }
}
I would recommend to go with second option, it is easy manage.