Introduction to Identity on ASP.NET Core
ASP.NET Core Identity:
- Is an API that supports user interface (UI) login functionality.
- Manages users, passwords, profile data, roles, claims, tokens, email confirmation, and more.
Users can create an account with the login information stored in Identity or they can use an external login provider. Supported external login providers include Facebook, Google, Microsoft Account, and Twitter.
[!include[](~/includes/requireAuth.md)]The Identity source code is available on GitHub. Scaffold Identity and view the generated files to review the template interaction with Identity.
Identity is typically configured using a SQL Server database to store user names, passwords, and profile data. Alternatively, another persistent store can be used, for example, Azure Table Storage.
In this topic, you learn how to use Identity to register, log in, and log out a user. Note: the templates treat username and email as the same for users. For more detailed instructions about creating apps that use Identity, see Next Steps.
ASP.NET Core Identity isn't related to the Microsoft identity platform. Microsoft identity platform is:
- An evolution of the Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) developer platform.
- An alternative identity solution for authentication and authorization in ASP.NET Core apps.
View or download the sample code (how to download).
Create a Web app with authentication
Create an ASP.NET Core Web Application project with Individual User Accounts.
- Select the ASP.NET Core Web App template. Name the project WebApp1 to have the same namespace as the project download. Click OK.
- In the Authentication type input, select Individual User Accounts.
The generated project provides ASP.NET Core Identity as a Razor class library. The Identity Razor class library exposes endpoints with the Identity area. For example:
- /Identity/Account/Login
- /Identity/Account/Logout
- /Identity/Account/Manage
Apply migrations
Apply the migrations to initialize the database.
Run the following command in the Package Manager Console (PMC):
Update-Database
Test Register and Login
Run the app and register a user. Depending on your screen size, you might need to select the navigation toggle button to see the Register and Login links.
[!include[](~/includes/view-identity-db.md)]Configure Identity services
Services are added in Program.cs. The typical pattern is to call methods in the following order:
Add{Service}builder.Services.Configure{Service}
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
The preceding code configures Identity with default option values. Services are made available to the app through dependency injection.
Identity is enabled by calling <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.AuthAppBuilderExtensions.UseAuthentication%2A>. UseAuthentication adds authentication middleware to the request pipeline.
The template-generated app doesn't use authorization. app.UseAuthorization is included to ensure it's added in the correct order should the app add authorization. UseRouting, UseAuthentication, and UseAuthorization must be called in the order shown in the preceding code.
For more information on IdentityOptions, see <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.IdentityOptions> and Application Startup.
Scaffold Register, Login, LogOut, and RegisterConfirmation
Add the Register, Login, LogOut, and RegisterConfirmation files. Follow the Scaffold identity into a Razor project with authorization instructions to generate the code shown in this section.
Examine Register
When a user clicks the Register button on the Register page, the RegisterModel.OnPostAsync action is invoked. The user is created by <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.UserManager%601.CreateAsync(%600)> on the _userManager object:
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
Log in
The Login form is displayed when:
- The Log in link is selected.
- A user attempts to access a restricted page that they aren't authorized to access or when they haven't been authenticated by the system.
When the form on the Login page is submitted, the OnPostAsync action is called. PasswordSignInAsync is called on the _signInManager object.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
For information on how to make authorization decisions, see Introduction to authorization in ASP.NET Core.
Log out
The Log out link invokes the LogoutModel.OnPost action.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
In the preceding code, the code return RedirectToPage(); needs to be a redirect so that the browser performs a new request and the identity for the user gets updated.
<xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.SignInManager%601.SignOutAsync%2A> clears the user's claims stored in a cookie.
Post is specified in the Pages/Shared/_LoginPartial.cshtml:
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
Test Identity
The default web project templates allow anonymous access to the home pages. To test Identity, add [Authorize]:
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
If you are signed in, sign out. Run the app and select the Privacy link. You are redirected to the login page.
Explore Identity
To explore Identity in more detail:
- Create full identity UI source
- Examine the source of each page and step through the debugger.
Identity Components
All the Identity-dependent NuGet packages are included in the ASP.NET Core shared framework.
The primary package for Identity is Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity. This package contains the core set of interfaces for ASP.NET Core Identity, and is included by Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.EntityFrameworkCore.
Migrating to ASP.NET Core Identity
For more information and guidance on migrating your existing Identity store, see Migrate Authentication and Identity.
Setting password strength
See Configuration for a sample that sets the minimum password requirements.
AddDefaultIdentity and AddIdentity
<xref:Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.IdentityServiceCollectionUIExtensions.AddDefaultIdentity%2A> was introduced in ASP.NET Core 2.1. Calling AddDefaultIdentity is similar to calling the following:
- <xref:Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.IdentityServiceCollectionExtensions.AddIdentity%2A>
- <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.IdentityBuilderUIExtensions.AddDefaultUI%2A>
- <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.IdentityBuilderExtensions.AddDefaultTokenProviders%2A>
See AddDefaultIdentity source for more information.
Prevent publish of static Identity assets
To prevent publishing static Identity assets (stylesheets and JavaScript files for Identity UI) to the web root, add the following ResolveStaticWebAssetsInputsDependsOn property and RemoveIdentityAssets target to the app's project file:
<PropertyGroup>
<ResolveStaticWebAssetsInputsDependsOn>RemoveIdentityAssets</ResolveStaticWebAssetsInputsDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="RemoveIdentityAssets">
<ItemGroup>
<StaticWebAsset Remove="@(StaticWebAsset)" Condition="%(SourceId) == 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.UI'" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
Next Steps
- See this GitHub issue for information on configuring Identity using SQLite.
- Configure Identity
- <xref:security/authorization/secure-data>
- Add, download, and delete user data to Identity in an ASP.NET Core project
- Enable QR code generation for TOTP authenticator apps in ASP.NET Core
- <xref:migration/identity>
- Account confirmation and password recovery in ASP.NET Core
- Two-factor authentication with SMS in ASP.NET Core
- <xref:host-and-deploy/web-farm>
ASP.NET Core Identity:
- Is an API that supports user interface (UI) login functionality.
- Manages users, passwords, profile data, roles, claims, tokens, email confirmation, and more.
Users can create an account with the login information stored in Identity or they can use an external login provider. Supported external login providers include Facebook, Google, Microsoft Account, and Twitter.
[!include[](~/includes/requireAuth.md)]The Identity source code is available on GitHub. Scaffold Identity and view the generated files to review the template interaction with Identity.
Identity is typically configured using a SQL Server database to store user names, passwords, and profile data. Alternatively, another persistent store can be used, for example, Azure Table Storage.
In this topic, you learn how to use Identity to register, log in, and log out a user. Note: the templates treat username and email as the same for users. For more detailed instructions about creating apps that use Identity, see Next Steps.
Microsoft identity platform is:
- An evolution of the Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) developer platform.
- An alternative identity solution for authentication and authorization in ASP.NET Core apps.
- Not related to ASP.NET Core Identity.
View or download the sample code (how to download).
Create a Web app with authentication
Create an ASP.NET Core Web Application project with Individual User Accounts.
- Select File > New > Project.
- Select ASP.NET Core Web Application. Name the project WebApp1 to have the same namespace as the project download. Click OK.
- Select an ASP.NET Core Web Application, then select Change Authentication.
- Select Individual User Accounts and click OK.
The generated project provides ASP.NET Core Identity as a Razor class library. The Identity Razor class library exposes endpoints with the Identity area. For example:
- /Identity/Account/Login
- /Identity/Account/Logout
- /Identity/Account/Manage
Apply migrations
Apply the migrations to initialize the database.
Run the following command in the Package Manager Console (PMC):
PM> Update-Database
Test Register and Login
Run the app and register a user. Depending on your screen size, you might need to select the navigation toggle button to see the Register and Login links.
[!include[](~/includes/view-identity-db.md)]Configure Identity services
Services are added in ConfigureServices. The typical pattern is to call all the Add{Service} methods, and then call all the services.Configure{Service} methods.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
The preceding highlighted code configures Identity with default option values. Services are made available to the app through dependency injection.
Identity is enabled by calling <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.AuthAppBuilderExtensions.UseAuthentication%2A>. UseAuthentication adds authentication middleware to the request pipeline.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
The preceding code configures Identity with default option values. Services are made available to the app through dependency injection.
Identity is enabled by calling <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.AuthAppBuilderExtensions.UseAuthentication%2A>. UseAuthentication adds authentication middleware to the request pipeline.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
The template-generated app doesn't use authorization. app.UseAuthorization is included to ensure it's added in the correct order should the app add authorization. UseRouting, UseAuthentication, UseAuthorization, and UseEndpoints must be called in the order shown in the preceding code.
For more information on IdentityOptions and Startup, see <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.IdentityOptions> and Application Startup.
Scaffold Register, Login, LogOut, and RegisterConfirmation
Add the Register, Login, LogOut, and RegisterConfirmation files. Follow the Scaffold identity into a Razor project with authorization instructions to generate the code shown in this section.
Examine Register
When a user clicks the Register button on the Register page, the RegisterModel.OnPostAsync action is invoked. The user is created by <xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.UserManager%601.CreateAsync(%600)> on the _userManager object:
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
Log in
The Login form is displayed when:
- The Log in link is selected.
- A user attempts to access a restricted page that they aren't authorized to access or when they haven't been authenticated by the system.
When the form on the Login page is submitted, the OnPostAsync action is called. PasswordSignInAsync is called on the _signInManager object.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
For information on how to make authorization decisions, see Introduction to authorization in ASP.NET Core.
Log out
The Log out link invokes the LogoutModel.OnPost action.
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
In the preceding code, the code return RedirectToPage(); needs to be a redirect so that the browser performs a new request and the identity for the user gets updated.
<xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.SignInManager%601.SignOutAsync%2A> clears the user's claims stored in a cookie.
Post is specified in the Pages/Shared/_LoginPartial.cshtml:
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
Test Identity
The default web project templates allow anonymous access to the home pages. To test Identity, add [Authorize]:
It looks like the sample you are looking for does not exist.
If you are signed in, sign out. Run the app and select the Privacy link. You are redirected to the login page.
Explore Identity
To explore Identity in more detail:
- Create full identity UI source
- Examine the source of each page and step through the debugger.
Identity Components
All the Identity-dependent NuGet packages are included in the ASP.NET Core shared framework.
The primary package for Identity is Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity. This package contains the core set of interfaces for ASP.NET Core Identity, and is included by Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.EntityFrameworkCore.
Migrating to ASP.NET Core Identity
For more information and guidance on migrating your existing Identity store, see Migrate Authentication and Identity.
Setting password strength
See Configuration for a sample that sets the minimum password requirements.
Prevent publish of static Identity assets
To prevent publishing static Identity assets (stylesheets and JavaScript files for Identity UI) to the web root, add the following ResolveStaticWebAssetsInputsDependsOn property and RemoveIdentityAssets target to the app's project file:
<PropertyGroup>
<ResolveStaticWebAssetsInputsDependsOn>RemoveIdentityAssets</ResolveStaticWebAssetsInputsDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="RemoveIdentityAssets">
<ItemGroup>
<StaticWebAsset Remove="@(StaticWebAsset)" Condition="%(SourceId) == 'Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.UI'" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
Next Steps
- ASP.NET Core Identity source code
- AddDefaultIdentity source
- See this GitHub issue for information on configuring Identity using SQLite.
- Configure Identity
- <xref:security/authorization/secure-data>
- Add, download, and delete user data to Identity in an ASP.NET Core project
- Enable QR code generation for TOTP authenticator apps in ASP.NET Core
- <xref:migration/identity>
- Account confirmation and password recovery in ASP.NET Core
- Two-factor authentication with SMS in ASP.NET Core
- <xref:host-and-deploy/web-farm>