Configuring and Deploying Web Applications Lesson 7

Objectives

Authentication and Authorization When logging in to an ordinary PC, a user submits a username and password. This process of identifying the user is called authentication. The process of deciding what resources the user has rights to is called authorization. Authentication and authorization are the techniques used for connecting the right users to the right information.

ASP.NET and Authentication A SP.NET has several methods available for authentication, which can be set in the web.config file. The mode attribute of the element specifies how ASP.NET is going to handle the identification of the user. “Passport”, also known as Windows Live ID authentication, uses your Web pages to redirect users to a Microsoft Web site for login and then direct them back to your site with the information needed for controlling access. –In order for your visitors to log in, they must be members of Windows Live. “

Windows Authentication Windows” authentication is implemented using Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), which handles all of your HTTP requests. In order for your visitors to log in, they must have Windows accounts recognized by the server. This works well for intranets but is usually not practical for Internet applications.

Forms Authentication Forms authentication assigns most of the responsibility to the developer. IIS allows anonymous users to use the pages. Login pages can be written to authenticate users if desired.

Forms Authentication With forms authentication, the developer decides where the usernames and IDs are stored. The developer must also define the structure of the data. Databases, XML files, or even the web.config file are commonly used for storing these data. –This is commonly used for small applications because the file is already being used by ASP.NET. –For handling a large set of names that changes often, an XML file or database is the best choice.

Forms Authentication When using the forms mode, the element may be used within the tags. The element has many attributes that can be used to customize forms authentication. The element contains the element, which is used to manage usernames and passwords. The element is where we can finally list our usernames and passwords by filling it with elements.

Securing a Web Site Securing a Web site can be done using the following three steps: –1. Set the element in the web.config file. –2. Set the element in the web.config file. –3. Create a login page.

Design View Showing the Login.apsx Form

Impersonation Impersonation is used when ASP.NET and Internet Information Services (IIS), formerly called Internet Information Server, control the user authorization for a Web site. IIS is a group of network servers, such as Web, HTTP, and FTP, working together to support network applications.

Impersonation To change impersonation manually in the web.config file, we set the impersonate attribute of the element. For all users, we would enter. For a specific user we would add the userName and password attributes,.

Projects and Solutions As the name implies, the Web application project is an application, not a Web site. It is designed to run on the local computer using a Web interface. Although we have been running the applications in the same way that the Web application project is designed to run, the files used for our Web site, or “Web solution,” are designed to be deployed on a server using IIS for remote users to run over a network.

Local Assembly and Shared Assembly A local assembly is referenced only by a single application while a shared assembly (GAC) is referenced by many applications. If a change is made to a local assembly, it only affects a single application, while a change to a shared assembly can cause many applications to change behavior. This means we have to be much more careful about controlling shared assemblies.

AppSettings in Web.config The element is a special storage area of the web.config file for holding additional data and for supplementing settings. The element can be used as a tool for many creative tasks. The element is also used to allow web.config changes while the page is online without having to perform a restart.

IIS Installation and Configuration By default, IIS uses the C:\Inetpub folder to store Web sites.

Deploying Web Site Applications If your existing environment is based on simple HTML using Notepad, you will be deploying your site by copying your files to a host that may or may not be supported by Microsoft. For comprehensive IDEs like DreamWeaver or Visual Studio, the best choices for deployment are the built-in tools offered by these environments.

MSI Deployment Windows Installer (MSI), formerly known as Microsoft Installer, is the preferred method for deploying Web applications. Since Web applications are run on the desktop, they are deployed in a similar manner and MSI is used to create a setup file.

Application Pools Application pools is a new security feature of IIS 6.0 that allows you to isolate multiple Web applications that are running on the same computer. Application pools increase the security and reliability of ASP.NET Web applications.

Summary Reading and writing XML dataConfigure authentication, authorization, and impersonation. Understanding Web application projects, Web solutions, and assemblies. Configuring in Web.config. Understand IIS installation and configuration. Choosing a method to publish a Web site application based on the existing or intended environment. Understanding MSI deployment. Understanding the purpose of application pools and their effects on Web applications.