Windows Authentication Providers <providers>

Overview

The <providers> collection of the <windowsAuthentication> element defines the list of authentication providers that are used with the Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 Windows authentication module. This list of providers cannot be extended, and by default it contains only two entries:

• Negotiate - This provider will attempt to use Kerberos for authentication if it is available.
• NTLM - This provider will attempt to use Windows NT LAN Manager for authentication.

Compatibility

Version	Notes
IIS 10.0	The <providers> element was not modified in IIS 10.0.
IIS 8.5	The <providers> element was not modified in IIS 8.5.
IIS 8.0	The <providers> element was not modified in IIS 8.0.
IIS 7.5	The <providers> element was not modified in IIS 7.5.
IIS 7.0	The <providers> element of the <windowsAuthentication> element was introduced in IIS 7.0.
IIS 6.0	The <providers> collection replaces the IIS 6.0 NTAuthenticationProviders metabase property.

Setup

The default installation of IIS 7 and later does not include the Windows authentication role service. To use Windows authentication on IIS, you must install the role service, disable Anonymous authentication for your Web site or application, and then enable Windows authentication for the site or application.

Note

After you install the role service, IIS 7 commits the following configuration settings to the ApplicationHost.config file.

<windowsAuthentication enabled="false" />

Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2

1. On the taskbar, click Server Manager.
2. In Server Manager, click the Manage menu, and then click Add Roles and Features.
3. In the Add Roles and Features wizard, click Next. Select the installation type and click Next. Select the destination server and click Next.
4. On the Server Roles page, expand Web Server (IIS), expand Web Server, expand Security, and then select Windows Authentication. Click Next.
   
5. On the Select features page, click Next.
6. On the Confirm installation selections page, click Install.
7. On the Results page, click Close.

Windows 8 or Windows 8.1

1. On the Start screen, move the pointer all the way to the lower left corner, right-click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, click Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows features on or off.
3. Expand Internet Information Services, expand World Wide Web Services, expand Security, and then select Windows Authentication.
   
4. Click OK.
5. Click Close.

Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2

1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.
2. In the Server Manager hierarchy pane, expand Roles, and then click Web Server (IIS).
3. In the Web Server (IIS) pane, scroll to the Role Services section, and then click Add Role Services.
4. On the Select Role Services page of the Add Role Services Wizard, select Windows Authentication, and then click Next.
   
5. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, click Install.
6. On the Results page, click Close.

Windows Vista or Windows 7

1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, click Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows Features on or off.
3. Expand Internet Information Services, then World Wide Web Services, then Security.
4. Select Windows Authentication, and then click OK.
   

How To

There is no user interface for Windows authentication providers for IIS 7. For examples of how to modify the list of Windows authentication providers programmatically, see the Code Samples section of this document.

Configuration

Attributes

None.

Child Elements

Element	Description
add	Optional element. Adds a security provider to the collection of providers. Windows authentication requires at least one provider.
remove	Optional element. Removes a reference to a security provider from the providers collection.
clear	Optional element. Removes all references to providers from the provider collection.

Configuration Sample

The following default <windowsAuthentication> element is configured at the root ApplicationHost.config file in IIS 7.0, and disables Windows authentication by default. It also defines the two Windows authentication providers for IIS 7.0.

<windowsAuthentication enabled="false">
   <providers>
      <add value="Negotiate" />
      <add value="NTLM" />
   </providers>
</windowsAuthentication>

The following example enables Windows authentication and disables Anonymous authentication for a Web site named Contoso.

<location path="Contoso">
   <system.webServer>
      <security>
         <authentication>
            <anonymousAuthentication enabled="false" />
            <windowsAuthentication enabled="true" />
         </authentication>
      </security>
   </system.webServer>
</location>

Sample Code

The following code examples will enable Windows authentication and remove the Negotiate provider for a site named Contoso.

AppCmd.exe

appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/security/authentication/windowsAuthentication /enabled:"True" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/security/authentication/windowsAuthentication /-"providers.[value='Negotiate']" /commit:apphost

Note

You must be sure to set the commit parameter to apphost when you use AppCmd.exe to configure these settings. This commits the configuration settings to the appropriate location section in the ApplicationHost.config file.

C#

using System;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Web.Administration;

internal static class Sample
{
   private static void Main()
   {
      using (ServerManager serverManager = new ServerManager())
      {
         Configuration config = serverManager.GetApplicationHostConfiguration();
         ConfigurationSection windowsAuthenticationSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/windowsAuthentication", "Contoso");
         windowsAuthenticationSection["enabled"] = true;

         ConfigurationElementCollection providersCollection = windowsAuthenticationSection.GetCollection("providers");
         ConfigurationElement addElement = FindElement(providersCollection, "add", "value", @"Negotiate");

         if (addElement == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Element not found!");
         providersCollection.Remove(addElement);

         serverManager.CommitChanges();
      }
   }

   private static ConfigurationElement FindElement(ConfigurationElementCollection collection, string elementTagName, params string[] keyValues)
   {
      foreach (ConfigurationElement element in collection)
      {
         if (String.Equals(element.ElementTagName, elementTagName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
         {
            bool matches = true;
            for (int i = 0; i < keyValues.Length; i += 2)
            {
               object o = element.GetAttributeValue(keyValues[i]);
               string value = null;
               if (o != null)
               {
                  value = o.ToString();
               }
               if (!String.Equals(value, keyValues[i + 1], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
               {
                  matches = false;
                  break;
               }
            }
            if (matches)
            {
               return element;
            }
         }
      }
      return null;
   }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Text
Imports Microsoft.Web.Administration

Module Sample
   Sub Main()
      Dim serverManager As ServerManager = New ServerManager
      Dim config As Configuration = serverManager.GetApplicationHostConfiguration
      Dim windowsAuthenticationSection As ConfigurationSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/windowsAuthentication", "Contoso")
      windowsAuthenticationSection("enabled") = True

      Dim providersCollection As ConfigurationElementCollection = windowsAuthenticationSection.GetCollection("providers")
      Dim addElement As ConfigurationElement = FindElement(providersCollection, "add", "value", "Negotiate")

      If (addElement Is Nothing) Then
         Throw New InvalidOperationException("Element not found!")
      End If
      providersCollection.Remove(addElement)

      serverManager.CommitChanges()
   End Sub

   Private Function FindElement(ByVal collection As ConfigurationElementCollection, ByVal elementTagName As String, ByVal ParamArray keyValues() As String) As ConfigurationElement
      For Each element As ConfigurationElement In collection
         If String.Equals(element.ElementTagName, elementTagName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) Then
            Dim matches As Boolean = True
            Dim i As Integer
            For i = 0 To keyValues.Length - 1 Step 2
               Dim o As Object = element.GetAttributeValue(keyValues(i))
               Dim value As String = Nothing
               If (Not (o) Is Nothing) Then
                  value = o.ToString
               End If
               If Not String.Equals(value, keyValues((i + 1)), StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) Then
                  matches = False
                  Exit For
               End If
            Next
            If matches Then
               Return element
            End If
         End If
      Next
      Return Nothing
   End Function


End Module

JavaScript

var adminManager = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager');
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST";
var windowsAuthenticationSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/windowsAuthentication", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso");
windowsAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = true;

var providersCollection = windowsAuthenticationSection.ChildElements.Item("providers").Collection;
var addElementPos = FindElement(providersCollection, "add", ["value", "Negotiate"]);
if (addElementPos == -1) throw "Element not found!";
providersCollection.DeleteElement(addElementPos);

adminManager.CommitChanges();

function FindElement(collection, elementTagName, valuesToMatch) {
   for (var i = 0; i < collection.Count; i++) {
      var element = collection.Item(i);
      if (element.Name == elementTagName) {
         var matches = true;
         for (var iVal = 0; iVal < valuesToMatch.length; iVal += 2) {
            var property = element.GetPropertyByName(valuesToMatch[iVal]);
            var value = property.Value;
            if (value != null) {
               value = value.toString();
            }
            if (value != valuesToMatch[iVal + 1]) {
               matches = false;
               break;
            }
         }
         if (matches) {
            return i;
         }
      }
   }
   return -1;
}

VBScript

Set adminManager = WScript.CreateObject("Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager")
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST"
Set windowsAuthenticationSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/windowsAuthentication", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso")
windowsAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = True

Set providersCollection = windowsAuthenticationSection.ChildElements.Item("providers").Collection
addElementPos = FindElement(providersCollection, "add", Array("value", "Negotiate"))

If (addElementPos = -1) Then
   WScript.Echo "Element not found!"
   WScript.Quit
End If
providersCollection.DeleteElement(addElementPos)

adminManager.CommitChanges()

Function FindElement(collection, elementTagName, valuesToMatch)
   For i = 0 To CInt(collection.Count) - 1
      Set element = collection.Item(i)
      If element.Name = elementTagName Then
         matches = True
         For iVal = 0 To UBound(valuesToMatch) Step 2
            Set property = element.GetPropertyByName(valuesToMatch(iVal))
            value = property.Value
            If Not IsNull(value) Then
               value = CStr(value)
            End If
            If Not value = CStr(valuesToMatch(iVal + 1)) Then
               matches = False
               Exit For
            End If
         Next
         If matches Then
            Exit For
         End If
      End If
   Next
   If matches Then
      FindElement = i
   Else
      FindElement = -1
   End If
End Function