Migrate authentication and Identity to ASP.NET Core 2.0

Article
06/18/2024

ASP.NET Core 2.0 has a new model for authentication and Identity that simplifies configuration by using services. ASP.NET Core 1.x applications that use authentication or Identity can be updated to use the new model as outlined below.

Update namespaces

In 1.x, classes such IdentityRole and IdentityUser were found in the Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.EntityFrameworkCore namespace.

In 2.0, the Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity namespace became the new home for several of such classes. With the default Identity code, affected classes include ApplicationUser and Startup. Adjust your using statements to resolve the affected references.

Authentication Middleware and services

In 1.x projects, authentication is configured via middleware. A middleware method is invoked for each authentication scheme you want to support.

The following 1.x example configures Facebook authentication with Identity in Startup.cs:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddIdentity<ApplicationUser, IdentityRole>()
            .AddEntityFrameworkStores<ApplicationDbContext>();
}

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, ILoggerFactory loggerfactory)
{
    app.UseIdentity();
    app.UseFacebookAuthentication(new FacebookOptions {
        AppId = Configuration["auth:facebook:appid"],
        AppSecret = Configuration["auth:facebook:appsecret"]
    });
}

In 2.0 projects, authentication is configured via services. Each authentication scheme is registered in the ConfigureServices method of Startup.cs. The UseIdentity method is replaced with UseAuthentication.

The following 2.0 example configures Facebook authentication with Identity in Startup.cs:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddIdentity<ApplicationUser, IdentityRole>()
            .AddEntityFrameworkStores<ApplicationDbContext>();

    // If you want to tweak Identity cookies, they're no longer part of IdentityOptions.
    services.ConfigureApplicationCookie(options => options.LoginPath = "/Account/LogIn");
    services.AddAuthentication()
            .AddFacebook(options =>
            {
                options.AppId = Configuration["auth:facebook:appid"];
                options.AppSecret = Configuration["auth:facebook:appsecret"];
            });
}

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, ILoggerFactory loggerfactory) {
    app.UseAuthentication();
}

The UseAuthentication method adds a single authentication middleware component, which is responsible for automatic authentication and the handling of remote authentication requests. It replaces all of the individual middleware components with a single, common middleware component.

Below are 2.0 migration instructions for each major authentication scheme.

Select one of the two options below, and make the necessary changes in Startup.cs:

Use cookies with Identity
- Replace UseIdentity with UseAuthentication in the Configure method:
```
app.UseAuthentication();
```
- Invoke the AddIdentity method in the ConfigureServices method to add the cookie authentication services.
- Optionally, invoke the ConfigureApplicationCookie or ConfigureExternalCookie method in the ConfigureServices method to tweak the Identity cookie settings.
```
services.AddIdentity<ApplicationUser, IdentityRole>()
        .AddEntityFrameworkStores<ApplicationDbContext>()
        .AddDefaultTokenProviders();

services.ConfigureApplicationCookie(options => options.LoginPath = "/Account/LogIn");
```

Use cookies without Identity

Replace the UseCookieAuthentication method call in the Configure method with UseAuthentication:
```
app.UseAuthentication();
```

Invoke the AddAuthentication and AddCookie methods in the ConfigureServices method:

// If you don't want the cookie to be automatically authenticated and assigned to HttpContext.User,
// remove the CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme parameter passed to AddAuthentication.
services.AddAuthentication(CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme)
        .AddCookie(options =>
        {
            options.LoginPath = "/Account/LogIn";
            options.LogoutPath = "/Account/LogOff";
        });