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Transport security with an anonymous client

  • Article

This Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) scenario uses transport security (HTTPS) to ensure confidentiality and integrity. The server must be authenticated with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, and the clients must trust the server's certificate. The client is not authenticated by any mechanism and is, therefore, anonymous.

For a sample application, see WS Transport Security. For more information about transport security, see Transport Security Overview.

For more information about using a certificate with a service, see Working with Certificates and How to: Configure a Port with an SSL Certificate.

Using transport security with an anonymous client

Characteristic Description
Security Mode Transport
Interoperability With existing Web services and clients
Authentication (Server)

Authentication (Client)		 Yes

Application level (no WCF support)
Integrity Yes
Confidentiality Yes
Transport HTTPS
Binding WSHttpBinding

Service

The following code and configuration are meant to run independently. Do one of the following:

  • Create a stand-alone service using the code with no configuration.

  • Create a service using the supplied configuration, but do not define any endpoints.

Code

The following code shows how to create an endpoint using transport security:

// Create the binding.
WSHttpBinding binding = new WSHttpBinding();
binding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport;
binding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType =
      HttpClientCredentialType.None;

// Create the URI for the endpoint.
Uri httpUri = new Uri("https://localhost/Calculator");

// Create the service host and add an endpoint.
ServiceHost myServiceHost =
    new ServiceHost(typeof(ServiceModel.Calculator), httpUri);
myServiceHost.AddServiceEndpoint(
    typeof(ServiceModel.ICalculator), binding, "");

// Open the service host.
myServiceHost.Open();
Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit....");
Console.ReadLine();

// Close the service.
myServiceHost.Close();

' Create the binding.
Dim binding As New WSHttpBinding()
binding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport
binding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType = HttpClientCredentialType.None

' Create the URI for the endpoint.
Dim httpUri As New Uri("https://localhost/Calculator")

' Create the service host and add an endpoint.
Dim myServiceHost As New ServiceHost(GetType(ServiceModel.Calculator), httpUri)
myServiceHost.AddServiceEndpoint(GetType(ServiceModel.ICalculator), binding, "")

' Open the service host.
myServiceHost.Open()
Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit....")
Console.ReadLine()

' Close the service.
myServiceHost.Close()

Configuration

The following code sets up the same endpoint using configuration. The client is not authenticated by any mechanism, and is therefore anonymous.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <services>
      <service name="ServiceModel.Calculator">
        <endpoint address="https://localhost/Calculator"
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  bindingConfiguration="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator"
                  name="SecuredByTransportEndpoint"
                  contract="ServiceModel.ICalculator" />
      </service>
    </services>
    <bindings>
      <wsHttpBinding>
        <binding name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator">
          <security mode="Transport">
            <transport clientCredentialType="None" />
          </security>
        </binding>
      </wsHttpBinding>
    </bindings>
    <client />
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

Client

The following code and configuration are meant to run independently. Do one of the following:

  • Create a stand-alone client using the code (and client code).

  • Create a client that does not define any endpoint addresses. Instead, use the client constructor that takes the configuration name as an argument. For example:

    CalculatorClient cc = new CalculatorClient("EndpointConfigurationName");

    Dim cc As New CalculatorClient("EndpointConfigurationName")

Code

// Create the binding.
WSHttpBinding myBinding = new WSHttpBinding();
myBinding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport;
myBinding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType =
    HttpClientCredentialType.None;

// Create the endpoint address. Note that the machine name
// must match the subject or DNS field of the X.509 certificate
// used to authenticate the service.
EndpointAddress ea = new
    EndpointAddress("https://machineName/Calculator");

// Create the client. The code for the calculator
// client is not shown here. See the sample applications
// for examples of the calculator code.
CalculatorClient cc =
    new CalculatorClient(myBinding, ea);

// Begin using the client.
try
{
    cc.Open();
    Console.WriteLine(cc.Add(100, 1111));

    // Close the client.
    cc.Close();
}

' Create the binding.
Dim myBinding As New WSHttpBinding()
myBinding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport
myBinding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType = HttpClientCredentialType.None

' Create the endpoint address. Note that the machine name
' must match the subject or DNS field of the X.509 certificate
' used to authenticate the service.
Dim ea As New EndpointAddress("https://machineName/Calculator")

' Create the client. The code for the calculator
' client is not shown here. See the sample applications
' for examples of the calculator code.
Dim cc As New CalculatorClient(myBinding, ea)

' Begin using the client.
Try
    cc.Open()

    Console.WriteLine(cc.Add(100, 11))
    Console.ReadLine()

    ' Close the client.
    cc.Close()
Catch tex As TimeoutException
    Console.WriteLine(tex.Message)
    cc.Abort()
Catch cex As CommunicationException
    Console.WriteLine(cex.Message)
    cc.Abort()
Finally
    Console.WriteLine("Closed the client")
    Console.ReadLine()
End Try

Configuration

The following configuration can be used instead of the code to set up the service.

<configuration>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <bindings>
      <wsHttpBinding>
        <binding name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator" >
          <security mode="Transport">
            <transport clientCredentialType="None" />
          </security>
        </binding>
      </wsHttpBinding>
    </bindings>
    <client>
      <endpoint address="https://machineName/Calculator"
                binding="wsHttpBinding"
                bindingConfiguration="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator"
                contract="ICalculator"
                name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator" />
    </client>
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

See also