In this article I will explain how to implement Role based Authorization and Authentication for user in ASP.Net using Forms Authentication.
This is the fourth article from the series, in my previous articles I have explained
Database
I am making use of the database tables.
Users
Roles
The Roles table has two Roles i.e. Administrator and User
![Implement Role base security, page access and Show/Hide Menu items based on Role in ASP.Net]()
Note: You can download the database table SQL by clicking the download link below.
Login Page
This page will be used for allowing users login into the site. I have used the same code and design as used in the article Simple User Login Form example in ASP.Net with little modifications for implementing roles.
HTML Markup
The HTML markup consists of an ASP.Net Login control for which the OnAuthenticate event handler has been specified.
<asp:Login ID = "Login1" runat = "server" OnAuthenticate= "ValidateUser"></asp:Login>
![Implement Role base security, page access and Show/Hide Menu items based on Role in ASP.Net]()
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
C#
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Web.Security;
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Web.Security
Stored Procedure to Validate the User Credentials and get the Role
The following stored procedure is used to validate the user credentials and it also gets the assigned role, this stored procedure first checks whether the username and password are correct else returns -1.
If the username and password are correct but the user has not been activated then the code returned is -2.
If the username and password are correct and the user account has been activated then UserId and the Role is returned by the stored procedure.
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[Validate_User]
@Username NVARCHAR(20),
@Password NVARCHAR(20)
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE @UserId INT, @LastLoginDate DATETIME, @RoleId INT
SELECT @UserId = UserId, @LastLoginDate = LastLoginDate, @RoleId = RoleId
FROM Users WHERE Username = @Username AND [Password] = @Password
IF @UserId IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT UserId FROM UserActivation WHERE UserId = @UserId)
BEGIN
UPDATE Users
SET LastLoginDate = GETDATE()
WHERE UserId = @UserId
SELECT @UserId [UserId],
(SELECT RoleName FROM Roles
WHERE RoleId = @RoleId) [Roles] -- User Valid
END
ELSE
BEGIN
SELECT -2 [UserId], '' [Roles]-- User not activated.
END
END
ELSE
BEGIN
SELECT -1 [UserId], '' [Roles] -- User invalid.
END
END
Validating the User Credentials and determining the Role
The below event handler gets called when the Log In button is clicked. Here the Username and Password entered by the user is passed to the stored procedure and if the authentication is successful the UserId and the Role is returned.
The returned UserId and Role is used to create a FormsAuthentication ticket and the user is redirected either to the default page specified in the Web.Config or to the URL specified in the ReturnUrl QueryString parameter.
C#
protected void ValidateUser(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int userId = 0;
string roles = string.Empty;
string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
{
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("Validate_User"))
{
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Username", Login1.UserName);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Password", Login1.Password);
cmd.Connection = con;
con.Open();
SqlDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
reader.Read();
userId = Convert.ToInt32(reader["UserId"]);
roles = reader["Roles"].ToString();
con.Close();
}
switch (userId)
{
case -1:
Login1.FailureText = "Username and/or password is incorrect.";
break;
case -2:
Login1.FailureText = "Account has not been activated.";
break;
default:
FormsAuthenticationTicket ticket = new FormsAuthenticationTicket(1, Login1.UserName, DateTime.Now, DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(2880), Login1.RememberMeSet, roles, FormsAuthentication.FormsCookiePath);
string hash = FormsAuthentication.Encrypt(ticket);
HttpCookie cookie = new HttpCookie(FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName, hash);
if (ticket.IsPersistent)
{
cookie.Expires = ticket.Expiration;
}
Response.Cookies.Add(cookie);
Response.Redirect(FormsAuthentication.GetRedirectUrl(Login1.UserName, Login1.RememberMeSet));
break;
}
}
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub ValidateUser(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Dim userId As Integer = 0
Dim roles As String = String.Empty
Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)
Using cmd As New SqlCommand("Validate_User")
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Username", Login1.UserName)
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Password", Login1.Password)
cmd.Connection = con
con.Open()
Dim reader As SqlDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader()
reader.Read()
userId = Convert.ToInt32(reader("UserId"))
roles = reader("Roles").ToString()
con.Close()
End Using
Select Case userId
Case -1
Login1.FailureText = "Username and/or password is incorrect."
Exit Select
Case -2
Login1.FailureText = "Account has not been activated."
Exit Select
Case Else
Dim ticket As New FormsAuthenticationTicket(1, Login1.UserName, DateTime.Now, DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(2880), Login1.RememberMeSet, roles, _
FormsAuthentication.FormsCookiePath)
Dim hash As String = FormsAuthentication.Encrypt(ticket)
Dim cookie As New HttpCookie(FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName, hash)
If ticket.IsPersistent Then
cookie.Expires = ticket.Expiration
End If
Response.Cookies.Add(cookie)
Response.Redirect(FormsAuthentication.GetRedirectUrl(Login1.UserName, Login1.RememberMeSet))
Exit Select
End Select
End Using
End Sub
Inside the Page_Load event of the Login page, the following code makes sure that if the user is already logged in then he will be logged out.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!this.IsPostBack)
{
if (this.Page.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
{
FormsAuthentication.SignOut();
Response.Redirect("~/Login.aspx");
}
}
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
If Me.Page.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated Then
FormsAuthentication.SignOut()
Response.Redirect("~/Login.aspx")
End If
End If
End Sub
Inside Application_AuthenticateRequest event of the Global.asax file, the Roles are fetched from the FormsAuthentication Ticket and assigned to the HttpContext User object. This way the Role is available throughout the Application through the Context.
C#
protected void Application_AuthenticateRequest(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (HttpContext.Current.User != null)
{
if (HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
{
if (HttpContext.Current.User.Identity is FormsIdentity)
{
FormsIdentity id = (FormsIdentity)HttpContext.Current.User.Identity;
FormsAuthenticationTicket ticket = id.Ticket;
string userData = ticket.UserData;
string[] roles = userData.Split(',');
HttpContext.Current.User = new GenericPrincipal(id, roles);
}
}
}
}
VB.Net
Sub Application_AuthenticateRequest(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
If HttpContext.Current.User IsNot Nothing Then
If HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated Then
If TypeOf HttpContext.Current.User.Identity Is FormsIdentity Then
Dim id As FormsIdentity = DirectCast(HttpContext.Current.User.Identity, FormsIdentity)
Dim ticket As FormsAuthenticationTicket = id.Ticket
Dim userData As String = ticket.UserData
Dim roles As String() = userData.Split(","c)
HttpContext.Current.User = New GenericPrincipal(id, roles)
End If
End If
End If
End Sub
Master Page
This master page is inherited by all pages and it is used to display the user greetings message, logout link and menu.
HTML Markup
The Master Page consists of an ASP.Net LoginView control, which consists of LoginName, LoginStatus and a Menu control populated using SiteMapDataSource.
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
<title></title>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="head" runat="server">
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
<style type="text/css">
body{font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;}
.main_menu{width: 100px; background-color: #fff;border: 1px solid #ccc !important; color: #000;text-align: center;height: 30px;line-height: 30px;margin-right: 5px;}
.level_menu{width: 110px; background-color: #fff; color: #333;border: 1px solid #ccc !important;text-align: center;height: 30px;line-height: 30px;margin-top: 5px;}
.selected{background-color: #9F9F9F;color: #fff;}
input[type=text], input[type=password]{width: 200px;}
table{border: 1px solid #ccc;}
table th { background-color: #F7F7F7;color: #333;font-weight: bold;}
table th, table td { padding: 5px; border-color: #ccc; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<div>
<asp:LoginView ID="LoginView" runat="server">
<LoggedInTemplate>
<div align="right">
Welcome <asp:LoginName ID="LoginName1" runat="server" Font-Bold="true" />
<br /><br />
<asp:Label ID="lblLastLoginDate" runat="server" />
<asp:LoginStatus ID="LoginStatus1" runat="server" />
</div>
<hr />
<asp:SiteMapDataSource ID="SiteMapDataSource1" runat="server" ShowStartingNode="false"
SiteMapProvider="SiteMap" />
<asp:Menu ID="Menu" runat="server" DataSourceID="SiteMapDataSource1" Orientation="Horizontal"
OnMenuItemDataBound="OnMenuItemDataBound">
<LevelMenuItemStyles>
<asp:MenuItemStyle CssClass="main_menu" />
<asp:MenuItemStyle CssClass="level_menu" />
</LevelMenuItemStyles>
</asp:Menu>
</LoggedInTemplate>
</asp:LoginView>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="ContentPlaceHolder1" runat="server">
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>
Sitemap and Website Structure
Below is the website structure where I have Login, Home and Contact pages in the root, these pages are accessible by both Administrator and User Roles.
![Implement Role base security, page access and Show/Hide Menu items based on Role in ASP.Net]()
While the Reports and Users pages are placed inside a folder named Admin which is accessible only by Administrator Role.
Below is the Web.sitemap file. For the pages that are accessible by both Administrator and User Roles, I have set roles="*" while for the pages that are accessible by Administrator Role, I have set roles="Administrator".
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<siteMap xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/AspNet/SiteMap-File-1.0" >
<siteMapNodeurl="" title="Home" description="" roles ="*">
<siteMapNode url="~/Home.aspx" title="Home" description="Home Page" roles="*" />
<siteMapNode url="javascript:;" title="Admin" description="Admin Page" roles ="Administrator">
<siteMapNode url ="~/Admin/Users.aspx" title="Users" description="Users Page"></siteMapNode>
<siteMapNode url ="~/Admin/Reports.aspx" title="Reports" description="Reports Page"></siteMapNode>
</siteMapNode>
<siteMapNode url="~/Contact.aspx" title="Contact" description="Contact Us Page" roles="*" />
</siteMapNode>
</siteMap>
Web.Config Configuration
Root Web.Config file
The Root Web.Config file has following sections.
1. Connection String section
2. Authentication section - Here the Forms Authentication settings have been specified
3. Authorization section – Here I have allowed only authenticated users to access the pages by specifying <deny users="?" />.
4. Sitemap section – Here I have added a Sitemap provider for which securityTrimmingEnabled setting has been set to true. This is very necessary otherwise ASP.Net Menu control will not show/hide menu items as per Role.
<connectionStrings>
<add name="constr" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQL2005;Initial Catalog=LoginDB;user id=sa;password=password;"/>
</connectionStrings>
<system.web>
<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0"/>
<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms defaultUrl="~/Home.aspx" loginUrl="~/Login.aspx" slidingExpiration="true" timeout="2880"></forms>
</authentication>
<authorization>
<deny users="?" />
</authorization>
<siteMap enabled ="true" defaultProvider="SiteMap">
<providers>
<add name="SiteMap" type="System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider" siteMapFile="~/Web.sitemap" securityTrimmingEnabled="true" />
</providers>
</siteMap>
</system.web>
</configuration>
Admin Folder Web.Config File
Inside the Admin Folder Web.Config file, we have simply restricted all users except users with Role Administrators.
<configuration>
<system.web>
<authorization>
<allow roles="Administrator"/>
<deny users="*"/>
</authorization>
</system.web>
</configuration>
Screenshots
ASP.Net Menu when Administrator Logs in
![Implement Role base security, page access and Show/Hide Menu items based on Role in ASP.Net]()
ASP.Net Menu when normal User logs in
![Implement Role base security, page access and Show/Hide Menu items based on Role in ASP.Net]()
Downloads
