Configure the Cookie Name for Forms Authentication (IIS 7)
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista
By default, the cookie name for ASP.NET applications is .ASPXAUTH. However, you can instead use a unique cookie name and path for each application. Doing so can prevent users who are authenticated for one application from being authenticated for other applications on a Web server.
Prerequisites
For information about the levels at which you can perform this procedure, and the modules, handlers, and permissions that are required to perform this procedure, see Authentication Feature Requirements (IIS 7).
Exceptions to Feature Requirements
- None
Modules
- FormsAuthenticationModule
To configure the cookie name for Forms Authentication
You can perform this procedure by using the user interface (UI), by running Appcmd.exe commands in a command-line window, by editing configuration files directly, or by writing WMI scripts.
User Interface
To use the UI
Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage. For information about opening IIS Manager, see Open IIS Manager (IIS 7). For information about navigating to locations in the UI, see Navigation in IIS Manager (IIS 7).
In Features View, double-click Authentication.
On the Authentication page, select Forms Authentication.
In the Actions pane, click Edit.
In the Name text box in the Cookie settings area of the Edit Forms Authentication Settings dialog box, type a cookie name, and then click OK.
Command Line
To configure the cookie name for Forms authentication, use the following syntax:
**appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:system.web/authentication /forms.name:**string
The variable forms.name name is the name of the cookie used for Forms authentication. The default value is .ASPXAUTH. For example, to configure the cookie name for Forms authentication, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:
appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:system.web/authentication /forms.name:.ASPXUTH
Note
When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the authentication element at the global level in IIS 7, you must specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.
For more information about Appcmd.exe, see Appcmd.exe (IIS 7).
Configuration
The procedure in this topic affects the following configuration elements:
<forms> under <authentication> under <system.web>
For more information about IIS 7 configuration, see IIS 7.0: IIS Settings Schema on MSDN.
WMI
Use the following WMI classes, methods, or properties to perform this procedure:
- FormsAuthenticationConfiguration.Name property
For more information about WMI and IIS, see Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) in IIS 7. For more information about the classes, methods, or properties associated with this procedure, see the IIS WMI Provider Reference on the MSDN site.