Authenticate users in Microsoft Dynamics 365

Grein
11/28/2016

Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2016, Dynamics CRM Online

Microsoft Dynamics 365 supports three security models for authentication: claims-based authentication, Active Directory authentication, and OAuth 2.0. The type of authentication used depends on the type of deployment your application is accessing, Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) or Microsoft Dynamics 365, and if your application is using the Web API or the Organization Service.

In addition to using the correct security model, applications must establish a communication channel with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 web services on the target deployment. The Microsoft Dynamics 365 SDK run-time assemblies use Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) technology to establish this communication channel.

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 SDK simplifies use of WCF technology and claims-based authentication by providing helper proxy classes that make it easy to write applications that connect to and authenticate with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 web services. By using these helper classes in your application, you can access any Microsoft Dynamics 365 deployment using the same code and you don’t have to become an expert in claims-based security or WCF programming.