anonymousIdentification Element (ASP.NET Settings Schema)
Configures anonymous identification for application authorization. This is required to identify entities that are not authenticated when authorization is required.
This element is new in the .NET Framework version 2.0.
<anonymousIdentification
enabled="[true | false]"
cookieless="[UseUri | UseCookies | AutoDetect | UseDeviceProfile]"
cookieName=""
cookiePath=""
cookieProtection="[None | Validation | Encryption | All]"
cookieRequireSSL="[true | false]"
cookieSlidingExpiration="[true | false]"
cookieTimeout="[DD.HH:MM:SS]"
domain="cookie domain"
/>
Attributes and Elements
The following sections describe attributes, child elements, and parent elements.
Attributes
Attribute | Description | ||||||||||
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cookieless |
Specifies whether to use cookies for a Web application. The HttpCookieMode enumeration is used to specify the value for this attribute in the configuration section. It is used by all features that support cookieless authentication. When the AutoDetect value is specified, ASP.NET queries the browser or device to determine whether it supports cookies. If the browser or device supports cookies, cookies are used to persist user data; otherwise, an identifier is used in the query string. This attribute can be one of the following possible values.
The default is "UseCookies". |
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cookieName |
Specifies the name that is assigned to the cookie. The default value is ".ASPXANONYMOUS". |
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cookiePath |
Specifies the path to the directory where the cookie is stored. The path is case-sensitive. The default is the root directory that is specified by "/". |
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cookieProtection |
Specifies the cookie protection scheme. This attribute can be one of the following possible values.
The default is "Validation". |
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cookieRequireSSL |
Specifies whether the cookie requires a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection when it is transmitted to the client. Because ASP.NET sets the authentication cookie property, Secure, the client does not return the cookie unless an SSL connection is in use. The default is false. |
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cookieSlidingExpiration |
Required Boolean attribute. Specifies whether the cookie timeout is reset at each request or at a predefined fixed time interval. If true, the cookie timeout occurs when less than 50 percent of the Time to Live (TTL) remains. If false, the cookie times out after the cookieTimeout duration has passed. The default is true. |
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cookieTimeout |
Required TimeSpan attribute. Specifies the cookie expiration time interval, in minutes. The default is 100000 minutes (69 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes). The maximum value is 2 years. |
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domain |
Specifies the cookie domain. This attribute allows the anonymous identification cookie to be shared across domains that have a common DNS namespace (for example, all sites that end in contoso.com). To share anonymous identification cookies, the sites must share common decryption and validation keys. Other anonymous identification configuration attributes, such as cookiePath and cookieName, must be the same for all the sites. For more information, see HttpCookie. The default is an empty string (""). |
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enabled |
Optional Boolean attribute. Specifies whether anonymous identification is enabled. If true, a cookie (or cookieless value) is used to manage the user's anonymous identifier. The default is false. |
Child Elements
None.
Parent Elements
Element | Description |
---|---|
configuration |
Specifies the required root element in every configuration file that is used by the common language runtime and the .NET Framework applications. |
system.web |
Specifies the root element for the ASP.NET configuration settings in a configuration file and contains elements that configure ASP.NET Web applications and control how the applications behave. |
Remarks
The <anonymousIdentification> element configures anonymous identification for application authorization. This is required to identify entities that are not authenticated when you use the Profile feature.
You can exceed the maximum size of the URI when you send the anonymous identification ticket in the URI. If the combination of the anonymous identification ticket, forms authentication ticket, session ID, and user data is greater than the maximum permissible URI length, the request will fail with a 400-Bad Request error.
Default Configuration
The following default <anonymousIdentification> element is not explicitly configured in the Machine.config file or in the root Web.config file. However, it is the default configuration that is returned by an application.
<anonymousIdentification
enabled="false"
cookieName=".ASPXANONYMOUS"
cookieTimeout="100000"
cookiePath="/"
cookieRequireSSL="false"
cookieSlidingExpiration="true"
cookieProtection="Validation"
cookieless="UseCookies"
domain=""
/>
Example
The following code example demonstrates how to configure a site for anonymous identification.
<configuration>
<system.web>
<anonymousIdentification
enabled="true"
cookieless="UseCookies"
cookieName=".ASPXANONYMOUS
cookieTimeout="30"
cookiePath="/"
cookieRequireSSL="false"
cookieSlidingExpiration = "true"
cookieProtection="Clear"
/>
</system.web>
</configuration>
Element Information
Configuration section handler |
|
Configuration member |
|
Configurable locations |
Machine.config Root-level Web.config Application-level Web.config |
Requirements |
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) versions 5.0, 5.1, or 6.0 The .NET Framework version 2.0 Microsoft Visual Studio 2003 or Visual Studio 2005 |
See Also
Tasks
How to: Configure Specific Directories Using Location Settings
How to: Lock ASP.NET Configuration Settings
Reference
system.web Element (ASP.NET Settings Schema)
configuration Element (General Settings Schema)
System.Configuration
System.Web.Configuration
AnonymousIdentificationSection
AnonymousIdentification
Concepts
Securing Profile Properties
ASP.NET Configuration File Hierarchy and Inheritance
Securing ASP.NET Configuration
ASP.NET Configuration Scenarios
Other Resources
General Configuration Settings (ASP.NET)
ASP.NET Configuration Settings
Configuring ASP.NET Applications
ASP.NET Configuration API