Adam Freeman - Pro ASP.NET Core Identity: Under the Hood with Authentication and Authorization in ASP.NET Core 5 and 6 Applications

Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this book is available to readers on GitHub via the books product page, located at www.apress.com/9781484268575 . For more detailed information, please visit www.apress.com/source-code .

ASP.NET Core Identity is the user management system for ASP.NET Core applications. It provides an API for managing users and roles and for signing users into and out of applications. Users can sign in with simple passwords, use two-factor authentication, or sign in using third-party platforms provided by Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

In this book, I explain how ASP.NET Core Identity is used and how it works behind the scenes. I describe the built-in features, from those that can be used for simple applications through to deep customizations for advanced projects.

This is an advanced book written for experienced developers. You should not attempt to read this book unless you are familiar with web development using ASP.NET Core. You must understand HTML and how it is produced using Razor Pages and the MVC Framework. You must have at least a basic understanding of application security, although I introduce key concepts as I explain how they are implemented by ASP.NET Core Identity.

This book is split into two parts, each of which covers a set of related topics.

In Part 1 of this book, I show you how to apply ASP.NET Core Identity to an ASP.NET Core project. I show you how to set up and configure Identity, how to use the built-in Identity UI package to manage user accounts, and how to use the API to create custom workflows. By the end of this part of the book, you will be ready to use ASP.NET Core Identity in your projects.

In Part 2 of this book, I dig deep into the detail and explain how the features used in Part 1 are implemented, how they can be customized, and how they relate to the features provided by the ASP.NET Core platform. By the end of this part of the book, you will be ready to create custom implementations of the interfaces that shape ASP.NET Core Identity to suit the needs of the most advanced ASP.NET Core projects.

As noted, this book is for experienced ASP.NET Core developers who want to understand ASP.NET Core Identity and apply it in their ASP.NET Core project. It doesnt explain the basics of web applications or programming. It doesnt describe the ASP.NET Core platform, other than as it relates to how Identity works.

I cover the authentication scenarios that are used by the majority of Internet-facing ASP.NET Core projects. I dont describe the ASP.NET Core authentication features that are not related directly to ASP.NET Core Identity, such as integration with Active Directory or with third-party products, such as IdentityServer (which, despite its name, is not directly related to ASP.NET Core Identity and is more of an alternative).

You need the same set of tools you use for ASP.NET Core development, including the .NET SDK and Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code. I describe the setup required for this book in Chapter .

Chapter introduces ASP.NET Core Identity by creating a simple application, and, as part of that process, I tell you how to create a development environment for following the examples in this book .