Handling custom external authentication

You can use global events to integrate external user databases, and modify the authentication or authorization process. See the SecurityEvents section of the global event reference to learn more about the available options.

To set up custom authentication, implement a handler for the SecurityEvents.Authentication.Execute event. You can access the authentication data through the event handler’s AuthenticationEventArgs parameter, which provides the following properties:

• UserInfo User - an object representing the user attempting to sign in. The object is the result of the system’s standard authentication check. If the default authentication failed, the User property is null.
• string UserName - contains the username entered during the sign-in attempt.
• string Password - contains the password entered during the sign-in attempt.

Once you complete the external authentication process in the handler’s code, assign a matching UserInfo object to the AuthenticationEventArgs parameter’s User property. If the authentication failed, set the property to null.

Example

The following example demonstrates how to integrate external user authentication by handling security events:

1. Open your Kentico web project in Visual Studio.

2. Create a custom module class.

   • Either add the class into a custom project within the Kentico solution (recommended) or directly into the Kentico web project (into a custom folder under the CMSApp project for web application installations, into the App_Code folder for web site installations).

3. Override the module’s OnInit method and assign a handler to the SecurityEvents.Authentication.Execute event:

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    using System.Data;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Web;
   
    using CMS;
    using CMS.DataEngine;
    using CMS.Membership;
   
    // Registers the custom module into the system
    [assembly: RegisterModule(typeof(CustomAuthenticationModule))]
   
    public class CustomAuthenticationModule : Module
    {
        // Module class constructor, the system registers the module under the name "CustomAuthentication"
        public CustomAuthenticationModule()
            : base("CustomAuthentication")
        {
        }
   
        // Contains initialization code that is executed when the application starts
        protected override void OnInit()
        {
            base.OnInit();
   
            // Assigns a handler to the SecurityEvents.Authenticate.Execute event
            // This event occurs when users attempt to sign in on the website
            SecurityEvents.Authenticate.Execute += OnAuthentication;
        }
    }
   
   
    

4. Define the handler method within the module class:

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    private void OnAuthentication(object sender, AuthenticationEventArgs e)
    {
        // Checks if the user was authenticated by the default system. Only continues if authentication failed.
        if (e.User == null)
        {
            // Object representing the external user
            UserInfo externalUser = null;
   
            // Gets the credentials entered during the authentication
            string username = SqlHelper.EscapeQuotes(e.UserName);
            string password = SqlHelper.EscapeQuotes(e.Password);
   
            // Path to an XML database file
            string xmlPath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/userdatabase.xml");
   
            // Reads data from the external database
            DataSet userData = new DataSet();
            userData.ReadXml(xmlPath);
   
            // Authenticates against the external database
            DataRow[] rows = userData.Tables[0].Select("UserName = '" + username + "' AND Password='" + password + "'");                
            if (rows.Count() > 0)        
            {
                // Creates a user record if external authentication is successful
                externalUser = new UserInfo()
                {
                    IsExternal = true,
                    UserName = e.UserName,
                    FullName = "ExternalUser Fullname",
                    Enabled = true
                };
            }
   
            // Passes the object representing the user (or null if external authentication failed)
            e.User = externalUser;
        }
    }
   
   
    

5. Save the class.

The system now performs authentication according to user data from the external source if default authentication fails.