Asp.Net Identity and cookie names

Question

We have 2 applications that are both using Asp.Net Identity for security.

They have nothing to do with each other but I happen to be a developer on both projects.

I'm facing a quite annoying issue with the Cookie name. If I go to app1 and log in then to app2 and log in, I get disconnected from app1.

My wild guess is that it is because the 2 applications are sharing the same cookie name.

So for the ease of development and also because I think it is nicer I'm looking for a way to change the name of the cookie.

Any clue?

Answer 1

OK, found it.

By default, VS and Identity will create a file in App_Start named Startup.Auth.cs.

This file contains the following code

app.UseCookieAuthentication(new CookieAuthenticationOptions
{
    AuthenticationType = DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ApplicationCookie,
    LoginPath = new PathString("/Account/Login"),
    Provider = new CookieAuthenticationProvider
    {
        OnValidateIdentity = SecurityStampValidator.OnValidateIdentity<ApplicationUserManager, ApplicationUser>(
            validateInterval: TimeSpan.FromMinutes(30),
            regenerateIdentity: (manager, user) => user.GenerateUserIdentityAsync(manager))
    }
});

To fix our problem, we have to set the CookieName property of the CookieAuthenticationOptions

CookieName = "my-very-own-cookie-name"

That's it; nothing more.

Cheers!

Answer 2

For FormsAuthentication, the change of cookie name is through web.config:

<authentication mode="Forms" >
  <forms loginUrl="~/Account/LogIn" timeout="2880" name=".cookie2" />
</authentication>