WIF's SessionAuthenticationModule is always null. Why?

Question

I have the following on my project:

ClaimsIdentity identity = new ClaimsIdentity(claims, "Forms");
ClaimsPrincipal principal = new ClaimsPrincipal(identity);
principal = FederatedAuthentication.FederationConfiguration.IdentityConfiguration.ClaimsAuthenticationManager.Authenticate(String.Empty, principal);

SessionAuthenticationModule module = FederatedAuthentication.SessionAuthenticationModule;

SessionSecurityToken token = new SessionSecurityToken(principal, new TimeSpan(24, 0, 0));
token.IsPersistent = FederatedAuthentication.FederationConfiguration.WsFederationConfiguration.PersistentCookiesOnPassiveRedirects;
token.IsReferenceMode = module.IsReferenceMode;

module.WriteSessionTokenToCookie(token);

And the configuration I am using is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <configuration>
    <configSections>
      <section name="system.identityModel" type="System.IdentityModel.Configuration.SystemIdentityModelSection, System.IdentityModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089" />
      <section name="system.identityModel.services" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.Configuration.SystemIdentityModelServicesSection, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089" />
    </configSections>
  <system.web>
    <authentication mode="Forms" />
  </system.web>
  <system.webServer>
    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
      <add name="SessionAuthenticationModule" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.SessionAuthenticationModule, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" preCondition="managedHandler" />      
    </modules>
  </system.webServer>
  <system.identityModel.services>
    <federationConfiguration>
      <cookieHandler requireSsl="false" name="federation" />
    </federationConfiguration>
  </system.identityModel.services>

My current questions are:

Do I need the token.IsPersistent? Since it is using ...WsFederationConfiguration? I am not sure if I should keep this or from where should I take the value.
Why is my module null when I use Visual Studio Development Server and not null when I use the Local IIS Web Server? I would like to work fine in both.
Should I use or
Do I need to turn off the Role, Membership, ... providers? Since I am not using them ... If yes why?

Possible duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17556879/what-makes-the-federatedauthentication-sessionauthenticationmodule-return-null — Wiktor Zychla, Oct 11 '13 at 19:16
I already read that post but didn't help me ... At least I didn't find the solution there. — Miguel Moura, Oct 11 '13 at 19:35
ID0006: The input string parameter is either null or empty. Parameter name: Issuer is a specific exception. You haven't configured the identity provider Uri in your WSFederationAUthenticationModule section of the web.config. — Wiktor Zychla, Oct 11 '13 at 19:37
What you mean? I didn't find anything on how to solve that error. All I want is to be able to use login a user with claims using Identity Model ... Not the most complex configurations. — Miguel Moura, Oct 11 '13 at 20:46
Maybe you don't need the WSFederationAuthentication module. It is responsible for negotiating the authentication with external identity provider and it sounds you don't need one. — Wiktor Zychla, Oct 12 '13 at 07:34
Yes, I don't need that ... But if I use my first example I do I need "token.IsPersistent = FederatedAuthentication.FederationConfiguration.WsFederationConfiguration.PersistentCookiesOnPassiveRedirects;"? — Miguel Moura, Oct 12 '13 at 11:30
And why is my module null, even in the first example, when I use the Visual Studio Devepment Server ... But it is not null when I use the Local IIS Server? Do I have something wrong on my configuration? — Miguel Moura, Oct 12 '13 at 11:32

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 06 '15 at 23:48

I've been having this problem and just solved it by adding the following to my web.config. Worth a try if anyone else is having the same problem.

  <system.webServer>
    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
      <remove name="FormsAuthenticationModule" />
      <add name="SessionAuthenticationModule" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.SessionAuthenticationModule, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"></add>
    </modules>
  </system.webServer>

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 14 '15 at 21:10

the biggest thing I see is that you don't have a "system.identityModel" section defined. (my third code block below)

i have one that works...here are the differences I see:

  <system.web>
    <authentication mode="None" />

and (note the remove)

<modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
  <remove name="FormsAuthenticationModule" />
  <!--WIF 4.5 modules -->
  <add name="SessionAuthenticationModule" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.SessionAuthenticationModule, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"/>

  <!-- Adding the below causes a "ID0006: The input string parameter is either null or empty. Parameter name: Issuer" error -->
  <!--<add name="WsFederationAuthenticationModule" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.WSFederationAuthenticationModule, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"/>-->
</modules>

and (I do a "clear", but you could do a remove and add (same object))

  <system.identityModel>
    <identityConfiguration saveBootstrapContext="true">
      <securityTokenHandlers>
        <clear /> <!-- Note the CLEAR here -->
        <add type="System.IdentityModel.Tokens.SessionSecurityTokenHandler, System.IdentityModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089">
        </add>
      </securityTokenHandlers>

    </identityConfiguration>
  </system.identityModel>

Here is my full file, just in case:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
  For more information on how to configure your ASP.NET application, please visit
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=169433
  -->
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <!-- For more information on Entity Framework configuration, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=237468 -->
    <section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
    <!--WIF 4.5 sections -->
    <section name="system.identityModel" type="System.IdentityModel.Configuration.SystemIdentityModelSection, System.IdentityModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089" />
    <section name="system.identityModel.services" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.Configuration.SystemIdentityModelServicesSection, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089" />
  </configSections>
  <connectionStrings>
    <add name="DefaultConnection" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDb)\v11.0;Initial Catalog=aspnet-SessionAuthenticationModuleQuickDemo-20151014083716;Integrated Security=SSPI;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\aspnet-SessionAuthenticationModuleQuickDemo-20151014083716.mdf" />
  </connectionStrings>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="webpages:Version" value="2.0.0.0" />
    <add key="webpages:Enabled" value="false" />
    <add key="PreserveLoginUrl" value="true" />
    <add key="ClientValidationEnabled" value="true" />
    <add key="UnobtrusiveJavaScriptEnabled" value="true" />
  </appSettings>
  <system.web>
    <compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.5.2" />
    <httpRuntime targetFramework="4.5.2" />
    <authentication mode="None" />
    <pages>
      <namespaces>
        <add namespace="System.Web.Helpers" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Optimization" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.WebPages" />
      </namespaces>
    </pages>
    <profile defaultProvider="DefaultProfileProvider">
      <providers>
        <add name="DefaultProfileProvider" type="System.Web.Providers.DefaultProfileProvider, System.Web.Providers, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" connectionStringName="DefaultConnection" applicationName="/" />
      </providers>
    </profile>
    <membership defaultProvider="DefaultMembershipProvider">
      <providers>
        <add name="DefaultMembershipProvider" type="System.Web.Providers.DefaultMembershipProvider, System.Web.Providers, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" connectionStringName="DefaultConnection" enablePasswordRetrieval="false" enablePasswordReset="true" requiresQuestionAndAnswer="false" requiresUniqueEmail="false" maxInvalidPasswordAttempts="5" minRequiredPasswordLength="6" minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="0" passwordAttemptWindow="10" applicationName="/" />
      </providers>
    </membership>
    <roleManager defaultProvider="DefaultRoleProvider">
      <providers>
        <add name="DefaultRoleProvider" type="System.Web.Providers.DefaultRoleProvider, System.Web.Providers, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" connectionStringName="DefaultConnection" applicationName="/" />
      </providers>
    </roleManager>
    <!--
            If you are deploying to a cloud environment that has multiple web server instances,
            you should change session state mode from "InProc" to "Custom". In addition,
            change the connection string named "DefaultConnection" to connect to an instance
            of SQL Server (including SQL Azure and SQL  Compact) instead of to SQL Server Express.
      -->
    <sessionState mode="InProc" customProvider="DefaultSessionProvider">
      <providers>
        <add name="DefaultSessionProvider" type="System.Web.Providers.DefaultSessionStateProvider, System.Web.Providers, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" connectionStringName="DefaultConnection" />
      </providers>
    </sessionState>
  </system.web>
  <system.webServer>
    <validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false" />
    <handlers>
      <remove name="ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4.0_32bit" />
      <remove name="ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4.0_64bit" />
      <remove name="ExtensionlessUrlHandler-Integrated-4.0" />
      <add name="ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4.0_32bit" path="*." verb="GET,HEAD,POST,DEBUG,PUT,DELETE,PATCH,OPTIONS" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv4.0,bitness32" responseBufferLimit="0" />
      <add name="ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4.0_64bit" path="*." verb="GET,HEAD,POST,DEBUG,PUT,DELETE,PATCH,OPTIONS" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv4.0,bitness64" responseBufferLimit="0" />
      <add name="ExtensionlessUrlHandler-Integrated-4.0" path="*." verb="GET,HEAD,POST,DEBUG,PUT,DELETE,PATCH,OPTIONS" type="System.Web.Handlers.TransferRequestHandler" preCondition="integratedMode,runtimeVersionv4.0" />
    </handlers>

    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
      <remove name="FormsAuthenticationModule" />
      <!--WIF 4.5 modules -->
      <add name="SessionAuthenticationModule" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.SessionAuthenticationModule, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"/>

      <!-- Adding the below causes a "ID0006: The input string parameter is either null or empty. Parameter name: Issuer" error -->
      <!--<add name="WsFederationAuthenticationModule" type="System.IdentityModel.Services.WSFederationAuthenticationModule, System.IdentityModel.Services, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"/>-->
    </modules>


  </system.webServer>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Helpers" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-2.0.0.0" newVersion="2.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Mvc" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-4.0.0.0" newVersion="4.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.WebPages" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-2.0.0.0" newVersion="2.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="EntityFramework" publicKeyToken="b77a5c561934e089" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-5.0.0.0" newVersion="5.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="WebGrease" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-1.3.0.0" newVersion="1.3.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>
  <entityFramework>
    <defaultConnectionFactory type="System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.SqlConnectionFactory, EntityFramework" />
  </entityFramework>



  <system.identityModel>
    <identityConfiguration saveBootstrapContext="true">
      <securityTokenHandlers>
        <clear /> <!-- Note the CLEAR here -->
        <add type="System.IdentityModel.Tokens.SessionSecurityTokenHandler, System.IdentityModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089">
        </add>
      </securityTokenHandlers>

    </identityConfiguration>
  </system.identityModel>


  <system.identityModel.services>
    <federationConfiguration>
      <cookieHandler requireSsl="false" />
    </federationConfiguration>
  </system.identityModel.services>



</configuration>

WIF's SessionAuthenticationModule is always null. Why?

2 Answers2