Question

I want to use forms authentication in my asp.net mvc site.

Can I use an already existing sql db (on a remote server) for it? How do I configure the site to use this db for authentication? Which tables do I need/are used for authentication?

Answer 1

You can. Check aspnet_regsql.exe program parameters in your Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.xxx folder, specially sqlexportonly.

After creating the needed tables, you can configure: create a connection string in the web.config file and then set up the MemberShipProvider to use this connection string:

  <connectionStrings>     <add name='MyLocalSQLServer' connectionString='Initial Catalog=aspnetdb;data source=servername;uid=whatever;pwd=whatever;'/>   </connectionStrings>  <authentication mode='Forms'>   <forms name='SqlAuthCookie' timeout='10' loginUrl='Login.aspx'/> </authentication> <authorization>   <deny users='?'/>   <allow users='*'/> </authorization> <membership defaultProvider='MySqlMembershipProvider'>   <providers>     <clear/>     <add name='MySqlMembershipProvider' connectionStringName='MyLocalSQLServer' applicationName='MyAppName' type='System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'/>   </providers> </membership> 

Ps: There are some very good articles about the whole concept here.