ASP.NET Web API compatible with SimpleMembershipProvider?

Question

Can the SimpleMembershipProvider be used with a ApiController or is it for classical web pages only? When trying to use it, I get the error "Membership.Provider" property must be an instance of ExtendedMembershipProvider .

If it is compatible, how can I call the . ValidateUser method without creating a cookie like WebSecurity.Login does?

UPDATE

I got it running within a Web API scaffolding after the following changes:

1. Web.config : outcomment the default membership & role provider within the system.web tag, as inserted by the Web API scaffolding.

2. Change the template InitializeSimpleMebershipAttribute from a Mvc attribute to System.Web.Http.Filters . The attributes hook directly into the controller and Mvc doesn't work for an ApiController .

However, the WebSecurity class is intermingled with forms authentication and the .Login method attaches a cookie to the http-header. WebMatrix.WebData exposes SimpleMembershipProvider , but there is no .ValidateUser to use it in a neutral way regarding authentication.

Is SimpleMembership actually intended to be used with anything else than forms authentication? I cannot find a clear answer to that on the web.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I think I got the answer. See the remarks section at the end of this page .

After initializing a SimpleMembershipProvider with the WebMatrix.WebData methods, the System.Web.Security.Membership class is available, just as with the old MembershipProvider . Instead of using the WebSecurity class for validation, Membership.ValidateUser is available and no cookie attached to the http header.