Question

Error using ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider in DMZ

Asked by: vtinfo

I am trying to utilize the ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider for the security on a site I am working on. In the past I have just used Forms authentication and written my own LDAP code to authenticate a user off the Active Directory. However, when I try to use the built in ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider I keep getting the error "The specified domain or server could not be contacted."

The server running the ASP.NET site is in the DMZ with port 389 open. I can test that the port is open and that the Web Server can access the Domain Server. The code I have written to test this creates a DirectoryEntry using the same connection info as below. Also, I am able to test this connection with Ldp.exe and everything checks out.

Attatched is what I have in my web.config file. I set the ADService Connection String to the Domain server behind the firewall using port 389, which is open. Then in my provider is set the connectionProtection to "none" to force the provider to use port 389. However, when I try to use the built in login server control I get the error noted above. This site works internally on a server in the LAN, so I am confused as to why it will not function. I am sure that I completely overlooked something, so any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

<membership defaultProvider="iDIGActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider">
 
      <providers>
 
        <add name="iDIGActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider"
          type="System.Web.Security.ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider,     System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,  PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
          connectionStringName= "ADService"
          connectionProtection="None"
          attributeMapUsername="sAMAccountName"
          connectionUsername="mydomain\administrator"
          connectionPassword="******"
          />
 
      </providers>
 
</membership>
<connectionStrings>
 
    <add name ="ADService" connectionString="LDAP://192.168.10.11:389" />
 
  </connectionStrings>

                                  
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Asked On
2008-05-05 at 15:31:51ID23377997
Tags

ASP.NET

Topics

Programming for ASP.NET

,

.Net Editors & IDEs

,

Microsoft IIS Web Server

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
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Answers

 

by: TornadoVPosted on 2008-05-06 at 08:21:18ID: 21508077

You will need to open up port 3268 to query the global catalog, if you will use SSL/LDAP, you need 636 and 3269 respectively.

 

by: vtinfoPosted on 2008-05-06 at 11:37:01ID: 21509750

TornadoV,

I will give this a try and let you know.

Thanks!

 

by: vtinfoPosted on 2008-05-12 at 12:09:57ID: 21549671

I was able to get port 3268 open for the Global catalog, so now both 389 and 3268 are open. I am still however getting the same error when I try to use the ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider and the built in Login server control. The error is still "The specified domain or server could not be contacted.".

 

by: TornadoVPosted on 2008-05-13 at 07:24:21ID: 21555321

I noticed that you're using connectionProtection="None" with a domain account as a connectionUsername, according to this blog http://blogs.msdn.com/dansellers/archive/2005/10/11/479941.aspx,
"When the connectionProtection is set to "None", you can not connect to the ADAM Directory with a Windows Account; therefore, you must create a User Object in the ADAM instance and add it as a member of the Administrator role. "

There is another important part:
"However, you will still have problems connecting to ADAM with ASP.Net Membership API for two reasons. First, you need to configure ADAM to support unsecured bind operation since by default ADAM only support a secure connection such as SSL, and second ADAM does allow passwords to be send over an unsecured connection.  In the ADAM ADSI Edit, go to the Configuration naming context and choose the properties for CN=Directory Services, CN=Windows NT, CN=Services.  Double click the attributes "msDS-Other-Settings" and click edit and remove the entry "RequireSecureProxyBind=1" and replace it with "RequireSecureProxyBind=0", then choose "OK".  The next step is to go to the ADAM command prompt.

At the command prompt, type: dsmgmt
At the dsmgmt: prompt, type: ds behavior
At the ds behavior: prompt, type: connections
·         At the server connections: prompt, type:

connect to server localhost:389

At the server connections: prompt, type: quit
At the ds behavior: prompt, do the following:
To allow password settings over a non-SSL connection, type:
allow passwd op on unsecured connection
"

Hope this helps.

 

by: vtinfoPosted on 2008-05-13 at 08:41:25ID: 21556159

Thanks TornadoV,

For this project, I am trying to avoid using ADAM and just connect directly to the DC. Is it possible that I cannot use a Windows Account for authentication with ConnectionProtection set to None? The only examples I have seen have had the connectionProtection set to Secure.

Thanks,

 

by: TornadoVPosted on 2008-05-14 at 07:23:35ID: 21564510

We've used ADAM for our implementation, this might be usefull: http://forums.iis.net/t/1008211.aspx

Also, http://saloweblife.blogspot.com/  <- here is what I found regarding AD:

Q connectionProtection=None for ADThis is not a combination you should ever use. In AD environments, any operations that set or change passwords must be done over secure connections, so with a setting of None, the provider will always fail when it attempts things like ChangePassword or ResetPassword. Also, you need to always use explicit connection credentials with this setting. Because AD has built-in support for automatically securing connections there isnt much reason for ever using None in an AD environment.

Here is list of ports that we have open between ADAM in DMZ and internal AD DC:
389, 636, 3268, 3269 and 135 (RPC Endpoint Mapper - used for replication between ADAM and AD)

Hope this helps

 

by: vtinfoPosted on 2008-05-14 at 11:16:56ID: 21567071

Thanks TornadoV,

Originally I was just trying this as a demo, but it looks like this might be the way we implement the project, so  I am thinking that using ADAM and secure connections will be our best bet.

I am going to do some research on setting up ADAM...So I will probably be back.

Thanks for all your help,

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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