Forms Authentication

[kailash]

Dear Friends
I'm new to Microsoft project server and enterprize project management. Need
help to know how can user logon to PWA using form authentication.

I don't know what is MembershipProvider and don't have any administrator who
can help me.

Project server was installed with minimum details and it didn't asked me for
this details.

I can access user using windows login via URL "http://localhost/pwa" is this
will be the URL for Forms login as well ?

Thanks

 

[.jussi]

Hi Kailash,

AD vs. Forms authentication in Project Server 2007 is something that is
quite a bit more complex than it sounds initially. Windows (Active Directory,
AD) authentication is the only scheme that works out of the box. For forms
authentication, you need a separate authentication provider that performs the
authentication (username and password verification, essentially).

Windows Authentication uses your Windows domain's Active Directory for user
authentication. The benefit is being able to manage users using the AD (one
less user management interface) and having a single-sign-on environment for
Windows and EPM (users are automatically identified and authenticated using
their windows logon).

Forms authentication depends on an external authentication provider that you
use to control users and their privileges. Using forms authentication usually
means that the users must enter their username and password when they access
the system. On the plus side is that you do not have to introduce external
users to your domain Active Directory - and if you have a compatible
authentication provider already in place for some other system, you can have
a single-sign-on and user management environment for those.

With either authentication scheme you need an authentication provider. For
Windows Authentication, this is your AD. For forms authentication, it is
something else. With EPM 2007 you are not able to just set up a username and
password on the Project Server like you could in 2003 if I'm not mistaken.

For more information there are several blog posts and MSDN articles that go
into the details.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms456788.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb975136.aspx

Hope that helps,
- Jussi

 

[JennPenn07]

I used this article to set up forms authentication for my our PS2007 dev.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc197472.aspx

All users are domain users (window authen), however we can toggle them from
Windows to Forms (not as easy as in 2003, but doable). The process to toggle
them we just sort of figured out by useing the article above.

 

[kailash]

Dear Jenn
Thanks for taking you time to reply to this thread.

I have followed the instruction as per the URL said by you and able to see
user in my PWA but however can't loging using this. Below is the message it
gave me after running the "PjFormsAuthUpgrade.exe" command.

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Bin>PjFormsAuthUpgrade.exe
-url http://win2k3r2ee:1234/pwa -usersfile file.xml
Reading users from users file C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office
Servers\12.0\Bin\file.xml.
User users read from users file.
Creating users in membership provider.
User bhabhi, Password bhabhi@1, Email Address: (e-mail address removed) created
successfully.
1 users created in membership provider.
Upgrading users in published database.
Creating user logon: bhabhi, resid: 947b9c0d-b486-4078-bcf1-e879b6655144,
email: '(e-mail address removed)'.
Successfully upgraded or created user bhabhi.
Upgraded users in published database."

After this i also set the security group for this user.

My URL for form authentication is "http://win2k3r2ee:1235/pwa". When i hit
this url using internet browser it's showing me login page but when i type
the user name and password, its giving me unknown error.

Please help me how to resolve this error.

Thanks in advance
Kailash Upadhyay

 

[JennPenn07]

Hi Kailash,

Did you go into PWA, edit the user, select "Forms Authentication..." under
User Authentication? You must also append "AspNetSqlMembershipProvider:" to
the front of the user logon account.

I am not getting email notifications, or I would have responded sooner. Let
me know if you resolved this.

 

[kailash]

Dear Jenn
Thanks it's working fine now. I can login using both form as well wiondows
authentication.

Thanks a ton again for all your time and help.

Kailash Upadhyay