What Is the Commerce Server Membership Provider?

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Commerce Server Core Systems includes a membership provider that integrates Commerce Server Core Systems profiles with ASP.NET logon and registration controls. By adding a section to the Web.config file, you can take advantage of the Web controls and authentication functionality that are built in to ASP.NET, while using the data that is stored in the Commerce Server Core Systems user profile.

Although Commerce Server Core Systems still supports older models of authentication, new sites should use the Commerce Server Membership Provider.

Note

The Commerce Server Membership Provider supports only one-way encryption. You can view the advanced attributes for the user password in the user object profile definition in Commerce Server Manager. The Encrypted attribute is set to One Way Hash. For more information about one-way encryption, see How Does the Profiles System Encrypt Data?

The Commerce Server Membership Provider customizes ASP.NET behavior in the following three ways:

  • When a user registers with the site, ASP.NET stores the information that the user provides in a user profile.

  • When a user logs on to the site, ASP.NET uses the logon ID and password that are stored in the user profile to authenticate the user. Any other actions that the ASP.NET logon and registration controls implement, for example, changing a password or asking for the secret answer to a secret question, are also performed by using the data from the user profile.

  • When a user logs on to the site, Commerce Server Core Systems associates the ASP.NET ID for the user’s session with the user profile so that the user’s actions can be associated with the user’s profile.

By using the Commerce Server Membership Provider, you can access the authentication and user account functionality that ASP.NET provides by adding the logon and registration controls to the Web pages. The Commerce Server Membership Provider integrates the ASP.NET controls and Commerce Server Core Systems user profiles for you.

Note

If you disable some features of the Commerce Server Membership Provider, there is an effect on performance. For more information, see Profiles Schema Performance Considerations.

See Also

Other Resources

How to Enable Logons by Using the Commerce Server Membership Provider