Transport Security with an Anonymous Client

This Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) scenario uses transport security (HTTPS) to ensure confidentiality and integrity. The server must be authenticated with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, and the clients must trust the server's certificate. The client is not authenticated by any mechanism and is, therefore, anonymous.

For a sample application, see WS Transport Security. For more information about transport security, see Transport Security Overview.

For more information about using a certificate with a service, see Working with Certificates and How to: Configure a Port with an SSL Certificate.

Service

The following code and configuration are meant to run independently. Do one of the following:

• Create a stand-alone service using the code with no configuration.

• Create a service using the supplied configuration, but do not define any endpoints.

Code

The following code shows how to create an endpoint using transport security:

' Create the binding.
Dim binding As New WSHttpBinding()
binding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport
binding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType = HttpClientCredentialType.None

' Create the URI for the endpoint.
Dim httpUri As New Uri("https://localhost/Calculator")

' Create the service host and add an endpoint.
Dim myServiceHost As New ServiceHost(GetType(ServiceModel.Calculator), httpUri)
myServiceHost.AddServiceEndpoint(GetType(ServiceModel.ICalculator), binding, "")

' Open the service host.
myServiceHost.Open()
Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit....")
Console.ReadLine()

' Close the service.
myServiceHost.Close()

// Create the binding.
WSHttpBinding binding = new WSHttpBinding();
binding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport;
binding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType =
      HttpClientCredentialType.None;

// Create the URI for the endpoint.
Uri httpUri = new Uri("https://localhost/Calculator");

// Create the service host and add an endpoint.
ServiceHost myServiceHost =
    new ServiceHost(typeof(ServiceModel.Calculator), httpUri);
myServiceHost.AddServiceEndpoint(
    typeof(ServiceModel.ICalculator), binding, "");

// Open the service host.
myServiceHost.Open();
Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit....");
Console.ReadLine();

// Close the service.
myServiceHost.Close();

Configuration

The following code sets up the same endpoint using configuration. The client is not authenticated by any mechanism, and is therefore anonymous.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <services>
      <service name="ServiceModel.Calculator">
        <endpoint address="https://localhost/Calculator" 
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  bindingConfiguration="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator" 
                  name="SecuredByTransportEndpoint"
                  contract="ServiceModel.ICalculator" />
      </service>
    </services>
    <bindings>
      <wsHttpBinding>
        <binding name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator">
          <security mode="Transport">
            <transport clientCredentialType="None" />
          </security>
        </binding>
      </wsHttpBinding>
    </bindings>
    <client />
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

Client

The following code and configuration are meant to run independently. Do one of the following:

• Create a stand-alone client using the code (and client code).

• Create a client that does not define any endpoint addresses. Instead, use the client constructor that takes the configuration name as an argument. For example:

  Dim cc As New CalculatorClient("EndpointConfigurationName")
  

  CalculatorClient cc = new CalculatorClient("EndpointConfigurationName");
  

Code

' Create the binding.
Dim myBinding As New WSHttpBinding()
myBinding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport
myBinding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType = HttpClientCredentialType.None

' Create the endpoint address. Note that the machine name 
' must match the subject or DNS field of the X.509 certificate
' used to authenticate the service. 
Dim ea As New EndpointAddress("https://machineName/Calculator")

' Create the client. The code for the calculator 
' client is not shown here. See the sample applications
' for examples of the calculator code.
Dim cc As New CalculatorClient(myBinding, ea)

' Begin using the client.
Try
    cc.Open()

    Console.WriteLine(cc.Add(100, 11))
    Console.ReadLine()

    ' Close the client.
    cc.Close()
Catch tex As TimeoutException
    Console.WriteLine(tex.Message)
    cc.Abort()
Catch cex As CommunicationException
    Console.WriteLine(cex.Message)
    cc.Abort()
Finally
    Console.WriteLine("Closed the client")
    Console.ReadLine()
End Try

// Create the binding.
WSHttpBinding myBinding = new WSHttpBinding();
myBinding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Transport;
myBinding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType =
    HttpClientCredentialType.None;

// Create the endpoint address. Note that the machine name 
// must match the subject or DNS field of the X.509 certificate
// used to authenticate the service. 
EndpointAddress ea = new
    EndpointAddress("https://machineName/Calculator");

// Create the client. The code for the calculator 
// client is not shown here. See the sample applications
// for examples of the calculator code.
CalculatorClient cc =
    new CalculatorClient(myBinding, ea);

// Begin using the client.
try
{
    cc.Open();
    Console.WriteLine(cc.Add(100, 1111));

    // Close the client.
    cc.Close();
}

Configuration

The following configuration can be used instead of the code to set up the service.

<configuration>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <bindings>
      <wsHttpBinding>
        <binding name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator" >
          <security mode="Transport">
            <transport clientCredentialType="None" />
          </security>
        </binding>
      </wsHttpBinding>
    </bindings>
    <client>
      <endpoint address="https://machineName/Calculator" 
                binding="wsHttpBinding"
                bindingConfiguration="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator" 
                contract="ICalculator"
                name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator" />
    </client>
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

See Also

Tasks

WS Transport Security

Concepts

Security Overview
Transport Security Overview

Other Resources

Security Model for Windows Server App Fabric