Message Security with a Certificate Client

The following scenario shows a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) client and service secured using message security mode. Both the client and the service are authenticated with certificates. For more information, see Distributed Application Security.

For a sample application, see Message Security 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 a service endpoint that uses message security to establish a secure context.

' Create the binding.
Dim binding As New WSHttpBinding()
binding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Message
binding.Security.Message.ClientCredentialType = _
    MessageCredentialType.Certificate

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

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

' Specify a certificate to authenticate the service.
myServiceHost.Credentials.ServiceCertificate.SetCertificate( _
   StoreLocation.LocalMachine, StoreName.My, _
   X509FindType.FindBySubjectName, "Contoso.com")

' Open the service.
myServiceHost.Open()
Console.WriteLine("Listening...")
Console.ReadLine()

' Close the service.
myServiceHost.Close()

// Create the binding.
WSHttpBinding binding = new WSHttpBinding();
binding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Message;
binding.Security.Message.ClientCredentialType =
     MessageCredentialType.Certificate;

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

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

// Specify a certificate to authenticate the service.
myServiceHost.Credentials.ServiceCertificate.
    SetCertificate(StoreLocation.LocalMachine,
    StoreName.My,
    X509FindType.FindBySubjectName,
    "Contoso.com");

// Open the service.
myServiceHost.Open();
Console.WriteLine("Listening...");
Console.ReadLine();

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

Configuration

The following configuration can be used instead of the code.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <behaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name="ServiceCredentialsBehavior">
          <serviceCredentials>
            <serviceCertificate findValue="Contoso.com"
                                x509FindType="FindBySubjectName" />
          </serviceCredentials>
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
    <services>
      <service behaviorConfiguration="ServiceCredentialsBehavior" 
               name="ServiceModel.Calculator">
        <endpoint address="https://localhost/Calculator" 
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  bindingConfiguration="MessageAndCerficiateClient" 
                  name="SecuredByClientCertificate"
                  contract="ServiceModel.ICalculator" />
      </service>
    </services>
    <bindings>
      <wsHttpBinding>
        <binding name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator">
          <security mode="Message">
            <message clientCredentialType="Certificate" />
          </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

The following code creates the client. The binding is to message mode security, and the client credential type is set to Certificate.

' Create the binding.
Dim myBinding As New WSHttpBinding()
myBinding.Security.Mode = SecurityMode.Message
myBinding.Security.Message.ClientCredentialType = _
   MessageCredentialType.Certificate

' Create the endpoint address. 
Dim ea As New EndpointAddress("http://machineName/Calculator")

' Create the client. 
Dim cc As New CalculatorClient(myBinding, ea)

' Specify a certificate to use for authenticating the client.
cc.ClientCredentials.ClientCertificate.SetCertificate( _
   StoreLocation.CurrentUser, StoreName.My, _
   X509FindType.FindBySubjectName, "Cohowinery.com")

' 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.Message;
myBinding.Security.Message.ClientCredentialType =
    MessageCredentialType.Certificate;

// Create the endpoint address. 
EndpointAddress ea = new
    EndpointAddress("http://machineName/Calculator");

// Create the client. 
CalculatorClient cc =
    new CalculatorClient(myBinding, ea);

// Specify a certificate to use for authenticating the client.
cc.ClientCredentials.ClientCertificate.SetCertificate(
    StoreLocation.CurrentUser,
    StoreName.My,
    X509FindType.FindBySubjectName,
    "Cohowinery.com");

// Begin using the client.
try
{
    cc.Open();
    Console.WriteLine(cc.Add(200, 1111));
    Console.ReadLine();

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

Configuration

The following configuration specifies the client certificate using an endpoint behavior. For more information about certificates, see Working with Certificates. The code also uses an <identity> element to specify a Domain Name System (DNS) of the expected server identity. For more information about identity, see Service Identity and Authentication.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <behaviors>
      <endpointBehaviors>
        <behavior name="endpointCredentialsBehavior">
          <clientCredentials>
            <clientCertificate findValue="Cohowinery.com" 
               storeLocation="LocalMachine"
              x509FindType="FindBySubjectName" />
          </clientCredentials>
        </behavior>
      </endpointBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
    <bindings>
      <wsHttpBinding>
        <binding name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator" >
          <security mode="Message">
            <message clientCredentialType="Certificate" />
          </security>
        </binding>
      </wsHttpBinding>
    </bindings>
    <client>
      <endpoint address="http://machineName/Calculator" 
                behaviorConfiguration="endpointCredentialsBehavior"
                binding="wsHttpBinding"
                bindingConfiguration="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator"
                contract="ICalculator"
                name="WSHttpBinding_ICalculator">
        <identity>
          <dns value="Contoso.com" />
        </identity>
      </endpoint>
    </client>
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

See Also

Concepts

Security Overview
Service Identity and Authentication
Working with Certificates

Other Resources

Security Model for Windows Server App Fabric