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Microsoft.Owin.Security.ActiveDirectory library purpose


I am getting myself familiar with all the stuff related to authentication using active directory (both Azure AD and Windows Server AD).

Currently I am inspecting MS Katana project which is based on OWIN specification.

There are three libraries and one of them is kind of confusing for me:

Microsoft.Owin.Security.ActiveDirectory
Microsoft.Owin.Security.OpenIdConnect
Microsoft.Owin.Security.WsFederation

As for OpenId and WsFederation I understand what they are for, there are plenty of examples and articles about that.

What confuses me is the purpose of the ActiveDirectory library. I mean is this another way how to authenticate against active directory besides OpenId and WsFederation?

I am unable to find any relevant clear articles and examples about this one. Even on this site is the libraty only listed, but missing example:

Azure Active Directory Authentication Libraries

So my question is what is this library for and what are the use cases for using it over OpenIdConnect and WsFederation ways.

Thanks


Solution

  • That library contains middleware used for securing Web API with Azure AD. Any sample featuring a web API project in https://github.com/AzureADSamples/ uses it.