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active-directorywindows-authenticationiis-10windows-server-2016

Windows Authentication : Which users are allowed

Windows Authentication, Windows Server 2016 (or any version really)

When this is turned on in IIS10 this just authenticates against Active Directory, the user does not necessarily need to be a user on the server that IIS is sitting on right ?

Sorry for the dumb question

Solution

  • this just authenticates against Active Directory

    Yes and no. It's called "Windows Authentication" and not "Active Directory Authentication" for a reason. It allows the website to authenticate any account that the server is capable of authenticating.

    If the server is joined to a domain, then that can be an Active Directory account on the same domain or on any domain that domain trusts.

    But it can also be a local account that only exists on the server itself - and that is true whether or not the server is joined to an AD domain.