Asp.net Identity keeps redirecting back to login page after successfull login

Question

I have created a .NET 6 mvc project from scratch and selected "Individual account" option for authentication during the project creation. Later, I added identity scaffold and then I created a new _AuthLayout.cshtml for Identity functionality.(as shown in below image).

I am setting login page as default landing page in Program.cs file. Now I want to redirect the user to home controller index page after successful login but the website keeps redirecting back to login page after successful login. I have seen and tried many similar questions on stack overflow but my problem is not solved.

Here are my code:

Program.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
using WebApplication2.Data;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Add services to the container.
var connectionString = builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection") ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Connection string 'DefaultConnection' not found.");
builder.Services.AddDbContext<ApplicationDbContext>(options =>
    options.UseSqlServer(connectionString));
builder.Services.AddDatabaseDeveloperPageExceptionFilter();

builder.Services.AddDefaultIdentity<IdentityUser>(options => options.SignIn.RequireConfirmedAccount = true)
    .AddEntityFrameworkStores<ApplicationDbContext>();

builder.Services.AddAuthentication(IdentityConstants.ApplicationScheme).AddCookie(options =>
{
    options.LoginPath = "/Identity/Account/Login";
});

builder.Services.AddControllersWithViews();

builder.Services.AddMvc().AddRazorPagesOptions(options =>
{
    options.Conventions.AddAreaPageRoute("Identity", "/Account/Login", "");
});

var app = builder.Build();

// Configure the HTTP request pipeline.
if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseMigrationsEndPoint();
}
else
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Home/Error");
}
app.UseStaticFiles();

app.UseRouting();
app.UseAuthentication();
app.UseAuthorization();

app.MapControllerRoute(
    name: "default",
    pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
app.MapRazorPages();

app.Run();

HomeController.cs

    [Authorize]
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        private readonly ILogger<HomeController> _logger;

        public HomeController(ILogger<HomeController> logger)
        {
            _logger = logger;
        }

        public IActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }

        public IActionResult Privacy()
        {
            return View();
        }

        [ResponseCache(Duration = 0, Location = ResponseCacheLocation.None, NoStore = true)]
        public IActionResult Error()
        {
            return View(new ErrorViewModel { RequestId = Activity.Current?.Id ?? HttpContext.TraceIdentifier });
        }
    }

Login.cshtml.cs

public class LoginModel : PageModel
{
    private readonly SignInManager<IdentityUser> _signInManager;
    private readonly ILogger<LoginModel> _logger;

    public LoginModel(SignInManager<IdentityUser> signInManager, ILogger<LoginModel> logger)
    {
        _signInManager = signInManager;
        _logger = logger;
    }

   
    [BindProperty]
    public InputModel Input { get; set; }
   
    public IList<AuthenticationScheme> ExternalLogins { get; set; }
   
    public string ReturnUrl { get; set; }
   
    [TempData]
    public string ErrorMessage { get; set; }
    
    public class InputModel
    {           
        [Required]
        [EmailAddress]
        public string Email { get; set; }

        [Required]
        [DataType(DataType.Password)]
        public string Password { get; set; }

       
        [Display(Name = "Remember me?")]
        public bool RememberMe { get; set; }
    }

    public async Task OnGetAsync(string returnUrl = null)
    {
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(ErrorMessage))
        {
            ModelState.AddModelError(string.Empty, ErrorMessage);
        }

        returnUrl ??= Url.Content("~/");

        // Clear the existing external cookie to ensure a clean login process
        await HttpContext.SignOutAsync(IdentityConstants.ExternalScheme);

        ExternalLogins = (await _signInManager.GetExternalAuthenticationSchemesAsync()).ToList();

        ReturnUrl = returnUrl;
    }

    public async Task<IActionResult> OnPostAsync(string returnUrl = null)
    {
        returnUrl ??= Url.Content("~/");

        ExternalLogins = (await _signInManager.GetExternalAuthenticationSchemesAsync()).ToList();

        if (ModelState.IsValid)
        {
            // This doesn't count login failures towards account lockout
            // To enable password failures to trigger account lockout, set lockoutOnFailure: true
            var result = await _signInManager.PasswordSignInAsync(Input.Email, Input.Password, Input.RememberMe, lockoutOnFailure: false);
            if (result.Succeeded)
            {
                _logger.LogInformation("User logged in.");
                return LocalRedirect(returnUrl);
            }
            if (result.RequiresTwoFactor)
            {
                return RedirectToPage("./LoginWith2fa", new { ReturnUrl = returnUrl, RememberMe = Input.RememberMe });
            }
            if (result.IsLockedOut)
            {
                _logger.LogWarning("User account locked out.");
                return RedirectToPage("./Lockout");
            }
            else
            {
                ModelState.AddModelError(string.Empty, "Invalid login attempt.");
                return Page();
            }
        }

        // If we got this far, something failed, redisplay form
        return Page();
    }
}

_AuthLayout.cshtml

  <!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"/>
    <title>Login</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css"/>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/css/site.css" asp-append-version="true"/>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/DemoApp.styles.css" asp-append-version="true"/>
    <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
    <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>   
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
    @RenderBody()
</div>

<script src="~/lib/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script>
<script src="~/js/site.js" asp-append-version="true"></script>
@await RenderSectionAsync("Scripts", false)
</body>
</html>

_ViewStart.cshtml (this view start is under area folder)

@{
Layout = "_AuthLayout";
}

And here are the links that I have referred:

Link1 Link2

Can anybody tell me where I am going wrong? thank you

Answer 1

Try to remove below code:

builder.Services.AddMvc().AddRazorPagesOptions(options =>
{
    options.Conventions.AddAreaPageRoute("Identity", "/Account/Login", "");
});

options.Conventions.AddAreaPageRoute("Identity", "/Account/Login", "");

Set the default page to /Account/Login, that's why Asp.net Identity keeps redirecting back to login page after successfull login.

result:

You can read AddAreaPageRoute Method to know more.