Context.User.Identity.Name is null with SignalR 2.X.X. How to fix it?

Question

This is driving me insane.

I'm using latest signalR release (2.0.2). This is my hub code (OnConnected)

        public override Task OnConnected()
        {
            //User is null then Identity and Name too.
            Connections.Add(Context.User.Identity.Name, Context.ConnectionId);
            return base.OnConnected();
        }

And this is my Controller's login method:

        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> Login(LoginViewModel model, string returnUrl)
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
              var user = await UnitOfWork.UserRepository.FindAsync(model.UserName,  model.Password);

                if (user != null)
                {
                    await SignInAsync(user, model.RememberMe);

                    return RedirectToLocal(returnUrl);
                }
            }

            TempData["ErrorMessage"] = Resources.InvalidUserNameOrPassword;

            // If we got this far, something failed, redisplay form
            return RedirectToAction("Index","Home");
        }

I found that some people are having this issue on OnDisconnected, I don't even make it there.

I'm using MCV5 template.

Do you have any idea what is wrong?

Answer 1

I found the final solution, this is the code of my OWIN startup class:

        public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
        {
        app.MapSignalR();

        // Enable the application to use a cookie to store information for the signed i user
        app.UseCookieAuthentication(new CookieAuthenticationOptions
        {
            AuthenticationType = DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ApplicationCookie,
            LoginPath = new PathString("/Home/Index")
        });

        // Use a cookie to temporarily store information about a user logging in with a third party login provider
        app.UseExternalSignInCookie(DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ExternalCookie);
        app.UseMicrosoftAccountAuthentication(new MicrosoftProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());
        app.UseTwitterAuthentication(new TwitterProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());
        app.UseFacebookAuthentication(new FacebookProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());
        app.UseGoogleAuthentication(new GoogleProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());    
    }

Making myself some coffee, I thought "What about mapping SignalR AFTER the authentication, and voila! Now it's workign as expected.

        public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
        {
        // Enable the application to use a cookie to store information for the signed i user
        app.UseCookieAuthentication(new CookieAuthenticationOptions
        {
            AuthenticationType = DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ApplicationCookie,
            LoginPath = new PathString("/Home/Index")
        });

        // Use a cookie to temporarily store information about a user logging in with a third party login provider
        app.UseExternalSignInCookie(DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ExternalCookie);
        app.UseMicrosoftAccountAuthentication(new MicrosoftProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());
        app.UseTwitterAuthentication(new TwitterProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());
        app.UseFacebookAuthentication(new FacebookProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());
        app.UseGoogleAuthentication(new GoogleProvider().GetAuthenticationOptions());

        app.MapSignalR();    
    }

Answer 2

If you're using Web Api and SignalR in the same project, you have to map SignalR before registering Web Api.

Change this:

app.UseWebApi(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
app.MapSignalR();

To this:

app.MapSignalR();
app.UseWebApi(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);

Answer 3

just make sure auth. configuration is called befor start app.MapMignalrR()

i changed this

 public partial class Startup
{
    public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
    {
        app.MapSignalR();
        ConfigureAuth(app);



    }
}

to this

 public partial class Startup
{
    public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
    {
        ConfigureAuth(app);
        app.MapSignalR();


    }
}

hugs ..

Answer 4

If you're mapping /signalr as a 'branched pipeline' you need to do this. Make sure to use bp.UseCookieAuthentication and not app:

app.Map("/signalr", bp =>
{
   bp.UseCookieAuthentication(new CookieAuthenticationOptions
   {
        AuthenticationType = DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ApplicationCookie,
        LoginPath = new PathString("/store/youRaccount/login")
   });

Tip: I deliverately changed the casing so when I see youRaccount in the URL bar I know it worked :-)

Answer 5

.NET Core SignalR only

For the newer .NET Core SignalR the full instructions explain that when using websockets you need to manually pull out the accessToken from the query string. This is easy to miss.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/signalr/authn-and-authz?view=aspnetcore-2.2

Basically where you call AddAuthentication() you need to add AddJwtBearer() and then set a handler for the OnMessageReceived handler.

Search for 'OnMessageReceived' in the above link for the code. It's a bit gnarly in the sense that you even have to add this yourself - but that's why it's easy to miss too.