Anonymous Authentication <anonymousAuthentication>

Overview

The <anonymousAuthentication> element controls how Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 processes requests from anonymous users. You can modify the <anonymousAuthentication> element to disable Anonymous authentication, or you can configure Internet Information Services (IIS) to use a custom user account to process anonymous requests.

Anonymous authentication gives users access to the public areas of your Web or FTP site without prompting them for a user name or password. By default, the IUSR account, which was introduced in IIS 7.0 and replaces the IIS 6.0 IUSR_computername account, is used to allow anonymous access. An application is a grouping of files that delivers content or provides services over protocols, such as HTTP. When you create an application in IIS, the application's path becomes part of the site's URL.

By default, IIS 7 uses Anonymous authentication. You must disable Anonymous authentication for any Web site, Web application, or Web service for which you want to enable other authentication methods such as Basic or Windows authentication.

Compatibility

Setup

The <anonymousAuthentication> element is included in the default installation of IIS 7.

How To

How to disable anonymous authentication

1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager:

   • If you are using Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2:

     • On the taskbar, click Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

   • If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1:

     • Hold down the Windows key, press the letter X, and then click Control Panel.
     • Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

   • If you are using Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2:

     • On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

   • If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7:

     • On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
     • Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. In the Connections pane, expand the server name, expand Sites, and go to the level in the hierarchy pane that you want to configure, and then click the Web site or Web application.

3. Scroll to the Security section in the Home pane, and then double-click Authentication.

4. In the Authentication pane, select Anonymous Authentication, and then click Disable in the Actions pane.
   

How to change anonymous authentication credentials from the IUSR account

1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager:

   • If you are using Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2:

     • On the taskbar, click Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

   • If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1:

     • Hold down the Windows key, press the letter X, and then click Control Panel.
     • Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

   • If you are using Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2:

     • On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

   • If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7:

     • On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
     • Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. In the Connections pane, expand the server name, expand Sites, and navigate to the level in the hierarchy pane that you want to configure, and then click the Web site or Web application.

3. Scroll to the Security section in the Home pane, and then double-click Authentication.

4. In the Authentication pane, select Anonymous Authentication, and then click Edit... in the Actions pane.

5. In the Edit Anonymous Authentication Credentials dialog box, do one of the following:

   • Select Application pool identity to use the identity set for the application pool, and then click OK.
     

   • Click Set..., and then in the Set Credentials dialog box, enter the user name for the account in the User name box, enter the password for the account in the Password and Confirm password boxes, click OK, and then click OK again.
     

     Note

     If you use this procedure, only grant the new account minimal privileges on the IIS server computer.

Configuration

The <anonymousAuthentication> element is configurable at the site and application level in the Web.config file.

Attributes

Child Elements

None.

Configuration Sample

The following configuration example configures anonymous authentication for an IIS 7 Web site or Web application to use a local account on the Web server. (IIS 7 automatically uses AES encryption to encrypt the password.)

<security> <authentication>
   <anonymousAuthentication
      userName="User1"
      password="[enc:AesProvider:57686f6120447564652c2049495320526f636b73:enc]" />
   </authentication>
</security>

Sample Code

The following examples enable anonymous authentication and change the default username and password used for anonymous authentication to an account named IUSR and a password of P@ssw0rd.

AppCmd.exe

appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/security/authentication/anonymousAuthentication /enabled:"True" /commit:apphost
appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/security/authentication/anonymousAuthentication /userName:"IUSR" /commit:apphost
appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/security/authentication/anonymousAuthentication /password:"P@ssw0rd" /commit:apphost

C#

using System;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Web.Administration;

internal static class Sample { 
   private static void Main() { 
      using (ServerManager serverManager = new ServerManager()) {
         Configuration config = serverManager.GetApplicationHostConfiguration();
         ConfigurationSection anonymousAuthenticationSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/anonymousAuthentication", "Contoso");
         anonymousAuthenticationSection["enabled"] = true;
         anonymousAuthenticationSection["userName"] = @"IUSR";
         anonymousAuthenticationSection["password"] = @"P@ssw0rd";
         serverManager.CommitChanges();
      } 
   } 
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Text
Imports Microsoft.Web.Administration

Module Sample
   Sub Main()
      Dim serverManager As ServerManager = New ServerManager
      Dim config As Configuration = serverManager.GetApplicationHostConfiguration
      Dim anonymousAuthenticationSection As ConfigurationSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/anonymousAuthentication", "Contoso")
      anonymousAuthenticationSection("enabled") = True
      anonymousAuthenticationSection("userName") = "IUSR"
      anonymousAuthenticationSection("password") = "P@ssw0rd"
      serverManager.CommitChanges()
   End Sub
End Module

JavaScript

var adminManager = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager');
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST";

var anonymousAuthenticationSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/anonymousAuthentication", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso");
anonymousAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = true;
anonymousAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("userName").Value = "IUSR";
anonymousAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("password").Value = "P@ssw0rd";

adminManager.CommitChanges();

VBScript

Set adminManager = CreateObject("Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager")
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST"

Set anonymousAuthenticationSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/security/authentication/anonymousAuthentication", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso")
anonymousAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = True
anonymousAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("userName").Value = "IUSR"
anonymousAuthenticationSection.Properties.Item("password").Value = "P@ssw0rd"

adminManager.CommitChanges()