ASP.Net MVC 5 Forms Authentication get username in code behind

Question

I have an ASP.Net MVC 5 project that I recently migrated from MVC 4. I'm using FormsAuthentication with HTTPS and anonymous authentication, and setting a cookie using this:

FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage(Username, false)

Authentication works, but the issue I'm having is getting the current user's name in my C# code. I can get at it fine in my view,

User.Identity.GetUserName()

but I can't get at it in the controller. HttpContext.CurrentUser doesn't exist, and this.User in the controller is always null. I've also tried requesting the cookie, but it fails.

Will I have to set the Identity myself when they sign on? I may need user rolls, but I could always query the database to get them.

In short, how can I get the current user's username in my controller in MVC 5? Thanks

Forms Authentication or Identity? They are two different things. — jimSampica
– jimSampica, Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 20:53
I'm using forms authentication, not identity. I figured identity was something you could use to store user info, but I guess not. — Jooooosh
– Jooooosh, Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 20:55
This answer seemed to do the trick. You'll have to import WebMatrix.WebData; as well. If the user isn't authenticated it returns an empty string. stackoverflow.com/a/17254386/4051272 — Jooooosh
– Jooooosh, Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 21:09
Shouldn't you be calling FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(Username, false) instead? That creates the cookie and usually allows using User.Identity.Name later on. — Christian Droulers
– Christian Droulers, Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 22:04
I read somewhere RedirectFromLoginPage sets a cookie for you, but I checked on another controller and can get at User.Identity now. My problem was that I was posting to the home controller, then calling another controller's method like this (new MyController()).MyMethod(myModel);. Time to change that lol. Thanks for bringing that up, I never woulda figured that out. — Jooooosh
– Jooooosh, Commented Nov 21, 2014 at 14:16

score 8 · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-14 18:16:28Z

8

string cookieName = FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName; //Find cookie name
HttpCookie authCookie = HttpContext.Request.Cookies[cookieName]; //Get the cookie by it's name
FormsAuthenticationTicket ticket = FormsAuthentication.Decrypt(authCookie.Value); //Decrypt it
string UserName = ticket.Name; //You have the UserName!

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