How to Create Your Own Membership Provider Instead of Using SqlMembershipProvider (.NET)

   public class User
    {
        public long UserId { get; set; }
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
        public string Email { get; set; }
        public string Password { get; set; }
        public string Address { get; set; }
        public string City { get; set; }
        public string ZipCode { get; set; }
        public string Country { get; set; }
        public bool IsActive { get; set; }
        public DateTime CreationDate { get; set; }
        public DateTime LastLoginDate { get; set; }
    }

    public class AuthenticationService : IDisposable
    {
        public bool UserExists(string email, string password)
        {
            //implementation here
        }

        public User GetUser(string username)
        {
            //implementation here
        }

        public User GetUser(long userId)
        {
            //implementation here
        }

        public bool UpdateUser(User user)
        {
            //implementation here
        }

        public void Dispose()
        {
            //implementation here
        }
    }

    public class CustomMemberShipUser : MembershipUser
    {
        private readonly User _userData;

        public User UserData
        {
            get { return _userData; }
        }

        
        /// 
/// Constructor of MemberShip derived class ///
public CustomMemberShipUser(string providername, User userData) : base(providername, userData.Email, userData.UserId, userData.Email, string.Empty, string.Empty, true, !userData.IsActive, userData.CreationDate, userData.LastLoginDate, DateTime.Now, DateTime.Now, DateTime.Now) { this._userData = userData; } }

I have used some data in the "User" contract to fill in required fields in the base class.

I have also decided that the username is the email "!userData.IsActive", filled into the "isLockedOut" property in the base class.

Step 3: Create a custom MembershipProvider derived from the original MembershipProvider​

Note that you must implement all methods. Otherwise, you’ll need to create an override method and add in "throw new NotImplementedException();".

    public class CustomMemberShipProvider : MembershipProvider
    {
        public override bool ValidateUser(string username, string password)
        {
            using (var service = new AuthenticationService())
            {
                return service.UserExists(username, password);
            }
        }

        public override MembershipUser GetUser(string username, bool userIsOnline)
        {
            using (var service = new AuthenticationService())
            {
                var user = service.GetUser(username);

                if (null != user)
                    return new CustomMemberShipUser(Membership.Provider.ApplicationName, user);

                return null;
            }
        }

        public override void UpdateUser(MembershipUser userToUpdate)
        {
            var user = (CustomMemberShipUser) userToUpdate;
            using (var service = new AuthenticationService())
            {
                var result = service.UpdateUser(user.UserData);
                if (!result)
                    throw new Exception("User has not been updated");
            }

        }

        public override string ApplicationName
        {
            get { return "MyAppMemberShip"; }
            set { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
        }

        public override bool ChangePassword(string username, string oldPassword, string newPassword)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        ///
        /// 
        /// all overrrided methods
        /// 
        /// 

    }

Step 4: Define this custom MembershipProvider as the default Membership provider in your web.config as follows:​

<system.web>
    <compilation debug="true" targetframework="4.5">
    <httpruntime targetframework="4.5">
    <authentication mode="Forms">
      <forms loginurl="~/Home/DoLogin" timeout="2880">
    </forms></authentication>
    <strong><membership defaultprovider="MyAppMemberShip">
      <providers>
        <clear>
        <add name="MyAppMemberShip" type="MemberShip.CustomMemberShipProvider, MemberShip">
      </add></clear></providers>
    </membership></strong>
  </httpruntime></compilation></system.web>

Note that "MemberShip.CustomMemberShipProvider, MemberShip" is my custom assembly.

Step 5: Using the same syntax as the classical SqlMembershipProvider, add the authentication mode (with the login page url) to your web.config: ​

<system.web>
    <compilation debug="true" targetframework="4.5">
    <httpruntime targetframework="4.5">
    <strong><authentication mode="Forms">
      <forms loginurl="~/Home/DoLogin">
    </forms></authentication></strong>
    <membership defaultprovider="MyAppMemberShip">
      <providers>
        <clear>
        <add name="MyAppMemberShip" type="MemberShip.CustomMemberShipProvider, MemberShip">
      </add></clear></providers>
    </membership>
  </httpruntime></compilation></system.web>

Step 6: Test your implementation!

Don't forget to use the "FormsAuthentication" class in order to create the ".ASPXAUTH" cookie that is used by MembershipProvider to identify the user and manage the sign-out method. :)

    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public ActionResult DoLogin()
        {
            if (Membership.ValidateUser("myemail@example.com", "xxxxx"))
            {
                FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie("myemail@example.com", true);
                return Content("login success");
            }
            return Content("login error");
        }

        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            if (User.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
            {
                var user = (CustomMemberShipUser)Membership.GetUser();
                return Content("User connected!");
            }

            return RedirectToAction("DoLogin");
        }

        public void SignOut()
        {
            FormsAuthentication.SignOut();
        }

    }

Here are the results after my demo execution: 

Easy, isn’t it? ;)