Using client certificates in Web API

To digitally identify whether a user is an authenticated user, client certificates are used. This is an enhanced security mechanism unlike using username and password for security as this is a simple validation. Client certificates allow a web application to authenticate its users by verifying a certificate that is provided by the client before the HTTP connection is established.

Creating an SSL Client Certificate

The following steps will create a test root authority and client certification for development and testing purpose:

  1. Open Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio.
  2. Run the following command:
    makecert.exe -n "CN=Dev CA" -r -sv DevCA.pvk DevCA.cer
  3. Enter the certificate password when prompted by makecert ...

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