How do you use MachineKey in .NET Core?

1 year ago
Emily Johnson
2 minutes

In .NET Core, the DataProtection API can be used to generate and use machine keys.

First, in the Startup.cs file of the project, you need to add the following code to configure the DataProtection service:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    // ...

    services.AddDataProtection()
        .PersistKeysToFileSystem(new DirectoryInfo(@"path/to/keys"))
        .SetApplicationName("YourApplicationName");

    // ...
}

In the above code, the PersistKeysToFileSystem method is used to save keys to a specified directory, while the SetApplicationName method is used to set the application’s name.

Next, in places where machine key is needed, you can inject the IDataProtector service and use it to protect or decrypt data. For example:

private readonly IDataProtector _dataProtector;

public YourService(IDataProtectionProvider dataProtectionProvider)
{
    _dataProtector = dataProtectionProvider.CreateProtector("YourPurpose");
}

public string ProtectData(string data)
{
    return _dataProtector.Protect(data);
}

public string UnprotectData(string protectedData)
{
    return _dataProtector.Unprotect(protectedData);
}

The CreateProtector method in the above code is used to create an IDataProtector instance and associate it with a specific purpose. The Protect method is used to protect data, while the Unprotect method is used to decrypt protected data.

Please note that a separate IDataProtector instance needs to be created for each different purpose when using the CreateProtector method.

These are the basic steps for using machine keys in .NET Core. With the DataProtection API, you can easily protect and decrypt sensitive data.

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