ASP.NET in a Nutshell

Name

ClientCertificate

Synopsis

cs = Request.ClientCertificate

Returns an instance of the HttpClientCertificate class, which exposes information about the client security certificate settings. These properties include issuer information, key size, and certificate validity dates.

Parameters

cs

An Object variable of type HttpClientCertificate.

Example

Sub Page_Load(  )
   Dim cs As HttpClientCertificate
   cs = Request.ClientCertificate
   Message.Text = "Certificate Issuer is: " & cs.Issuer & "."
End Sub

Notes

You will probably use this property in intranet settings, where you have provided a limited set of clients with certificates (issued from your own Certificate Server) for accessing your application, rather than requiring them to authenticate by using a set of credentials entered via the browser. In this case, client certificates are mapped to NT user accounts to provide secure access. Client certificates can also be issued by trusted third parties, but this method is rarely used. If no client certificate is installed on the requesting client, this property returns an HttpClientCertificate instance with no valid property values.