Security and authentication

ArcGIS supports secure access to and portal items. It ensures that only valid, authorized users and services can access protected information. To access secure ArcGIS resources, you need an that you can obtain by implementing an authentication workflow in your app. The type of authentication you use will depend on the security and access requirements of your app.

There are three types of authentication that you can use to get an access token:

  • API key authentication: grants a long-lived access token to authenticate requests to and secure portal items. For more information see the Introduction to API key authentication. To obtain an API Key access token, go to the Create an API key tutorial using your . Here you can configure the API key privileges to authorize access to different services and portal items.

    • API key access tokens created with an account, from ArcGIS Enterprise in version 11.4 onwards, provide access to secure in an ArcGIS Enterprise .
  • User authentication: a collection of authentication workflows that connect your app to a user's ArcGIS account.

    • OAuth 2.0: manage ArcGIS authentication and grant a short-lived generated via OAuth 2.0. This gives your application permission to access ArcGIS secured services authorized to an existing ArcGIS user's account.
    • Generate token: manages ArcGIS authentication and grants a short-lived access token generated via Esri's proprietary token-based authentication mechanism. This gives your application permission to access ArcGIS secured services authorized to an existing ArcGIS user's account.
    • Network credential: manage network authentication (also known as web-tier authentication) for ArcGIS Enterprise. This gives your application permission to access network secured services authorized to your web-tier's identity store user accounts. Supports Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA).

  • App authentication: uses the registered application's credentials to access on ArcGIS. It manages ArcGIS authentication and grants a short-lived generated via OAuth 2.0 using the Application 's Client ID and Client Secret outside of the context of a user.

For more information, see the Security and authentication guide.

Choose a type of authentication

The following considerations can help determine which type of authentication to implement:

  • Access to resources—Your app can access and portal items using , , or .

  • User experience—If you don't want to make users log in, your app can access using or . In this case, users will not need to have an in order to use your app.

  • Usage charges—If you want service usage to be charged to the user's account, your app must request that the user log in using . When using or , all access to services from your app will be charged to your ArcGIS account.

You might also need to consider the level of security required for your app, how your app will be distributed, and your available ArcGIS products and accounts.

ScenarioSolution
Your app requires access to only, you don't want to make users log in, and you are willing to pay for all charges incurred from usage of the app.API key authentication or App authentication
Your app requires access to only and you want usage charged to the user.User authentication
Your app needs to access content that requires an .User authentication
Your app needs to access private hosted data on your .API key authentication or App authentication
Your app allows users to view and edit private data hosted in or .User authentication
You plan to distribute your app through ArcGIS Marketplace.User authentication

API key authentication

An API Key can grant your public-facing application access to specific and portal items.

Use when you want to:

  • Quickly write applications that consume .
  • Provide access to services without requiring users to sign in with an .
Learn more about API key authentication Use API key access tokens in your app

User authentication

User authentication is a set of authentication workflows that allow users with an to sign into an application and access ArcGIS , , and resources. The typical authentication protocol used is OAuth2.0. When a user signs into an application with their ArcGIS account, an is generated that authorizes the application to access services and content on their behalf. The resources and functionality available depend on the user type, roles, and privileges of the user's ArcGIS account.

Services that your app accesses with user authentication will be billed to the authenticated user's and its associated . If your application will access your users' secure content in ArcGIS or if you plan to distribute your application through ArcGIS Marketplace, you must use .

Implement user authentication when you want to:

  • Ensure users are signed in and authenticated with their own .
  • Use your app user's to pay for their private data, , or service transactions.
  • Limit the length of time users can be signed in to your app with a temporary token.
  • Distribute your app through ArcGIS Marketplace.
Learn more about user authentication Implement user authentication in your app

App authentication

grants a short-lived access token, generated via OAuth 2.0, authorizing your application to access , such as basemap layers, search, and routing.

Use app authentication when you want to:

  • Access with a more secure process and a short-lived token.
  • Provide access to services without requiring users to have an ArcGIS account.
Learn more about app authentication

Next steps

To learn more about how to implement authentication in your ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET apps, see the Implement authentication topic. Explore the tutorials and samples below for some examples of how to use authentication in your apps.

Tutorials

Samples

Authenticate with OAuth

Integrated Windows authentication

Token authentication

Certificate authentication with PKI

Create and save a map

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You can no longer sign into this site. Go to your ArcGIS portal or the ArcGIS Location Platform dashboard to perform management tasks.

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