Windows Integrated authentication, the Single Sign-On (SSO) method available to Windows-based servers allows for supported applications (including web applications) to utilise the credentials from Windows login. This guide describes how to use it.
Microsoft Windows 2003 has the option of a Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication system which allows supporting applications (including web applications) to utilise the log on to a domain as the only authentication required.
To use this, it must first be enabled by going to the Windows 2003 Server (in this case Small Business Edition) and open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. From here, choose your desired web application from the Websites folder list. Right click on the Virtual Directory and click properties followed by the "Directory Security" tab.
Figure 1: The Virtual Directories properties window, with the Directory Security tab selected
Once the tab is selected, you will see a group labelled "Authentication and access control", inside of which there is a button called Edit. Click this.
Figure 2: Enabling Integrated Windows authentication
Now you will be presented with a window (see Figure 2); make sure that the anonymous access is disabled, and that "Integrated Windows authentication" is ticked. Click OK to all open windows. The next step is to make sure that a PC that logs onto the domain the Virtual Directory belongs to can access the a restricted site using the same credentials as what they logged on with. The method of doing so depends on the browser with which they are using.
