Seeding Users and Roles in ASP.NET Razor Pages with RoleManager & UserManager

In this tutorial, I shall describe the steps you need to follow if you want seed both users and roles data. We will also look at how you can go about securing an ASP.NET Razor Pages application by user and by roles. To keep things simple, we will use the SQLite database.

To proceed with this tutorial, you need to have the following prerequisites:

• VS Code
• You have installed .NET 8.0

Source Code: https://github.com/medhatelmasry/SeedIdentity

Companion Video: https://youtu.be/sO8zUaWvOxo

Getting Started

In a terminal window, execute the following command to create an ASP.NET Razor Pages application that supports database authentication using the lightweight SQLite database:

dotnet new razor --auth individual -f net8.0 -o SeedIdentity

Change directory to the newly created folder then run the application:

cd SeedIdentity

dotnet watch

Click on the Register link on the top-right side of your keyboard to add a new user. 

When you click on the Register button, you will receive a page that looks like this:

Click on the link “Click here to confirm your account” to simulate email confirmation. Thereafter, login with the newly created account email and password.

Click on Logout in the top-right corner.

Open the application folder in VS Code.

Let us create some sample data for roles and users. Create class named IdentitySeedData in the Data folder, and then add to it the following method: 

public class IdentitySeedData {

    public static async Task Initialize(ApplicationDbContext context,

        UserManager<IdentityUser> userManager,

        RoleManager<IdentityRole> roleManager) {

        context.Database.EnsureCreated();

        string asdminRole = "Admin";

        string memberRole = "Member";

        string password4all = "P@$$w0rd";

        if (await roleManager.FindByNameAsync(asdminRole) == null) {

            await roleManager.CreateAsync(new IdentityRole(asdminRole));

        }

        if (await roleManager.FindByNameAsync(memberRole) == null) {

            await roleManager.CreateAsync(new IdentityRole(memberRole));

        }

        if (await userManager.FindByNameAsync("aa@aa.aa") == null){

            var user = new IdentityUser {

                UserName = "aa@aa.aa",

                Email = "aa@aa.aa",

                PhoneNumber = "6902341234"

            };

            var result = await userManager.CreateAsync(user);

            if (result.Succeeded) {

                await userManager.AddPasswordAsync(user, password4all);

                await userManager.AddToRoleAsync(user, asdminRole);

            }

        }

        if (await userManager.FindByNameAsync("bb@bb.bb") == null) {

            var user = new IdentityUser {

                UserName = "bb@bb.bb",

                Email = "bb@bb.bb",

                PhoneNumber = "7788951456"

            };

            var result = await userManager.CreateAsync(user);

            if (result.Succeeded) {

                await userManager.AddPasswordAsync(user, password4all);

                await userManager.AddToRoleAsync(user, asdminRole);

            }

        }

        if (await userManager.FindByNameAsync("mm@mm.mm") == null) {

            var user = new IdentityUser {

                UserName = "mm@mm.mm",

                Email = "mm@mm.mm",

                PhoneNumber = "6572136821"

            };

            var result = await userManager.CreateAsync(user);

            if (result.Succeeded) {

                await userManager.AddPasswordAsync(user, password4all);

                await userManager.AddToRoleAsync(user, memberRole);

            }

        }

        if (await userManager.FindByNameAsync("dd@dd.dd") == null) {

            var user = new IdentityUser {

                UserName = "dd@dd.dd",

                Email = "dd@dd.dd",

                PhoneNumber = "6041234567"

            };

            var result = await userManager.CreateAsync(user);

            if (result.Succeeded) {

                await userManager.AddPasswordAsync(user, password4all);

                await userManager.AddToRoleAsync(user, memberRole);

            }

        }

    }

}

In the Program.cs class, replace the call to builder.Services.AddDefaultIdentity statement so that it uses the new IdentityUser & IdentityRole. Replace the entire statement with the following code:

builder.Services.AddIdentity<IdentityUser, IdentityRole>(

options => {

    options.Stores.MaxLengthForKeys = 128;

})

.AddEntityFrameworkStores<ApplicationDbContext>()

.AddRoles<IdentityRole>()

.AddDefaultUI()

.AddDefaultTokenProviders();

We need to call the Initialize() method in the IdentitySeedData class from Program.cs so that when the application starts, the users are seeded. In Program.cs, just before “app.Run();” at the bottom, add this code:

using (var scope = app.Services.CreateScope()) {

    var services = scope.ServiceProvider;

    var context = services.GetRequiredService<ApplicationDbContext>();    

    context.Database.Migrate();

    var userMgr = services.GetRequiredService<UserManager<IdentityUser>>();  

    var roleMgr = services.GetRequiredService<RoleManager<IdentityRole>>();  

    IdentitySeedData.Initialize(context, userMgr, roleMgr).Wait();

}

In the above code the following takes place:

• Instances of ApplicationDbContext, UserManager<IdentityUser> & RoleManager<IdentityRole> are obtained 
• If there are any outstanding migrations, they are automatically executed
• The IdentitySeedData.Initialize() method is called

At this stage, all the database tables are created. However, data is not yet seeded. Let us run our application so that the sample roles and users are seeded in the database. Make sure the application is running. Logout, if you are already logged in.

To prove that user and role data are successfully seeded, login with one of the below credentials that were previously seeded:

Email	Password	Role
aa@aa.aa	P@$$w0rd	Admin
mm@mm.mm	P@$$w0rd	Member

We have succeeded in seeding user and role. Happy Coding.