The Id Element

Sharepoint 2010 and Claims-Based Identity

Vittorio Bertocci — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:18:00 GMT

When it comes to identity management intensive applications, it's hard to top Sharepoint. Whether you are signing in a portal, accessing a document or using a webpart for reaching out to external web services, your identity is going to be the factor that drives it all.
Vittorio went to visit Venky Veeraraghavan, Program Manager Lead in the Sharepoint team, to discuss how Sharepoint deals with identity challenges. Venky gives a fantastic explanation of how claims-based identity and Windows Identity Foundation helped the Sharepoint team to deliver on the identity functionalities they needed without getting entangled in low level details such as protocol handling.
Tune in!

Windows Identity Foundation Ships!

Vittorio Bertocci — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:23:00 GMT

The wait is over!
Today at our Professional Developer Conference Microsoft announced the availability of Windows Identity Foundation (WIF), a new extension to the .NET Framework that makes it easier for developers to create applications with open, identity-based access capabilities.
Vittorio interviewed Conrad Bayer, Director of Program Management for Identity and Access, to record his three-minutes take on the importance of this release.

Go get WIF while it's hot!

Windows Identity Foundation RC is here!

Vittorio Bertocci — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:05:00 GMT

The release candidate of Windows Identity Foundation is here! Chock-full of improvements driven by YOUR feedback, WIF RC gives a very good idea of how the final release will look like.
Vittorio went to visit Sidd, Govind and Sesha to learn about the new features and explore the rationale behind some of them. From a comprehensive list of new features to deep dives in their favourite scenarios, the guys tell it all. Tune in!

URL references:

WIF RC Announcement
Download the Windows Identity Foundation RC
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Jorgen Thelin on the Microsoft Federation Gateway

Vittorio Bertocci — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:52:00 GMT

Jorgen Thelin, Senior Program Manager, looks after key identity services in Microsoft such as Windows Live ID and the Microsoft Federation Gateway (MFG).
In today's interview Jorgen describes the role of MFG, and touches on the many wonders it enables: using AD accounts to SSO (single sign on) access to Microsoft Business Online Services such as Dynamics CRM, allowing the 550 million owners of a Live ID account to gain access to your federated applications developed with Windows Identity Foundation, and much more.
Jorgen also takes the chance to tell the story of the Microsoft Services Connector (MSC), from its inception to the decision of consolidating its functionalities in Active Directory Federation Services 2.0 (see the Microsoft Online Service Federation Utility preview).
Finally, Jorgen gives us a taste of the future of MFG: non-AD directories, SAML2.0 protocol and the new scenarios that those exciting features will enable.

URL references:
The Microsoft Federation Gateway on MSDN
Jorgen's blog
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Alex Weinert on Forefront Identity Manager 2010

Vittorio Bertocci — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:31:00 GMT

In this episode Alex Weinert, Group Program Manager, provides an in-depth interview around Identity Management in the enterprise. He begins with an overview of the current identity synchronization technologies on the Microsoft platform, MIIS and ILM 2007, and then pushes into a whiteboard session on the architecture and capabilities being built into the new Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) 2010 product (formerly known as Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) “2”). Built on .NET 3.5 technologies, FIM 2010 web services APIs provide the means for broad extensibility for the enterprise developer and ISV alike. And for the IT Pro, there’s rich codeless extensibility built into the product as well. You can download FIM 2010 RC0 from here for evaluation.

URL references:
Forefront Identity Manager 2010
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Using claims for driving web sites... without writing any code

Vittorio Bertocci — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:28:00 GMT

Claims-based identity allows you to externalize authentication and authorization code, moving it out of your applications, so that you can focus on the functionalities you want to implement rather than worrying about plumbing details.
In this first IdElement screencast Vittorio shows you exactly that. We walk a mile in the shoes of a developer while is creating a web page: thanks to the Geneva Framework and a small sample ASP.NET control, the developer will be able to leverage identity information for driving the behavior of his page... without writing a single line of code and practicallywithout knowing anything about identity management ! You can try this yourself on your own machine by downloading the sample code on Code Gallery.

In the next screencasts we will go in more details and, walking you through the labs in the Identity Developer Training Kit, we will learn what happens under the hood: for today’s opening episode we wanted a scenario that shows what can be accomplished with claims, also to whom may not be familiar with identity management terminology.

URL References

ClaimsDrivenModifierControl sample
Identity Developer Training Kit
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Donovan Follette on making the shift from ADFS v1 to Geneva Server

Donovan Follette — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:11:00 GMT

In this week’s episode of the ID Element Vittorio interviews Donovan Follette… as the guest!

Donovan is a senior technical evangelist and a host for this very show: he worked on identity since he joined Microsoft in 2005, and is a well known expert in the ADFS community. In this episode Vittorio talks with Donovan about the relationship between ADFS and Geneva Server: Donovan explains in details how to map the old terminology to the new concepts introduced in Geneva, focusing on differences and similarities in the two approaches, and in general equipping today’s ADFS expert with everything he or she needs for hitting the ground running with Geneva Server.

URL references:

Jan Alexander on the claims tranformation language in Geneva Server Beta 2
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Oren Melzer on what's new in Windows CardSpace Geneva beta 2

Donovan Follette — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:41:00 GMT

Oren Melzer, SDE on the Federated Identity team, has been working with Windows CardSpace for the past three years. In this episode, Oren enumerates the key new features available in CardSpace Geneva beta 2 in terms of improvements in the user experience, managed card interoperability and what’s been done to help enable enterprise scenarios. He also discusses the programming model changes in beta 2 for the ASP.NET developer. The CardSpace Geneva programming samples Oren mentions are available for download here.

URL references:
CardSpace Geneva beta 2 Samples
The Identity Developer Training Kit
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Caleb Baker on Geneva Server and SAML 2.0 Interoperability

Donovan Follette — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:37:00 GMT

In this episode Caleb Baker, Sr. SDET on the Federated Identity team, discusses Geneva Server beta 2 and SAML 2.0 interoperability. Caleb was instrumental in testing Geneva Server with Sun’s OpenSSO Enterprise and Novell’s Access Manager products. The whitepapers for these interop tests are available here. Caleb also demonstrates how to configure Geneva Server both as a SAML Identity Provider and a Service Provider. For those using Geneva Server for SAML 2.0 interop testing, be sure to post your comments and experiences on the Geneva forum.

URL references:
The Identity Developer Training Kit
"Geneva" Server interoperability whitepapers
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Geneva Server, Windows CardSpace Geneva, Information Cards and PHP Interoperability

Donovan Follette — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:07:00 GMT

In this episode Donovan sits down with the Intand President, Bryan Otis, and CIO, Scott Otis, along with Vijay Rajagopalan, Principal Architect, Microsoft Interoperability Strategy, to drill into how Intand enabled their PHP application to support information cards. This prototype project, for the Lake Washington School District, was based upon the use of Microsoft code name Geneva Server, Windows CardSpace Geneva and Intand’s PHP application using the Zend Framework’s information card support for interoperability. This project was also featured in a video during the Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft, keynote address at the April, 2009 RSA Conference.

URL references:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9
Zend Download for Information Card Support

Jan Alexander on the claims transformation language in Geneva Server beta 2

Donovan Follette — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:14:00 GMT

In this episode Jan Alexander, Sr. Program Manager, Federated Identity, takes a deep dive into the powerful, all new claims transformation language in Geneva Server beta 2. This language is used in claims processing, acceptance and issuance, and Jan provides a primer on the flexibility and capabilities of this domain specific language. This is what you've been waiting for. Enjoy the deep dive!

URL references:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Matt Steele on what's new with Geneva Server beta 2

Donovan Follette — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:13:00 GMT

In this episode Matt Steele, Sr. Program Manager for the Geneva Server, calls out a number of great new features in the beta 2 release. These include managing Geneva Server with Windows PowerShell, automated monitoring for federation metadata changes, Information Card management via Group Policy, SAML 2.0 SP-Lite support and the new ASP.NET Membership and Role providers to enable MOSS 2007 as a Relying Party application to Geneva Server. Matt also touches on the all new claims transformation language provided in Geneva Server… and more!

URL references:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Chuck Reeves deep diving into the structure and design of Geneva Framework beta 2

Donovan Follette — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:12:00 GMT

Chuck Reeves is the Principal Development Lead for Geneva Framework, and has been involved in the development of federated identity products from the very start. In this chat & whiteboarding session Vittorio interviews Chuck about what makes the Geneva Framework tick: the claim programming model, the request processing pipeline, the difference in hosting environments such as ASP.NET and WCF, the new authorization hooks… all explained with great attention to the design rationales which lead to the implementation decisions and the feature set you find in the beta 2 release of the Geneva Framework. Enjoy the deep dive!

URL references:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Sesha Mani on what's new with Geneva Framework beta 2

Donovan Follette — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:11:00 GMT

In this episode Sesha Mani, Sr. Program Manager for the Geneva Framework, chats with Vittorio about what’s new for developers in the Beta 2 of Geneva. From the new Visual Studio identity-aware project templates to automatic generation of development STSes, the new visual studio integration features of the Geneva Framework are guaranteed to wow you: tune in to hear all about it directly from the source!

URL references:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Ruchi Bhargava on Windows CardSpace Geneva

Donovan Follette — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:55:00 GMT

Ruchi Bhargava, Sr. Development Lead on the Federated Identity team, has been working with Windows CardSpace from the beginning and has been involved in all aspects of the product's development. In this episode she highlights some of the challenges end users and developers had with Windows CardSpace v1 and the work the team has done to bring a new experience to both users and developers with Windows CardSpace "Geneva". This work includes a complete rewrite of the product in native code for faster download and snappier performance, as well as enhancements for the end user experience that developers can now have a greater influence over -- to call out a few of the items Ruchi discusses.

URL references:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
"Geneva" Team Blog
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Vijay Gajjala on the Geneva Server

Donovan Follette — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:53:00 GMT

In this episode Vijay Gajjala, Sr. Program Manager on the Federated Identity team, discusses some of the core challenges around building the Geneva Server and describes the key investments the team made in the Beta 1 release. These investments include implementation of the WS-Federation, WS-Trust and SAML 2.0 protocols (Geneva Server can serve as IdP for a SAML 2.0 SP), harmonized metadata for easy application registration and federation setup, information card issuance and support for identity delegation. He also shares the goals for the IT Pro experience when using Geneva Server and for developers when they need to wire up applications to the server.

URL references:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
The Identity key topic on Channel 9

Hervey Wilson on the Geneva Framework

Donovan Follette — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:08:00 GMT

If you have been working with web services for some time on the Microsoft platform, you are certainly familiar with the name “Hervey Wilson”. Hervey is one of the key people behind the Web Services Enhancement (WSE) library, the first product that brought WS-* to .NET developers. In May 2005 he moved to the Federated Identity team, where he touched pretty much everything you can think of: today he covers the role of Architect in the Geneva team. Last week Vittorio went to visit Hervey in his office, and recorded him as he gives a detailed account on past, present and future of the Geneva Framework. Understanding how technology and industry practices evolved eventually leading to the creation of the Geneva Framework not only is interesting per se, but also provides insights on the kind of problems it can help you solve and precious indications on the intended usage of the product. Finally, Hervey gives some hint about the possible future areas that Geneva will explore in its next phases.

Hervey blogs at dynamic-cast.com, but never appeared on video until now: do not miss this chance to enjoy a perspective on the product that can only be given by somebody from his vantage point!

URL references:
Microsoft code name "Geneva"
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN

Stuart Kwan – On Identity and Microsoft code name “Geneva”

Donovan Follette — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:46:00 GMT

In this episode Donovan pays a visit to Stuart Kwan, Group Program Manager for the Federated Identity Team. Stuart has been working in the Identity space for a number of years at Microsoft and in this interview he discusses the challenges around Identity in the industry and the ubiquitous need for Identity as computing systems become more and more connected. He states that by solving certain problems with Identity, it can then be highly leveraged to solve all kinds of different problems for all kinds of different people building different kinds of applications across all kinds of industries. Stuart also highlights his team’s work on Microsoft code name “Geneva” Server, “Geneva” Framework and Windows CardSpace “Geneva” and how these help to leverage Identity on the Windows platform whether in on or off premises scenarios.

URL references in video:
“Geneva” Forum on MSDN
Microsoft code name "Geneva"

Welcome to “The Id Element” Show

Donovan Follette — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Welcome to The Id Element! In this short inaugural video, Donovan and Vittorio talk about this new show and what to expect in the coming weeks. Here we'll feature interviews with product team members and others to bring you information around the topic of Identity and the products and services that enable its use in both on and off premises scenarios. There will be shows of interest for the identity expert and for those just getting started. So whether you’re an architect, developer or IT Pro, sit back and enjoy the show!

The Id Element is brought to you by the DPE Identity Team.

For more episodes visit:
http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/identity/

For all things Identity on Channel 9, visit the Identity Key Topics area:
http://channel9.msdn.com/identity/