Resolving Identity Server Middleware Style Issues in ASP.NET Core Deployment

Описание: Discover how to troubleshoot and fix missing JS and CSS files for Identity Server pages after deploying an ASP.NET Core application to IIS.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/64265261/ asked by the user 'Fabien Dezautez' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/8603119/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/64563647/ provided by the user 'ZhasanVladimir' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/4140376/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Identity Server Middleware ASP NET core pages styles

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/l...
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Understanding the Issue with Identity Server Middleware in ASP.NET Core

When deploying an ASP.NET Core application that utilizes Identity Server for user authentication, developers often encounter a perplexing issue: missing JavaScript and CSS files that are essential for rendering the default login and registration pages. This problem can be particularly frustrating, especially when everything works perfectly in development mode. Let's dive deeper into the specifics of this issue and explore how you can resolve it effectively.

The Problem at a Glance

As you might have experienced, after deploying your ASP.NET Core Identity Server application to Internet Information Services (IIS), the expected JavaScript and CSS files for Identity Server's default pages are not being served. Instead, users encounter the HTML output of your Angular application. Similar problems can arise when altering the environment name and expecting different outcomes, leading to confusion about how Identity Server is configured during deployment.

Analyzing the Core Cause

The root of the problem often lies not within Identity Server itself but rather in how the default identity UI is integrated. Here are key points to consider:

Default Identity UI vs. Identity Server: The default login, registration, and other UI components are part of the ASP.NET Core Default Identity UI rather than Identity Server. This means that you need to ensure your application correctly references these components.

Production Configuration: It's possible that certain configurations or services required for the correct functioning of the Identity components are not set up in your production environment. Ensuring these are in place is crucial for everything to function as expected.

Steps to Resolve the Issue

To get the Identity Server’s UI elements working correctly in your deployed environment, follow these organized steps:

1. Ensure Default Identity UI is Registered

If you haven't done so already, make sure to register the Default Identity UI in your Startup.cs file. This is done by using AddDefaultIdentity or AddDefaultUI methods within the ConfigureServices method. Here’s how to do it:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

2. Check Your Middleware Registration

Make sure you have the necessary middleware set up in the Configure method. This should include:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

3. Verify Production Environment Settings

After registering the services and configuring the middleware, ensure that your production environment is set up correctly. Check for items such as:

Production Certificates: Issues with signing tokens can prevent the Identity UI from functioning correctly. Ensure you have the proper certificates set up in production.

Application Configuration: Ensure your application’s settings (like appsettings.json) are correctly set up for the production environment.

4. Test the Configuration

Lastly, test your application in production to see if the JS and CSS files for the Identity UI are being served correctly. You can check the network tab in your browser's developer tools to see whether requests for these assets are successful.

Conclusion

By following the recommendations above, you should be well-equipped to troubleshoot and resolve the issue of missing styles and scripts in your ASP.NET Core Identity Server application after deployment. Remember, the key components are correctly registering the Default Identity UI, ensuring proper middleware configuration, and double-checking your production environment settings.

Not only will this lead to a better user experience with functional login and registration pages, but it will also contribute to the overall robustnes