WCF Web Service Reference Provider – Metadata Exchange Endpoint Authentication
With the recent update to the WCF Service Reference tool in the VS Marketplace, support has been added for downloading metadata for a web service where the metadata exchange (MEX) endpoint has been secured with IIS authentication. The purpose of MEX endpoints is to allow clients to discover the service capabilities, including security aspects of the service, and usually this endpoint can be accessed by an anonymous request. This is not a problem in general as the actual service resources can be exposed on secured endpoints. Still, there are cases in which the metadata might be considered sensitive information and so the MEX endpoint must also be secured, allowing only authorized clients to discover the service capabilities.
Light
Dark