Enable Forms Authentication on K2 smartforms site
Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms

Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms

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This a quick guide on how to turn on Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms site. I have only tested this setup on K2 smartforms 4.6.9 and above, so I cannot guarantee it will work for K2 smartforms 1.0.7.

1. Getting to the Claims setup forms

This is how to find the Claims setup forms in the K2 Designer site.

  1. Go to K2 Designer website.
  2. On the lower left of the screen, click on the Show: (All) link.

    Show All link
    Show All link
  3. Check and enable the System Objects option. With this option turned on, the system artefacts will appear in the All Items child nodes above.

    System Objects option
    System Objects option
  4. In the Category Browser, navigate to the security forms – All Items > System > Management > Security > Forms.
    Security Forms
    Security Forms

     

2. Turn on Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms

a. Enable “Use For Login” option on “K2 Forms STS”

  1. Select Manager Issuers form and click on Run.

    Run Manager Issuers form
    Run Manager Issuers form
  2. Edit the K2 Forms STS item.

    Edit K2 Forms STS
    Edit K2 Forms STS
  3. Check and enable the Use For Login option and click on OK.
    Enable Use For Login
    Enable Use For Login

     

b. Enable Forms Authentication on K2 smartforms site

  1. Select Manage Site Realms form and click on Run.

    Run Manage Site Realms form
    Run Manage Site Realms form
  2. Edit the Runtime site item.

    Edit Runtime site
    Edit Runtime site
  3. Check and enable the K2 Forms STS option and click OK.

    Enable Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms site
    Enable Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms site

3. Test the set up

Now, we have completed the setup. Let’s test it!

  1. Just to ensure everything took effect, restart the K2 blackpearl Server service and restart IIS.
  2. Start your browser and navigate to any Form on the Runtime site. (e.g. http://<url>/Runtime/Runtime/Form/Manage+Issuers/). You should see the login selection screen.
    Forms Authentication on K2 smartforms
    Forms Authentication on K2 smartforms

    You would have noticed that there are 2 login method listed. If you look back at section 2(b)3 above, we selected both K2 Forms STS and K2 Windows STS and thus the selections available. If you only want the K2 Forms STS login, just go back on uncheck K2 Windows STS option.

  3. Select K2 Forms STS option and you will be brought to the forms login form.

    K2 Forms Login Form
    K2 Forms Login Form
  4. Fill in your AD login name, password and click on Sign In and you will be logged into K2 smartforms Runtime site and we are done!!

Conclusion

This concludes the setup to turn on Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms. If you have configured other Claims Issuers, you can turn on the login using the same steps in this post.

Have fun!!

Ji Kai
Latest posts by Ji Kai (see all)

One thought on “Forms Authentication for K2 smartforms”

  1. The article is great. I need to know how to customize text in K2. For example when I see this error:
    401 – Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.
    You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied.

    How to make this and other messages user friendly.

    Reply

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