How to Set a Machine Key to Your Custom ASP Application

Last Updated on Tuesday, 6 November 2012 08:30 Written by Rodolfo Hernandez Tuesday, 6 November 2012 12:00

Machine key is used for authentication and security in ASP. If you have an asp application that requires login, you must set the Machine Key for security and to avoid a viewstate validation error. A viewstate validation error will log off any user connected to your application even if you set a 8 hours timeout. For that reason, In this article I will give a step by step guide on how to set a Machine Key to your ASP Application

The Machine Key <machineKey> element helps to control tamper proofing and encryption of ViewState, forms authentication tickets, and role cookies. Instead of creating a complicated function, we will use a tool to generate random machine keys.

1. Go to this address and get a random machine key. It should look like this: