FormsAuthentication with custom encryption key

Question

Is there a way not to use <machineKey> and instead provide your own key at runtime. Trying to find a way to read a key from an SQL database or any centralized repository and somehow provide its FormsAuthentication.

Answer 1

It seems impossible. I switched to the Windows Identity Foundation.

Answer 2

You can put the machineKey section in web.config for your application. Is that what you mean?

Answer 3

You can hook into the HttpApplication.Authenticate event in your global.asax and create your own authentication module that can use any key you need. Take a look at the AuthenticationModule Monoformats for an example of how FormsAuthenticationTicket et al. Are used to handle cookie lifetimes.