How do I get the windows login username of a user running my web application?

Question

I'm trying to get the windows user name of the user in my web application. Can any one suggest how to get it?

I'm developing a web application. So if a user is accessing my application, then I need to get the user's windows id and his host name. I tried a few different ways but it never worked. Any suggestions are highly appreciated.

Is it a intranet web application or a public? In case it is intranet have a look at Kerberos and http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa745042(v=bts.10).aspx — Daniel Kutik, Aug 16 '12 at 14:11
Do you mean from the server? In which case you can't. You have to rely on what your server has access to. And this isn't sent with the request. So you have to ask the user. If you mean from the client's browser, I'm pretty sure javascript won't work either because browsers consider it a security thing. — CrazyPenguin, Aug 16 '12 at 14:24
Other than request or response or a request header, is there any other way? — Arun Kumar, Aug 16 '12 at 15:42

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 16 '12 at 14:02

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Windows user details are not sent in plain HTTP requests, which makes it impossible for you to derive them from a user in a web application without additional data. The host name from which the request is sent is available in the request headers, though.

If you'd still like to get Windows user details, you'll have to do some work, like ask the user to provide them in some form, or, if you have access to the user's Naming/Directory service, you can find things out through his IP/hostname. This is something you generally don't have readily available in web applications, though.

answered Aug 16 '12 at 14:02

Kraylog

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I heard it is possible through .net. Just wondering it's posible in JAVA? – Arun Kumar Aug 16 '12 at 14:06
Not without querying some source of information. I would imagine that's how it is done in .NET as well. – Kraylog Aug 16 '12 at 14:11

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 01 '16 at 15:01

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In YERY OLD(!) version of Internet Explorer the pattern %USER% inside of a URL was replaced by the login username. But with current browsers this doesn't work anymore, and that's good that way.

With JAVA applet you can request it via:

System.getProperty("user.name")

But I don't know if this works for you...

edited Nov 01 '16 at 15:01

Vadzim

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answered Aug 16 '12 at 14:00

SDwarfs

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No. This will return the user name of the system in which my code is deployed. – Arun Kumar Aug 16 '12 at 14:04

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 16 '12 at 14:07

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Im not sure exactly to get the windows user name, but HTML5 The System Information API may provide some useful info. Go through this link once, You may find it helpful.

answered Aug 16 '12 at 14:07

RP-

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:46

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For the intranet case take a look at

How to retrieve the current windows logged on user for Single Sign On purposes in Java

and

Can you get a Windows (AD) username in PHP?

And it seems to be intentionally impossible in common case with modern browsers:

Can your Windows or Linux username be exposed to websites?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:46

Community

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answered Nov 01 '16 at 15:12

Vadzim

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How do I get the windows login username of a user running my web application?

4 Answers4