Limit access to your IIS site to specific security Active Directory groups

You can limit access to your IIS site to specific security Active Directory (AD) groups. Here are the steps to do this:

Step 1: Create or Identify the Security Group in Active Directory

1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) on your domain controller.
2. Navigate to the Organizational Unit (OU) where you want to create the group.
3. Right-click the OU, select New > Group.
4. Name your group and ensure the Group scope is set to Security.
5. Add users to this group who should have access to the IIS site.

Step 2: Configure IIS to Use Windows Authentication

1. Open IIS Manager on your web server.
2. Select your site from the Connections pane.
3. Double-click Authentication in the Features View.
4. Enable Windows Authentication and Disable other authentication methods like Anonymous Authentication.

Step 3: Set NTFS Permissions for the Site Folder

1. Navigate to the folder containing your IIS site's content.
2. Right-click the folder, select Properties.
3. Go to the Security tab and click Edit.
4. Click Add and enter the name of your AD security group.
5. Assign the appropriate permissions (e.g., Read & Execute, List Folder Contents, Read).

Step 4: Configure Authorization Rules in IIS

1. In IIS Manager, select your site again.
2. Double-click Authorization Rules in the Features View.
3. Remove any existing rules that allow access to all users.
4. Click Add Allow Rule in the Actions pane.
5. Select Specified roles or user groups, and enter the name of your AD security group.
6. Click OK to save the rule.

Step 5: Test the Configuration

1. Use a user account that is a member of the AD security group to access the site. They should have access.
2. Use a user account that is not a member of the AD security group to access the site. They should be denied access.

These steps will ensure that only users in the specified AD security group can access your IIS site.