User Management Application

ASP.NET Core MVC application for user registration, authentication, and management.

Features

• User registration with email confirmation
• Cookie-based authentication
• User management panel (Block, Unblock, Delete)
• PostgreSQL database with unique email index
• Bootstrap 5 responsive UI

Requirements

• .NET 8.0 SDK
• PostgreSQL database

Local Development

1. Configure Database

Important: The repository includes example configuration files (appsettings.example.json and appsettings.Development.example.json). Copy them and fill in your actual values:

cp appsettings.example.json appsettings.json
cp appsettings.Development.example.json appsettings.Development.json

Then update appsettings.Development.json with your PostgreSQL connection:

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Host=localhost;Database=usermanagement;Username=postgres;Password=yourpassword"
  }
}

2. Configure Email (Optional)

For email confirmation, configure Resend API in appsettings.json:

{
  "Email": {
    "ResendApiKey": "your-resend-api-key",
    "FromEmail": "onboarding@resend.dev",
    "FromName": "User Management App"
  }
}

Note: The application uses Resend API instead of SMTP because many hosting providers (like Render) block SMTP ports. Resend API works via HTTPS and doesn't require open SMTP ports.

To get a Resend API key:

1. Sign up at resend.com
2. Create an API key in your dashboard
3. Use the API key in configuration

3. Run Migrations

dotnet ef database update

4. Run Application

dotnet run

Open https://localhost:5001 or http://localhost:5000

Deployment on Render

1. Create PostgreSQL Database

1. Go to Render Dashboard
2. New → PostgreSQL
3. Copy the "Internal Database URL"

2. Create Web Service

1. New → Web Service
2. Connect your GitHub repository
3. Configure:
   • Environment: Docker
   • Branch: main

3. Set Environment Variables

ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection=<your-postgres-internal-url>
Email__ResendApiKey=<your-resend-api-key>
Email__FromEmail=onboarding@resend.dev
Email__FromName=User Management App
ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production

Important: Use double underscore __ between Email and ResendApiKey in Environment Variables.

Note: The connection string from Render PostgreSQL may be in URL format (postgresql://...). The application automatically converts it to standard Npgsql format if needed.

4. Deploy

Render will automatically build and deploy your application.

Database Schema

The application creates a Users table with:

• Id (Primary Key)
• Name
• Email (Unique Index - IX_Users_Email_Unique)
• PasswordHash
• Status (Unverified, Active, Blocked)
• LastLoginTime
• RegistrationTime
• EmailConfirmationToken

IMPORTANT: Email uniqueness is enforced at the database level via unique index, not application code.

Architecture

/Controllers
  AccountController.cs  - Login, Register, Logout, ConfirmEmail
  UsersController.cs    - User management (Index, Block, Unblock, Delete)

/Filters
  CheckUserStatusAttribute.cs - Checks user status before each request

/Services
  EmailService.cs - Sends confirmation emails via Resend API
  IEmailService.cs - Email service interface

/Models
  User.cs - User entity
  ViewModels/ - Login and Register view models

/Views
  Account/ - Login and Register forms
  Users/ - User management table

Key Requirements Met

1. ✅ Unique index on Email (database-level)
2. ✅ Table with toolbar (no row buttons)
3. ✅ Sorted by LastLoginTime (default), with column sorting support
4. ✅ Checkbox selection with Select All
5. ✅ User status check before each request (single filter)
6. ✅ Bootstrap CSS framework
7. ✅ Email confirmation (async via Resend API)
8. ✅ Any non-empty password accepted
9. ✅ Real-time client-side filtering by Name and Email
10. ✅ Blocked users styling (grayed out, struck through)
11. ✅ Delete unverified users functionality

Live Deployment

The application is deployed on Render:

• URL: https://user-management-app-je14.onrender.com
• Database: PostgreSQL on Render
• Email Service: Resend API

Technology Stack

• Backend: ASP.NET Core 8.0 MVC
• Database: PostgreSQL with Entity Framework Core
• Authentication: Cookie-based authentication
• Email: Resend API (REST API, works on Render)
• Frontend: Razor Views with Bootstrap 5
• Password Hashing: BCrypt.Net-Next