How to Use Cookies with IronPDF for Secure PDF Generation in C#

In this tutorial, we explore the process of using cookies with Iron PDF for secure PDF generation in C# applications. The video guides viewers through setting up an ASP.NET Core application with a protected invoice page, which requires network login authentication. Viewers learn how to utilize Iron PDF to convert this page into a PDF document, using cookies to maintain session-specific information.

Starting with the installation of the Iron PDF NuGet package, the tutorial walks through importing necessary namespaces and setting up the Chrome renderer class. By configuring the global request context property to include cookies, the tutorial ensures the preservation of session data during rendering. Detailed instructions on defining login credentials, applying cookies, and rendering the page as a PDF are provided.

The video also demonstrates how to manually set custom cookies and save the final PDF document to a specified path. By following these steps, developers can efficiently convert HTML pages to PDFs while securely managing authentication and session data. The tutorial concludes by encouraging viewers to sign up for a trial of Iron PDF to explore its capabilities firsthand.

Further Reading: How to use HTTP Request Header

Here is a sample C# code implementation illustrating the concepts discussed:

using System;
using IronPdf;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace PdfGenerationExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Initialize IronPDF renderer
            var Renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

            // Set up the request headers using cookies to maintain session information
            var globalRequestHeaders = new Dictionary<string, string>
            {
                { "Cookie", "session_id=your_session_id; auth_token=your_auth_token;" }
            };

            // Configure the Renderer to use the global request headers
            Renderer.RenderingOptions.HttpRequestHeaders = globalRequestHeaders;

            // The URL of the protected invoice page
            string url = "https://example.com/protected-invoice";

            try
            {
                // Render the HTML page to PDF
                var pdfDocument = Renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url);

                // Save the PDF to a specified path
                pdfDocument.SaveAs("InvoiceDocument.pdf");

                Console.WriteLine("PDF generation successful!");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}");
            }
        }
    }
}

using System;
using IronPdf;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace PdfGenerationExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Initialize IronPDF renderer
            var Renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

            // Set up the request headers using cookies to maintain session information
            var globalRequestHeaders = new Dictionary<string, string>
            {
                { "Cookie", "session_id=your_session_id; auth_token=your_auth_token;" }
            };

            // Configure the Renderer to use the global request headers
            Renderer.RenderingOptions.HttpRequestHeaders = globalRequestHeaders;

            // The URL of the protected invoice page
            string url = "https://example.com/protected-invoice";

            try
            {
                // Render the HTML page to PDF
                var pdfDocument = Renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url);

                // Save the PDF to a specified path
                pdfDocument.SaveAs("InvoiceDocument.pdf");

                Console.WriteLine("PDF generation successful!");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}");
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System
Imports IronPdf
Imports System.Collections.Generic

Namespace PdfGenerationExample
	Friend Class Program
		Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
			' Initialize IronPDF renderer
			Dim Renderer = New ChromePdfRenderer()

			' Set up the request headers using cookies to maintain session information
			Dim globalRequestHeaders = New Dictionary(Of String, String) From {
				{"Cookie", "session_id=your_session_id; auth_token=your_auth_token;"}
			}

			' Configure the Renderer to use the global request headers
			Renderer.RenderingOptions.HttpRequestHeaders = globalRequestHeaders

			' The URL of the protected invoice page
			Dim url As String = "https://example.com/protected-invoice"

			Try
				' Render the HTML page to PDF
				Dim pdfDocument = Renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url)

				' Save the PDF to a specified path
				pdfDocument.SaveAs("InvoiceDocument.pdf")

				Console.WriteLine("PDF generation successful!")
			Catch ex As Exception
				Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}")
			End Try
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace

Code Explanation:

• Imports and Namespace: Start by importing necessary namespaces. We use IronPdf for PDF rendering, and System.Collections.Generic for working with collections, such as dictionaries.

• Initialize ChromePdfRenderer: ChromePdfRenderer is initialized to handle the conversion of URLs to PDF documents.

• Set up Request Headers: We prepare a dictionary globalRequestHeaders that holds cookie information required for the session. This is crucial for accessing protected resources which require authentication.

• Configuration: The renderer is configured to utilize these headers through RenderingOptions.HttpRequestHeaders.

• Render and Save PDF: Given a URL for a protected page, the renderer fetches and converts it to PDF, saving the file locally. Exceptions are gracefully handled to manage potential errors during the process.

By following this example, you can learn how to use Iron PDF for secure PDF generation, maintaining authentication throughout.