Return 401 from WCF service

Question

How can I return a HTTP 401 from a WCF service?

Answer 1

If you are programming a REST-service it can be done this way:

private IWebOperationContext context = new WebOperationContextWrapper(WebOperationContext.Current); // Get the context

context.OutgoingResponse.StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized; // Set the 401

Answer 2

throw new WebFaultException(System.Net.HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized);

Notes:

MSDN: When using a WCF REST endpoint (WebHttpBinding and WebHttpBehavior or WebScriptEnablingBehavior) the HTTP status code on the response is set accordingly. However, WebFaultException can be used with non-REST endpoints and behaves like a regular FaultException.