[c#] How to add custom Http Header for C# Web Service Client consuming Axis 1.4 Web service

I'm trying to write a web service client in c# which the webservice is Java Axis 1.4. Axis service requires the Authorization: Basic Base64EncodedToken header value in the HTTP Headers. I can't find a way to set this header in standart ways of consuming web services in visual studio.net, like normal WSDL generated refernce nor with WSE3.0

I can't use WCF as the project is developed using .net 2.0.

Is there any way to do this ?

user334291's answer was a life saver for me. Just want to add how you can add what the OP originally intended to do (what I ended up using):

Overriding the GetWebRequest function on the generated webservice code:

protected override System.Net.WebRequest GetWebRequest(Uri uri)
{
    System.Net.WebRequest request = base.GetWebRequest(uri);          
    string auth = "Basic " + Convert.ToBase64String(System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetBytes(this.Credentials.GetCredential(uri, "Basic").UserName + ":" + this.Credentials.GetCredential(uri, "Basic").Password));
    request.Headers.Add("Authorization", auth);
    return request;
}

and setting the credentials before calling the webservice:

  client.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(user, password);       

If you want to send a custom HTTP Header (not a SOAP Header) then you need to use the HttpWebRequest class the code would look like:

HttpWebRequest webRequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(url);
webRequest.Headers.Add("Authorization", token);

You cannot add HTTP headers using the visual studio generated proxy, which can be a real pain.

Instead of modding the auto-generated code or wrapping every call in duplicate code, you can inject your custom HTTP headers by adding a custom message inspector, it's easier than it sounds:

public class CustomMessageInspector : IClientMessageInspector
{
    readonly string _authToken;

    public CustomMessageInspector(string authToken)
    {
        _authToken = authToken;
    }

    public object BeforeSendRequest(ref Message request, IClientChannel channel)
    {
        var reqMsgProperty = new HttpRequestMessageProperty();
        reqMsgProperty.Headers.Add("Auth-Token", _authToken);
        request.Properties[HttpRequestMessageProperty.Name] = reqMsgProperty;
        return null;
    }

    public void AfterReceiveReply(ref Message reply, object correlationState)
    { }
}


public class CustomAuthenticationBehaviour : IEndpointBehavior
{
    readonly string _authToken;

    public CustomAuthenticationBehaviour (string authToken)
    {
        _authToken = authToken;
    }
    public void Validate(ServiceEndpoint endpoint)
    { }

    public void AddBindingParameters(ServiceEndpoint endpoint, BindingParameterCollection bindingParameters)
    { }

    public void ApplyDispatchBehavior(ServiceEndpoint endpoint, EndpointDispatcher endpointDispatcher)
    { }

    public void ApplyClientBehavior(ServiceEndpoint endpoint, ClientRuntime clientRuntime)
    {
        clientRuntime.ClientMessageInspectors.Add(new CustomMessageInspector(_authToken));
    }
}

And when instantiating your client class you can simply add it as a behavior:

this.Endpoint.EndpointBehaviors.Add(new CustomAuthenticationBehaviour("Auth Token"));

This will make every outgoing service call to have your custom HTTP header.

I find this code and is resolve my problem.

http://arcware.net/setting-http-header-authorization-for-web-services/

protected override WebRequest GetWebRequest(Uri uri)
{
    // Assuming authValue is set from somewhere, such as the config file
    HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)base.GetWebRequest(uri);
    request.Headers.Add("Authorization", string.Format("Basic {0}", authValue));
    return request;
}

Here is what worked for me:

protected override System.Net.WebRequest GetWebRequest(Uri uri)
{
        HttpWebRequest request;
        request = (HttpWebRequest)base.GetWebRequest(uri);
        NetworkCredential networkCredentials =
        Credentials.GetCredential(uri, "Basic");
        if (networkCredentials != null)
        {
            byte[] credentialBuffer = new UTF8Encoding().GetBytes(
            networkCredentials.UserName + ":" +
            networkCredentials.Password);
            request.Headers["Authorization"] =
            "Basic " + Convert.ToBase64String(credentialBuffer);
            request.Headers["Cookie"] = "BCSI-CS-2rtyueru7546356=1";
            request.Headers["Cookie2"] = "$Version=1";
        }
        else
        {
            throw new ApplicationException("No network credentials");
        }
        return request;
}

Don't forget to set this property:

service.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username", "password");  

Cookie and Cookie2 are set in header because java service was not accepting the request and I was getting Unauthorized error.

Are we talking WCF here? I had issues where the service calls were not adding the http authorization headers, wrapping any calls into this statement fixed my issue.

  using (OperationContextScope scope = new OperationContextScope(RefundClient.InnerChannel))
  {
            var httpRequestProperty = new HttpRequestMessageProperty();
            httpRequestProperty.Headers[System.Net.HttpRequestHeader.Authorization] = "Basic " +
            Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(RefundClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.UserName + ":" +
            RefundClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.Password));
            OperationContext.Current.OutgoingMessageProperties[HttpRequestMessageProperty.Name] = httpRequestProperty;

            PaymentResponse = RefundClient.Payment(PaymentRequest);
   }

This was running SOAP calls to IBM ESB via .NET with basic auth over http or https.

I hope this helps someone out because I had massive issues finding a solution online.