Abstract: Techniques for an identity-aware load balancer (ALB) are described. An identity-aware ALB can securely authenticate users when accessing web-based applications accessed through the ALB, or a node of the ALB. An application owner can configure an authentication action in the ALB. When a request for the application is received, the ALB inspects the request for a session cookie to determine whether the requesting user is logged-in. If the request includes a session cookie, the ALB can decrypt the session cookie and provide identity information with the request to the application. If no session cookie is included, or if the session cookie is expired, the ALB can authenticate the user with an identity provider specified in the authentication action. Integrating authentication into an ALB simplifies application development and maintenance, and improves security, since fewer changes to the application stack reduce the chances of errors being introduced.