CF2018 Connector (wsconfig.exe) not picking up new IIS Sites.

[Nick_B2]

CF2018 Server Standard (installed in development mode)

IIS 8.5

Windows Server 2012 R2

So I've installed Server 2018 Standard upto Hotfix 1. At the time of installation there were 2 sites in IIS, these are both configured when I open the WSCONFIG.EXE (using Run As Administrator... I am an administrator on the box anyway).

I have added a 3rd website and cannot configure it with WSCONFIG.

When WSCONFIG opens it says. Total Websites 3, Configurable 2. See screenshot.

Once the 2 that are configurable have been configured then trying to add any new gets the error shown below.

CF2016 was previously installed on this server, it was uninstalled via the uninstaller before CF2018 was installed.

What am I missing that is stopping WSCONFIG being able to configure the site?

Thanks

[Charlie Arehart · Accepted solution]

Nick, on the surface it seems the problem is what it says: the other site is already configured--in IIS--for cf2016.

When you uninstalled it, that did not remove the connector from IIS (it could be that someone implemented it manually). And since it's uninstalled, you can't easily reinstall just that wsconfig tool to do this now.

But one can manually remove the iis-to-cf config entres. It's not easy enough to explain in email, as it can be done either in the ui or in the config file(s). Then there are multiple entries of different types, and potentially at either of two levels (site or server). And if done manually in the config files, it can be in either two files, and in different places in the second one.

Adobe has done blogs and technotes on manually configuring a site, and you could try to reverse the process they layout, but as I show above it may not be as simple to "undo" things simply by reversing what they say to "do".

Finally, if you make a mistake with any of it, things could seem irreparably broken, though it's not for one comfortable with doing such config. I am, and I have helped many in this situation.

If the above is enough to get you going, great. If not, and if you want direct help (instead of a bunch of back and forth with me and others here), I can help remotely, in perhaps as little as 15 mins, with satisfaction guaranteed (and today, even). More at carehart.org/consulting.

This is the second such offer I've made here in the forums today. I try not to make such "sales pitches" except in cases where it seems it will be more complicated to try to resolve here all the things that could go amiss, with some problems and their solutions.

And I realize some can't or won't pay for help, or will prefer to slog it out with back and forth  If I can help that way I will, as will others. I just know that for some people, paying for a quick solution is more expedient and acceptable, so I make the offer, after sharing what I can above to help you get started.

Let us know how it goes 

[Nick_B2]

Hi Charlie,

Many thanks for your reply and assistance. I think the 'manual' configuration is something a former colleague of mine may have well done. I recall him mentioning it. I had a feeling this wouldn't be a simple fix but had to ask the question before I get one of our server guys to do me a rebuild of the box, it's virtual so no that hard. I think digging around in config files could well cause more grief.

I think the safest and probably quickest option for us would be to go for a new windows install and start up from scratch. Luckily it's not a production service so it is an option.

Thanks again

Nick

[Charlie Arehart]

Glad it may be what I surmised  And I understand your situation and preferring to just "start from scratch".

But should anyone else see this in the future, where he refers to a fear that  digging around in config files could well cause more grief", I'll repeat that for someone familiar with the mechanisms like myself, we could have this fixed in minutes.

So let's not have everyone conclude that a rebuild would be necessary. Not at all. 🙂

[Nick_B2]

No indeed quite right. I'll mark you original answer as correct so if people do have the same issue they know the route to look down.

Alas the organisation I work for is UK based with a 3 month lead time on Vetting & Security Clearance so getting people access remotely is no easy feat to say the least.

[Charlie Arehart]

Thanks, Nick. Just a point of clarification (for future reference): you would not be giving me remote access, and therefore may not need to "vet and clear" me. You would just be sharing your screen (via webex, gotomeeting, or the like), and I'd have guided you in the resolution.

But I know: you may feel that that's no less difficult to arrange, if not impossible or against your rules. I'll just note that I have had people presume they could not, but when the stuff hit the fan they pressed and it was allowed. 🙂

Heck I've even helped folks in a very high-security DOD setup, where they got permission for this work-around: on the shared screen they showed me their non-secure server, which was mirrored (logically) to their secure one. And while I helped them consider things, another person (on another computer and screen) worked on the secure server, and relayed any questions by voice only. :Again, not saying that's needed for even most security-restricted people, but just saying it's a possibility in a pinch.

[Dave Watts]

The connector sets up various IIS details, but you don't actually need to edit configuration files in this case to get rid of those details. You could edit all of these things within the IIS Management Console, under Handler Mappings, ISAPI Mappings and Modules, if I recall correctly. But if you're not sure which things to edit or delete, you can simply delete the single IIS site and recreate it. This will take less time than rebuilding the server from scratch.

Dave Watts, Fig Leaf Software

[Charlie Arehart]

Good point, Dave. And perhaps you were saying that to Nick, but if also to me, I'll just note that I said in my first comment that "it can be done either in the ui or in the config file(s)".

But you're right that another possibility would be to created a new site to get around the problem. There's only one hitch there: if the previous version wsconfig had been done in IIS at the server level, then that old config would be need to be removed from there, before a new site could be added and then configured using the new version's wsconfig.

[Dave Watts]

If that were the case then I don't think the other two sites would have worked.

Dave Watts, Fig Leaf Software