ColdFusion 11 wsconfig.exe -- Error while configuring connector for IIS.

[DiscoDelight]

I ran into a problem with my ColdFusion 11 64-bit installation/migration on a Windows Server 2012 R2/IIS 8.5.  I was following the ColdFusion 11 Lockdown Guide - Pete Freitag (very helpful) and I ran into problems on page 35 "Run the ColdFusion Web Server Configuration Tool".  When I attempted to do this for ALL IIS websites I encountered a Windows error [APPCRASH - Exception Code:c0000005].  Also, note my Administrator-Command Prompt window provided this error message "Error while configuring connector for IIS. Make sure you have administrator privileges".  However, I did not experience this error with all of the migrated sites.  I traced my steps backward to discover the problem.  I used the Microsoft Web Deployment tool (good tool) to migrate the old IIS websites to the new IIS.  I utilized Metabase Explorer the IIS 6.0 Resource Tools to discover that some of the migrated sites that were crashing did not have the key/value ID:6006 | Name: DefaultDoc.  Once I added this key and redeployed the site the ColdFusion 11 connector (wsconfig.exe) worked fine.  In addition, I added this key/value to some of the larger previously migrated sites in IIS 8.5 ("Default Document") and it worked with the connector as well. 

Knowing how IIS encapsulates information the DefaultDoc key/value should have passed from the website setting.  Why would this make wsconfig.exe crash?

Thanks in advance and I hope this saves someone from hours of research and frustration.

[Carl Von Stetten]

DiscoDelight,

Have you forwarded this information directly to the ColdFusion product team?  If not, I'll try to draw their attention to it.  Only a few of them are active on these forums, so this issue might be overlooked.

-Carl V.

EDIT: I just pinged them on Twitter to take a look at this post.

EDIT #2: They just pinged me back that they are looking into it.

[DiscoDelight]

Carl,

Thanks for giving this topic more exposure.  To answer your question I did not forward this to the product team.  This one was a head-scratcher for me and I just want to get down to the root cause and possibly help others avoid wasting time.

Thanks,

Randy

[Anit_Kumar]

Hi Randy,

We are looking into it and will get back to you.

Regards,

Anit Kumar

[Anit_Kumar]

Can you share the "Event Viewer logs" at cfinstal<AT>adobe<DOT>com?

Regards,

Anit Kumar

[byron_knapp]

Thank you Randy (DiscoDelight) for sharing your experience. I ran into "Error while configuring connector for IIS. Make sure you have administrator privileges" while running wsconfig.exe and I googled that phrase plus wsconfig.exe and this forum post is the ONLY direct google hit for this. Thus, thanks again for starting this thread!

I would like to "give back" and add fuel to this fire so it may also help others (and perhaps give Anit more to think about :- )

Here is my official write-up of this error.

----

While running wsconfig.exe on CF11(update 6) on my W2K12R2 (IIS 8.5), the following error occurs:

ERROR: "Error while configuring connector for IIS. Make sure you have administrator privileges"

Mitigating factors: CF is installed on an OS (W2K12, but could also be W2K8) that was "upgraded" from W2K3 (using microsoft's OS in place "upgrade" option). This "upgrade" of the OS included an installation of IIS. It is this "upgraded" IIS that CF's wsconfig.exe is trying to configure.

TWO SCENARIOS:

Scenario #1:

RUNNING WSCONFIG.exe for an individual IIS site:

The error wsconfig.exe gives is:

"Error while configuring connector for IIS. Make sure you have administrator privileges".

At this point the wsconfig.exe

1. copies the correct control files to \ColdFusion11\config\wsconfig

2. Fails to create a global ISAPI restriction ("allow") for jakarta

3. fails to udate anything in the new IIS8.5 xml system for the individual site. Thus

  > no default document index.cfm added

> no handler mappings added

> no ISAPI FILTER added

> no CFIDE virtual dir mapping added

> no Jakarta virtual dir mapping added

Furthermore, if inside IIS GUI, for the individual site node, for the default documents, I "revert to parent" and reset the default documents, then the wsconfig.exe will set the document and then set handler mappings but often crash at the ISAPI FILTER unless I first "revert to parent" on the ISAPI filter properties page before running wsconfig.exe.

Then, if I fix both the documents and the ISAPI filters (revert to parents or add their own custom settings), THEN the wsconfig.exe will work on individual sites.

Scenario #2:
RUNNING WSCONFIG.exe for "ALL":

I get the same error: "Error while configuring connector for IIS. Make sure you have administrator privileges".

At this point the wsconfig.exe

1. copies the correct control files to \ColdFusion11\config\wsconfig

2. Fails to create a global ISAPI restriction ("allow") for jakarta

3. fails to udate anything in the new IIS8.5 xml system. Thus

  > no GLOBAL default document index.cfm added

> no GLOBAL handler mappings added

> no GLOBAL ISAPI FILTER added

> no CFIDE virtual dir mapping added

> no Jakarta virtual dir mapping added

(I suspect that the wsconfig.exe must try to setup the virtual directories first, and hit error and abort since none of the global settings are made)

IF I go through ALL my nodes in the IIS GUI, and "revert to parent" for both the default documents and the ISAPI filter, then once that has been done, THEN the wsconfig.exe with "ALL" option will work.

THEORY: This error is triggererd by the Windows "upgrade" process (upgrading from W2K3 to W2K8 then W2K12). IIS6's metabase.xml is spread to various new xml locations in IIS8.5. Although the way the windows "upgrade" deals with IIS6 to IIS8.5 conversion seems to produce working sites in IIS8.5, the way the XML data is setup is not in accordance to what Adobe's wsconfig.exe is expecting.

WHY this "bug" can be so insidious: It is entirely possible for a systems admin to upgrade the OS, and then at a later date install Coldfusion (perhaps MUCH later). It is highly likely that when the wsconfig.exe FAILS in this situation, that little or no thought is perhaps given to the PROBLEM stemming from that earlier OS upgrade. It appears instead that the wsconfig.exe is "buggy".

SOLUTION: What I did was to manually go in and on ALL my IIS nodes, I "reverted to parent" on:

> default document

> handler mappings

> ISAPI FILTER

and THEN I ran the wsconfig.exe on "all" (or on individual sites) and wsconfig.exe worked fine. (Of course, I was also careful to not "undo" any IIS node that is using its own custom settings for those 3 items).

The other solution, obviously, would be for someone that understands the XML "issues" to re-write wconfig.exe to try to trap for this setup. Good luck!

Byron_K

[pete_freitag]

Make sure you right click on wsconfig.exe and select Run as Administrator

[byron_knapp]

Good idea, but not the problem in this case. I run the wsconfig.exe the same way (logged in as admin) both times. Only by saving those key sections inside the IIS manager as mentioned (forcing some sort of write update to the xml files) can I get wsconfig.exe to run on this install. (It was DiscoDelight's post about corrupted Default Docs sections in his xml files that I even thought to do so much trial and error testing on my install. This post attempts to broaden his experience with my own, related, experience).

[Carl Von Stetten]

Byron,

The suggestion from @pete_freitag is still a good one.  Logging in as admin is not the same as launching a program using the Run as Administrator option.  The latter will escalate some key security settings so that programs that root around in the innards of Windows processes can run properly.  WSConfig is such a program, as it digs into the bowels of IIS.  If you haven't already done so, try running wsconfig.exe by right-clicking and selecting Run as Administrator.  This is actually the way Adobe recommends people to run WSConfig.

-Carl V.

[byron_knapp]

Thank you both Pete and Carl for taking the time.

Out of curiosity, I went ahead and took the time to re-test. Same thing. It has nothing what-so-ever to do with the "run as admin".

Summary (stated a bit differently than above):

W2K3 instance with CF11-ent-64

Uninstall Cf11 (that removes IIS CFIDE and Jakarta mappings and removes IIS isapi configurations, etc. In other words, at this step, "something" happens to the IIS xml file and that comes back to "bite us" later)

Upgrade to W2K12 using Microsoft OS upgrade tools

Reinstall CF11

Run wsconfig.exe (logged in as administrator) for one of the IIS sites.

I get the  "Error while configuring connector for IIS. Make sure you have administrator privileges".

Run wsconfig.exe again, only this time right click and "run as admin" (using a fresh site each time so the prior failure is not a factor)

I get the  "Error while configuring connector for IIS. Make sure you have administrator privileges".

Go to IIS and pick yet another site. Go to the "Default Document" section and "revert to parent".

Now, wsconfig.exe will run on that site just fine (either way, as logged in admin, or "run as admin")

===========

IF on the other hand, I leave CF11 ON the server THROUGH the Microsoft OS "upgrade", THEN the wsconfig works fine after the upgrade (this clue cannot be over emphasized).

THUS my conclusion, as stated earlier: CF is doing "something" to the W2K3 IIS  xml file when I remove CF11 on the W2K3 instance prior to the OS upgrade. That is my point, and I can repeat the experiment all day long with the same results.

And as stated above, my workaround: after the OS is at W2K12, then I go into IIS and "revert to parent" the default docs, ISAPI filters and handler mappings (anything that can be reverted to parent just to be safe since all my IIS sites are intended to run as CF sites). THEN I reinstall CF11 on this newly upgraded W2K12 instance, and then wsconfig.exe works fine.

Hope that helps clarify

Byron

[byron_knapp]

UPDATE: Please disregard my last post.

After spending considerable time learning the IIS 8.5 applicationhost file that was created from my IIS-6 metabase file during the Windows upgrade that I ran, I feel that my issues with wsconfig had nothing to do with Adobe (as I already suspected) and everything to do with a badly munged metabase going into the OS conversion which resulted in garbage in the applicationhost file.

I did not edit my last post in case someone else gets google hits. My suggestion is to avoid the OS upgrade from W3K3 all the way to W2K12 and instead do a fresh OS/IIS/CF install instead. Otherwise, you may spend a lot of time cleaning up the applicationhost file by hand, like I had to do. (Also worth noting: my IIS-6 metabase file that got converted had already been upgraded years ago from IIS-5 and has about 500 sites in it; asp, .net, static html and a few CF).

Byron